Chapter 8 – To Rebuild the Sith
Author's Note: There is only one more chapter after this, so enjoy! :D
~ Amina Gila
The sand looks like blood as his lightsaber lights their way with its eerie glow. The sun is setting, and soon they'll be left in the darkness. He knows enough about desert planets to know animals will soon be out and after them. The Dark Side clings to everything, from deep within the planet to the far outskirts. At first it felt like coming home, but now... it's too strong. He can feel it too much, too deeply, and it hurts. The icy cold is eating him inside out and it feels like it's drowning him. "I don't like this place."
"Don't tell me you're scared."
"I'm being cautious," Vader snaps, "I know enough about desert planets to know more animals will be out soon."
"I told you, dropping us off in the middle of Korriban would be a bad idea," Immuicus snips back.
"You never offered a better solution." It would help, he thinks, if he knew where to go, that there even was a place to go. It's been nearly a month, now, since Obi-Wan returned. The Dark Side is... overwhelming. Frankly, Vader has no idea how to control it. Ahsoka can't very well teach him, either.
"Maybe you should have thought twice before killing all the other Sith," she adds dryly. "I know one who could've handled you."
He knows who she's talking about, and he instantly tenses. He knows who she's talking about, and he remembers much too clearly what happened every other time they encountered each other. "Don't start this," he snaps.
"I don't think any other would have the patience."
"Patience?" Vader repeats, anger flaring and rushing through him. "You call that patience? He – he –" He cuts himself off, fists clenching. The memory of the blade slashing through his arm burns at the back of his mind. Of how Dooku captured him on Naboo, and... He's tried, he really has, not to remember any of it, but now, it's suddenly resurfacing. The itching feeling of being trapped, of being completely helpless, of only seeing the darkened room through the red-tinted ray-shield kept in front of him.
Oh. Oh. The only light right now is his lightsaber, which is red. It's stupid how those little things set him off, sometimes.
He flicks off his blade and stalks a few steps ahead of the other, scrambling to find some semblance of control. Something nags at his senses, demanding attention, whispering of danger.
"I knew you'd met him before, but..." She trots forwards, studying him. He hates that look, like he's some specimen to be studied. "What happened?"
"I'm surprised he didn't tell you," Vader shoots back. She seems honestly confused, and it grates on him, because he feels duty-bound to answer. "For how he gloated about it. For how he enjoyed it." That, he supposes, was the worst part of it, because – because that happened all the time on Tatooine. "Tell me, is it some normal Sith thing to hurt another to teach them control?"
She looks momentarily stricken. "It's – he didn't – he only did what he deemed necessary."
Vader scoffs and turns away. "And you're ceaselessly loyal to a dead man." He stalks off without looking back, though he hears the sand crunching beneath her boots behind him.
They continue in silence, neither bothering to hide their bitterness. Sometimes, he really likes having Ahsoka, but other times...
Something prickles at the edge of his awareness. Something dangerous is approaching them. Vader instantly goes tense. He reaches into the Force. It's hard to be so close to the Dark Side for so long, even now, but he never really let go of it. It's different to feel it in his surroundings instead of within himself. "Do you feel it?" he asks, stopping in his tracks.
Sure enough, he can sense it. It feels their darkness and it's drawn to them, and it's preparing to pounce.
"I –" She's cut off when it jumps at them.
They both dive aside, whipping out their lightsabers. This place is a deathtrap, he can't help but think. No wonder there's an abandoned Sith Temple here.
The creature – it looks very much like a rancor except a lot bigger – lands on the ground in between them with a snarl, it's clawed feet digging into the ground. Several tusk-like projections extend from its mouth. It's towers over them, somewhere near at least ten feet.
Vader slashes his lightsaber at it as it lunges again, the blade cutting across it's scaled front leg. The beast snarls as it reaches furiously for him again, and he jumps backwards out of the way. Still, he doesn't manage to move quite fast enough, and the side of its leg slams into him, throwing him to the ground. He narrowly avoids it's clawed front leg from stabbing him. Somehow, he gets the feeling that he doesn't want to get anywhere near those claws. They're probably venomous.
Ahsoka must've done something, because the creature suddenly whirls around, hissing, and jumps at her this time. Her blades slash deeply into one it's front legs, and she frantically dives aside as it lowers its head and charges, attempting to stab her with its tusks.
What is this thing anyway? Vader is already scrambling to his feet, leaping onto it's back, stabbing his lightsaber into its neck – or at least trying to, because the creature reacts almost instantly. It rears up, throwing him off before the blade penetrates more than a few inches.
The thing promptly charges straight at him, this time ignoring Ahsoka as she attempts to draw its attention away from him. He tries to roll out of the way but doesn't manage to move fast enough. In a last-minute effort to stop the creature before those claws go through him, he finally calls on the Force.
He wasn't thinking. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, slamming the creature into the edge of the nearby cliff. It cracks against it, and even while he feels the being dying, the rock structure seems to shudder.
"Get back!" Vader warns, but it comes a second too late. He's already diving out of the way as the cliff in front of them suddenly starts collapsing. The Force screams in warning, and the next thing he knows enormous rocks are barreling down right towards them.
Vader throws up his hands, blocking as many of them as he can with the Force, but it's not going to be enough. He's far too acutely aware of the fact that Immuicus is too close to the cliff side to be shielded properly. She didn't manage to get out of the way in time.
Vader throws the rocks he's hold aside as soon as the rockslide starts to subside. They hit the ground with a crash, sending sand billowing up around him.
"Immuicus?" Vader calls, concern slipping into his voice, scanning the area as the sand starts to settle. With the darkness in the sky, it's already hard to see but it's easy enough to trace his apprentice down with the Force.
He sprints over to where he can feel her, lifting the rocks covering her with the Force. "Immuicus?" he calls, kneeling next to her, "Ahsoka!"
It's hard to tell in the darkness, but he's pretty sure most of them are surface injuries. Still, blood is soaking through her clothes in multiple places
Immuicus coughs, turning her head to look at him, grimacing ever so slightly. "Nice job," she croaks, still managing to sound sarcastic. How does she still have the energy to try starting an argument like this?
He ignores the remark. "We better head back to the ship," Vader decides with a sigh. Until they can figure out what they're doing here because this is getting them nowhere. Far off in the distance, he hears what sounds like an animal howling. They need to get moving. "Can you walk?"
"Of course," she insists, pushing herself into a sitting position and then slowly trying to climb to her feet. She smothers a yelp as she tries to put weight on her injured foot – Vader's not sure if it's sprained or actually fractured at this point – on the ground, and nearly loses her balance in the process.
He moves forwards, catching her before she can fall. So much for being able to walk. Ignoring her grumbled protests, he picks her up, heading for the ship.
**w**
Ahsoka doesn't know if what Vader said about Dooku is the truth, but... it would make sense. Sith feed off fear and pain, when they don't have enough of their own anger and aggression to channel. It was never hard for her, because Dooku was all about balance. He never demanded she wrap herself entirely in the Dark Side, and yet...
Her bond with her master is flooding a good half her mind, threatening to overwhelm her with the sheer intensity and enormity of it. Once, she thought all Force-wielders were like stars, and yet... they're little more than an insignificant spark lost amidst the star-sized whirlwind that was once Anakin Skywalker.
That's partly why she's off-balance, Ahsoka realizes with a jolt. His pain is so deep, she could touch the surface and it would be enough to fuel her. How can he survive it? She'll never know the answer, but it's no wonder he's drowning in it.
His presence feels like a raging fire, burning everything around it, and yet... strangely gentle. Calming, almost. Grounding. Something coupled with the firm knowledge of 'you won't be alone, not so long as I'm here'.
He must've been an interesting Jedi.
"If you'd been alert, this wouldn't have happened," Vader grumbles, as he works on treating her injuries. He's so gentle. Med-droids aren't like that; they're... well, droids. He's managing to do it while causing the least pain possible. She doesn't know why a part of her was almost expecting the opposite.
"To be fair, you were the one who caused that rockslide in the first place," she retorts.
"Only trying to save our lives, thanks for asking."
The silence that falls next wouldn't be awkward if not for the position she's in right now. It's beyond weird to have Vader touching her like this, especially when they haven't really touched at all except when sparring... and trying to kill each other. It baffles her, why he'd even take the time or care for this.
"What are we going to do now?" she asks finally, breaking the silence.
"Well, we aren't going back there," he replies, "Unless you know of somewhere we could go that might actually help. We can't keep running around blindly. You'll get yourself killed."
Ahsoka decides not to argue his point; she's too exhausted right now, and everything hurts. She wants to sleep, but instincts tell her to stay awake. She won't sleep in the presence of someone she doesn't trust. "I don't," she admits instead. "There's a Sith Temple here from thousands of years ago, but I know nothing beyond that. There are Sith spirits in it, but I don't actually know how happy they'd be to see us."
"Do you know of any other Sith Temples that we could go to?" Vader asks, looking thoughtful.
This was never something she learned about. It wasn't important, because Dooku was there. She didn't need to search for answers on her own. "No, I don't," she admits, "Except for the one under the Jedi Temple, of course, but I'm sure you already know about that one."
"Anything we could've learned from there was likely destroyed a long time ago, but I can check it out."
"Then I guess we can conclude that our Sith Order is doomed," Ahsoka sighs dramatically, closing her eyes for a moment.
"We don't have much of an Order, anyway." It's hard to glean exactly how he's feeling right now. His expression isn't revealing much, except he seems upset – which she can sense in the Force more than see. He's so good at... hiding.
"Yeah, I suppose it is kind of hard to have an Order when the master doesn't even know what he's doing."
"It's also hard to have an Order when the apprentice is an uncooperative as possible."
"I think I'm doing about as much teaching as I am learning. Maybe more," Ahsoka shoots back. She's expecting some snappish response, or maybe something violent, but neither come.
"Possibly," Vader admits. "Perhaps we should consider... altering this."
"Altering this," she repeats, "How?"
"If I can't be your master, then we'll be... equals." He says it slowly, uncertainly. Like he's testing the waters, waiting to see how she'll react.
Great. They're totally wrecking the Order now. "Fine with me." I'd rather not have to call you 'Master', thanks for asking. "I guess that really shows how doomed the Sith are," she huffs.
Vader doesn't reply immediately, lost in thought. "There is another who might be able to help. Another Sith."
Did she forget someone? "Who?" Ahsoka asks, suddenly wary.
"Ventress."
Right. The last time Ahsoka saw her, she was trying to kill Dooku. They'd fought off her and several other Nightsisters. A much too familiar flare of anger runs through her as she thinks about her old master, but she can't find it in herself to get mad at Vader all over again like she usually does. It would be hard to, she thinks, when he's touching her this gently. The way she feels towards him is... changing, and she's not sure if she likes it.
But back to Ventress... "No," she hisses venomously.
"Why not?" he challenges.
"Because she was never even a Sith anyway. And now she's a bounty hunter, and –" They sound like excuses. She supposes they kind of are, considering that the main reason is that she has no desire to work with her, assuming Ventress would even be willing to work with Ahsoka, which she highly doubts.
"More of a Sith than we are," Vader shoots back. "You're still young, and I only recently embraced the Dark Side."
"We'd kill each other before working together," she says stubbornly.
"That sounds familiar."
She glares at him.
"We weren't on the best of terms either –"
"I can't imagine why."
Vader ignores the interruption. "– but it's still worth trying."
"Fine," Ahsoka groans with irritation. Judging from his expression, it's one of those things he's going to be stubborn about. She supposes he's right anyway, but that doesn't mean she has to like it.
"We can talk to her about it as soon as you're in fighting condition again," he decides. He finally finishes wiping away the last of the blood around a particularly deep gash on her arm, then applies a bacta patch to it. "There. Done," he tells her.
"... thanks," she offers awkwardly after a moment.
He nods in acknowledgement, standing up. "Now we need to track her down."
**w**
This, Rex thinks, is the most uncomfortable situation he's ever been in. With the General gone, he's been staying with General Kenobi. No one else knows of his presence, and the General wanted to keep it that way.
Personally, Rex doesn't like it. The Jedi were destroyed because they turned on the Republic which so many of Rex's brothers had died for, and he has no doubt that Kenobi himself was highly involved in it.
He feels lost in so many ways, already, and even more so now that a Jedi is nearby. Even if he did what was necessary, he can't deny the small measure of guilt he bears from it.
And, things between the generals are highly unpleasant. After the Festival of Light, barely over a year ago, nothing was the same. He doesn't know what happened when Anakin and General Kenobi had talked to each other at the Temple, but things do seem somewhat different between them now. Not anything like they used to be before the Hardeen incident, but still.
Although he knows that General Kenobi is far from happy with the situation of the galaxy now, and personally, Rex doesn't trust that he isn't going to try something... treasonous again.
"I can't imagine Senator Amidala would have been very happy with it," Rex hears General Kenobi saying as he and Sabe head down the hall of the apartment towards the living room.
They really ought to tone down the conversation a little, considering that Luke and Leia are sleeping in the next room, but Rex obviously doesn't comment. He's here more for security anything, although he has been helping take care of the twins sometimes. It was something Sabe taught him how to do during the brief time the two were away from Coruscant, hiding out with the babies while waiting for word from General Skywalker. Rex never expected to end up on the duty a little more permanently, but it happened.
"You're missing my point," Sabe says flatly, turning to face him and crossing her arms, "And I think Padme would agree with me."
"I highly doubt she would support an Empire," Obi-Wan retorts. So, they're arguing about that again? Rex knows precious little about politics, and about how and why the Empire came to being. Maybe normally, he would have objections, but his general is leading them. There's no one he trusts more than General Skywalker.
"It's not that I want one," Sabe shoots back, "There's simply too much chaos to turn the Empire back into a Republic right now. The galaxy was just reunited and trying to change things right now will only tear it apart again."
"It was created by force and founded on the blood of so many innocents."
"Yes, but the one responsible for that is dead now. There's a chance to do this right."
"Yet the effects of what Palpatine did haven't faded at all," Kenobi retorts stiffly, and Rex immediately knows he's talking about the Jedi and the fact that they're still considered traitors. Obviously Sabe knows it too.
"What the Jedi did was treason, Obi-Wan," Sabe replies, "Even if that doesn't make what happened to them right."
"That could change if Sidious' real identity was exposed. He was the one behind everything and he had to be stopped."
"Something like this is going to take time to blow over," she says. "You know how much public opinion is against the Jedi, now more than ever, and especially with the Separatists united under the Empire."
Rex doesn't catch Kenobi's response when the two of them head down the hall again, as one of the babies starts crying.
That topic is one they keep debating, and frankly, Rex agrees with Sabe that General Kenobi is going to the wrong place with his complaints. General Kenobi means well, Rex knows, but he himself refuses to believe that everything he did was for naught.
They never did manage to get the full count of how many of his brothers died in the Temple, after all.
**w**
"Are you sure it's Ventress who's here?" Ahsoka asks in a low voice, eyes narrowed as she scans the towering trees surrounding them.
"If it isn't her, it's got to be a Jedi," Vader answers.
Are they in the right place? Ahsoka asks herself again as they walk through the darkened forest. She doesn't know. All she knows is that the Force is tense around her, humming in quiet danger. They've been trying to find Ventress, and she doesn't know if they succeeded. All they knew with certainty is that they found a lead to a trained Force-sensitive, be it Ventress or a surviving Jedi. Either way, they're braced for an attack.
Ahsoka senses it – her montrals catch the movement even before the Force whispers a warning – when someone jumps down at them. Vader steps back, bringing his lightsaber up to block the near-lethal blow. She feels his stunned horror and confusion in the Force even as the person registers in her mind – she knows him.
Master Windu, the head of the Order.
"But you died." Vader steps back, blinking at him in confusion. "You – Sidious killed you."
"I survived. I know what you became, Skywalker. I know what you did." There's a sense of utter darkness Ahsoka feels in him, and she knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that this will not end well. Windu was one of the most powerful Jedi, perhaps even more so than Vader himself. "You are a traitor to the Jedi and the Republic."
"You were the one who betrayed the Republic, Master Windu," Vader replies stiffly. "You committed treason."
"The oppression of the Sith will not continue," Windu warns threateningly, "Your Sith Empire will fall."
"Excuse me, but who exactly is being oppressed again?" Ahsoka snips, "Did you ever ask anyone around if they feel particularly... oppressed?"
"I am going to end this once and for all," he growls. He moves forwards again, swinging at him with a violent series of attacks. His purple blade is moving almost like a blur.
Whatever happened to the Jedi rule of not attacking like this? Or was that a rule? She can't remember for sure, and she doesn't really care anyway.
Ahsoka springs through the trees, bringing her blades down for his head. The Jedi pulls back, spinning to block her blow, then whirling to parry Vader's attack as he slashes at him again. Windu throws her back into a tree in a matter of seconds, before refocusing on Vader. He's using the form he always does, channeling Vader's darkness back at him. It's more effective, Ahsoka imagines, because of how much Vader holds.
They're moving like a deadly blur, much like Vader and Sidious had. Vader stumbles once, caught off-guard, and the Jedi Master's blade slashes deep into his arm. He staggers back with a strangled cry, slamming into the tree behind him.
She jumps forwards, blades slashing through a nearby tree as she shoves down at Windu. He's forced to duck aside, the momentary diversion giving Vader a chance to recollect himself. A purple blade is already swinging for her head, and she hastily blocks it, backing off a few steps as blows rain down all around her. Alone, it's a fight she's rapidly losing, even as she continues to make a hasty and strategic retreat back through the trees.
The purple blade slashes through right where she was standing only seconds before, and she backflips out of the way, then jumps away again as it's already arcing down towards her. Vader finally lunges at Windu from behind again, forcing him to spin away to fight him off against instead.
It's next to impossible to get past his defenses, considering his fighting style. Every time they draw on the Dark Side at all – which is what they're both doing – he channels it back at them. The duel continues relentlessly, and Ahsoka can't shake the sinking feeling that this isn't a fight they're going to win.
He swings lower than she can block, and the blade burns across her side before a Force shove throws her off into the trees. Struggling to catch her breath, Ahsoka climbs back to her feet again, trying to ignore the aching pain burning through her side. She's not sure how deep it went, but she's lucky it wasn't enough to render her incapable of fighting altogether. It didn't go much beyond the skin, she doesn't think, but it hurts. The pain is breathtaking, and she doesn't know how long she'll be able to keep fighting.
Vader and Windu are dueling furiously a distance away, somehow having managed to take down a few trees in her absence. This forest is going to be totally wrecked by the time they're done at this rate. Not that that's her concern. Vader slashes his blade through a few more trees, throwing them at Windu. He tries to knock them aside, but thanks to some other trees, he can't manage to push them all away in time, and one of them knocks him to the ground.
Maybe now they'll finally have their chance. Ahsoka charges forwards again, only for a Force shove to catch both her and Vader, throwing them back as Windu shoves the tree aside, standing up again. She stifled a cry of pain as she lands on her injured side, dropping both her lightsabers.
The Force flares in warning, and she instinctively rolls out of the way as a purple blade swings down towards her. She hastily calls the nearest of her lightsabers back to her, igniting the red blade barely in time to parry his next blow. Another tree comes crashing down for Windu's head, courtesy of Vader as he runs up again, lunging at him.
A blaster shot suddenly rings through the trees, and Ahsoka spins around to see a group of clones running into view. A group from those who were stationed on the planet, one of whom had reported the activity in the first place. All of them open fire on Windu, who pulls out of the fight with Vader, backing a distance off into the trees as he deflects the blaster bolts.
Several of the shots are deflected right back at the clones, taking down a few.
Ahsoka can't read the look on Vader's face, which is likely precisely why the distinct look of nothing at all unsettles her so much. He steps forwards, again, and with a wave of his hand, the Jedi Master is sent hurtling back. A shot from one of the clones strikes Windu in the shoulder as he flies.
She can feel Vader delving into the Force when he moves forwards, almost as if he's making himself a weapon of the Force itself. It's unsettling to see, because of how easy it is for him. Not for the first time, Ahsoka is getting a first-hand glimpse of the sheer power which the Chosen One wields.
The red and purple blades clash in a furious blur, and Ahsoka runs back to join the duel again. With his injury, Windu is moving a little slower than he was before, but she's still not sure how they'll be able to take him down. Especially not since she's also moving more slowly than before thanks to her wound. The clones aren't going to be much help either, without getting themselves killed anyway.
She throws everything she has into the fight, and she can feel Vader doing likewise. Even so, it seems to be giving Windu an advantage, as he throws their attacks right back at them. A Force shove sends her skidding back a few feet, and she stabs her lightsabers into the ground to stop herself.
Windu slashes at Vader again, suddenly cutting downwards sharply. Vader's blade burns across his arm, but Ahsoka hardly notices. The purple blade runs him through, just shy of what would've been fatal. Maybe it still will be, she doesn't know. Vader stumbles back the moment he can, the sound escaping him more a whimper than a scream. He falls to his knees, hand pressing over the wound.
In that moment, she doesn't think. The only thought in her mind is the realization that she could lose him, too, that he's another the Jedi will take from her. A raw and blinding, all-encompassing rage floods her, deepening the yellow of her eyes as she delves into the Dark Side.
She's seen Dooku do it before, and though he never taught her, Ahsoka remembers enough to recreate it. Force lightning pours from her hands, and the Jedi Master turns to block it with his lightsaber. She pours all of her anger into it, the blindingly bright lightning – at a level that might be lethal, she's hardly sure – lighting up the trees around them.
Several blaster shots suddenly ring out at once. The lightsaber suddenly falls from Windu's hands as he collapses to the ground. She lets up the attack when she feels his life fading. He's dead. They won.
Even so, that doesn't mean Vader is going to make it. Ahsoka sprints over to where he's lying motionless. He's conscious, which is slightly surprising. He's lying on his back and turns his head to look at her when she crouches beside him. His face is pale and drawn with pain. "You did it," he whispers.
"I –" She doesn't know what to say, what to do, how to react. "You'll be okay," she promises, desperately, even if it's more of a request. She shouldn't care. She should hate him, hate him forever, yet this blindingly bright presence in the Force has drawn her into his orbit, like a planet ever orbiting its sun, and she won't let it go.
"I've had worse," he mutters, and she glances down at where blood trickles from between his fingers, a much too large and steady stream. Vader must be half out of it, Ahsoka thinks, because any worse and he'd be dead. Twice, now. She's saved him from near-death twice. "I thought you'd be happy if I were gone."
"I don't want to deal with two squalling toddlers alone," she snaps, because she can't admit the truth. She can't confront and admit how deeply she cares for him, not yet. "They seem to like you."
"Of course, they like me. I'm their father." He's definitely half out of it because he seems amused. "And I'll be fine, I –" He cuts off, a shudder running through his body. His left hand is shaking, she notices. It's awkward, because Ahsoka has never had to take care of anyone before. She doesn't really know what to do, but she reaches out to take his hand.
"Don't strain yourself," she warns. She absolutely doesn't acknowledge the fear flooding her. She lost her master before, and she could lose this one, too. The mere thought of how it would feel for their bond to break frightens her.
"I'll be okay," he repeats. "Don't – don't worry." He squeezes her hand gently, and she's amazed by how warm it feels.
This is stupid, really, because he's the one who's injured. "There's too much Anakin in you," she realizes flatly.
The sound he makes indicates no more than he heard what she said. It's strangely comforting when his presence – even as dark as it is – reaches up to wrap around her, gentle and warm. It's intense, insanely so, yet so very... right. It feels like a part of her was always missing, and now she's home.
Maybe – maybe they'll be able to do this together after all. Even if they can't rebuild some sloppy, twisted version of the Sith Order, maybe they'll be able to make something new.
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