Author's Note (5/4/07): Although I still intend to finish this story someday, I have decided that it needs a major overhaul. There are some things that I still like about it, but over time some parts have started to seem far too melodramatic and the characterizations feel inconsistent in certain places. The multiple viewpoints make the different plotlines hard to manage, and I am considering that it might be better to only show the events as Tahiri and Anakin see them. The story also begins in the middle. Since the plot has gotten more complicated, that doesn't seem like the right place to start anymore.
For now, I have re-edited each chapter in an attempt to remove or replace the parts that bothered me the most. I am keeping my replies to the comments on the original versions of the chapters, even though they are somewhat changed now. In the future, I will probably go back and change the story further and it will most likely end up being reposted.
Timeframe: Takes place after the YJK series. The events that bring some OT and prequel era characters back occur when Anakin Solo is 15.
Characters: Anakin Solo, Tahiri Veila, Jaina Solo, Jacen Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Luke Skywalker, Siri Tachi, Palpatine, Brakiss, Xanatos, and numerous original characters have appeared so far. Anakin Skywalker, Leia, Han, Zekk, Bant Eerin, Mara Jade, and others will be seen in the future.
Genre: alternate universe, drama, adventure, some humor
Credits: Thanks to Xeana, who beta-ed the first three or so sections (as posted here) for me.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Wars universe.
Anakin Solo muttered uneasily as vague images moved through his dreams. Himself and others running, trying to escape. Fighting a whirlwind of yammering figures that suddenly appeared to block the scratched durasteel doors of a huge room, leaping too far in pursuit-- the sudden, unbelievable, incomprehensible pain as he crashed into a wall, rebounded, and plummeted to the ground.
And then there was the chaotic impression of some huge fiery creature taking hold of him, scratching with acidic claws.
Slowly, he regained consciousness. The pain was still there, though it was dulled. Maybe he had been given painkillers of some sort. The first sound he became aware of was a harsh, measured gasping noise—one that he'd heard only in historical documentaries on the holovid.
Vader?
Instinct took over. Anakin only recognized the noise as a threat, not reasoning whether its source could possibly still exist.
Anakin remained completely still, partly to assess the situation and partly because he somehow felt that he couldn't be seen so long as he made no movement. Tentatively, he scanned his surroundings with the Force.
It was difficult work due to the fact that he had to shield himself carefully. Shrouding his usage of the Force had become nearly second nature, but it required intense concentration.
He searched for signs of heat outside himself. Trying to sense minds would only alert any Force sensitive his probe came into contact with. No heat signatures he detected seemed to be the kind that might be given off by a living being, even a mostly cybernetic one. However, Anakin couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very wrong here, that there was some possibly dangerous anomaly.
Anakin opened his eyes slightly, then more fully as the blurry picture revealed there was no one else in the room. A rather large amount of medical equipment was neatly arranged near the bed where he now lay.
This must be an infirmary of some sort, then. That wasn't too surprising since he ached severely from whatever had happened to him in the last moments he could recall.
Attempting to sit up, he found his movement restricted by a bulky, plasteel-armored outfit. Black armor. This was too familiar. Anakin's unease grew. He examined the armor, trying to sense how to remove it. He wasn't sure how he intended to escape from the installation-- which must still be the Chkenna Indoctrination and Training Center he'd grown to know and hate-- but he was strangely desperate to be rid of this thing. It wasn't just the connection to the last being he knew of who'd worn such a thing. Something else was wrong, something that his conscious mind hadn't quite grasped yet.
As he reached out to sense it, the apprehension turned to panic. There was no way to remove the—machinery. It wasn't just an imitation. That constant, maddening rasping sound was coming from him, not from a former Sith returned from the grave.
Disorientation and fear gripped his mind, but one thought emerged clearly. Anakin should have realized it couldn't be his grandfather, who had turned back to the Light before his death. He wouldn't have been likely to sense any threat from the man—and should have expected the presence to be benign, if anything.
Memories of the recent past were hazy. There had been a group escape attempt, Anakin remembered that much. The plan had been mostly his idea. It must not have been a very good one.
What had happened to the others? He hoped they had survived and escaped, but nevertheless felt a sense of dread. Palpatine was determined to turn Anakin's strength in the Force to his own purposes, and Anakin doubted the Sith would admit defeat by having him killed. However, the others had no such assurances. Numerous executions were seen as an efficient way of keeping order. Anakin gritted his teeth. He had been at the least risk of any of them, and some flaw of his planning may have lead to their deaths.
"The others" was not the most accurate way to think of them. Truthfully, they were friends. They had worked together, laughed together, risked everything to help and protect each other. It was just hard to think of them as friends, when friends were meant to be permanent. In this environment, life was never certain from one day to the next.
Random moments with them often became fixed in his mind, as though keeping the memory of every ordinary event might somehow prevent the loss of the people involved. Even now, these were the clearest images he could recall. Ystas bandaging the cut that he had insisted was too minor to require medical attention (it was.) Varsha trying to set an example by picking at a plate of what passed for food (it wasn't.) Phelan claiming that he had been marked for death by technology everywhere (he probably had been.) Orinda claiming that she had not been intentionally placing her made-of-trash sculpture where innocent passerby would trip over it (she probably had not been.) Delbin showing a new trainee that it was possible to wield a lightsaber without losing a limb (he could.) Taveiran attempting to sing "I Am the Bantha" in tune (he couldn't.)
Somehow, everything had gone wrong. Anakin did not know how he would deal with it if anything had happened to the others because of his bad planning. They had deserved so much better.
The hissing of the respirator scattered his concentration, and he lost the thought. It was easier to stop thinking at all, and eventually sleep returned.