Title: Anakin's Paradox, Part 3

Author: Jonathan Evans

Author email: noggins_evans@hotmail.com

Summary: Contains Episode II spoilers! During a fierce battle, Anakin
Skywalker finds himself in a future that he never expected in which
the galaxy is in a state of civil war and his teacher is now an old man

Disclaimer: George Lucas owns everything and I'm not making any
money off of thi nor do I intend to (I'd like to but that's not the
point). You can distribute this freely provided that it's
complete with this disclaimer.

Anakin's Paradox
Part 3 - Regrets and Assaults
by Noggins

"You have got to be kidding me!" Anakin shouted, perhaps too loudly, as he heard Obi-Wan's explanation of why he and Leia couldn't possibly become an item even if he really was trapped in this strange parallel future. His duty as a Jedi was the reason he expected, or even her duty as a Rebel leader... but not this. "My daughter! Oh my God!"

Obi-Wan nodded. "I think you now appreciate the problem..." he muttered quietly as he signalled for Anakin to lower his own voice. "She cannot find out... the Empire may have spies everywhere... if Vader were to find out about her..."

That was it! This was why this all happened in the first place! He snapped again at his Jedi master. "He'd do what? Kill her like he killed her father... like he killed me!" Kenobi looked dumbstruck. "That's right! I know! Why didn't you tell me that I was meant to die! By the Sith Lord I had a chance to defeat not six hours ago!"
"Who told you this?" Obi-Wan quickly asked.
"Luke... my own son!" Anakin brushed his hair back, feeling he needed to keep his hands occupied lest he ignite his lightsaber and hack everything in the corridor to pieces. "My own son, who doesn't even know who I am, told me that I'm destined to be killed if I travel back... hell, if you look at this from your point of view, I've already been killed!"

"That's another thing I was, well, a little liberal with the truth about..." Kenobi began. "Something that I could not tell Luke, least of all you." He looked down to the floor shamefully before facing his apprentice again. "You're not dead, Anakin. Far from it. A worse fate befell you."
"Worse than death? What can be worse than finding out you're going to be killed by some Sith Lord you've never even met before. A Sith Lord who's more machine than man!?!"
"Anakin... you *are* that Sith Lord."

Everything began to spin around again. Anakin was about to collapse under the stress that Obi-Wan had just forced on him. His master grabbed him and kept him on his feet but strained a little as he realised his age had got to him. Anakin got his breath and bearings back as he looked around at a world that had suddenly become more strange and perverse than it appeared when he first arrived. The words he wanted to speak couldn't form... his entire body seemed paralysed by shock.

Obi-Wan answered the question his apprentice could not ask. "As I said when we were on the ship," he said in a quiet voice, "the Dark Side was growing in you at the point you left your point in the timeline. After the battle on Geonosis it continued to manifest itself in you. You turned your back on the Jedi Order... You got too close to Palpatine who we didn't realise was the current Dark Lord of the Sith. Seducing you away from the light was easy by that point. I tried to confront you... but I could not save you. By the end of the battle you were barely alive. Palpatine resurrected you as 'Darth Vader'."

"So you left me for dead?" Anakin asked as the fires burned in his eyes. "And he turned me... what about Padmé?"
"She's dead, Anakin. She died not long after your turn. I brought your son to Tatooine for Owen to look after while Bail Organa took care of Leia as if she were his own. You didn't know about them... but the grief of losing you was too much for your wife."

What was left of Anakin's life had been shattered with that last words that Obi-Wan spoke. "What do I do, master?" he asked with sorry in his eyes. It was as if he had given up on everything... life, hope, the Force... "Please... tell me. What do I do?"

Obi-Wan put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I don't know. I wish I did. I don't believe you will be able to return. Time continued to exist as it was meant to even after you arrived here." Kenobi sighed. "If you had got back you would have remembered everything that you were told here and would have been able to stop your own fall... The fact that this hasn't happened leads me to believe that you are trapped."

"I'm glad you're trying to remain positive," Skywalker snapped. "Well, if I'm here as myself and as this 'Vader' then maybe I was split in two. Part of me remained... and became a Sith while the other arrived just in time to save your life."

"When you weren't meant to," his teacher interrupted. He motioned for Anakin to follow him. "Come, we must make preparations to leave in case the attack fails. The Jedi must survive." He turned back to see Anakin entering the hanger. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to make sure we don't fail!" he called back. "The Force is with me... I promised Leia I would destroy the Death Star and I'm going to fulfil that promise if it's the last thing I do!" And with those words he disappeared from Obi-Wan's sight. The old Jedi master chose not to follow. Anakin had made his decision... from this point on his destiny was in his own hands.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Anakin entered the hanger where the Incom T-65 vehicles were being fuelled he noticed Luke and Han having an argument. The boy stormed off angrily as Solo gave a mocking "may the Force be with you" to him. Anakin frowned but moved on to join his son who was talking to another man, slightly older than him, who was dressed in the pilot's uniform.

"Luke! I don't believe it! How'd you get here...are you going out with us?!" the dark haired man called out as Luke turned around to see him. They both seemed to know each other well as they embraced. They both looked pleased to see each other and Anakin felt a little wary about interrupting this reunion. As he approached them a tall, rugged pilot in his forties pushed passed. He turned and apologised to Anakin before addressing Luke.

"Are you...Luke Skywalker? Have you been checked out on the Incom T-sixty-five?" he asked before other other man, Biggs, reassured him that Skywalker was more than capable of handling himself. The squadren leader seemed most impressed. "I met your father once when I was just a boy, he was a great pilot. You'll do all right. If you've got half of your father's skill, you'll do better than all right."

Upon hearing this Anakin could not help but feel the ego boost. He joined in, resting himself on Luke's back. The farmboy turned around and pushed him away. "Hey!" he snapped as his father grinned.
"Where do I get one of these uniforms?" he asked. "I think it's time I got back into the cockpit. It feels like forever since I got some airtime. Well, maybe not forever. Say, twenty or so years." Luke looked at him suspiciously but Anakin kept the smile on his face. "What? What did I say?"

The leader pointed out a metal storage cupboard on the far side of the hanger where several other pilots were donning helmets that would help them survive if they were forced to eject during the battle. Anakin thanked 'Red Leader' and walked off. He was stopped before he had even made on step. The middle-aged pilot looked at him carefully. "Do I know you?"

"Let's just say the kid there's got half my skills," he winked as he walked off leaving the other man somewhat confused. Anakin wasn't sure what was going to happen from this point on but what the hell... at least he'd enjoy himself before he went. He looked at the bright orange uniform and grimaced before just taking a helmet. If he'd coped in a space battle with just one of these when he was nine he could do it again now.

He walked towards an X-wing into which Artoo was being carefully lowered and started to climb up the steps to see how his old droid was when he realised Luke was tugging at him. "Hey! This is my fighter!"
"Really?" retorted Anakin. "I don't see your name on it."

"I don't know who you are, but you're really annoying me." He pulled Anakin down from the X-wing and poked him in the chest aggressively. "You just appear from nowhere and expect us to trust you like Ben seems to. Then you start asking questions about my father... personal questions which I don't like to talk about..." He pushed Anakin back before his father replied with an even more violent shove. Luke continued, "then you start acting like you're someone I know before trying to steal my fighter! I don't know, I don't particularly want to know you. If I didn't know better I'd swear you were here just to punish me for something!"

"You want punishment?" Anakin shouted in reply. "How about suffering what I have to!"
"Suffer? You? Why? Because Leia rejected you? That's what I heard. Welcome to the club."
This was the last straw. "Rejected me? Somehow I don't think saw. You should have seen us back in that corridor. Believe me, she didn't reject me! Maybe you should get your facts together before you go spreading malicious rumours..." Before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by Luke's fist flying towards his face. He sensed it just in time and moved out of the way. The boy's hand collided with the metal hull of the X-wing. Anakin grabbed him and pushed him into a nearby wall, his hand wrapped around his throat. "Don't even think about it. I'm a Jedi... I know when people are trying to mess me around." He released Luke and pulled back. "If only you knew the truth! Obi-Wan doesn't even trust you with the real knowledge of your father!"

Luke moved away from the wall, rubbing his neck. "What do you mean?"
"Your father isn't dead. Far from it."
"Then where is he?"
"By my calculations, he's on the huge battle station heading towards us as we speak."
"What?!?"
"Darth Vader is your father!"
"I don't belive you! Your'e lying!"
"Believe what you want, Luke. I don't really care." Anakin frowned as he turned around to walk away. "Funny really... I always thought I'd get along with you. I guess we're too similar."
"What are you talking about?"
"Thanks to a bit of a mistake in the timelines you've got two fathers!"
"You're mad!" Luke spat.
"You want to know why I appeared from nowhere? You want to know why?"
"Why?"
"I'm your father too!"

Anakin stormed off and jumped into the X-wing into which Artoo had been firmly connected. He closed the canopy and began to the take-off sequence, pressing buttons on the front console. They were a lot like some of the fighters he had used back in his own time and so he understood the lay out pretty quickly. After putting his helmet on he glanced out of the window to see Luke hopping into a spare X-wing and doing the same. They both stared daggers at each other before flying out of the hanger.

All that could be be seen of the fortress was a lone Rebel guard standing on a small pedestal jutting out above the dense Yavin jungle. The muted gruesome crying sounds that naturally permeated the eerie forests were overwhelmed by the thundering din of ion rockets as a squadren of battle-ready starships catapulted from the foliage in a tight formation and disappeared into the morning cloud cover.

Anakin adjusted his weapons as he entered the atmosphere which shook his fighter slightly but he managed to adjust it to make the ride a lot easier. As they got into space they could see the Death Star slowly moving behind the massive yellow surface of Yavin in the foreground, as they flew in formation towards it. The squadren leader organised a roll call that went through each of the pilots. Anakin checked his read-out screen before identifying himself. "Red Five standing by." Several seconds later he heard Luke's agitated voice. "Red Eleven standing by."

"Lock S-foils in attack positions..." the voice over the intercom ordered and within seconds the Rebel fleet were battle ready. "We're passing through the magnetic field!" they were warned as the starfighters shuddered again. Anakin held on tight... it wasn't that different to his attack on the Federation Control Ship just this time he couldn't get inside the docking bay. He carefully scanned the surface of the Death Star as they moved in on the turbolasers which he knew would open fire within seconds.

"Let's do it!" he shouted into his speaker so that everyone in the squadren could hear him. He pushed the control stick forward, his thumb hovering just above the laser controls and began the attack run.