Hello lovely readers! Here is part 2 to Shroud of Darkness. It was a snow day today, so it's a perfect opportunity to post! Also, I'm getting over the flu, so forgive me for any mistakes in this chapter. Blame it on the wooziness. And the impatience I have been getting over the Episode IX title.

I've probably said this before, but Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith by Charles Soule is... amazing. Volume 4 came out today and I preordered it on Amazon, so it arrived today and I read it in one sitting.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

(Published 2.12.19)

Chapter Thirty: Out of the Temple

3 BBY

Kanan's fight with the Temple guard continued, his swings and pushes getting even more aggressive.

"Is this the limit of your knowledge?" the guard mocked.

"I learned enough!" Kanan shot back.

"I think not." Kanan's blue blade was deflected and the sentinel caught the chance to push him to the wall. However, Kanan got back onto his feet and into position. Awkwardly, he threw his lightsaber at the sentinel, who easily deflected it. Kanan used the Force to pull it back to his hand and the guard stepped forward. He eyes the wall of lightsabers behind him, choosing one. He ignited it along with his own.

It was Sith red.

"You will never be strong enough to protect your pupil, and you will perish for your failure," said the guard, getting closer and closer. Suddenly, two new guards joined him. Kanan got into a Jar'Kai stance.

He swung at all three.

Ahsoka was meditating, alone. All five of the others had gone, and she had never felt more alone.

The Force rung in her ears, thinking of all her friends that she had let down; clones, Jedi…

"Ahsoka."

She opened her eyes and glanced around. She could have sworn…

"Ahsoka," said the voice of Rhea Isa. "Why did you go alone?" She could feel Rhea's presence behind her, yet she couldn't bring herself to look around. Force, it was her best friend… gone, in multiple ways than one. "Where were you when I needed you?"

"I made a choice," she protested. "I couldn't stay."

"You were selfish, going after Maul on Mandalore like that."

"No!" she said in barely a whisper, a small tear rolling down her cheek.

"You abandoned me. You failed me!" Rhea's voice began to warp. "Do you know what I've become?"

Ahsoka felt the presence drastically change, until she could no longer feel Rhea - she only felt Timora. "No," she whimpered, sorrow turning into rage. "No!" In a flash, she ignited her lightsabers and slashed them at Timora, but the mirage was already gone.

Sighing in relief, she crumbled to the ground. But it wasn't exactly relief; Ahsoka felt an unwanted feeling of hatred towards Sidious and everything he represented.

Rhea Isa lived.

Next, Anakin was transported to an all-white facility that he recognized as Polis Massa.

Where Luke and Leia were born. But here was something off, something extremely different now.

The medical droid stated, "Medically, she is completely healthy. For reasons we can't explain, we are losing her."

This was normal. They had all been afraid that Padmé could possibly die, but she hadn't. It wasn't even nearly a possibility.

"She's dying?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously.

"We don't know why. She has lost the will to live. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies." Wait, what? No, this didn't happen. Padmé had simply delivered Luke and Leia prematurely, and she had been in pain. What did they mean, lost the will to live?

"Babies?" asked Bail Organa.

The medical droid replied, "She's carrying twins."

"Save them, we must. They are our last hope," said Yoda sadly, carrying a weight even Anakin couldn't describe.

Then he realized - where was he? The others had spoken, but Anakin hadn't even seen a glimpse of his younger self. In this somewhat alternate universe, had Anakin… died before his twins' birth? No. No, that couldn't be possible.

Suddenly, the scene shifted, again to Polis Massa, but Obi-Wan was there next to her.

"Don't give up, Padmé," he urged. Padmé winced, her face contorted in pain. The medical droid held baby Luke in its mechanical arms.

"It's a boy," it said. Obi-Wan took the baby in his arms. I don't understand.

"Luke," she said with warmth and sorrow in her voice. She smiled faintly and weakly touched him on the forehead.

"... and a girl."

"Leia," she said. Now, Obi-Wan had both children in his arms. R2, 3P0, and Viceroy Organa watched from behind the screen.

"You have twins, Padmé," said the Jedi softly and soothingly. "They need you… hang on."

Then she said something that broke Anakin's heart: "I can't." Suddenly, she took Obi-Wan's hand, holding the japor snippet necklace from Anakin.

"Save your energy," he told her, controlling a flood of emotions.

Taking feeble breaths, Padmé said her last words. "Obi-Wan... there… is good in him. I know there is… still…"

Padmé Amidala gasped, head lolling to the side, and died.

No.

No! Anakin thought in fury, and although it was just a vision, he felt as if his world was breaking into tiny pieces of glass.

"Luke…" said Qui-Gon. "I am passing your training on to Obi-Wan. He is a good Jedi, and he has learned to stretch the rules during his years in exile. But he is still uptight, and you will need more help as your training progresses."

"So… you mean from my dad?" he asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure what he would say in return, but the dead man nodded.

"From Kanan, Ahsoka, and your father, along with Obi-Wan, yes." Qui-Gon seemed to brighten up in Luke's eyes. "And it is your responsibility to help Anakin Skywalker be the Jedi that the Rebellion needs him to be."

"So, it is right that we're fighting with the Rebellion!" said the young Jedi with pleasure.

"Yes, but you must be careful how you fight," warned Qui-Gon.

His head cocked. "What do you mean?"

"How you choose to fight is just as important as what you fight for."

Before Luke could question further, the room began to shake. "What is that?" he said.

"They are here." Qui-Gon shook his head sorrowfully.

"Who?"

"The Inquisitors. Listen to me, Luke. You must go to Ilum with Obi-Wan. Your father will know where that is. There, you will find your destiny."

"Wait! What does that mean?" said Luke, but he already couldn't hear anything that his master told him. The shaking began to falter, but then pieces of the ceiling began to fall.

"Kriff!" cursed Luke as the debris fell and his eyesight went black.

"Master Yoda, you're powerful. You must know a way to destroy Timora and her Inquisitors," urged Ezra. He had been waiting for this - to finally speak to Master Yoda.

"Hmm. Padawan," said Yoda, "thousands of Jedi once there were. Then came war." He gestured upwards, where visions began to accumulate. "In our arrogance, joined the conflict swiftly, we did. Fear, anger, hate. Consumed by the Dark Side, the Jedi were."

Ezra saw vision - the clones assembling, Jedi fighting over fallen bodies, and their fall. He spoke, "Is it wrong for the Jedi to fight? is it wrong for me to protect my friends?"

"Wrong. Hmm," said Yoda, causing Ezra to dive into more confusion. "A long time, fought I did. Consumed by fear, I was, though see it I did not."

"You were afraid?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, afraid." he smiled. "Surprised, are you? A challenge lifelong it is, not to bend fear into anger."

Suddenly, stones and dust began to fall. "What's happening?" Ezra said in fear.

"Found you, the enemy has."

Obi-Wan said through gritted teeth, "Maul."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," said the Dathomirian mockingly, murder gleaming in his eyes. "Look what has become of you."

"Look what I have risen above," he said, finally looking up from Satine's broken body.

"I must say, killing your love for the second time was not as… amusing as the first," said Maul, glaring at the darksaber, which was still activated.

He managed to say, "That saber doesn't belong to you. You know that as well as I do."

"Oh yes, but how great it is to wield it, how empowering!" he muttered. "The mere power that flows through you…"

Obi-Wan was about to say something, but then he realized - none of this was real. Satine was already dead. Maul had no power in the galaxy.

"You've already lost, Maul. You are no longer a Sith apprentice, and you have no authority."

"No power?" he laughed humorously. "You and I have have very different views on what power means. Come see."

Maul gestured over to a window, and suddenly Obi-Wan was no longer in the Mandalorian throne room, but instead in a lavish office. A few tables were set up, and a couch in the middle. However, not everything was at it seemed. Many artifacts had been smashed or thrown around on the floor.

"What is this?" he said, but Maul was no longer next to him. Satine's body had disappeared as well.

He noticed a young woman, probably in her early twenties, walk up to a desk. She held up a ring, and then placed it inside a keyport. She twisted it, and the light of the room disappeared as all the shutters closed.

A hologram was activated.

"Yes?" said an impatient voice, one that Obi-Wan recognized…

The woman spoke. "I regret to inform you that Dryden Vos is dead." She paused for a moment, and then said, "Murdered by the thief he hired to steal the coaxium shipment, his friend, Tobias Beckett."

"Is that so," said the figure knowingly, and now Obi-Wan was sure that it was Maul. "And where is the shipment now?"

"Gone," she said quickly. "Beckett took it, slaughtered the others. I alone survived."

He pulled back his hood, revealing the face of none other than Darth Maul. Obi-Wan shook his head mournfully. He's alive. "One man couldn't have done this alone."

"I wasn't there." Obi-Wan could tell that the woman was lying, and he expected that Maul could as well. "But if I had been perhaps I could have saved him."

Maul growled, then laughed in a sinister fashion. Suddenly, he thrust his arm out, pulling a lightsaber hilt to his hand. And it wasn't the darksaber. "Bring the ship and come to me on Dathomir, and you and I will then decide what to do about the traitor Beckett and his accomplices." He slowly stood up, looking even more menacing. You could see his mechanical legs.

The woman's face was dark, but fear was evident in the whites of her eyes. "I'm on my way." She tapped in coordinates on what looked like a navicomputer. Perhaps this office was inside a ship.

Maul ignited his new blood-red lightsaber, causing the woman to look back. To be honest, she had probably never seen a lightsaber in her life.

"Qi'ra," he said, "you and I will be working much more closely from now on." From the tilt of his head, Obi-Wan could tell that he meant much more than he implied. He deactivated his lightsaber, and the hologram dissipated.

The scene froze, and Obi-Wan muttered, "No. How could we let Darth Maul get away with this?" The younger Maul, the vision version, came back and whispered into his ear. "When you return to your friends, tell them that Maul lives. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to ask your young friend Han Solo about his encounters with Crimson Dawn."

Kanan continued to fend off against the sentinels, and it was getting harder every second, even with double lightsabers. His swings were wild while theirs were pristine and clean. One kicked him in the gut and he went flying to the other side of the room.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the guards took it as a chance to advance. The main guard said, "Now the servants of the Dark Side come for your apprentice. You cannot fight forever."

Kanan shook his head. "You're right. I can't protect Ezra forever. Not even from himself." It pained him so much to say it, and yet he felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders when he did. "All I can do is what I've done - train him the best I could."

The sentinel took a step forward, raising his yellow blade above his head. Kanan awaited the blow and the pain -

But it never came.

Instead, the lightsaber rested lightly on his shoulder. "By the right of the Council," his other shoulder, "by the will of the Force," his head. "Kanan Jarrus, you may rise."

He had been… knighted. He had never had the chance with Master Billaba. Because she had died on Kaller...

Kanan stood up, bewildered. "Wait. What does this mean?"

The sentinel took off his mask, turning around to reveal the face of the man that he had defeated and seen take his own life only a year ago.

"It means you are what I once was," said the Grand Inquisitor. "A Knight of the Jedi Order."

Kanan had no time to ask questions, for the roof was about to come down on them all.

Grand Inquisitor spoke again. "The Temple is falling. Go. I will delay the enemy." Quickly, Kanan ran back into the bright doorway, ready to see Ezra again.

Anakin didn't want to see any more. He couldn't. But now, he was transported to what looked like a large shaft.

A young man was edging his way around a corner, sweat dripping across his face. Then Anakin realized - it was Luke. He looked as if he were in his early twenties, and his father could only look on at how grown-up his son looked. But he also looked as if he was in terrible danger. Luke was sweating. He wanted to reach out, help, but it was no use.

He slowly walked through a corridor, looking towards every place where someone could be hiding. Suddenly, there was a deep breath and a red lightsaber swung out at him. Luke ignited his own lightsaber and they stood off.

The figure with the red lightsaber, a menacing thing in black armor, swung at Luke, who deflected it. He must have had a lot more training to know how to hold a lightsaber. In fact, he didn't even have a lightsaber as of right now.

The figure continued to press on and it seemed its attacks were getting harder and harder.

The red saber swung at Luke, but he ducked and ran outside the corridor. The lightsaber instead hit the wall, and sparks went flying.

The fight continued, getting more vicious. The black-robed figure forced Luke onto a bridge, and Luke walked backwards as he fought.

No. He's cornered.

Both lightsabers were forced down and they hit the railing, which sent more sparks flying. Suddenly, Luke was forced to the ground, blue saber still ignited.

The figure put his own saber to Luke's throat and said, "You are beaten. It is useless to resist." Luke inched backwards. "Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."

Obi-Wan was gone? Did that mean that this figure killed him? It was then that Anakin realized that Luke was holding his lightsaber. If that was his lightsaber, where was he? He should be helping his son.

Maybe Anakin was dead in this vision.

A determined look coming across Luke's older face, he managed to push back the lightsaber and stand up.

The Sith Lord's (he was pretty sure this thing was a Sith Lord) swings became reckless, and Luke managed to hit him on the shoulder. The figure grunted in pain, but no real damage had been done to him.

Anakin could feel the Dark Side raging in him and yet, something quite familiar. They fought for a few seconds more, slicing a piece of machinery in two and letting it topple over the edge.

Suddenly, the red lightsaber made his way to Luke's arm and sliced off his hand, still clutching the lightsaber.

Luke screamed in agony, and Anakin wanted so badly to go and comfort his son, tell him that he could get used to a new hand. He fell to the ground, clutching his stump of a hand.

"There is no escape," said the figure. "Don't make me destroy you."

Without a word, Luke tried his best to edge his way onto the ledge. It was a dead end.

"Luke," the Sith said, possibly trying to sound comforting the best he could. But it was impossible for a creature so entrenched in the Dark Side. "You do not yet realize your importance. You've only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

Luke spoke for the first time, and his voice sounded deeper than how Anakin knew it to be. "I'll never join you."

"If you only knew the power of the Dark Side." The figure held his hand out in front of him, then balled it into a fist.

Luke edged farther away still.

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father." This was it. Anakin would find out what happened to him in this other universe, or whatever this was.

"He told me enough," said Luke, struggling to swing himself onto a lower level. "He told me you killed him."

"No. I am your father."

Anakin couldn't think. No… he wouldn't. How was this possible? He would never -

Luke shook his head, in denial. "No. That's not true. That's impossible!" He was on the verge of sobbing. First his hand, now… this.

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true."

Luke braced his ledge, and screamed a blood-curdling, "Noooo!" He buried his head into his shoulder, crying.

"Luke," said the Sith, or Anakin. "You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."

Luke's tears were drying, and now he needed to get out of there. He looked down into the endless abyss. No. Was he contemplating… suicide?

"Come with me. It is the only way."

Then, Luke fell.

Luke! Had his son taken his own life, or had he escaped? The vision began to lose focus, and as soon as it had begun, Anakin was lying on the floor of the Jedi Temple with whispers in his ear that said, Vader.

Vader.

Ahsoka looked up as she heard a deep rumbling, and turned around to see Anakin there, head in his hands.

"Anakin!" she said, rushing over to him.

"Snips," he managed to say. "I don't deserve… leave me here. Please."

"Are you kidding?" she yelled, confused. "Come on. We're going." Helping him up, she thought of Rhea, Timora, and muttered to herself, "There's still a way."

Then she supported Anakin and they both ran through the corridor.

"Yeah, but Master Yoda, how are we supposed to win if we don't fight back?" asked Ezra, nervously looking around.

"Win?" He chuckled. "Win. How Jedi choose to win, the question is."

"We already chose! We're going to fight."

Yoda seemed to somber. "Hmm. Find Malachor. And only Kanan and Ahsoka, you must take."

"Malachor? Who's Malachor? Why would I only have to take - "

Suddenly, Master Yoda wasn't there, and he was in a room of the Jedi Temple again. Coming to his senses, he heard the rumbling of the stone and ran down the only hallway.

All six of them met in the room where they had first separated.

"Guys!" said Ezra, out of breath. "You won't believe what I - "

"Tell us later. Come on!" said Kanan, motioning with his hand.

Anakin got the strength to run for himself, and he looked to Ahsoka. She knew it was okay to let him go.

Vader.

He took a final look at the walls, where the painted wolves stood motionless. Something important was here at the temple. Something...

They ran through the stony corridors, rock and debris falling wherever they went. Ahsoka abruptly stopped, looked around, and smiled at something.

"Hey. You okay?" he asked when she slowed down. Obi-Wan stopped running as well.

"Yeah," she said, still smiling. "It's nothing." They caught up to Kanan, Ezra, and Luke, and continued out of the Temple.

It was night now, and the circles that they had activated to enter the Temple were now glowing red. The effect of the Dark Side on this light environment.

Vader.

"Chopper!" Kanan yelled, and the Phantom descended from where it had been flying around since the morning.

Anakin felt cold, but rubbing his arms wouldn't help, because the feeling wasn't just from the weather.

The C1 astromech beeped out an agreement and they all piled into the ship. "He says Imperial forces are on their way," Ezra translated, though Anakin could already tell what the droid had said.

The Phantom lifted off and they all collapsed into the seats.

"I saw Master Yoda," said Ezra, sitting up excitedly.

"Saw him?" asked Kanan incredulously. "What did he say?"

"He said to - to find Malachor." This caught Anakin's attention, and obviously that of the elder Jedi. They looked around at each other warily.

"Who's Malachor?" asked Luke, probably voicing Ezra's concerns.

"Malachor isn't a person," said Ahsoka. "It's a place."

"And…" Ezra struggled, "he told me that I could only take Kanan and Ahsoka."

Strange. "That doesn't make sense," said Obi-Wan. "Why would Master Yoda say that?"

"Maybe it's out path alone," said Kanan.

Anakin shook his head. "That place is dangerous, I'm not letting you guys go alone."

"We'll be fine, Skyguy," said Ahsoka.

"Yeah," agreed Kanan. "We'll bring Chopper with us. That way, we'll be safe."

Over the comms, Chopper let out a whining sound, something that roughly translated to, "Kriff you."

"So, what did the rest of you see?" asked Ezra, laughing at Chopper's cursing mastery.

Luke said, "Well, I saw Master Qui-Gon. And… he said that he was passing on my training to Ben."

Obi-Wan's head shot up. "Me? I really don't think that I have the capacity to train another Skywalker." Anakin felt the sarcasm dripping from his voice, and then pride that his master had yet again chosen him to train someone. "Of course I'll train you, Luke. If that's alright with your father."

Anakin opened his mouth to speak, then simply nodded, smiling weakly.

Luke gave him a surprised look, then Anakin heard in his head, Thank you.

"In my vision, I saw Maul on Mandalore," said Obi-Wan. "Then I saw a woman named Qi'ra, if I recall correctly, and she was contacting Maul about a crime syndicate." He stared at every face in the room. "This means that Maul is very much alive, and he has more power than we realize."

"Stang," cursed Ahsoka, using an old clone swear. "Not him again."

"Maul? Like, as in Darth Maul?" Kanan asked, probably remembering when Maul had been a threat during the Clone Wars.

"The very same one. Also, I was told that I should seek out Han Solo and ask him about Crimson Dawn. Does that name have any meaning to any of you?"

"Crimson Dawn," thought Ahsoka. "I once knew a marauder who led a rebel cell, named Enfys Nest. I knew her only as Fulcrum, of course, but she told me about her dealings with a crime syndicate called Crimson Dawn."

"Do you know where we can contact her?" asked Kanan, putting his elbows on the controls of the ship.

"I haven't had contact with her for years. She might be dead, or she doesn't want anything to do with our Rebellion," Ahsoka explained.

"I can ask Han," said Luke, putting a hand to his jacket pocket, where a comm to the smuggler was held. "Maybe he can help out with that. I feel like he may have mentioned the Crimson Dawn somewhere."

After this, they were silent for a while. Kanan told them that he had been knighted and they all congratulated him. However, Ahsoka didn't say anything of her experiences. Anakin didn't either.

And even though it wasn't real, he could hardly look at Luke without picturing him years older, bleeding, crying, and mutilated.

Broken. Anakin had broken his own son.

Vader.

I am a monster. Sorry, guys. Hope you enjoyed this (longer) chapter, and make sure to review. Thank you to CloneWarsNerd, Just A Crazy-Man, donutstar123, and Reader2001. Here are my responses to reviews that don't have their PM enabled.

donutstar123: Thank you. So glad you're enjoying this story!

Thanks for the support everyone! Again, please point out any canonical errors I have made. May the Force be with you and God bless.

-HH