Vader's second chance
A Star wars story
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Disney owns everything except my plot.
Hello everyone! In this chapter we see the first interactions between our time travelling heroes and other characters. As Anakin rushes to save his mother from the Tusken Raiders Ahsoka travels to Kamino, with the secret codes that will alter the protocol the Clones will follow in the event they fail to stop Palpatine.
Note: The dialogue between Vader and the Tuskens is in Huttese, but I'll still write it in English because I don't know Huttese.
Tatooine, Jundland Wastelands, Vader's point of view:
My black attire, that was converted from suit to body armor by Qui-Gon wasn't the best clothing choice, especially considering I was in the middle of the desert. But it was my only hope in scarring the Raiders away so I can extract my mother without a fight. I was riding on my speeder, one of the many things Ahsoka and I acquired in the last two months, determined to reach the Tusken Raider camp before they could get their hands on my mother. Unfortunately, I failed at that. I arrived at the camp only to see them dragging her in one of their tents. At least she seemed to be okay. Grabbing my lightsaber, I jumped on one of the huts and spoke to the Raiders.
"Release the woman!", I yelled, having half a mind to ainihilate them with the Dark Side and be done with it.
"Surrender or die stranger!", said a Tusken who seemed to be the leader of the group. He was holding a gaffi stick in his hands and was pointing at me with it, trying to seem threatening. That trick might have worked on travellers, but it was pathetic in my eyes.
"Don't make this more difficult for me.", I began, trying to hold back a laugh. "Hand the woman over and I'll leave."
The Raiders took offense to my offer of peace and a member of the crowd decided to chime in the ongoing conversation. "You dare come here unannounced and demand things? You'll pay for this insult!"
Not wanting to waste time in order to destroy them, I insisted on a peacefull solution. "Perhaps we could trade?", I asked them.
"What do you have that could aid us?", the Leader asked me, and I calmly moved my hand to my belt before taking hold of my saber and igniting it.
"A lightsaber. It is the weapon of the Jedi, capable of killing anything in one hit.", I exlained to them, emphasizing the power of the weapon.
"One hit?", another Raider asked me, not believing my claim.
"Yes.", I confirmed. "Surrender the woman and I'll give it to you.", I offered, sencirely hoping that they would shut up and accept so I could move on with the plan.
"Show us how this weapon works.", the Leader demanded, and I complied, still unwilling to start a fight and determined to ignore the little voice in my head telling me to kill them and just take Mother instead.
"As you wish."
I pulled out my saber and threw it, effectively cutting one of their huts in two. The Raider was taken aback at first, but he then demanded I show him more, so I did. They brought me several stones to cut through, which I did. They were very impressed and agreed to the trade. They handed me my mother and as we were going back to the speeder, I heard the lead Raider shout to the others, telling them to kill us. Knowing the deal was off, I called my saber back to me and easily cut down their attacking forces. Dare I say that I performed what Padme would call "aggressive negotiations". After seeing all the attacking Tuskens being cut down, the others didn't dare to make a move. I beheaded the one that tried to trick me, even if it was a futile effort. Me and my mother got into the speeder and she spoke.
"Thank you for saving me.", she told me, and I could sense the feeling of gratitude coming from her precense.
"Don't mention it.", I began. "Those things are savages. If I had left you there they would have killed you."
"Sir, are you a Jedi?", she asked me, obviously curious about my origins.
"No. I'm not a Jedi. My name is Darth Vader and I am a dark Lord of the Sith.", I answered her, and she seemed to be taken aback by my response, though I wasn't surprised.
"A Sith?", she questioned. "You don't act like one."
I was surprised by her response, but did my best to hide it. Before, I was completely unaware that my mother had any knowledge about the Sith and now I wondered where it came from. Could it have been because of Qui Gon, who may have told her about the enemies of the Jedi? Or could it have been through some other source, and if yes, then who? I'd have to ask Qui Gon about this later.
"You know of the Sith?", I asked her, not needing to fake my surprise.
"Yes, my little son, Anakin was freed by a Jedi years ago.", she told me, and I was slightly unsettled by how easily she gave up information to others. I'd have to find a way to keep Palpatine and his informats away from her, or she may tell them far more than I'd want them to know.
"You are a slave?", I asked her in return, and doing my best to change the topic.
"I was.", she admitted. "My husband bought me my master and gave me my freedom. My son left years earlier."
"Do you recall the name of the Jedi that took your son?"
"Yes. It was "Qui-Gon Jin", or at least I think so.", she told me. I had expected her to have forgotten the man's name, but I was saddened by the fact that she had probebly been waiting for a dead man to come back and saver her before Lars came along.
"What did he tell you about the Sith?", I asked her, resuming the conversation.
My vocoder had made my question sound more threatening than I had intended, but Mother didn't seem to be afraid and she answered me almost immediatelly. "He said they are ruthless warriors who only care for themselves and their power and that they shouldn't be trusted."
Qui Gon wasn't wrong. I've studied Sith history for an entire decade and there are almost no examples of Sith acting any different, with the only exceptions being myself, my 'apprentice' and a long dead Sith Master of Darth Bane's Order, whose name I can't recall.
"Mr. Vader, why did you save me?", Mother asked me, but I stayed sillent for a moment, pondering over my response.
"No one should have to suffer because of someone else, especially someone as inferior as a Tusken or a Hutt.", I told her honestly.
"The Hutt family rules Tatooine.", my mother said, not knowing I was planning on changing that.
"That won't last much longer. I wish to rid the galaxy of Jabba and his pathetic family.", I admitted to her, hopind she'd see the good I was trying to do.
"I see... What about you? Where do you come from?"
Even though I was expecting that question from my mother, I didn't want to lie to her. So I did the only thing I could think of. I took a page from Obi Wan's book and I answered with a half-truth.
"I was once a Jedi, like your son is now. The Jedi wronged me so I left them. I've been a Sith for the last fifteen years or so.", I answered her.
"Why did you come to Tatooine? It is the galaxy's most remote dust ball.", she asked me.
"At least it is somewhat inhabitable.", I told her. "Planets like Hoth or Mustafar consist of an endless tundra or countless lava rivers and lakes, making them impossible to live on."
"My question still stands. Why here?", Mother asked once more.
"The Jedi and Sith believe in the Force. Whether you do or don't is irrelevant. The Force communicates with us when something big is about to happen. The Force gave me a vision involving your encounter with those savages and it told me to stop them. That's why I'm here.", I explained, rather proud of the fact that I was able to make a non-Force user to understand me.
Sensing that we were aproaching the farm, I remained silent for a few moments before it came into view. "Oh! My husband's farm is that building on the right over there.", Mother exclaimed
"I am aware of that. I shall leave you here then.", I told her.
"Thank you again, Mr. Vader.", she said.
"As I said, don't mention it.", I told her before helping her get off.
My mother got of the speeder and I returned "home" and waited for Ahsoka to contact me. After a while she did, just after landing on Kamino. She told me she was about to make contact with the Kaminoans and I let her know of my successful mission. She signed off just after landing on the stormy planet's surface and I began pacing around the room, wanting to do something instead of just wait for her to contact me. Then again...I might be able to do something after all...
I hope you guys enjoyed Anakin's interaction with Shmi. If you wish to ask why I felt like this was necessary, it was put in to show that Anakin doesn't just blindly rush into action, or simply slaughter people like Darth Vader. Also, I felt like Shmi's death was the first thing that got him to open himself up to the Dark side of the Force and is what truly got him started down the dark path. Besides, I felt like Vader saving Shmi would increase young Anakin's trust in his not-so-Sith counterpart. As an additional comment, I didn't believe that focusing on the training Anakin and Ahsoka went through to truly learn the ways of the force was a necessity. Just the knowledge that they did and they now are more like Grey Jedi is enough context for this story.
So, the next chapter is an Ahsoka chapter and we'll follow her during her visit to Kamino. The Battle of Geonosis is coming up soon and there is still a lot to cover on her side. Finally, don't forget to review my work before you leave. Until next time, Yolowriter out!