"Master Jinn, he is not yet 20 years old, barely a Jedi Knight. You expect us to believe he has the capabilities to predict the return of the Sith?" Master Shaak Ti states in a strong, terse tone. She is a powerful Togruta Jedi Sage known for her intelligence.
"He is powerful beyond belief, I tend not to doubt his capabilities any more. There is more reason to believe what he saw was real than not." Qui-Gon Jinn replies just as strong. The debate has become tense.
"We understand his power, but he has much to learn in wisdom and experience. Nightmares of those like Sith are not unheard of. We have great reason to be weary of his claims." Master Ti responds back quickly. The remaining councilroom remains quiet, letting Master Jinn and Ti clash.
"And what if they are true. We sit here and wait?" Master Qui-Gon quips back. That is the big question: What if the Sith are returning? The matter at hand is one to be taken very seriously. The sake of the Republic and the Jedi Order could be on the line.
Master Shaak Ti does not respond after that, returning to contemplation. "The resources required for a wide scale war against the Sith is not something that can be spent on a whim." The Tholothian Master Adi Gallia states strictly. She does not mean to assert that Anakin's vision is a whim, but addresses the importance of discovering more to the situation. The money required for a war is not to be spent lightly.
"Say again, what did your former Padawan see?" The Kel Doran Master Plo Koon asks.
"Two Sith nations fighting, one completely dominating the other. The Sith leader on the winning side beheaded the other and voiced his view of conquest. Anakin saw thousands of Star Destroyers of unknown design, no doubt more advanced than we last faced. That many massive ships in one system, it is not unlikely that is only a fraction of their might." Master Jinn describes from the vivid description Anakin accounted for him.
The room is silent, all members contemplating. "We need to have utmost confidence in our view if we are to bring this matter to the Senate." The young, human female Master Depa Billaba says quietly. All members nod their heads to that point. They need to speak as one voice for an issue as massive as this.
Master of the Order Mace Windu finally speaks up, "No one is to spread this word to anyone yet. We all must meditate on this; the force will provide the needed answers." He pauses slightly, looking at each member in their eyes. "We will meet again in two days' time. May the force be with you all."
"Satale, they are getting ready to move the hostages. G8 just notified me that four ships broke through the atmosphere. Two transports and four fighters. Are you ready to go?" Anakin comms to his teammate from atop the rafters in a dark warehouse on Corellia. Below, nearly two hundred children and young adults can be seen cramped together. Well-armed gunmen, covered in masked, black tactical gear line the perimeter of the main floor of the warehouse.
Between the rattling of the rain against the warehouse's metal roof, and the static of the comm, it is hard to hear a response. "Nic-" hisss "further scan…" hiss "BFF-1" hiss "-avy freight-" hiss "Too much!"
"Satale? Our connection is being disrupted, I can't understand you. I am going to reposition to point C, so I can get a visual on where the transports are landing." Anakin replies unwaveringly back before scurrying silently through the darkness. On the floor, the gunmen begin to bark orders at the slaves. The force exudes the fear they feel.
"Anakin! We must-" hiss "I repeat" hiss "-must abort!" Satale's broken voice crackles through Anakin's comm.
Anakin, now on the top of a towering building adjacent to the warehouse fires back, "What do you mean abort, Satale? This may be our last chance to get all the slaves out! I won't risk them disappearing into obscurity." They have been on this mission for nearly two weeks now. First, there were reports of suspicious landings in a wealthy neighborhood on Coruscant. Anakin and Satale spent a few days deciphering the unusualness only to find a small band of spice traders; nothing too far out of the ordinary. However, the Force told them something was still amiss. Tracking the spice traders back to Corellia led them to the parent organization. Over the next week they discovered the workings of a massive underground slave transport with the means to move large quantities of slaves and drugs offworld silently.
Anakin can hear Satale try to formulate a sentence again, but the line is almost completely disrupted. There is no point in trying to communicate any longer. Turning his view into the night sky, Anakin's eyes blaze as he glares at the descending transport shuttles. They are BFF-1 bulk freighters. Large, bulk transport vessels, great for slaves, spice, weapons, all while flying under the radar. Their engines, imbuing a soft orange light into the surrounding blackness, roar surprisingly softly for their size; they come to a quiet whimper as they land in the small, private plaza in front of the warehouse. Unfortunately, the four fighters do not descend completely, deciding to stay vigilant and agile in the air.
Not realizing the organization's means until a few hours prior, the original plan was to follow the transport into hyperspace, and then call upon local authorities to help with the bust during redecension onto the next planet. This would allow them to catch the slavers in transition and without backup. However, two transport shuttles ruin that plan. The majority of slave transports use short range emp bursts to rid their ships of any trackers, so the only way to follow them through hyperspace is to match their exact direction before they enter hyperspace. This method does not always work, but is accurate enough. With two transport shuttles, this means Anakin can only follow one of the transports, condemning the slaves on the other. He is unwilling to do so.
"We need to get them before they leave the ground. There is no way to free everyone if they take off." Anakin quickly improvises, hoping Satale can hear him.
He quickly changes the frequency of his comm device. "Attention Kor Vella police force, this Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Republic Clearance Code: JK3676TY28B. I have tracked a large slave trade residing in section 8D. Transport ships are preparing to load hostages in the plaza behind the abandoned warehouse on Vire street. I require immediate backup; beware of dozens of mercenaries in the surrounding area. I am going to disable the freighters to keep them planetside."
Anakin quickly reverts his frequency back to its original before leaping down from the roof and landing gracefully on his feet along the side of the plaza. The slaves have already been taken outside and the first few have begun to board each vessel. The only thing on Anakin's side is the organized nature of the slavers, requiring them to serial number check each slave before they board.
The plaza is a barren 200 by 200 meter concrete square. The two transport shuttles sit parallel next to each other, their large size barely fitting in the smaller area. Around the plaza are condemned three and four story dull, stone apartment buildings. Besides the head and underlights of the shuttles, there are no large sources of light. However, there is no cover between the surrounding buildings and the freighters, leaving Anakin exposed to any watchful eyes.
Calling upon the shadows around him with the force, Anakin blends into the darkness, becoming practically invisible to any unenhanced eye. Moving swiftly, Anakin makes his way 50 meters out from the front left of the leftmost shuttle. Hired mercenaries, both from the shuttles and the warehouse, funnel out into the plaza, first securing a protective route to transport goods and slaves from the warehouse to the shuttle, and second establishing two soft perimeters around the shuttles and the overall plaza ground. Personal flashlights begin to sweep the floor.
Before he can be compromised by any scouting gunman, Anakin quickly sprints forward and leaps high into the dark sky, coming down silently with a slight shuffle on top of the left shuttles metal roof. Kneeling down on his toes, he presses his right finger tips onto the roof and closes his eyes. Like a radar, the force scans through the interior of the vessel. Anakin finds eight bodies on the ship: two in the cockpit, and six along the sides in the storage bay. Feelings of exasperation and boredom seep through them.
Creeping along the fuselage, Anakin stops atop of the emergency hatch above the corridor behind the cockpit. Soft tendrils of the force, slowly twist the inside latch. Silently jumping through the open door, Anakin drops to the floor inside the craft, closing the hatch behind him. Quickly checking his surroundings, Anakin notes he is in a small corridor. The storage control bay on one end, and the door to the cockpit on the other. He strides up to the door while enhancing his ears. The slight flipping of switches and light chatter can be heard on the inside. With a flick of Anakin's hand, the door slides open revealing two pale skin, human pilots.
"Hey! What are you doing in here? Get down to the floor and finish moving the cargo", the man on Anakin's right says; neither of the pilots look over their shoulders. The sharp hiss of two lightsabers igniting causes the two men to jerk around in surprise. Before either can verbalize a word at his looming figure, the two azul blades pierce perfectly into each of their hearts. Ungraciously, both bodies are ripped from their chairs and collapse unceremoniously onto the hard cabin floor. The soft thump of their dead bodies is the only sound released. Anakin quickly takes the place of the pilots, flipping through switches along the dashboard rapidly.
With vigor in his movements, Anakin stands up and instantly exits the door heading towards the hanger bay, only stopping short at the hanger control panel residing. All of the cargo crates have been moved into the large storage contaminants on both the port and starboard of the ship, while all the slaves sit in the center of the floor. The amount of gunman on board is a fraction compared to what is outside: about a dozen. Two gunmen watch the entrance as the last crates are loaded, while the remaining ten keep a watchful eye on the mass of slaves. Their guns are primed threateningly. The inside of the ship is well lit, differing greatly from the surrounding plaza and preceding warehouse.
Closing his eyes and reaching out both metaphyiscally and physically, Anakin grabs onto the levitating pallet coming up the storage bay ramp. His hand is completely open, like he is reaching out to grab something. In a flash, his hand snaps shut into a fist while a dreadful sound of screeching metal rips through the air. The pallet crumples in on itself, breaking and falling to the floor. The crates residing on top of it crash against the ground and begin to tumble down the ramp. Loud shouts of surprise can be heard outside.
The gunmen inside quickly respond to the mess. The two front guards scurry down the ramp, while two more take their place. Not wanting to miss his moment, Anakin harshly force pushes the two new guards out of the ship as he closes the bay door and shuts off all interior lights. Cries of fear erupt from the mass of slaves in the middle of the bay as the guards scramble to reorder themselves before the moonlight is hidden.
Sprinting out of the control bay with his unignited sabers in hand, Anakin calls upon the force to guide him through the darkness. Like a flash of lightning, his two blades ignite with a pssshhew, slash through the body armor of the closest gunman with a hisss, and deactivate with a buzz. Not losing his rhythm, Anakin leaps towards his next victim bringing him to a swift end with a slash across his chest. In panic, the remaining gunmen shoot and fire rapidly at Anakin's last seen position. Sounds of cries and laser blasts resound through the cargo bay. Not wishing for any of the sitting slaves to be caught in the crossfire, Anakin eliminates the next two closest gunmen with a leap and then a throw of his blade. Leaping over the circle of hostages, Anakin keeps his free right hand outstretched as he guides his spinning sader into the heart of another mercenary. In the darkness, he lands gracefully in front of his next victim, cutting him down, while the other gunmen fire at the position of his other lightsaber.
Calling his forgotten saber to his hand, it ignites as it sails through the air, impaling one of the two final gunmen, landing perfectly in his palm. He ignites his other blade and stares ominously at the last turning gunman. The soft azul light from his lightsabers is the only source in the entire hanger, casting a halo around his body. The gunman, too fearful to speak, fires bullets in rapid succession at Anakin who is standing a mere ten feet in front of him. Every bullet is deflected safely away with practiced ease as Anakin slowly marches towards his final victim.
"Before you die, I want you to feel the terror. To finally comprehend what you make us go through", Anakin says in a dangerously low voice. The sound of blasters falls silent as a single laser is reflected perfectly into the hand of the gunman, forcing him to drop his weapon to the ground with a visible wince. Anakin stops his march a foot in front of the mercenary, his blazing blue eyes staring bullets into the gunman, his sabers hum dangerously at his sides.
"Please, man! I… I have a family! I wo-", the man desperately pleads before Anakin, but is cut short as a flash of blue crosses his throat. Blood instantly seeps down his neck.
"So did I."
Anakin watches as the final body collapses onto the metal floor; his palms are white against his hilts and hands shake with fury. Past visions swarm his mind.
"Your mother was the best I have had in a while, slave. I may just have to keep her."
A very young Anakin sits curled in a cramped bedroom corner. Small, durasteel cuffs surround his wrists, hooking onto a metal beam next to him. Soot covers his sickened, skinny face and his dark hair is matted with sweat and dirt. His bloodied and bruised mother lays unconscious on the silk sheeted bed in front of him. A large, human man with well-kept brown hair, a clean shaven face, dark broken eyes, and fitted with expensive clothes slowly redresses at the end of the bed. Anakin whimpers in the corner, but he can't tear his eyes away from his mother.
He is only broken from his stupor when he registers whimpers that are not his own. Looking over his shoulder, he sees groups of slaves huddled together looking fearfully at him. Turning off his lightsabers, he reaches back into the control room and turns the lights back on.
"Everyone needs to remain calm. The police are on the way to completely free you, but you need to stay put for the time being. The slavers are still outside, but the hanger entrance is completely locked and fortified. They will not be able to get in." Anakin explains as quickly as possible, only now realizing he has completely forgotten about the other vessel.
"Wh… who are you?" An adolescent Togruta girl asks quietly from the front of the crowd.
"I'm Anakin. A Jedi. I'm here to free you all." Anakin kneels down as he responds, all of his previous anger is replaced by gentleness. He is surprised when the girl leaps forward and captures him in a massive hug tucking her head into his neck making him almost fall onto his bottom. Not used to the affection, Anakin takes a moment to wrap his larger frame around the small girl.
"They… they were meanies." The girl whimpers into him. A laugh almost escapes him at the truthfulness of the statement. He looks out past the young girl latched onto him, and sees the massive group of young slaves watching him intently.
"Ya, they were, weren't they? You don't need to worry about them any longer… None of you do." Anakin says the last part louder, but his tone is still gentle and kind. Realizing the importance of time, Anakin tries to detach himself from the young girl, but she is unwavering. He goes to stand up, but the girl wraps her small legs around him.
"Alright, little one, I need to go now." Anakin whispers down to her as soothingly as possible.
"No! You can't, I'm scared!" She cries back into him, gripping onto him even tighter.
Anakin pulls her back enough where he can look into her eyes, "I know you are, but there are others that need me more right now. I need you to be strong for just a little while longer…", Anakin says kindly, trailing off looking into her light blue eyes.
"Aliya", the girl finishes for him quietly.
"Aliya." Anakin echoes softly.
The girl holds onto him for a few seconds longer and then slowly detaches herself from him, her arms go up to wipe her teary eyes. Anakin scans the crowd once more, before standing back up. Giving Aliya one last meaningful look, Anakin turns and sprints back towards the cockpit.
Leaping back out onto the roof of his captured shuttle, Anakin hears the engines of the adjacent ship begin to reverberate.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Anakin scolds himself as his head whips around to scan the surrounding area. The plaza is almost completely empty again, as all the gunmen either fled or got onto the ship. Police sirens can be heard from the otherside of the warehouse, but it is too late; the freighter is about to take off.
Not having time to formulate a better plan, Anakin leaps onto the other vessel bringing both of his lightsabers into the metal hull surrounding the port engine. The lightsabers do little against the massive engine, probably not even penetrating the surface deep enough to scrape them; however, there does not seem to be a better option to get the ship out of commission. The shaking in the freighter increases by a tenfold as it begins to rise slowly off of the ground. The hatch above the cockpit opens allowing mercenaries to climb out onto the roof of the ship and instantly fire upon him.
Falling into his natural soresu defence, Anakin is able to deflect all of the shots; however, he is not given the chance to launch a counter attack due to the rapidly expanding firing squad. Soon, there are over a dozen mercenaries firing upon him from all angles in front of him. His blue blades appear in one continuous stream as the gracefully zip through the air in front of him. Anakin wants to jump forward and begin his attack, but instincts tell him he will instantly be surrounded. Even then, he can't hold his current position long, it won't be long until they double their fire power. Trying to create a better plan, Anakin is forced slowly to retreat to the edge of the port side.
A deafening roar flies through the air as a small fighter nose dives towards their position. An explosion erupts on the starboard side of the ship, knocking everyone off of their feet. Anakin's is flung off of the side of the hovering vessel and is forced to drop his right saber to grab onto the ledge. Using his natural strength and the force, he pulls himself up and catapults himself back onto the ship with a front flip. Rolling once he hits the ground, he slices the legs of a disoriented gunman. He quickly switches his blade into reverse grip, attacking the jugular, heart, and head of his three next victims, before he is forced back on the defensive.
Up above, screams of fighters can be heard as a colorful dogfight breaks across the Kor Vella rainy night sky. Back down below, clouds of smoke exude out from the starboard engine causing the ship to wobble unstably. However, only enough damage is done to halt the ascent momentarily. The mercenaries continue to filter out from the hatch and fire upon Anakin. Blue blaster bolts continuously stream across the roof towards his position on the stern of the fuselage. With only one remaining saber, he can no longer hold a static position and is forced to maneuver between the blue streaks while blocking. Quickly, he is pushed back to the edge of the craft again. Unwilling to jump off and concede, he draws deep in the force moving his blade well past the limit a human eye can see. All lasers primed to hit him are deflected away, occasionally returning to its sender.
The ship is back in a stable condition. The flames along the right engine are concerning, but they are not hot enough to eat their way to the fuel line. The vessel begins to climb in altitude exponentially. Anakin, feeling the wind increase along his face, reaches out his empty right hand towards the starboard engine. Through the force he pictures it: the battery, the power coupling, the rotors, the fuel. Slowly, the force slithers its way around the internal of the engine, grasping onto it like a hand to an apple. It is tangible in his palm. His fingers begin to curl sharper, squeezing. The faint noise of crunching metal can be heard over the resounding sound of blasters and exhaust. A feeling of trepidation washes over Anakin, but he is too slow to react. He suddenly jerks backwards unnaturally; a sharp, burning sensation rips through his right shoulder. His right arm instinctually goes to hug his stomach while his teeth clench and a hiss escapes his chapped lips. His sweat-ridden, shoulder-length, raven black hair falls in his face while his chin tilts towards the ground. His left lightsaber slows moderately and his grasp on the engine falls like sand out of his hand. In contrast, the barrage from the blasters increases as the mercenaries capitalize on his prevalent weakness. Another flare slams into his hip, dropping him onto his right knee painfully. Gritting his teeth to the point of breaking, Anakin fiercely glares up, his eyes imbued with power, slightly glowing, shoving all close gunmen a few feet back with a weak force push. Another laser nails him just above the previous, collapsing his body in on itself, knocking him off the edge of the freighter.
Black spots dot Anakin's vision as he tumbles gracelessly through the wind. Numbness spreads through his body, while a fog rolls from his mind. The force screams at him, but his answer is only half hearted. The world goes black.