Title: Anakin's Paradox, Part 5

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 5 - Heroes and Villains
by Noggins

The squaron of X-wing and Y-wing fighters headed towards the huge Death Star battle station. It was as big as a small moon and could clearly be seen from the surface of Yavin IV which made its presence all the more intimidating. Almost all of the pilots got close to trembling with fear as they approached the target of their attack all except for two in particular.

Anakin Skywalker controlled his X-wing with ease and seemed calm but inside him he was angrier than he ever had been before. Angry at himself, at Obi-Wan and at his own son who was flying his own fighter just behind him in the close-knit formation they had found themselves in. Anakin kept thinking about how he had left Padmé back on Geonosis and how Obi-Wan had told her she was destined to die no matter what happened... that she was already dead. Then he started to flirt with the woman who turned out to be his own daughter - a fact which Obi-Wan had conveniently kept hidden from him. Then there was Luke...

The blonde haired farmboy turned good glanced through the glass cockpit window at the fighter that should have been his own. It was now being flown by a crazy Jedi who claimed he was his father and who Ben Kenobi had suddenly taken a liking to. After their heated argument back on Yavin Luke was becoming angrier and was fighting the urge to open fire on the Jedi who he had been told was called Qui-Gon Jinn.

"Look at the size of that thing," one of the pilots exlaimed as they got closer to the surface of the Death Star which seemed so much bigger the closer you were to it - almost unnaturaly so. Anakin gripped the control stick as he sped ahead of the rest of the group.

A voice called out over his intercom. "What are trying to Red Five?" it exclaimed. Anakin ignored it and got closer to the trench. Just seconds before it erupted, Anakin sensed that laserfire was about to engulf him. He switch his shields on full-front as the turbo-lasers mounted along the edge of the canal-like trench opened fire. He took the brunt of it before pressing the switch to activate his cannons.

Guided by the Force, all of Anakin's shots hit their targets, blowing them to pieces before the rest of the squaron could arrive to get him out of trouble. "Just dealing with this little problem for you all," he spoke into his helmet-mounted microphone. "Didn't look like any of you guys could see it coming." He admitted to himself that that was a half-lie. He didn't expect the onslaught to occur but he had made the jobs of the other pilots a lot easier.

"You could've got us killed with that stunt!" Luke called out to him.
"Believe me when I say I know how to pilot a starfighter, my friend!" Anakin retorted, sarcasm in his voice as he referred to Luke as 'friend'. He entered the trench, followed by the pilots taking part in first attack run. "I've actually been in the cockpit of one before, unlike you." He rushed passed the huge metal walls at a hellish speed reminding of his days as a podracer, moving through the Tatooine canyons and gorges. He turned his attention to further turbolaser mountings which he started to blast away. One caught him by surprise, hitting the top canopy. "That was close. You okay, Artoo?" he asked his droid.

He opened fire on the surface of the Death Star, ripping the bottom of the trench to shreds with a burst of flame. He pulled up just enough to avoid it before heading back on his original course. "Come on, join me down here!" he called to the Rebel pilots. "The weather's great down here!" He could barely hear his own voice over the sound of his engines and the laser blasts which erupted all around him.

Red Leader's X-wing came down just in front of him and took the lead once again. "Hey!" the young Jedi exclaimed but go no reply as the squaron leader began to issue orders to everyone as they got into the well-orchestrated attack which had been distrupted by Anakin's actions. He was about to say more when he felt a slight tremor in the Force. He looked at his sensors to see that three X-wings had been destroyed by the cannons as they tried to enter the artificial canyon.

"Maybe you should get out and let me take care of this," he told Red Leader. "The Force is with me. I can make the shot and we'll get of here in three minutes tops."

"You shouldn't be so proud of yourself, my apprentice..." Obi-Wan's voice ordered Anakin over the speakers.
"But it's true, master. You know it as well as I do that I could make this shot."
"And at the same time your arrogance could risk the lives of the other pilots. Be calm and if you wish to take part in this do as your are ordered."
"Are you trying to treat my like a child?" Anakin snapped. "Just like you did when you forgot to tell me about my own offspring? Thanks for your advice, master... but no thanks." He switched off his connection to the command centre and looked ahead.

*********

In the central part of the control centre, settled around a computer that caught the attention of anyone in the room, Leia looked up at Obi-Wan. He didn't seem to notice at first but finally turned to look at her. "His offspring?" she asked. "He has children? This wasn't about him falling to the Dark Side like you said... does... does he have a wife?"
"Time is a complicated thing," the Jedi said cryptically before continuing to gaze at the screen.

*********

Luke was the first to notice the Imperial TIE fighters coming in on their location. A Y-wing fighter was blown to pieces by two which had ganged up on it before heading for the rest of the group. The young farmboy flicked on the speakers so that he could speak to the others before it was too late. His palms were sweating under the gloves and his voiuce trembled as he first spoke. "We've got incoming fighters!"

Anakin checked the sensor readings and frowned. "This'll complicate things," he muttered.