Title: "Transcend Force"

Author: Shaitanah

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Before ANH (Republic episodes – a month after AOTC)

Summary: Shortly before Episode IV Darth Vader is sent on a mission to the remote planet of Luki IV. + Anakin & Obi-Wan just can't go on without another fight!

Disclaimer: Star Wars belong to a genius, i.e. George Lucas. I only wish I owned Anakin/Vader! ;)

A/N: Looks like you just can't stay away from Star Wars characters if you write a Star Wars story! & people, thank you for reading my story even if you don't review. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate reviews! So please, tell me what you think. & sorry for the delay. I had trouble uploading this chapter. Thank you for your patience!

Chapter 6

SORROW

They often mistook her for a handmaiden: active, straightforward, Princess Leia of Alderaan had no touch of aristocratic arrogance in the least. Being a foster child, she never knew her real parents but now that she thought of it, she'd never have traded 19 years in the House of Organa for uncertainty. She loved her parents fiercely, anxiously; the thought of leaving them for such a dangerous mission saddened her deeply.

Leia discovered the fact of the Death Star having been constructed while on a charity mission to a blocked planet. She could hardly believe it. The Death Star should become the final tool of the government. Fear would keep everyone in line. This wasn't to be done! The heads of the Rebellion ran an emergency conference and agreed to send Kyle Katarn on a mission to the planet of Danuta to get the data. Combined with the Death Star's technical characteristics it would be priceless.

Katarn was one of the deftest and most cunning rebel fighters, a former Imperial who hated the Empire almost as passionately as Palpatine hated the Alliance. Leia trusted him to succeed. They agreed to meet by the Toprawa System. Noone would suspect a diplomatic cruiser from Alderaan. Alderaan was a peaceful planet with no regular army, the final shelter for democratic refugees but not a threat in the eyes of the Emperor. Or so Leia would like to hope.

Her foster father was sitting in the palace garden by the fountain, glaring thoughtfully at the bright jets. The sight of it brought peace to Leia's heart. She hugged him from the back and planted a gentle kiss on his temple.

"I must go".

"Already?"

"Yes. I've just received a transmission from Mon Mothma. It is time".

She didn't want the parting to be long and painful. Mom would certainly burst in tears. Leia kissed her father again and ran inside the palace to find the Queen.

Bail watched her until her ghost-like shape disappeared behind the columns. It was amazing how much she looked like her mother. Not Queen Breha, though Leia certainly inherited some of Alderaanian royal beauty, he chuckled, but her real mother, Senator Amidala from Naboo. Especially now: so determined, so self-confident and so fragile at the same time. Padme wanted to fight till the end. Bail remembered how she pulled him back in the Senate and told him to wait. It was her idea to found the Rebellion, or at least, it was her idea to create an idea. To feed the Hope.

Leia's rosy face framed with two tight buns over the ears flashed by the window for a moment. Amidala loved the same hairstyle. Bail sighed. He lived with a heartbreak of losing a friend, loyal allies, democracy he had fought so hard to preserve. Losing a daughter was his greatest fear. It made him wake up night after night, hearing a powerful mechanical hiss in the dark. He must have been the only man alive apart from the Emperor who knew who Darth Vader was. And he feared that the black knight would come for him and make him pay. They encountered each other from time to time and something crashed inside Organa each time he laid his eyes upon the Dark Lord. His thoughts dwelt on the love that had died, on secrets that had been kept, on Kenobi who must have still lived anonymous on Tatooine.

Sometimes he looked at Leia and noticed how much she resembled Padme, and he was afraid that the Dark Lord would also find the similarity. He'd know it all in that instant. "She's mine", he'd say and he'd take Leia away from him. But she would never join him and he would probably slaughter her out of malice.

'He might be looking for a son', Bail tried to reason. No, Skywalker told Padme it'd be a girl. That's what she said on her deathbed, picking a name. the Sith Lord would seek a girl.

Aboard her cruiser, Tantive IV, Princess Leia was also thinking about her family. She loved them all dearly; in her heart a dreadful feeling was swelling like a throbbing wound: she would never see them again.

"Your Highness", Captain Antilles called her. "Bad news from Luki. Woot is dead, he had no time to transmit the data to our headquarters. We're losing the TF, I'm afraid".

"There's got to be another way", Leia murmured. Bad start for a mission. "What of Vader?"

"That's another bad news". Antilles paused, uncertain. "He's missing".

Obi-Wan reached out to the Force determined to make a contact. The Force went numb. He didn't get a reply. The Force had left him.

Something stirred inside Obi-Wan. He felt like he'd failed his former Master again. Again, and again, and again. Things like that took place in every Jedi's life from time to time. The contact should restore later.

Nonetheless, Obi-Wan panicked.

He promised Anakin to explore the phenomenon of the little orange planet, but he couldn't. his emotions perplexed him: he grew envious of Skywalker's uncanny abilities. That was the one who never lost his gift!

"I think this moon has a very peculiar influence on outlanders", Anakin presumed. "It doesn't affect those who live here constantly or just for a longer while".

"What do you mean?"

Anakin burst into confusing theories. Obi-Wan dropped his head on his elbows. The pressure within his brain grew harder. Where was the Force when he needed it so much? All around him as usual, yet it became utterly intangible.

"This is ridiculous!" Kenobi blurted out, ignoring the bonecrushing noise in his skull.

"How else would you explain that you've been sitting here all day, whining and moaning instead of trying to get us out of here?"

The Jedi Master took a deep breath, willing to end this with all his heart. Instead, he fell down on his sofa and buried his face in a pile of pillows. Something inside him pulled him back. Some part of a Jedi within him died.

He heard the door slam shut behind Anakin.

Jedi are not infallible. We are not perfect. But we try the best we can. Obi-Wan's behaviour was impermissible. A relentless thought pursued Anakin: the planet had turned the tables. He was grown-up now and Obi-Wan transformed into a youngling.

"How come it does not affect you?" Kenobi inquired. He rushed out of their premises and was eyeing him grudgingly at the moment. "Is that because of that you're the Chosen One, huh? You do have a good excuse every time!"

"I did not ask for this!" Skywalker snapped. The same old song over and over again. "You're holding me back, you nag at me – because of what? Of that stupid old prophecy composed by a bunch of Jedi fools? You're just jealous because it's not about you!" Kenobi opened his mouth to object, but Anakin went on fuming: "Ever since we got here I've been trying to do a research, to get us out somehow. What have you been doing? Sleeping, whining, shouting at me? I'm so fed up with you, Master Obi-Wan! You can't even imagine how much!"

That excruciating outburst separated them from each other for a very long time. Anakin didn't feel like talking to his mentor again. Obi-Wan really pissed him off.

He fled to a neat café in the downtown and sipped local alcoholic lemonade to zap his exasperation. Obi-Wan never believed in him. Overly critical, grumpy, boring Jedi aimed to imbalance him, to disrupt his equilibrium with the Force and thus make him a lesser Jedi. Anakin was now certain: Kenobi never wanted his learner to succeed, never to become a Knight. 'I'm a better Jedi than him", thought Anakin grimly. "I already am".

A slender shade slipped on the chair by his side. Anakin raised his head to tell the person out, but words didn't come out. He smiled happily; his mood lightened up.

"Hey, master Skywalker", Vere winked at him. 'How's it going?"

"Not good… I had a row with a close friend of mine. Ah, but you're not interested in that".

Vere's warm fingers intertwined with his. Anakin was glad to see her. They talked for a long time and once again all troubles became unimportant. Her presence was soothing. It frightened Anakin: only Padme made him feel like that.

"I see that you're very far from me", Vere commented softly. Anakin sighed apologetically. She got up and pulled him by the sleeve. "Come on, I wanna show you something".

He followed her, puzzled but amused. The Force swirled around him. It seemed to him for a split second that he and Vere were walking through a blazing tunnel. He'd never felt that bound to the Force as if he were swimming in its depths.

Vere took him to the base. There was a spacious room with hospital-white walls and long grey tables stretched along them. Piles of medical charts towered amid chemical measuring-glasses, test tubes and a couple of incense burners. Strange smell cloyed the air.

"I like to come here to escape the bitters of life", said Vere, waving around the lodging. "You could tell me here".

Anakin snorted. Pour out his feelings? In this lab? To a woman he hardly knew? That wasn't something he would ever do. Nevertheless, Anakin took a deep breath and said:

"I've had my fill, you see. Of him, of this life… I used to think it fit me in every way, but a couple of months ago we had this business… I can't tell you what, but I met someone as a result of it… someone I knew a very long time ago. I fell in love. She loved me back. We got married. But that's exactly what I should never have done! Because attachment… attachment's forbidden!"

"Are you a Jedi?" Vere asked quietly. His head dropped. She made a simple guess, but he could neither confirm, nor contradict it. "Alright then, who's he?"

"He's my…" Anakin hesitated, struggling to choose a proper definition. "A friend, more of a mentor. He's great, but sometimes, you see… Long story short: he made a promise to his dying friend to take care of me, to educate me and guide me. I thought I was past that… being a 'promise', but I'm not. He only kept me because he was afraid to break that old promise".

Something stirred in the corner, whistling and jingling. Anakin knitted his brows. The sound sort of woke him up.

Vere looked away, chewing at her lip. "I think you should go now", she said. Anakin goggled at her.

"What? You brought me here for a reason, didn't you? Wait, is that your experiment? May I see it?"

"Anakin! You shouldn't be here. My bosses will go nuts if they find you".

He grabbed her by the hand impertinently, making her look him in the eye. She was hiding something, he could tell.

"Are you always that saucy, master Skywalker?"

Anakin freed her and walked to the door. He acted on an impulse, again. He'd have to learn to be patient. Damn it! Obi-Wan again! Vere's close gaze followed him in the hall. She saw him hit the wall in anger and confusion. Then he was off.

Another portion of rain showered the streets. Anakin pulled his hood over his eyes. Water stood under the overcast sky in a solid, sidelong wall. A few torches blazed red as Anakin passed by. Soon afterwards they blinked, switching off. Darkness swallowed Narrhuma.

When the young Jedi was gone, Dr Feyh checked the alarm. Two more minutes, and it could go off. How unreasonable of her to bring Anakin there! Vere slid behind a heavy metallic door and entered a small windowless room. There was a hospital bed in the center of it. A man in a white gown lay immobile on it, his head wound round with wire, a breath tube sticking out of his larynx connected up to an installation. Vere checked his vital signs. Everything seemed to be normal. She planned to run a few additional tests, then let him go. This man had suffered enough.

The man's eyes shot open. Solid darkness glared at Vere, black-on-black. His face was covered with beads of sweat. He wanted to speak, but his throat produced nothing but small wheezes. Vere's face was cold and blank.

Dr Feyh filled a syringe with transparent liquid. The patient balled his fists to protest. He roared and whined while she sank the needle in his vein and pushed the sucker. The man struggled weakly. His muscles relaxed until he couldn't move once again.

"All in good time", Vere whispered, leaning into him. "I found a better candidate. A Force-sensitive. A Jedi, perhaps. Soon you'll be free. Like I said: all in good time".

"Point C, version 0.1: substitution. Point C, version 1.1.: overdraft. Point D, version 2.0…"

Apollo's quiet voice traveled in the air. Sora stopped indoors and pressed her head to the wall, smiling a warm, tender smile. She loved to watch him work. It revealed a lot about him: his dreams, his passion, his expectations, the very pulse of Jass Apollo.

"I know you're here", said Jass. Sora moved closer, put her hand on his shoulder. Her fingers were chilly; he rubbed them lightly to warm them up. "What is it, hon?"

"I don't know what to say. You and lieutenant Kerrit seem pretty close".

"Yeah, is that a problem?" He seated her on his lap and buried his face in the curve of her neck. Her skin had a faint smell of soap. "Why didn't you invite me to join you in the shower?"

"Jass, I'm talking business here. You've made friends with an enemy!"

"An enemy?"

"Kerrit! He's part of the Rebel Alliance! I saw him–".

Sora paused. What did she see, in fact? She had no solid proof. No wonder Jass laughed at her. "You spend too much time around our dreaded black knight! You've become as suspicious as he is".

Sora pursed her lips. She'd find proof. She must. As she left him, Jass continued his tests. Day was wasting away, passing into night. Myriads of tiny stars sparkled above. Worn out, Jass put his head on the window-sill. His eye-lids felt heavy. Sora was just jealous. They didn't get to spend much time together these days. Once again, Jass wondered how lucky he was to have her. He adored every single thing about her: the way she tilted her head while listening to something serious, the way she could glide, graceful as a swan, even if dressed in baggy military clothes, the way she frowned and hated it when he called her 'buttercup' for fun.

On the other hand, Sora could be such a bore. Like today, for instance. What could she possibly have against Kerrit? Besides, how could Vader's aide be a traitor unless he wanted to commit suicide in the most painful way? 'She's just jealous', Jass convinced himself, 'cuz I got someone to talk to'.

Still, Val acted rather oddly. Jass wasn't Force-sensitive, but he could tell it when people kept anything back. Val definitely left a load of things unsaid.

Apollo paced up and down the hall, consumed by his dark doubts. He couldn't just drop by Kerrit's premises and ask: 'Hey there, rumour has it you're the Alliance', could he? Or he could…

He heard voices just before he was about to knock. One belonged to Kerrit; another was distorted, clearly from afar. Jass assumed it came from a holophone.

"I was so worried", a woman said. "Just as we learnt of the outcome of that horrifying battle–".

"I appreciate your concern, Commander. That's why we have to proceed".

"Right". Jass could swear the woman's tone bore a touch of embarrassment. "The Smuggler has his cargo. He's going to drop it by the T.S. The client is on his way. Your agent failed".

"I shall arrange another session".

"No! That's too dangerous. You must not let them suspect you. You should disrupt the start of the rocket".

The rocket! Could they mean the TF? Jass bared his teeth in a villainous smile. Only through his dead body! Should he report to Moriarti? After a brief moment of indecision he canned the thought. He'd deal with it on his own. After all, the TF was his brain-child.

With a bitter taste of defeat (Sora happened to be damn right!) Apollo continued eavesdropping. He'd learn much more than this and come up with a plan. He wouldn't let anything happen to the Transcend Force.