This is a Star Wars Fan Fiction Only.
As Darth Vader stood there watching in horror as his master used force lightning on his son, who openly rebelled against Sidious, he began to think back on everything that had happened the extent of his misery, his constant pain, and the pain he caused his family, he regretted hurting his daughter Leia, the destruction of Alderaan, the way he treated her and his son Luke.
His pain was eclipsed, by his anger and his sadness at realizing that he was fooled by the man who used him and once he called master, the thing that finally made him decide regardless of the dangerous force lightning would be on his suit electronics was the pleas of his son asking him for help, calling him father and begging for his aide.
He didn't care what would happen to him, he picked up Sidious by grabbing him from behind, pulling him away from Luke, and holding him up in the air causing all the force lightning to refocus away from his son and clearly onto himself.
He walked as the lightning fried his life support systems, and he realized that the shaft nearby lead directly to the reactor core of the Death Star, with great effort and pain he threw his former master over the railing and saw the look of utter shock on his former master's face as he fell to his doom.
That is when he felt someone pull him away from the railing before almost falling over himself. He knew who it was, and for a second he felt a sense of relief, but immediately he felt his son putting his arm around his shoulder and guide him till they both descended towards the hangar.
He began to wonder how to react if she knew what he had done, how he wanted to apologize to her, and his anger at the Jedi for hiding the identities of their parents, only Luke figured out that he was his father, but was never told of his mother.
As he saw the elevator open and walked towards the shuttles, he told his son to stop, "Stop, son, please, stop and hear me, please take this helmet off me." Luke looked almost shocked at the request. "Father if I take the helmet off you will die, I have to save you, father. Leia and I still need you, we can still be a family, let me save you!"
Vader took a sharp, painful deep breath, and looked at the tears on his son's face, "You already have, please son, take his mask off, let me look at your face for once in my life with my own eyes."
He felt the helmet that brought him so much pain and controlled his now-fried life support systems being taken off his head, and for a brief second, he looked at the face of his son, it reminded him so much of Padme, especially the color of his eyes. That is when he finally felt all the pain of years of suffering wearing this armor and these implants vanish and knew that his death was at hand, but was comforted by one thought, there is no death, there is the force.
He laughed as he thought that he was dying a sith lord and the one thing that offered him comfort was a part of the Jedi code, the irony did not escape him. That is where he found himself standing in a place with thousands of walkways and thousands of doors like the branches of the largest tree he ever saw and each doorway was on top or near each branch.
That is when he felt a familiar presence, "Hello Anakin, it has been some time since last we saw each other, do you remember me?" He smiled and saw the man looked exactly like he last saw him. The man that freed him from slavery, and the man that was supposed to be his master.
"I could never forget you even if I were to try, hello Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Care to answer the questions of the boy who once was supposed to be your padawan? Where am I master? Why do I look like this?" Qui-Gon laughed and looked at him.
"Yes, I imagine your appearance is quite a shock to you, and yes, I have been keeping an eye on you ever since my death, the answer to the first is, you are at the nexus of time, where everything that happens in time can be seen, and why do you look like that, I suspect that the force made you look like this because my young padawan, you are being given a chance to change history, a chance to undo the mistakes, and to finally fulfill the prophecy as you should as the chosen one."
Qui-Gon came closer to him and he simply laughed, "You don't need to worry Anakin, your son and daughter are fine, but they can be better if you play your cards right. I am sorry however that my padawan Obi-wan was not the best instructor or the instructor you needed, but in my defense I was dead and there was no way they would assign you to be the padawan of a force ghost."
This made the two laughs really hard, "It is nice to hear from you, I have missed you." Qui-Gon was almost seen with a tear on his face when he heard that, it was a certain relief to hear the now-grown young man say that, deep down he always regretted that he was never able to be his master and teach him all the things he knew he would need, but hearing him laugh made him feel some relief.
"Listen Anakin, you know what went wrong, you know how things should be, and you know what to avoid, let's face is facts, the Sith only succeeded because the Jedi fell in a false sense of security, the Sith played them like an expert card player, so this might be of a bit of a shock to you, though the portals in this place I have found items that when wore together will give aid you but also hide your identity from prying eyes, and thus keep you hidden from your enemies."
He handed him a helmet with a face shield, some rather tough-looking gloves, some metal-enforced boots, and armor that he had never seen before but the thing almost felt like it was part of his body and also increasing his connection to the living force. The last item was unexpected, a lightsaber that could change into three forms, he could use it as a single blade, two-bladed and separated into two individual lightsabers, the thing is the blade color was a dark purple with a hint of dark red.
"Now I know, you are expecting me to say that I give you all these items for something and in part you are correct, I have only one request for you, please Anakin prevent my death and allow me to train the Anakin of that time as I should have been able to train you. This would allow me to undo one of my greatest regrets."
Anakin having finished putting on the armor and masked helm looked at him and nodded his head as he stapped the lightsaber on his belt. "But the question how is that going to happen if I am here?" Qui-Gon simply walked until he was standing in front of one portal almost like he was guiding him to this portal.
"That Anakin would be telling, and would ruin the surprise." As he said this he felt someone pushing him hard using the force sent him flying so fast and he hit the portal so hard he lost consciousness as he went through the portal having hit his head on the doorway.
He was not liking this particular joke, his head had a massive headache for a few seconds till he saw a strange animal come near him, it was an animal that Padme had described that could only be found on the planet Naboo, and as he was about to touch this gentle animal, the animal began to run in fear as the clanking of metallic feet struck the ground, and he heard the rolling and passage of several divisions of droids marching towards the nearby city.
From everything he remember and what Padme told him, he knew that he was back in the past as he touched his arm to check that it was present and realized his body was intact, it was better than intact, it was the same as when the clone wars began, and he was the padawan of Obi-Wan.
He used the force to scan the nearby jungle and as he did, he began to realize Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and the one he once knew as Jar Jar Binks was nearby. He also sensed that Padme, her handmaidens, and her body double were terrified. He used the force to increase his speed and to hide his presence, to be able to run through the jungle without even the animals sensing him.
He immediately saw a droid tank nearby and without any hesitation, he lifted it in the air and with him closing his fist the crunching sound of the tank and twelve battle droids were heard being crushed into a ball and with force lightning, he ignited that ball and sent it flying crashing into another droid division coming towards the city, this drew the droids attention immediately.
With the droids distracted he stepped into the palace, he saw a battle commander droid guiding Padme, her handmaidens, and the captain of her guard towards what would be a holding area.
He walked calmly towards the battle command droid and the droid stopped, "Stop, Identify yourself and disclose your purpose of being here, failure will result in your death." Anakin grinned under the helm, "I came to relieve you of your possession of these prisoners."
The droid simply looked at him as his eye flashed, "Under whose authority?" He stretched his hands making everyone think he was surrendering but instead two lightsabers came out of nowhere and cut down the two droids that were near the captives and he caught them both in his hand when he cut the command droid in half, "Mine."
"Queen Amidala, Captain Panaka, I would assume, you have nothing to fear from me, I have come to your aide, Captain please take that command droid torso and follow me, I shall guide you towards the nearest shuttle bay. Yes, Captain, we will need the remains of that droid, please trust that I speak only truth."
As the Captain looked at one of the handmaidens and the one body double pretending to be the Queen nodded her head, "Very well, Captain do as he says, but I would personally like to know the name of the man who saved me."
As he began to guide them down the corridors that he once heard off, he simply said, "Of course, how rude of me, please excuse me, your majesty, my name is Darth Vader, and please do follow along, we still have two passageways and liberate the nearest shuttle to get to safety."
Captain Panaka lifted the remains of the command droid onto his shoulder and looked at him, "So you are the Jedi diplomat that we were waiting for." Vader stopped as a chill filled the air in the passageway, "No Captain, I believe we will find the two Jedi you were expecting near the entrance to the shuttle bay, if I must be called anything, I rather you did not mistake me for them, I am a Sith."
As they began to walk towards the entrance to the shuttle bay the two Jedi were hidden behind two pillars, "But I once heard that the Sith no longer exist, that they were eliminated by the Jedi. How is it possible for you a Sith to still be alive?" Vader looked at her and smiled in his helm, he always loved how inquisitive Padme was.
"Only Jedi deal in absolutes, and I must find it a bit insulting that you are doing quite such a lousy job in hiding your presence. Would you kindly stop hiding and join our discussion, we have enough trouble with the droids in the hangar without having to worry about being at each other's throats."
Qui-Gon was the first to come from behind the pillars, and smiled, "That is a more sensible response than I would expect from a Sith, but you are correct we have more important things to deal with than our animosity towards each other. I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin, and this is my padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi."
He saw as the young man who once was his master turned off his lightsaber as soon as his master did. "I would think you noticed the presence inside the hangar bay, it seems that they are using the hangar as a holding area, so here is what I suggest, since you do not trust me, or at least your apprentice does not you two take care of the droids in one side of the hangar and I will take care of the other. Focus not to damage the ships for we will need them, and try not to harm the captives."
Obi-Wan looked at him with anger and suspicion clear on his face, "Like I need to take orders from a Sith, I will only obey the words of my master, you are not even needed here!" Vader looked at him and began to laugh at what he saw, "You should control your emotions better apprentice, remember, there is no emotion, there is peace."
This caused Qui-Gon to laugh also, to hear a publically identified Sith give his padawan such advice it was so funny he could not help but to laugh.
Vader was a hurricane of force lightning and his two lightsabers few around destroying every droid that came ten feet of him, his lightning struck blasters melting them into puddles of melted metal and his lightsabers cut droids to pieces. Vader eventually finished on his side and he freed the captives in a makeshift cage, that is when he saw Obi-Wan behave recklessly and was about to be shot but his two lightsabers cut the droid in half before the sensors allowed it to register what had happened.
"I do believe that we do not have enough time to waste, we don't have a lot of time before the command ship that is in orbit sends more droids to our current position, your majesty we must get you off this planet, and head towards Coruscant if we are to have any hope of freeing this planet."
The queen looked at the Captain and the handmaidens before looking at Vader, "Are you asking me to abandon my world in our hour of need?" Vader simply looked at her and took a deep breathe, "From here you are only a potential target for capture, they will force you to make this invasion legal by forcing you to sign some documents, and then they will kill you, it is only in the Republic Senate that we have any hope of stopping this invasion."
One of the captives was none other than the Governor of Naboo, Sio Bibble he walked towards Vader and Padme after he heard what the man dressed in black armor had said, "As much as I would love to contradict this gentleman's assessment and say that we are capable of liberating Naboo from the droid army of the Trade Federation, I have to agree, your majesty the sooner we can inform the senate of our plight the sooner we can liberate our world, thank you for your timely rescue."
Padme turned to the two Jedi that were present and especially Jedi Master Jinn, "And what is your opinion of our next course of action? Master Jinn." Qui-Gon having listened to everything that has been said looked at Vader almost with a smile and surprised look on his face.
"Your majesty I do believe that this is the first-ever occurrence of this happening, but against what other in my order would say on this occasion, I find myself surprised and in agreement to what Darth Vader a sith has advised, we do need to get you to inform the senate of the actions of the invading droids so that this planet liberation may have the full support of the Republic military. We do however need a capable pilot for this ship."
Captain Panaka saw that this was a perfect time to mention that he was more than capable of piloting this ship to their destination. "Very well I shall do as the Jedi ambassadors and Darth Vader has suggested under protest. The sooner we get to inform the senate the sooner we can free the people of my world."
As they boarded the ship he saw that one of the Astromech droids that were present had been one of his old friends from before, but right now R2-D2 did not know him, he signaled the droid to come closer, and using hand signals the droid saw that Vader was calling for him. The droid went to him, "Excuse me, your majesty, I need to borrow this Astromech droid for a second. I would also ask for some privacy, this is some delicate work and I do not need the interruptions."
The woman pretending to be the Queen simply nodded her head, "Very well Darth Vader I shall allow this, but please inform us later on what you needed the help of that Astromech droid." He took the remains of the command droid with him and walked with R2-D2 to a nearby maintenance droid alcove, this was the only place that had the necessary tools for what he wanted to do.
"R2-D2, I need you to slice the command circuits of this droid and connect with the droid network, download everything you can from the memory of this droid, and record it with at least three other droids for proof of authenticity." The droid began to beep rapidly and in a strange mythic. "Yes, R2-D2 I am also aware that you need to be closer to the droid command ship, we will be flying near it, when we download the information as quickly as possible, I trust you, I know that you are more than able to do this."
The droid beeped and began to work on the remains of the enemy droid, as soon as he turned around he saw that Qui-Gon was standing just arrived at the door of the maintenance droid alcove, "Well this is quite surprising, I had no idea that you had an understanding of droid language, that is a very unique ability Vader."
He simply let R2-D2 handle the things he asked, and looked at Qui-Gon, "I do believe I asked the Queen I needed privacy, it is not that rare, I spent many years with droids, talking to Astromech droids is like talking to a childhood friend. Now, what can I do for you, Master Jedi?"
Qui-Gon must have found this funny because he began to laugh as he heard him call him Master Jedi, "I came to inform you that we are about to take off and that I think you might want to be seated, this is going to be one bumpy ride."
Vader did not argue with him instead he focused through the dark side of the force towards the canons of the orbiting droid control ship, and using force push he began to cause the turrets to be bent just so slightly that every single shot that they began to fire would miss the ship entirely.
The ship was having a hard time evading all the fire and had Vader not been doing what he was doing, the ship would have been blasted to pieces. As the ship got into the safe distance it jumped entered into hyperspace and disappeared from the orbit of Naboo.
Vader could tell that as much as he tried, there was something wrong with the ship, and Jar Jar Binks was ever the clumsy and curious fool that he remembered him being, after the first jump the ship came to slow down. That is when R2-D2 when nobody was looking gave Vader two data sticks that held the information he required from the droid command ship database. He thanked the droid which left feeling rather happy but before he left he asked if there was any damage he should be aware of.
The droid beeped and several other droids beeped in return, "So the hyperdrive has been damaged, that is not good, we might need to land on a nearby planet and obtain a replacement, or replacement parts to repair it. So what can I do for you, Master Jedi?"
Qui-Gon found it quite funny how easy this Sith could find him, "Well it seems that your friend there told you what I was planning to tell you, you and your little friend are quite correct in your assessment in fact we are headed towards a planet to look for a replacement for the hyperdrive of this ship. But since we have some time I felt like maybe we could talk, our order has never had the opportunity to talk with a member of the Sith Order, why waste this chance?"
He sat down in front of Darth Vader, "I doubt that those of your order would approve of such things, but if you are curious feel free to ask me anything while we travel together if you will also answer some of my questions in return." This made Qui-Gon laugh, he found it funny that a Sith who was seen as the embodiment of evil would be this sociable. He will have to inform his old Master, Dooku.
"Excuse me but I need to ask, why would a Sith take all these risks to help the Queen of Naboo? How did you come to be on Naboo in the first place? And why is it that you have not attacked me since you know that both I and my padawan are Jedi?"
Vader simply laughed, "The first answer is simple, I am helping because it feels like the right thing to do, I mean I came that far to that planet to help the people of Naboo, it would defeat my purpose if I didn't help the Queen with her current situation, as for how I got there, I can only say the living force works in mysterious and amazing ways, and finally why would I attack when you did not attack me?"
This was quite surprising to hear from a person who clearly had a connection to the dark side of the force, and found it strange that he said that he did not attack even though he knew they were Jedi simply because he got the feeling that he would not attack unless it was in self-defense.
Vader cleared his throat, "Now for my questions, are Jedi Master Dooku and Grandmaster Yoda in good health at present?" It was almost shocking to hear a sith with such concern for two members of the Jedi Council. He looked at him almost expecting him to ask for some ulterior motive, but for some reason, he could only feel concerned in his tone.
"As far as I can tell from the last time I met them both in the Jedi Council Chamber, my former master Master Dooku and Grandmaster Yoda are in good health, and are doing quite well, I think they would be shocked that you a Sith show such concern of their well being. Mind telling me why do I get the feeling that you were worried about them?"
Vader began to laugh and almost adopted a tone like Yoda when he said, "Concerned for their safety I am." This caused Qui-Gon to laugh as he heard Vader do that almost perfect Yoda imitation.
