Considering the list of crimes, he had committed during his tenure as both a Jedi and as a Dark Lord of the Sith, the man who bore the twin names of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader was hardly surprised that his death was not the peaceful oblivion that he craved.
For a brief moment after his death, his spiritual self-had taken on the appearance of what he could have looked like if his body had been fully organic. But after enjoying one final look at his son, the Force had seen fit to punish him by transforming his spectral body back into the symbol of the Emperor's might.
And just like his existence under Sidious, his current state was designed to not only intimidate all but the most fearless, or foolish, of beings, but also ensure that his body was in a constant state of agony.
Mechanical limbs that sent stabbing sensations into his ruined flesh every time he moved them. With the added sensation of feeling like they would tear themselves out if they remained at rest.
The feeling of being crushed under his own weight if he took even the smallest step forward.
And perhaps the most memorable of all, the burning sensation that came with every breath of air that was artificially pushed and pulled into his charred lungs.
For the man who was complicit in the suffering of untold trillions across the galaxy, spending an eternity trapped in the Force's representation of his mobile prison was an adequate punishment.
However, while he was resigned to his fate, for despite his actions in saving his son it was insufficient to make up for his countless crimes, the man whose actions had influenced the entire galaxy was mildly curious at the fact that his connection to the Force, rather than being severed, or even increased to heighten his suffering, was exactly the same as it had been before his fateful duel with his son.
Thanks to mutilation he had experienced at the hands of Kenobi, the former Jedi had been forced to compensate for the loss of nearly half his Force potential by increasing his ability to control what was left to him. Of course, it had been insufficient to free himself from Sidious's control, despite his Sith Master's insistence that true power rested in one's will rather than their flesh, but it had nevertheless cemented his position as the most powerful apprentice the Emperor had ever commanded.
But as he sought to get a better understanding of his current predicament, the armored man was hit with a sensation that he had inspired in countless beings during the past twenty four years.
Mounting terror.
Concentrating on the source of this disturbance, something that was rather simple to do due to the fact that he was still more attuned with the emotions that fueled the Dark Side of the Force instead of its lighter counterpart, the armored Force user quickly got a sense of not only his immediate surroundings, but also the planet as a whole.
And while this world was teeming with individuals whose alignment was firmly entrenched within the light, there were also countless denizens, not unlike those that existed in front of him, whose actions served to strengthen the darker impulses of the universe spanning energy field.
Hate, and anger.
These were emotions that could be easily felt by one such as him, especially when they were being simultaneously generated by at least thirty sentient beings, who for the most part felt more like animals instead of sentient beings.
But these emotions were easily dwarfed by another emotion that the former Jedi had intimate experience with.
Fear.
Curious as to what could inspire such a feeling, and receiving a gentle nudge from the Force to investigate, the armored Force user picked himself off the ground and walked towards the disturbance.
It was only thanks to another subtle prodding from the source of his power that he turned his helmeted visage to look behind him, and caught sight of something that caused him to recall the chiding tone of his former teacher.
Scowling as he was forced to admit the value of Kenobi's teachings, the cybernetic Force user raised his arm to summon his currently deactivated blade into his hand.
For he sensed that he would soon have need of it.
…
Cackling evilly as he watched his minions throw his much appreciated 'guests' to the floor, the Goblin chieftain took his time to analyze each of the three women in order to better help him make the decision that all leaders of his kind had to make.
Which captive would be given the honor of being the first to receive his seed? And which ones would be used for the amusement of his men?
It mattered little in the grand scheme of things since all of their spawn were treated the same, even those that were fathered by Goblin Lords and other high-ranking members of their race.
But that wasn't the point.
For while was both his duty and pleasure to increase their ranks with their female captives, it was his right as leader to pick which girl he would enjoy first.
He had every intention of 'sampling' the other two once his flesh had recovered enough to take what his spirit wanted, but since his position was secured by making sure that the other members of the nest knew that HE was to get first pick, there was considerable pressure to ensure that his choice was worthy of his position.
'Lets see. The one on the right has most of her meat in the lower half, with almost none up top. Good if I wanted to take her from the rear, but I feel in the mood to grab a female's tits while I'm inside her. The one in the middle, not too bad. Nice toned legs, decent sized chest, but that glare of hers means that it might be tougher to break her in. The one of the left….hmm…bit on the unripe side, but then, the young ones are always fun to watch when they scream in in pain'.
Gesturing with a dirty claw to have the youngest member of the trio brought forward, and idly noting that his boys were already howling in pleasure as they proceeded to position their leader's 'rejections' in a manner that would be as pleasurable for them as it would be painful for the women, the middle aged goblin untied his loin cloth and advanced on the girl who smelt as if her body had only just recently become ripe for mother hood.
However, before he could do more than spread her legs, for unlike his minions he enjoyed it when his toys had illusion of preventing what was going to happen, the breeding chamber was filled with the terror filled cries of one of his scouts.
Snarling at having his fun delayed, though he noticed with some satisfaction that the others had waited for him to take the first plunge before enjoying their own breeding partners, the goblin leader was about to yell at the babbling scout.
Only to be rendered speechless as the unfortunate goblin was pulled back into the darkened tunnel by what could only be called magic. Though in all his years, he had never before heard of a spell that required no incantation to activate.
And as he began to shout orders at his minions to deal with this magic using intruder, his voice was drowned out by the chilling echoes of what could only loosely be described as breathing.
'KHOOOOH PUUUHRR'
…..
Though it had been some time since he had felt any emotion that reminded him of his former self, his fatherly instincts towards the last remaining link to his wife notwithstanding, the armored behemoth found it particularly amusing to cut down these stunted mutants in a fashion that was almost similar to how he and his former apprentice had dealt with the droid forces of the Separatists.
But unlike the battle droids of the CIS, the emotions of these creatures were more than noticeable in the Force as they discovered they could do nothing to halt his stride.
If they had chosen to face him in the open, they might have been able to prolong their pathetic existence for a moment longer, if only because it would take a touch more effort to differentiate between those who were close enough for his blade and those who required a more obvious display of his power.
But since they hadn't, their deaths were both quick and efficient.
The first to meet they're well well-deserved fate had were the two creatures that had stood guard outside of their subterranean lair.
Due to the weakness of their mind, he could simply have used a mind trick in order to get them to leave and never look back. But after sensing the nature of their thoughts, the former Jedi had quickly decided on a more permanent solution.
In his tenure as a Sith Lord, he had executed countless beings, some for crimes as simple as being in his immediate vicinity when he was feeling particularly wrathful. But the crimes committed by these animals would were fare worse than some unfortunate Imperial officer. And it was precisely for that reason that he derived great satisfaction as he choked the life out of the green-skinned monsters.
And while this act had been committed without any hesitation on his part, for the first time in years the former Jedi was able to feel a sense of righteousness as he took their lives.
Something that would have undoubtedly amused and earned criticism from his former Sith Master.
After dispatching the two sentries, the armored force user had wasted little time in delving deeper into the cave.
Though unfortunately, his decision to keep his suit's respiratory system functioning meant that his approach was easily detectable.
Not that it did the creatures any good.
For every time he came across the child sized monsters, whose preferred method of attack seemed to be head-on assaults, or cleverly concealed, his strength in the Force allowed him to quickly dispatch his assailants with little effort.
It didn't matter if he used the Force to crush their necks, send them flying face first into the walls. Or even as shields and projectiles against their own kind.
In no time at all, he had reduced the number of combatants from two dozen to a single surviving creature. Who to his cold amusement displayed a spark of intelligence that it's comrades had lacked
However, even if it was smart enough to flee before him, the fact that it had fled in the direction of where the source of the disturbance was, the former Jedi knew that it was only prolonging the inevitable.
For while his suit robbed him of the agility he had once enjoyed, it had not robbed him of the ability to pursue his prey with the same tenacity of a alpha predator stalking its prey.
…
As soon as he heard the echoing sounds of metallic breathing, for there could be no other way to describe what he was hearing, the Goblin leader began to scream for his minions to attack this soon to be intruder.
But as the blackness of the cave was banished by the sudden ignition of fire, which bore a color that all Goblins knew all too well, the sense of encroaching doom grew stronger and stronger.
A sensation that grew worse as his steadily fearful eyes took in the appearance of the intruder.
As a member of a race whose height rarely exceeded that of a human child, unless of course they were blessed by the dark gods with the gift of evolution, the goblin leader was hardly surprised to find himself dwarfed by this new enemy.
Though he was shocked by how menacing his overall appearance was.
Covered in armor that would have allowed him to blend with the nest's perpetual darkness, if it weren't for the blinking lights that were located on his torso. With a helmet that resembled the skull of something that could only exist in nightmares, the constant metallic breathing was the only thing that convinced the Goblin leader that he was facing a being of flesh and blood rather than iron and shadow.
But the personal appearance of this intruder, whose arrival failed to inspire their captives with the belief that their torments would soon be brought to an end, was not what made the Goblins believe that they were outmatched.
No, their growing sense of fear stemmed from not only the glowing blade that was in their tormentor's hand, but also the pulsing aura of icy darkness that was coming from the breathing statue.
As a race that thrived on violence, with only a few of their number recognizing that there were times where naked aggression was detrimental to their survival, the remaining Goblins wouldn't hesitate to try and kill this intruder.
But that didn't prevent them from feeling that they would soon be suffering the same fate as their nestmates.
…..
Feeling a small rush of satisfaction as he casually decapitated one of the few remaining creatures, an act that managed to inspire feelings of both relief and terror in the trio of young women, the former Chosen One turned his attention towards the remaining beasts whose perverse savagery matched those of the ones who had killed his mother.
And like the Tusken Raiders, these child sized mutants met their end on the tip of his light saber.
All but one of them.
Accurately suspecting that this last remaining animal was the leader of the soon to be extinct tribe, the prodigal Force user lifted his hand to keep the struggling creature in place as he turned his attention towards the cowering trio.
"Are you alright?"
Unsurprised to see them flinch at the sound of his voice, and suddenly feeling an emotion that largely been discarded after he had pledged himself to the Sith, the former right hand of the Emperor did his best to reassure the clearly traumatized women that he was not an enemy.
"I mean you no harm. I…am here to help."
Though his words cause the more youthful members of the trio to shrink in fear, the oldest among them managed to respond to his statement in a way that was both achingly familiar, and yet entirely opposite to the words he had spoken all those years ago.
"Are…are you a demon?"
Shocked though he was to hear a twisted version of his first words to Padme, the black armored warrior managed to ignore the usual stab of self loathing as he shook his head in answer.
"No, I am not. That distinction I believe belongs to this pitiful creature."
Turning his helmet so that the image of the struggling monster was reflected in his lenses, the Force user felt his ever present anger growing as the young woman provided the information that he was lacking.
"They're not demons, their goblins. Most people view their kind as only a nuisance, a pest that can be taken out by even the most inexperienced of adventurers. But to those who live in small villages, where army patrols are few to non-existent, they are the scourge of the earth. They steal and butcher anything that takes their fancy. And the girls…they…they….they use them to increase their num…"
CRACK
Though it was a far less satisfying death than his preferred method of execution, the former Jedi could only scowl as he allowed his emotional control to slip, resulting in his telekinetic grip of the goblin's body to go from merely holding it in place to shattering every bone in its body.
Taking a moment to regain control over his volatile emotions, for his recent 'redemption' had caused him to recognize the wrongness of killing those who had done nothing to draw his ire, the armoured Force-user turned his attention back towards the trio.
"Find something to cover yourselves. We are leaving."
Watching dispassionately as they hastened to obey his command, and extending his senses to ensure that they were the only beings left alive in the corpse ridden tunnels, the man whose life was divided between serving the light and dark side of the Force came to a decision that had been weighing on his mind since he had 'awoken'.
Though the actions he had taken this day had been in service of a goal that the Jedi would approve of, the manner in which he accomplished this served to remind him that despite his son's insistence, the Dark Side of the Force was still with him.
For he had reveled in the fear of the goblins as he struck them down. And his anger and rage had given him strength and focus as he stood against the loathsome creatures.
"Ex…excuse me sir. But what do we call you?"
Turning his helmet so that he could properly stare into the nervous expression of the less traumatized captive, it was only with the briefest amounts of hesitation that he answered the question that he himself had been debating over.
"Vader. You may call me Vader."
…
AND that's another chapter rewritten.
Hopefully the new and improved chapter meets your approval lol.
