Onderon Arc 1 – Trip to Base
A/N: Hey, all! Sorry for not having updated for around two months! It's just that there were so many events that happened that I couldn't actually work on this thing at all until a few days ago. But I'm back now, and I'll try to update as frequently as I can/want to.
This is the first real chapter of this story. We're out of the prologues and into the actual story. So, this first part of the story will focus on Anakin taking missions for Senator Organa and so on. I don't wanna spoil much, but you'll see Ahsoka soon, just not in this part. The entire story will be organised into 'arcs', or small parts which can range from 5-10 chapters, depending on what I'm writing. You'll see how that'll play out. This first arc's called the "Onderon Arc", after the fact that all of this is going to take place in Onderon. This arc, and the next few, will all focus on Anakin and how he grows as a character during the beginnings of the Empire.
Well, that's all I have to say, enjoy reading!
"Are you an angel?"
"What?"
"An angel. I heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the Universe. They live in the moons of Iego, I think."
"You're a funny little boy."
…
"You're making fun of me."
"No, no, I'd be much too frightened to tease a Senator."
…
"I love you."
"You love me? I thought that we had decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie, and that it would destroy our lives."
"Think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway. I truly, deeply, love you. Before we die, I want you to know."
…
"I'm tired of all this. Our love should not be hidden away like it's some immoral thing!"
"Ani, you're almost a Jedi Knight, and then…"
"And then what? Jedi aren't supposed to be married! Oh, it doesn't matter."
…
"I trust I'll see you soon, General Skywalker?"
"Of course, my lady."
…
"You're late again."
"Padmé, I'm so sorry."
…
"Something wonderful has happened. Ani, I'm pregnant."
"That's… that's wo- that's wonderful!"
…
"You're so… beautiful."
"It's only because I'm so in love."
"No! No. It's only because I'm so in love with you!"
"So, love has blinded you?"
"Well, that's not exactly what I meant."
…
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
"Don't do this. Don't shut me out. Let me help you."
…
"Hold me. Like you did by the lake on Naboo, so long ago when there was nothing but our love. No politics, no plotting, no war."
…
"From here on out, whatever happens to us, know that I will always love you, Ani."
"We'll get through this, Angel. I promise."
…
"We're losing her!"
"There is nothing to be done. Lost her, we have."
"No, no, Padmé!"
"Anakin, I need you to hear this…"
"Don't say stuff like that, we're gonna save you!"
"Ani, my Ani."
"No… no!"
"Ani… you're a strong and good man. Don't stray from the path you're currently on. I'm so proud of you… my Ani. I love you. I will always love… you."
"I will always love you too, my Padmé."
…
Memories swirled around the man's head as he leaned onto the back of the pilot's seat he was on, almost slouching, ignoring his surroundings. It's been two weeks since he lost his wife, his sweet Padmé. It would take a long time for Anakin to get over the death of the woman he loved most, and he doubted anyone could replace what the late Senator had been to him. He had a break of two weeks after the Sith took over the galaxy, courtesy of Senator Organa who thought he needed one, and in that break most of his thoughts hadn't strayed from his late wife.
Along with the break, the generous Senator Organa had given him a small Corellian cruiser, a small round scout ship with two prongs to the front in order to conduct his missions for the Rebellion and the Senator. Inside the ship itself was the cockpit, two bedrooms, a room for the ship's guns, a kitchenette, and an extra empty room. Enough for himself and R2-D2, who was in the ship with him. The Jedi had slightly modified the ship and was planning to make more modifications as time went by. Anakin's first mission was to track down Saw Gerrera and the Onderon Resistance and form an alliance with them to resist the new Empire's ongoing annexation of the planet and see if they needed anything from Senator Organa. This was prompted by a Fulcrum transmission where Gerrera had stated that Separatist forces had given way to forces of the Empire wanting to take the planet, supported by the Republic troopers that had previously fought for the Onderonian people. Gerrera had stated that the people of Onderon would not stand to be taken over by the "oppressive and undemocratic regime". Senator Organa, who himself had been keyed into the network, felt the need to Anakin to assist the Onderonians.
The young Jedi agreed with his old friend from Onderon on the Empire's oppressiveness. He had seen first-hand in his travels to Naboo and Coruscant, throughout his two-week's leave, how the Empire and its new Governors and Stormtroopers were oppressing the common people. Anakin had stopped a few Imperial officers from destroying the stall of a poor Nabooan fruit salesman early into his leave. It would've created a target on his back had it not been for a few well-placed mind-tricks which would have made Obi-Wan proud. There were a few cases after, such as when a Stormtrooper tried to arrest a Gungan for assault when the poor sentient accidentally bumped into the trooper, or when Stormtroopers on Coruscant tried to burn down a home full of non-human families internally displaced within the Republic due to the Clone War. Anakin had stopped them all to the extent he could without putting a target on his back. The Jedi knew that Padmé would not be happy to see what the Galaxy had turned into, in such a short span of time.
Anakin had no idea if Palpatine suddenly managed to turn the Galaxy upside down on its head, or if the Republic had been like this in its waning days. Though he remembered Padmé ranting about "increasing institutional racism on non-human sentient species" that was occurring in the Republic around the mid-Clone Wars. The Jedi supposed that those events could have been part of the new Empire's agenda to oppress non-humans.
At this stage, there was no love lost between him and his old friend and former confidant. Anakin realised that the Sith Lord's "friendship" with him had been a sham, a carefully crafted play in order to turn Anakin into the next Sith Apprentice. Anakin had just been a tool, a means to an end. When the Sith Lord realised Anakin wouldn't be a viable Apprentice (for reasons Anakin didn't particularly want to know), he moved on to the next best thing, cut all his losses, and killed everything the previous tool had held dear. Not that Anakin would want to fight for the Sith Lord, one who Anakin realised stood against many of the things he valued. There were even rumours the Emperor, from his grand throne on Coruscant, was planning on fully legalising slavery and its trade within the Empire, rather than keeping slavery decriminalised and the trade illegal within the borders of the Republic as it had been before. Not that Anakin had particularly liked the previous laws either. The young Jedi thought he would've tried to break free from the Sith's control once he realised the things Sidious's government was doing, had he actually turned to the Dark Side and decided to serve under the Empire.
At this stage, Anakin hated Darth Sidious and everything he stood for. The feelings weren't appropriate for a man of his title, a Jedi Master, but honestly, he didn't care. Anakin wanted to destroy the Empire in its entirely, burn away everything associated with it, its soldiers and everyone loyal to it. He resented the Sith that bought him to this situation, and he hated everything that led to the Sith taking over, including the corrupt and greedy Senators who gave Palpatine the "emergency powers" he needed just to make a bit of money off the backs of those who festered in their squalor literally underneath the feet of said Senators. They took Padmé from him, someone they had already derided for her crime of simply wanting to help people, and they would pay dearly for that. Before, he would've just hated the corrupt Senators for being greedy, while defending Palpatine, but in the few weeks of the Empire, Anakin could see how they were all complicit in ushering the new regime. The Senate which cheered as Palpatine, the one who fronted as a kindly old man all these years, took over.
The ship he was in lurched slightly, making Anakin lurch slightly, as it went out of hyperspace into a few kilometres away from the atmosphere of the purple-green jungle planet of Onderon. He remembered going to the planet to organise resistance against the Separatist occupation of the planet, and later again to introduce Saw Gerrera to the Fulcrum network when the Separatists tried to siege the planet in an effort to retake it a mere six months after. This was his third time coming to the planet, this time, to organise a resistance once again, but this time against the Galactic Empire, successor to the same interplanetary state he had fought for, a fact he still wasn't sure how to feel about.
Anakin pressed a few buttons on the controls in front of him, activating a rudimentary cloaking device, even though that was not needed as true enforcement had not been established on the planet thanks to the ongoing conflict that even the "peace" ending the Clone War hadn't stopped, and opening up the Fulcrum network, and connecting it to Saw Gerrera's node.
"This is Fulcrum Leader.", Anakin spoke through the signal on his virtual private network, using the name he established for himself in situation he spoke with fellow regular Fulcrum network users, "I have approached Onderon, where should I land?"
"Ah, Fulcrum Leader.", a voice spoke on the other end, clearly Saw Gerrera, "Good to have you. I'm 450 clicks west of Qayrah city in Republic Sector B5."
"Copy that. I'm on my way.", Anakin replied, moving his ship to land on the north-west side of the planet as was described.
During the New Sith Wars, for simplicity of geography, the Republic at the time had created a standardised grid-system to be used in all planets to show basic locations, whether within cities or without. Ecumenopolitan planets, such as Coruscant and Hosnian Prime, had started to use it as a universal standard for all except popular districts, while some other planets, such as Naboo, Alderaan, and Onderon, had implemented it as a system for ships, however not to any official capacity so long as they had large tracts of empty land. Certain planets formerly associated with the Republic at the time, such as Tatooine, also had such systems, though they weren't used by the galactic states outside the Republic/Empire. Letters designated columns on the grid, west to east, while numbers signified each row, increasing the further south one went down the planet's surface. For many, it became easy to navigate within planets afterwards, such as Anakin navigating Onderon at the moment.
He came down on the atmosphere, passing the clouds, the darkness of space being replaced by the gloominess of the cloudy night sky, only slightly brighter than before. Onderon, due to being in a jungle landscape, tended to be a very humid planet, with constant rains, so it was quite rare to see a completely clear sky. However, from Anakin's observations, there were less clouds than usual, as Sector B5 was having a dry season, the tropical equivalent of winters on the northern hemispheres of most planets.
Anakin turned off the headlights of his new ship to prevent being tracked and landed in between the dense trees and thick foliage, using the Force to compensate for the fact that he wasn't able to view his surroundings to ensure his safe landing. The ship whirred and made whining sounds as it landed, and Anakin was sure that the ship also made leaves crackle and sticks bend and break. It was a successful landing, as Anakin pushed two buttons on the ship, one deactivating the engines, and the other opening the ship's ramp, before getting up. The Jedi saw R2-D2 from the corner of his eye, though he made no greeting as he left the room, loyal droid deciding to follow all the way to the ramp, which trailed to reveal the dark, forested ground of Onderon. Being a tropical jungle planet, Onderon wasn't that cold, even in its poles, although the weather was still quite so, considering the winter, however mild it may be compared to many planets.
The Jedi walked off the ramp, trailed by R2, before he turned, taking a small, cylindrical object from one of the pockets in his utility belt, putting it onto his hands and pushing a button on it, closing the ramp of the ship, which automatically shut itself down, seeing there were no passengers or droids on the ship. Then, the object, the ship's key, was put back into a pocket, before its owner turned once again and moved in the opposite direction of the ship. It became darker than before as the ship's lights shut down and the Jedi moved away from it, however, that wasn't a matter as the Force was still his ally. R2 had his night vision, along with his flashing red and green system lights, the only things illuminating in the dark jungle. Anakin's senses tingled as he tracked down Gerrera through the Force, he was right ahead along with another presence Anakin didn't really recognise. Probably one of the many rebels he, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex had trained the first time he had been here.
"Stay close to me, R2." Anakin whispered to his droid, who gave a quietened whoop of affirmation. The whirr of the droid's wheels, and the sounds of Anakin's footsteps hitting leaves were the only sounds in the silent environment for the next few minutes, as the Jedi was vigilant for anyone that might approach him, despite the darkness of the night sky surrounding him. If it were a former Clone, he would be in trouble.
Several minutes later, the light of an electric flashlight shone in front of Anakin's eyes, and an identifiable reptilian, four-legged creature stopped in front of Anakin, an Onderonian Dalgo, carrying two passengers. Anakin's eyes flashed as he recognised one of the people, the one leading the animal, Saw Gerrera. The man had not changed much since the last time they met, when Anakin was introducing him to the Fulcrum network. It was also apparent that the death of his sister, Steela Gerrera, was still having an impact upon him.
However, those descriptions went ignored, as Gerrera got off the Dalgo and greeted, "Hello, General Skywalker. It's good to see you again. I see you bought your droid with you."
"Indeed, Gerrera.", Anakin smiled at his compatriot before taking a glance at R2 behind him, although he doubted the former expression would be seen by the other man, "Who've you bought with you?"
"Oh, this is Barshay Sanjak, one of my fellow Partisans." Gerrera introduced, making a hand gesture indicating the other man, sat upon the back of the reptile, near the tail, a burly man with piercing blue-grey eyes, though most of his face was wrapped behind a turban. Despite that, Anakin felt that he could trust the man, he gave no bad feelings off the Force.
"General Skywalker." The man spoke in a deep, accented voice, "It is an honour to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Sanjak." Anakin replied, before looking around and asking, "Where have you decided to keep your base this time around?"
"Follow us, General Skywalker."
Gerrera got back on the Dalgo, leaving Anakin to make the journey on foot, trailed by R2 on his wheels, an arrangement which Anakin didn't really mind. It gave him time to think and to catch up with Gerrera on what happened since the Siege of Onderon had started during the Clone War.
"So, General Skywalker, how did you evade Operation: Knightfall?" Gerrera decided to ask while pointing his flashlight towards the direction of the base.
The man asked tightened his lips, he had not exactly wanted to answer this question, however, he relented, "I was with Master Windu at the time, on Coruscant, and we both basically snuck around the underworld, and fought our way to the Senate District, on our way to the Jedi Temple, when Senator Organa found us and helped us get off-planet." It wasn't the full truth, but it was enough. Gerrera didn't need to know that the great Chancellor they had all fought for was actually a slimy Sith Lord.
"Senator Organa's one of the few good men left in this galaxy. A bit too pacifist for my tastes, though.", Gerrera remarked, before continuing with his own life, "I thought the fighting would end once the Separatists were beaten, but instead, the droids were shut down all of a sudden and the occupiers turned from droids to clones, though they're called 'Stormtroopers' now. Keffin' pigs."
Anakin nodded in agreement; he didn't like the Empire's organisation much either. The Jedi decided not to comment on Gerrera's accusation that Senator Organa was too 'pacifist', instead saying, "It's been true for a lot of planets. Where the Clones used to be the heroes, now they're the oppressors."
"Yeah. I've seen enough here on Onderon, supposedly "enforcing" the New Order, much like the Seppies.", Gerrera growled, "Have you heard of the new guy, though? Vader? Apparently, he's like one of your kind or something."
Anakin stiffened at that. He watched the broadcast where the Emperor introduced Vader, Anakin's clone, as his 'chief enforcer' and 'Commander of the Imperial Navy', however, and the fact that the Sith Lord survived Obi-Wan's damage upon him was frightening, "He's not my kind, Gerrera. He's a Sith working for the Emperor. He seeks his own ends and not the greater good.", and the Jedi really hoped that they would not meet in this little field trip.
The other man nodded stiffly at that, tightening his lips, before replying: "He killed all the Jedi at the Temple and some more, I hear."
"You're not wrong."
Although Gerrera wasn't wrong in asking about Vader, the entire conversation was making Anakin uncomfortable. It reminded him of how he failed, how the Jedi failed, and how Palpatine managed to take everything away from him. Darth Vader was a symbol of how Anakin Skywalker had truly failed.
Luckily, the man decided to switch topics, remarking, "Let's just hope we can get this Empire out of Onderon, and not have to deal with that motherkriffer."
"Indeed.", replied Anakin, before the entire conversation evolved into comfortable silence, leaving all participants in the conversation to contemplate on their own things.
Anakin, in his current mental state, started to mull over his late wife, Padmé. There had been so many moments between them during the War. He didn't think they were truly able to explore their relationship outside of it. The Clone War influenced so much of their relationship, which was a detail which saddened Anakin every time he thought of it. So much of their relationship happened when their lives were dedicated to other areas, they couldn't completely dedicate themselves to each other like they should have.
"And now she's dead. We spent so much time missing each other, and now, I can't ever see her ever again.", the Jedi thought, the pieces of his already-fractured heart shattering into millions more pieces. Millions upon the millions already broken.
Unwitting to his mind, another memory came up, one during the early Clone War, when he was still a Padawan, upon an alleyway in the popular industrial/leisure district of CoCo Town:
"I… missed you.", he had told her after he had returned to Coruscant after three gruelling weeks of war.
There was a long pause, as the then-Padawan gently put his hand on Padmé's cheek, and she held said hand with her own. After a while like this, she finally spoke back, with her kind and gentle voice, "I will always love you, Ani.", calling him the nickname given to him by his mother.
Anakin truly missed her. The person that lit up every time she saw him, who wept when he was hurt, and truly put herself beside him no matter what. When Anakin was hurt, Padmé was there to heal the wounds, and she genuinely did look after him during the war in any way she could. The Jedi had done the same, listened to Padmé's frustrations with the Senate and political processes, however frustrating, boring, and incomprehensible he had found them, and embraced her when she confessed her fears of losing him, reassuring her that he would always be there for her, which he had been, up to her last moments.
For not the first time in the past week, Anakin thought to himself, "I truly love you, Padmé, and I will always."
From there, his thoughts became silent just as he was physically. There was nothing to think about, nor to talk about. Gerrera, thankfully for Anakin, stayed silent also. Apparently, he too had nothing to say, nor did Sanjak. While Anakin liked the former, he didn't feel up to talking just that moment. They just trekked across the forest underneath the dark, night sky, the Jedi using his force senses to compensate for his lack of vision within the darkness. It was a while like this before a soft orange light flitted onto Anakin's eyes, and the Dalgo carrying the other two stopped at the tug of its reins under Gerrera's hands.
The lead Onderonian turned towards and glanced at his Jedi friend, "Welcome to Base, my friend.", he announced, outstretching a hand, and presenting Anakin Skywalker the camp used by the Onderonian Partisans.
A/N: Well, that's the chapter! Don't worry about the semi-cliffhanger, I'll get to the actual base and Anakin interacting with the Onderonian Partisans in the next chapter.
If anyone asks, this entire bit is inspired from the canonical events on the Empire taking over Onderon. Saw Gerrera had organised a resistance against them quite immediately, and had an uprising three years after. Anakin/Vader had no bearing on those events in the canon timeline, so they still happen, however, Anakin's intervention in the fight is going to change quite a bit, which you'll see in the story.
Well, that's all I have to say here, so until next time (and I hope that's sooner than later this time around)!
