11

Anakin Skywalker stood quietly on a small ridge overlooking the Borderlands, hands deeply embedded in his pockets. The air was rank with the stench of battle and carrion birds, acting on instinct long unneeded, were circling above. He felt Obi-Wan approach and spoke without turning.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"I doubt anyone feels good about this situation, but I think we may be able to keep it under control. After all, it's not like we can die again."

"When did you become an optimist?" Anakin turned his head slightly to regard the older Jedi, "and how can I turn you back?"

"Very funny, Anakin." Obi-Wan smiled slightly before turning serious and laying a hand on Anakin's upper arm, "I'm afraid I may have some bad news."

Anakin whirled on his companion, "My grandson?"

"He's fine, but he can't stay with the non-Jedi combatants." Anakin looked away, but Obi-Wan grasped his sleeve and turned the blonde man to face him. "The winds have changed, and the creatures are being beaten back. The Sith are advancing, keeping their distance from their pets and we need all the help we can get to face them. We're calling in all the fighters who're not desperately needed on the western front." He couldn't stop the concern from spreading across his face at the ice in Anakin's eyes, "It's a perfectly logical move, my friend. One you would-"

Anakin waved his hand sharply, cutting him off, "We're talking about my family, Obi-Wan, logic has nothing to do with it."

Obi-Wan sighed and stepped back a pace, "I know. At least we'll be together for this. You can protect them, should you feel the need to."

Anakin had turned his back to Obi-Wan, but the sudden tension showed in the knotted muscles in his back. "Padmé too?"

"Yes."

"And Owen?"

"Yes…all of us. I know it may be hard, but we've all fought before. They wouldn't send novices to the front."

"You obviously have more faith in the Council than I do."

Obi-Wan ignored Anakin's biting tone, "We've been placed together in a unit. The way Qui-Gon and I have planned it, the Jedi would be on the outside, and the non-Jedi protected behind us."

"Hm." Anakin squatted on the very edge of the ridge, bowing his head and lacing his fingers behind his neck. "Something's gonna happen tonight, Obi-Wan."

"What do you see?" Obi-Wan knelt beside him, frowning. Anakin rarely sounded so…skittish.

"I see blood, and pain…I see battle and death…I see the Sith we've fought coming for revenge…" He hesitated, and in the lengthening shadows of the sunset, Obi-Wan saw him bite his lower lip. "I see…I'm not quite sure what comes next…but it's bright, and cold, and then it burns like a thousand suns…"

Obi-Wan laid his hand on Anakin's back and felt a shiver ripple up his spine. Behind him, he heard a few *pop*s of displaced air, and felt Qui-Gon approach with the rest of their unit in tow.

He frowned at Anakin's shivering form, "Anything wrong?"

Anakin stood, running a hand through his cropped hair and shook his head. Qui-Gon nodded; there was something wrong, Anakin just didn't want to speak of it.

The air shivered around them, and the terrible stench grew bolder. It smelled of rot, decay, blood. Ahead they could see a great wave of darkness growing closer. Padmé stepped closer to her husband, raising her pike self-consciously. None of the combatants used energy weapons. Even if there were any, it would be too easy for the Sith to turn the destructive beams back on the ones who had fired them. It would come down to hand-to-hand.

Anakin Solo swallowed nervously, hand lingering at his hip. "What I wouldn't give for my saber."

His grandfather nodded. "Stay close to me."

Obi-Wan spoke, still watching the approaching army, "Did you see anything specific, Anakin?"

"No."

Obi-Wan nodded once, "Then I'm going to take the liberty of saying that we shouldn't worry. We'll make it through this storm, just as we have weathered others."

Qui-Gon smiled at his friend, "Well spoken, Obi-Wan." He too was watching the darkness advance. "Stay together, and we will- What in Space?!"

A scream ripped through the air, and the Jedi flinched from the waves of pure darkness that poured out from the right.

"The Creatures!" Anakin screamed, throwing his arm across his grandson's chest protectively, shoving him into his shadow. The onslaught on fangs and claws was parried by bright beams of light. A Vitsa hissed maliciously and lunged for Obi-Wan's unprotected back, only to be clocked over the head by Bail. Anakin stayed in his grandfather's shadow, strengthening his blows and aiding his defense. Padmé stood with Owen and Beru, protecting the backs and flanks of their Jedi friends with their pikes. There was no time for strategy…only for instinct.

Slowly, very slowly, the creatures were pushed back. Inch by inch, they forced the monsters into retreat.

Bail screamed, "Behind you, Anakin!"

Padmé whirled to defend her husband, but her weapon passed through the enemy cleanly.

The Sith had arrived.

Coalescing into a solid form, the Sith cackled and released a barrage of Force Lightning, and cursed when it was blocked by a spear of light. Anakin, snarling, Force-punched the Sith off the ridge and away from his wife, who calmed him with a touch.

He jerked upright and screamed, "Anakin, to me!"

The young man leapt to his grandfathers side, and the tongue of Force Lightning that had been aimed at him struck the ground instead.

"Palpatine!" Anakin spat, hands glowing with power. His grandson turned pale and took a step back.

The air grew still. Not calm, no, it was too eerie to be called calm. It was the still of a hurricane's eye. Three triangles of combatants faced each other.

Jedi.

Sith.

Creature.

A hissing laugh drew the attention of all present. The Vitru leapt nimbly to the front line of its troops and cracked its tail like a whip. Anakin felt Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stiffen and send simultaneous questioning thoughts to him.

This is the thing that attacked you?

Yes. Anakin shivered, but held firm. Without conscious thought, his form changed from a nineteen year old Padawan to a twenty-three year old Knight. His hair brushed his ears as it grew and his robes shifted to accommodate his additional muscle. He grew an additional inch or two and felt a scar burn down the side of his face.

The Vitru smiled coldly, greed gleaming in its eyes as it regarded Anakin and his grandson. A red glow grew around it, countering the Sith's darkness and the Jedi's blue glow.

Without warning, without speech or snarl, the Vitru leapt at the Jedi.

At the same instant, the Sith unleashed their fury at their pets.

And as one, the Jedi brought their might to bear on the Sith.

Red and blue and black mixed, merged, annihilated each other.

The dimension shivered, screamed, buckled, and snapped.

An instant later, the carrion birds descended, but found nothing where the eight Jedi, eight Sith, and eight Creatures had been fighting.

Calm descended once more.