Disclaimer: All non-original characters and ideas mentioned here is SW material, not owned by me. Like countless others, I'm just playing in the Lucas Universe, inspired by Episode 3. Asaajj Ventress is from the Clone Wars micro series, not my mind.

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Always Two

>

In the time he had spent both fighting and commanding the Clone War that had ravaged the galaxy for two years past, Anakin Skywalker had faced many dangerous opponents- most of them a good stretch older than he was. That the thin-limbed Force-user known as Asaajj Ventress stood out was testimony to how close her deadly technique had come to being the death of him.

As much as he disliked recalling that era, Vader remembered the fight well. As dark side assassin, Ventress was gifted with a supernatural agility exacerbated by her thin frame, and wielded two lightsabers of the same style her former mentor, Count Dooku, had. By linking the two identical weapons together, as she had done while battling Anakin Skywalker, she could create a double-edged saber, which she had proved equally adept with.

Now those two sabers shone through the eyes of Kahl Gonak, their penetration burning progressively wider holes in his handsome face. Asaajj still stood on the rock pillar as if frozen in time, with her curved saber handles positioned at opposite angles to emit their light directly into the rear of the dead Forgotten's skull.

Once the sand cloud had dissipated completely, she reacted to Vader as if just noticing he was there, moving both her sabers out of the corpse and letting it slide off the column and onto Vader's feet like a marionette with its strings cut.

Then Ventress reacted with something approaching delight, although that was an emotion as foreign to her as it was to Vader. "Oh my. It's even worse than I imagined."

As it had done before, Ventress' voice irritated with its broken-glass raspiness, making her sound like a snake with a sore throat. She jumped down from her perch and peered closer at Vader's helmet, completely enjoying the sight of her former rival squeezed into a mechanical suit of misery. "Time has not been kind to you at all, Skywalker."

Remembering his training, he crushed the fury that welled up back into his gut and instead spoke calmly, still keeping his saber ready to slice the female Rattatak to pieces at the slightest provocation. "Do not speak that name to me. It tries my patience."

He might as well not have bothered- Ventress had her sabers ready to go as well, and there was no way to hide the labored breathing, the sparks spitting from the left shoulder beneath the black plating- both signs that he had lost a great deal of energy battling Kahl Gonak. Even the Force had limits. Or rather, this crude matter has limits with regards to drawing upon the Force.

"I do wish I hadn't already taken a job that requires you to stay alive", she said regretfully, still looking and sounding very pleased with herself for having caught Vader in such a position. "Maybe I should just forfeit it and get my revenge anyway- that helmet would make such a fine trophy in my new home."

"You may try", Vader echoed back menacingly. "You will not succeed. And it is pointless for us to settle our grievances now- you are only a nuisance in the way of my true mission."

"Oh, really?" Vader had already left in the direction of the Shadow Hunter at a brisk pace, but she intercepted him with no trouble. "I believe it was I who killed that young upstart, not you, Skywalker. I saved your life."

Under his helmet, he fumed. Ventress had already found a new way to annoy him besides her quavery voice, which always dragged the 'S' of his old name out into a venomous hiss. "Who was it that told you? They are very unfortunate beings… or very stupid."

Ventress didn't flinch. "My anonymous employer. He sent me to save your pathetic behind, and to kill anyone else who might try to kill you."

Vader stopped his advance for just moment, considering. Ventress was brazenly protecting the man she hated- the man who had nearly killed her. This 'employer' of Ventress' must have promised her a fortune, or something beyond the value of credits to work such a change in her. Who?

Imperceptibly thanks to his mask, Vader shook his head. "That is none of my concern. I have my own mission- to slay the Forgotten Ones- and I do not care whether you wish to protect me or kill me."

"And you've done such a good job so far", Ventress replied sarcastically, again moving to block his way. "If I'd delayed one more second, you would be buried beneath twenty tons of vicious mud. Of mud, Skywalker. You try to think of a more embarrassing death."

"I could think of one for you if you insist on badgering me", Vader scowled back, regaining some of his former strength via the risk of unbridled hatred. "My stamina is not as easily depleted as the Emperor's- you merely accelerated the process I would have finished."

As if to demonstrate, this time he pushed Ventress roughly aside and strode further towards the boarding ramp of the Shadow Hunter. While the tremors had shaken up the surrounding area, the ship's pointed stabilizers had kept it from toppling over. That would have just been more embarrassing material with which Ventress could taunt him.

Only the vacuum of space would be able to put the sting of this humiliation behind him, and the trial was just beginning.

>

The trip to the Polith system's primary jump point gave all the time required for Vader's anger to subside to a more manageable level of reason. He had felt the memory of the Force energies involved in his battle on Chorax, and could now privately admit that he had not fared as expected.

This was frustrating, because he also had the memory of the Force surging through his sinews at a far more impressive rate- one that could have destroyed Kahl Gonak without any help. Much of the flesh was no longer there, and the mechanics that had replaced it did not channel the energy nearly as well. It was as though he had been partially stripped of his abilities, and there was no real guarantee how or when he could ever get the power back again.

Thyferra's serene green sphere flew past his main view port, and another thought occurred to Vader. I was unconscious for a long time after the incident. Why did my master not use Bacta to heal my wounds? I have seen Clone Troopers injured nearly as badly as I was healed back from the brink of death by that liquid. Half the mechanics I have now would not have been needed then.

There was only one probable answer that he could think of- to limit his apprentices' power. Even before he had run into the Chancellor's office before, he had felt Master Windu's power competing with the incredible nova of eclipsing darkness that was his master's energy. While it was true that nova had been greater than Windu's, and Master Yoda's as well, it was still a comprehensible level of power for the Chosen One.

In the aftermath, his Master was still resting, slowly replenishing his strength from two consecutive encounters with Jedi Masters. It would be weeks still, before his powers returned to their peak, that of the carefully stored geyser of unstoppable power he'd killed Windu's allies with, and then fried the Master as well.

But not without difficulty, and not without his apprentice's help.

So that's it then, Vader mused bitterly, he fitted me with as many mechanics as possible to hamper my powers, out of fear that they would surpass his own, or that I might even try to usurp him while his powers were drained. The Emperor's power is like a loaded dam- unbeatable when unleashed, but once depleted, it takes weeks to build up again. That is why he spends so much time in meditation these days.

Vader's own mediation was disturbed just then, and his tensions with Palpatine were replaced with an ancient Sith curse direct toward Asaajj Ventress- her wearied amusement was close enough so that she had to be in a ship nearby.

Not particularly caring who else heard, Vader punched his comm. and projected pure ire into his voice- if he could have choked Ventress from that distance, he would have done so. "I warned you to stay out of my way. I will not tell you again."

Her response came back to his ship just as quickly, and with no small measure of her own irritation thrown in. "And I told you that I've been charged with making sure the Forgotten don't eat you alive, Skywalker. You're getting my protection whether you like it or not."

"Most certainly 'not'. Leave me alone. I do not require your protection to accomplish my trial."

Raspy laughter lit up his instruments, which surprised him- Ventress had never laughed or expressed amusement before now. A childhood on that war-torn inferno called Rattatak brought with it too much trauma for such merriment.

"Get real, Skywalker. Four renegade Jedi, each of them as strong as me? I knew you were egotistical when we first met, but you just don't seem to realize how weak you are now, and that will cost us both if you attack another one of the Forgotten without backup!"

The anonymity of my mask has its benefits, Lord Vader decided. Less than a handful of living beings would dare speak to him that way even if they didn't know him. Asaajj knew who he really was, and was a powerful Dark Jedi in her own right. And what she offers now has some merit, at least until I adjust to this. Until then, she may actually be stronger.

"Then I will show you that my accident has not weakened me, Ventress. If you wish to serve me so badly, I will send the data for one of the Forgotten Jedi to your ship. You will kill one, and I will kill one, and my task will be completed that much sooner. Agreed?"

He could tell that a protest was on her black lips, but she had also seen enough of Anakin Skywalker to know she wasn't going to get a better offer. "Agreed. Send me the information."

"And you will stop calling me Skywalker from now on."

More raspy hissing that made her sound more like a Barabel. "We shall see. Maybe if you can kill yours before I kill mine."

By uplinking with the source of Ventress' words, Shadow Hunter gave its master more information on her spacecraft than it gave away. Confirming his intuition that Ventress had used a snub fighter to sneak onto Chorax, Vader skimmed through the data and returned to the file on his own target.

Forgotten Jedi, Reyne A'kla, Female Camaasi from Obroa-Skai

I have never made much of the Camaasi as a people. The political weapon that is the identity of those who nearly destroyed them before is far more useful than anything these pathetic pacifists are capable of- it keeps the Bothans in check.

But this Reyne A'kla may be different. Being born on the library world, her parents raised her not only to add as much knowledge to their genetic memory as she could, but to slowly cultivate her gift with the Force away from the eyes of the Order. In doing so, they planted the seeds of their own destruction in their little girl.

My spies have failed me in the task of discovering the true depth of Reyne's power- they all returned without even remembering when or why they were there on the colony world of Ichosar. In some cases, they did not even remember who they were before they were punished. Clearly, Reyne's powers have grown since then... Kill her, and quickly.

Now able to see Ventress' fighter retrieved by its drive ring and funneled into the light of hyperspace, Vader sighed in vexation over his mechanical respirator. He had sent Ventress the file on the Forgotten Jedi that was farthest away from the galactic core, practically next door to the Unknown Regions. A Gand Findsman named Zurxix, who had last been sighted near Helska 4 and moving even further out of the galaxy for some reason. Asaajj Ventress would not be bothering him again for at least a week, he was sure of that.

In the meantime, he had a Camaasi woman to hunt down, and less than the aforementioned chunk of time to do it in, if he wanted to prove that the power of the Chosen One had not disappeared along with half his flesh.

This is a dare that I will win, if only to show that accursed woman how wrong she is.

>

His first hint that something was wrong came when Vader saw Ichosar's orbital satellite. Or more precisely, its remains.

Ichosar was not a planet he had ever heard of or traveled to before, but what little information he had gleaned from the holonet indicated that the colony world was known as an attention seeker, if such could be said about the population of a planet.

Being small and out-of-the-way as they came, Ichosar had never been given any representation in the Old Republic and would not carry much power in the new Empire either. The planet was constantly being amended as a sort of add-on nation to its closest neighbor, the more heavily populated- and more beautiful- planet of Chandrila. Chandrila did have a Senator in the Republic, and a popular one at that.

All the same, Ichosar's government had been recorded making greater and greater attempts to draw the Republic's attention to it with elaborate schemes such as this Comstar station to make Ichosar an important communications hub in the galaxy. They had tried again during the Clone Wars by building dozens of grandiose training academies for the Republics' new army, missing the fact that a Clone Army was trained right from birth.

Now the expensive result of one of Ichosar's big publicity stunts had been turned into space junk, and Vader saw no ship nearby that could have done it. The Comstar could have been destroyed days earlier, and no one would have even noticed.

Vader took the Shadow Hunter right through the debris cloud, getting closer to the planet's flat green surface. Finding Reyne A'kla at the two cities here would be harder than tracking down a singleton individual on a hideout like Chorax or Helska, and he was fairly certain the Camaasi would not carelessly give away her presence to Vader as young Gonak had done- the records said nothing of her having any experience with a lightsaber or levitation.

Then again, he really didn't know what kind of powers she did have. Being from a race that detested violence, A'kla might well try to cloak her presence as the Emperor had done in the past. She may hide all she wants, but she will not escape.

A triangle of tall antennae from the planet's main comm. tower reminded him that there were other sources he could access once he landed. "Ichosar Prime, this is Lord Vader of the Galactic Empire coming in for a landing. Do you read me?"

Utter silence over the channel. Not even the noisy crackle of fried radonics that might have resulted from the destruction of the planet's Comstar.

"Ichosar Prime, do you copy? Secure landing pad 12 for my craft. Do you copy?"

Strange. I can feel people down there, but none of them possess any sort of transmission system. No matter- I will simply land where I wish.

He would have his choice, as well; only a few dirty-looking ships occupied the fifteen pads ringing Ichosar Prime's central spaceport, nothing larger than his own ship. Drawing closer, he could confirm with his eyes what his other senses had already told him- there were people down here, they had simply chosen to ignore his transmissions.

Momentarily irked, he forced it down and exited the Shadow Hunter at a brisk march, ready to confront the first person he saw in the main lobby as to Reyne's whereabouts… as well as why it seemed the capital city was devoid of droids, or any kind of machinery more complex than the hydraulics to the doors that opened before him. It was getting eerie.

Why would Reyne A'kla come to a dump like this? If her background was accurate, Vader would have expected her to travel to Koornacht or Eriadu or even Coruscant; not a tiny, out-of-the-way little hub like this. Mentally, he added that onto a grab bag of questions he would get out of the first planetary official he found by any means.

Ten minutes later, he gave up trying to find an official and just pointed to a sandy-haired man to get his attention. The man had a strange look about him, reacting with a small 'oooh', as though he was a child fascinated by the mere sight of Vader's black armor.

"You there", he said, "I must find Reyne A'kla, a Camaasi. Can you tell me where to find her?"

The man stared at the shiny parts of the armor a bit longer, not comprehending Vader at all.

"Listen to me. I must find Reyne A'kla. Your communications grid is completely shot. Do you understand?"

This repetition had been the limit of his patience. Thankfully, the man did respond, though not in any form of communication Vader knew of. He smiled and spoke in short syllables, each of them without pitch or variation except for their structure:

"Mo Ra Zu Ya To Li."

Vader began to suspect that this man was handicapped in some way- he had seen a few victims of neural shock in Coruscant's emergency wards before, some that couldn't string together a sentence, their brains had been so badly fried. But this man's eyes not blank, and he did not twitch.

He would try once more, this time applying a notable amount of pressure on the man's larynx.

"No. Speak basic. I must find Reyne A'kla at once. If you do not know, then tell me where your governor resides."

"To He Ga No Ru La Mu Ka Ta."

Deciding the galaxy would not greatly miss a man so incurably retarded he could no longer speak or understand basic, Vader slowly applied the other half of his power and watched the man choke. He had never done this in public before, and so he expected to have the handful of people around him shriek in horror at the sight of this man clutching his throat, gasping for breath… but it would get people to pay attention to him.

No one seemed to notice. They just continued to walk the streets, most not even giving them a second glance as the man he'd been choking collapsed on the duracrete.

Knowing that something was very wrong with this city, or at least its inhabitants, Vader expanded his senses outwards at the expense of sight. Something unusual about their minds, he observed once he had felt about twelve others in a city block. He did not have as much experience with the mind-influencing aspects of the Force as his former teacher- something about it had just struck him as wrong. But the further out his senses expanded, the more he began to realize that was exactly what aspect was at work here.

None of them spoke basic; only a torrent of syllables from the next man he tried to talk to, an older man he would have expected to be less childish than the first. "Na Shu Ra Lo Pa."

Whatever this babble meant, it had to be some form of language; he'd seen others whispering to one another in the same dialect. So he opened the mind of the elder man slowly, trying to pry out his way of speaking… and nearly fell over in shock.

There was nothing there. He'd only done this a few times before, during missions with Obi Wan, but each time the complete memory of a sentient being was so complex as to overwhelm Jedi senses. Memories of images, feelings, smells and sounds all cumulated into a flood of sensory data that he had always found difficult to navigate for what he was looking for.

Not so this time. This man's mind, like the one before him, was no more advanced than a newborn's. The knowledge of the language was burned into it unforgettably, along with a couple of other basic things.

Newborns, he shuddered, newborns in adult bodies, all of them. What in the galaxy has Reyne A'kla done to these people?

Hesitant to dive completely into the man's consciousness in fear that the stupidity might somehow 'infect' him, he was still able to impart the knowledge that would allow him to find that out.

I pray to the Force that no one ever records this. It will be bad enough bearing the memory of my use of this language myself…

>

M: A couple of things to keep in mind concerning problems with Vader's character in this story- it is set only about a month after Episode 3, and thus he hasn't completely become the rock-hard Sith Lord we see in the original trilogy. He is still pretty young, and thus still behaves a bit more like the Episode 3 Anakin Skywalker, childish the same way Naked Snake from MGS3 is childish. REVIEW.

If anyone is confused on the title of this chapter, it's from 'Always Two there are: a master and an apprentice.'