Chapter 47
Anakin awakes to utter darkness and releases a soft groan of pain. Kark all, he aches all over. He lays there, for a time, breathing in and out, an odd wheeze of agony which sounds like a snake coming out of his throat. He has to get out of here. He is not going to become as broken as Vader was.
Fallen or not, he is not going to become a Sith Lord, nor wanted to be one. His loyalty is to his family, to the galaxy, to keep people safe, those who are unable to fight for themselves. Anakin could not allow himself to become yet another puppet, no matter the taunts of those echoing in his head.
He frowns, relying on those memories of his children. He shakes his head and slowly stands up, seizes the chain, attempting to reach for something else other than the dark, and pulls harshly.
...and yells out in pain when the chain jolts so harshly that Anakin is forced onto the ground, his arm being dislocated. "Damn all!"
He bites his lip to mute any further cries of agony. He starts to reach out with his good arm in the darkness and scuffle around, investigating for a wall hopefully within a range of his chains. He finds it and prepares himself, feeling for the socket and the bone with the Force, and positioning himself before slamming his shoulder into the wall to snap the bone back in place. He hisses in pain, tears streaming down his face, before sitting down on the floor.
"Why the kark did I think that would have worked," he spits out at himself angrily.
He quickly realizes that the darkness swells in joy, making him angrier. "That's what they want! I won't allow myself to be a vessel of darkness leaving this planet!"
He takes yet another deep breath, tries his best to calm himself, and attempts to meditate. Only... something is wrong. He couldn't find that personal balance Vader always taught him to have. There are no threads of peace and harmony he can draw upon to pull himself into the soothing embrace of the Force. Alarms rushes through him at that moment, making him lose any semblance of calm. Is he just not stabled enough as he has been taught? Or is this what it means to fall? To lose the control he has over himself?
He tries again but is not able to empty his mind, and what comes to him is nothing peaceful. Flashes of electricity, of the Sith's cackle. He walked toward a bunch of children. The look on their innocent little faces as he walked into the Council Chambers of where he had been judged nearly a decade before, one looking so similar to him, but he merely shrugged them off because he - and in essence - the dark side viewed them as threats of the future.
Regret fills him. He is nothing but a monster. He didn't deserve his family.
He didn't deserve the entire galaxy.
His stomach beats, and he curses himself as tears begin going down his face once more.
He sits there, in sustaining agony for some time, until his stomach snarls at him. He shakes his head and stares around, pressing his senses along the room he is in. He is beginning to grow malnourished with the lack of food or water. He tries again to reach out to Vader. His relationship is so strong that surely he should be able to reach him even in this cell.
He gasps at himself for being denied before probing in every direction and is astounded to find the shielding conceals even a small use of the Force. No one could sense in, no one could sense out. Nothing that happened here would be sensed in the Force. How in the name of the galaxy did the Sith create such a shield?
It leaves him in yet another state of numbness, to realize just how alone he truly is. No one is coming for him. Didn't know where he is, couldn't know where he is, and even if they did, Vader might not care about him anymore now that he abandoned him...
Depression fills him, and he curls himself up into a ball on the floor, hands going to his head as all of the emotions just have to come out. His screaming is wasting his energy as he feels his eyes slowly but surely closing.
Anakin blinks a few seconds and sits up, a large snarl emanating from his stomach, and a tightness filling his chest. He knows he is fighting nothing but a losing battle.
Anakin again reaches out for Vader, and for a moment he feels something, but it is too late. He couldn't reach him in time!
"Damn it!" Anakin snarls, beating against his chain over and over again.
He grunts and falls onto the floor, not able to take the stomach pain anymore, the loss of humanity, as he feels his eyes closing again.
It is an endless cycle; over and over he wakes and falls asleep, nothing but depression and isolation meeting him. It is beginning to grow to grate and infuriating. The dark siders would regret keeping him here like this!
Kriff all; he is hungry and dehydrated! Not to mention losing common logic as every time he feels the Force, he only feels darkness. Worse though... he hates being left down here with nothing but his negative emotions being his only companions. He dreads thinking of his family, of what they must think of him now...
He rubs his hands across his unkempt beard.
"Are you hungry, my little fallen Jedi?" The voice of Darth Sidious returns tenfold.
Anakin tenses a little, not sending him there, but he won't let the Sith know he has startled him as he buries his emotions. "I am not a Jedi."
"All you have to do is kneel, and you would have your hunger satisfied..."
When he didn't respond, there is a very maliciously slow and cruel sound of a bucket being bought in, the pounding of his heartbeat, as the Sith lets up only slightly, allowing him to reach through the Force and see that food has been brought to him.
This Sith must be cruel as hell.
Anakin grit his teeth, embarrassment roaring in his head. He knows what kind of game he is playing. As a survivalist, they have been taught and prepared for situations where they may be taken captive. He is so hungry though, and his stomach beating heavily is enough to know that he is almost about to break.
He closes his eyes and tries to close out the pain. He needed to stay strong to find a way out. If he is left malnourished and dehydrated, that possibility would die along with him. "I-I can't..."
"Beg for my mercy," the Sith mocks, and Anakin has a feeling there's a scowl on his lips, "Pledge yourself to me and you would survive."
Infuriation rips through him. "Like hell I will!"
"Shame," the Sith says, "Fortunately for you, I am not without mercy. I will... give... you fruit."
Anakin smirks. "I take it that your Master won't be happy if he discovers I am dead."
There is a hoarse and gleeful laugh. "Tor Valum wants a new vessel so he could leave this planet intact. Seven thousand years of luring individuals from the shadows would have that effect on anyone."
Anakin grimaces when he can hear the sounds of peeling. He has a split second to understand, before it hit, that this is going to be painful so much more, as the Sith intends to deliver any sort of manner so he could at least snap. He shouts in agony as the lightning crashes over him and takes him to the ground, writhing in pain.
The lightning fades, and the Sith's mocking voice vibrates out, "Your family could be brought before us if you kneel. All you have to do is understand that there is a chance for you to have everything in the galaxy as long as you do."
"And become like you?! Never!" Anakin snaps, not caring about what the Sith would do to him. "I would not become a disgrace!"
"Then you would never be able to see freedom again, my boy," the Sith grins before the lightning falls over him, and the pain falls over him once more...
When Anakin reawakens, he is met with agony. Moving even an inch cause spikes of agony to trail through his body. He couldn't help but grimace when the scraping of metal hit his ears. It takes him a second to recognize the sound, of eating utensils hitting one another. He realizes there is a faint light in the cell. On the other end, sitting at a table preparing to eat, is the dark siders.
In something that would have been humorous at another time, Darth Sidious and Tor Valum are sitting across from each other, as if they are normal individuals eating food.
But Anakin feels himself losing control yet again. He wants to kill them both. He would find a way to kill them both.
"Good, good, young one, you're awake, you've been unconscious for some time," Tor Valum says, and something can tell Anakin that this is another trick, "Tell me, are you hungry?"
He didn't get an opportunity to deny it before his stomach beat heavy yet again.
"Do you want to eat and drink?" Valum continues.
"I will not allow you to undo me like this," Anakin responds sharply.
"Ah, but you won't have to," the Sith continues, "I've decided we can start this with little groundwork. I will permit you one meal, for a price."
Anakin should have known there is a catch. Of course, there would be. After all, the dark side is never easy and simple. Speaking of which, how on such a planet clouded with darkness they managed to get food? Maybe it is an illusion or maybe they have an agent from the real galaxy?
"What is it?"
"I feel your lingering love for Vader," the Sith says with a sigh, as if he is an exasperating painfully spitfire of a child, "Renounce them."
"No," Anakin snaps back, turning his head away from the refreshments, feeling the instant fire boiling up the back of his throat but he ignores it.
"You can never learn," the Sith says before he begins to eat, slowly, savoring each bite along with his ally. Kriff these Sith!
"Perhaps another payment then," the Sith says after another five minutes, after finishing half his plate, "every time you attempt to meditate, or use the Force, you try to shy away from the full power of the darkness. I would grant you half a meal, if you use it again in its entirety with no redemption."
"No," Anakin interjects, "I'm not unintelligent as you think I am. I know what happens when you go pass the line. The more you utilize it without proper control with the light, the easier it gets, and the more you want to use it. It is imbalance when it gets worse."
Valum scowls "Well if you don't wish to submit now, I presume that you would have to live without refreshment."
For the painful seconds afterward which turn into forever, the Sith takes their sweet time eating, and his stomach keeps on the same routine. The entire time, his stomach is protesting and screaming at him. To be so hungry though... How long has it been since he ate or drink a full meal?
"How long have I been here?" he asks, genuinely curious.
None of the Sith pays him no heed as they start to clean up, a slow grin crawling across his lips, as Sidious moves to collect the meal. Anakin murmurs under his breath and tries to think. He had spent a lot of time sleeping and he has lost his trace of darkness. From their attempts to manipulate him with power, food, water, and everything he could ever imagine, Anakin could not help but feel his heart is beginning to lose control.
He wants answers, none that he would get unless he joins the Sith.
"A month? I presume."
The Sith does not respond, instead, he merely stands, and Anakin cannot see where they disappear afterward.
Anakin breathes heavily and curls up on the floor, trying to mute a moan of hunger, of agony. Force, he would do anything to get him the hell out of here.
He isn't dumb. There is only so long a human body can live without food and water. Contributed with Sidious's karking lightning, he is quite certain he'd already be dead if he wasn't a Force User... or well... had Force training. The Force naturally heightened him and helped him to survive such conditions, even in this complex state of mood swings and emotional control.
He pinches the tip of his nose as his stomach desires again, the lingering smell of food maintaining its stench in the air. He takes a trembling breath, tapping into the Force, and pushes it through his body to attempt and help actively sustain himself. It isn't going to last for long, he knows that and it is requiring power he can be using to try to flee to instead try to survive...
Flee...
He huffs. He hadn't gotten out of these chains, let alone out of the chambers of darkness. Who knows what else the Sith would have between him and freedom? He wasn't going to be able to escape and he has to accept that. Still, he would have to try instead of just taking this laying down and allowing himself to be tortured like this until he finally snapped.
He never thought that he would have to be placed in a peculiar position.
He can feel it, like poison, infecting and spreading through his body. He fears the Sith returning to him, he fears being tortured, he fears being abandoned like this for the rest of his life however short or long it may be, and he fears never seeing his sibling. He fears that should he ever escape, he would be faced with isolation, abandonment, or stared upon like a freak because of his malnourished state.
Most of all...
He fears himself. He fears that he is going to fall again. Anakin became Darth Vader in another life, but now he might fall.
Fall or die.
It is becoming so easy for toxic emotions and fears to leak through what little stability he has left. He knows it, could recognize when he feels those emotions, their overwhelming all of his senses, his very brain.
Because the truth of the matter is...
He didn't want to die, and he didn't know how he would be able to escape.
He buries his head into his stomach and sobs quietly to himself until sleep consumes him again...
Anakin is screaming yet again as lightning tears through him. This is one of the Sith's favorite rituals. This is painful, enduring so, clashing against his very emotions.
"Have you seen it wise to break yet, young Skywalker?"
Anakin ground his teeth. At this point, he is defeated. Being stuck in an endless abyss is just making him slowly lose all the control he has left. "Leave... me... be..."
"Do you wish for a drink or would you rather be left in here without one," the Sith tau- what?! The Sith wants to actually save his life! He must be sensing his life fading! For days - or perhaps years that they have left him in here - Anakin Skywalker has been feeling himself losing all his insanity. One way to pass the time is simply counting the days on the walls until even that got boring for him. Another way is trying to reach one of the people who he cares about.
"After all, one will die without any sort of refreshment, and I'm not done with you yet."
What...
He stares away from the shadowy figure, not wanting to seem excited, but pauses when he sees something coming for him. Anakin hasn't taken sonic showers for a long time, and he even finds himself missing that.
He feels his head craning involuntarily, forced into the bucket, and struggles helplessly. "Young one, drink up."
Anakin struggles and resists as the Sith holds his head underwater, struggling against the invisible hold. But even in what must be death, this Sith is stronger than him.
The figure pulls his head up and tries to take that moment to breathe, only for him to grin devilishly. "Am I not lenient enough with you? Here, has another drink."
Anakin should have known that this would have happened! The Sith would always make everything difficult! Damn these Sith! They would pay for this!
"N...," Anakin starts, but couldn't stop it before he shoves his head underwater again. He begins to grasp for breath. He tries to reach for the Force instinctively, but now that is completely muted to him, almost taunting him at this point. He struggles to try, to do something-, anything, but he couldn't.
His lungs start to burn with the loss of air as water splashes from the bucket with his feeble attempts.
"You said you wanted water. Drink up. It would be a shame if my apprentice would die." The Sith mocks, and his head comes up
Anakin coughs and gasps for air, and weakly speaks, "S-stop!"
"Little one, you have been lacking a drink for a long while," the Sith cackles before something wraps around his throat. "Drink up."
He is hardly able to release a panicked sob before he keeps his head underwater, water climbing up his nose, through his mouth, sucking everything out of him. Anakin winces and bucks and claws as hard as he could when his lungs once again start to burn. He's starting to lose consciousness, his eyes beginning to close, his resistance starting to fade, his eyes blacking out.
Is this... going to be how his journey ends...?
The Sith, at last, release him, allowing him to get out, and throw the bucket across the room, the sound of clattering relieving him. Never in his life did Anakin Skywalker think he would hate water like this-
"I'll leave you to ponder on my moment of leniency, and with the realization that nobody would ever find you unless out of my own fruition. The more you displease me, the more you don't receive refreshment," the Sith says in a warning tone.
With that, the Sith disembarks, leaving Anakin gasping for breath and shuddering in his coldness and depressed state. The caution had been heard, the Sith would break him and that might be the only way he would ever see freedom if only to have absolute loyalty to them. He silently grimaces when he realizes, as awful as it is, that he hasn't try to drink. Anakin takes several breaths, sucks in his pride, buries his embarrassment, and places his lips on the floor, hoping to get some sort of taste.
When he finishes drinking enough like a dog, he curls up against the wall, wrapping his legs around his stomach, trying to find comfort, but in this cell of darkness, it is impossible.
Time is endless, the cell around him continuing to block him from the real world, and the Sith kept up his cruel game. Placing food and water before him. Or torturing him with a brief shot of lighting or physical abuse. He bears it out as well as he possibly can, but every time he moves, there is a shot of agony flooding his power.
He lays there in his overshadowing darkness. Rage is getting harder and harder to control. Each time the Sith comes into the cell, it pulsates up, the beginnings of hatred burying deeper and deeper into his mind. It is difficult to resist, he almost didn't want to anymore. His now poisoned mind toys with fanciful ideas of chopping the Sith's head off, of bringing this entire planet to its knees...
This time is no different.
"Ready to accept the darkness yet, young one," the Sith taunts, walking in, appearing to appear out of nowhere, "at this point your resistance is honorable but foolish. The more you resist me, the more you would learn."
The Force waves and murmurs warnings into his ear. The galaxy is about to change forever...
Anakin unwrap himself and sit up, glaring at the Sith's voice. He is not sure if he is there.
"Little one, already I can see your darker tendencies are beginning to become obvious," Tor Valum says, raising his hand towards the side of Anakin's cheek.
"I would not be your puppet," Anakin replies bitterly.
"It only a matter of time you would snap to the dark side," replies the Sith, an annoyed grunt escaping his lips, "you would kneel before me and pledge yourself to my teachings soon. It's inevitable, the longer you pointlessly resist, the more you will suffer, and I am here to enlighten you on how."
"Do your worst," Anakin replies, prepared to take yet another lightning attack. At this point, pain is nothing but an afterthought to him. It always has been since the very moment he was a slave.
"My worst?" The Sith mocks, "If you've deceived yourself into believing that a web of lightning is the worst I can do, then you are flawed, about a great, great many, things. My Apprentice believes in such things, but my means are much more convenient if you take that into consideration."
"Your Apprentice is Darth Sidious himself," Anakin scoffs, some part of him feeling humored at the thought of his Master from another timeline kneeling before an ancient Sith.
He lets out a small shrill when he is roughly grabbed by his ear, and drag to him. "Tomorrow, I will stop restraining the punishment for your refusal of joining me. You would be whooped, electrocuted, tattooed, and beaten along with whatever creative means I come up with every waking moment. Sleep would allude you. Your time under slavery would be nothing compared to what I have planned for you."
Anakin gulps but didn't respond, trying to still himself. What the kriff is going to happen to him?
The Sith persists, "The next day, along with the physical punishment, I will begin breaking your barriers and assaulting your mind, leaving you fresh, never allowed to recover. Your attachments would be severed one by one."
Anakin's eyes go wide. He heard of such a punishment usually preferred by the Sith than the Jedi unless truly necessary, and the more one resists, the more likely that you are going to be hurt afterward.
A dark chuckle vibrates through the room. "Afterwards, I will show you the effects of Sith Horror firsthand. You will see painful mirages beyond your darkest fears every waking second you close your eyes. Your dreams will become hell itself, and you would never feel anything differently."
Anakin shudders as he continues, making each of his threats maliciously slow. "Then, you would feel pain. I may not be able to reach Vader, Kenobi, your mother, or Jinn - not yet at least -, but I could reach the boy on Tatooine. Your friend, Kitster Banai. Or better yet, Padmé Amidala."
H-how did he know this? Anakin would be devastated if he manages to reach Kitster across the galaxy and kills him. This Dark Lord is powerful, and he might be able to lure Kitster into proximity to where he can kill him. And then there's Padmé...
She is his angel. Anakin would never allow anyone to hurt her, not even himself. Maybe that is part of the reason why he has been so angry toward Vader. Maybe the sight of seeing his angel being raised into the air, levitated in a Force Choke, pissed him off so much that he was unable to see through the cloud of rage.
Anakin glares at the Sith. "Y-you wouldn't..."
"I'm a powerful dark side user with many enforcers such as the brother of one who Kenobi cut down a long time ago," he responds cruelly, allowing his words to hit home, "Of course I would."
Anakin goes silent in muted horror, unable to think quickly for a response.
"Since you are reluctant, I will start tracking down your former friends among Banai, abduct them, bring them before you, and make you watch me kill them in the most painful ways. Your planet would be forced back into slavery, and many would not only damned you, hit make you hate them," he threatens.
Anakin tenses up, her eyes going wide. "You..."
He would kill them all...
Anger spikes up inside of him, throbbing uncontrollably as cold darkness seeps out of him, opposing the oppressive presence of the dark side. "You won't touch them. I would chop off your head before you do."
A small, pleasured gasp escapes the Sith's lips. "The darkness inside of you could make you as dangerous as Darth Nihilus. Conquer, and one day you might be able to destroy entire planets with your presence."
Anakin is well aware that Vader has such abilities, and if he ever lost himself in power, the entire galaxy would be doomed. Luckily, Vader keeps himself under control, something which Anakin is not certain that he would be able to do if he had such access to the power. He could have drained an entire field of planets if he so wished, conquering souls, and feeding them to his own benefit.
The only difference is that Vader doesn't seek galactic control. That much is obvious by Vader's training of him years ago. He only wants to protect the galaxy, that same galaxy that betrayed him countless times in this timeline and the past one.
Anakin thrust a hand at him with a furious cry, ripples of the Force bursting from his hand, crashing against Tor Valum who lets out a small noise but merely deflects it and throws the power onto the ground, causing the floor to crack.
"Good, good," the Sith says, amused by Anakin's abuse of power, "Give into your anger, young one, become my student. But know this..."
He grips his head harshly. "You have the potential to be a very powerful being one day. My Apprentices fear you, and only through you, can we kill the Jedi as of now. I am not above to use unconventional means to break you."
He throws him onto the floor. "I'll give you one last night to think on it. If come morning and you do not submit, you do not pledge yourself to me, it will begin."
He leaves him there, appearing to disappear within the fabrications of this hell. He begins feeding off the only emotions he has left; the thought of his friends being hurt or killed, his entire family never finding him, him killing the only angel in his life, and those negative emotions begin to pool up inside of him. He hates the Sith, and he wants them gone.
"I would kill him. I would."
The Sith is winning, and he knows that he would soon have Skywalker over his control. The ancient Sith, Tor Valum. Where did he even come from? He claimed that Vader's presence in the galaxy awaken him from a deep slumber, and each of his words has been spoken with truth. That means something else could have awakened him in the other timeline, but hopefully, his children of that timeline managed to deal with him.
This is what he has been dreading. For the Sith to actually return, expecting an answer, and now granting him with a choice. To either suffer torment endlessly or submit now.
"I take it that you have come to a decision."
Anakin weakly rises to his feet, his weakened strength almost causing him to collapse, but he doesn't until he gets before him, standing and glaring at him for a second before bowing. "I pledge myself to your teachings."
Until I have enough power to bring an end to you...
Those words almost come out, but he bites his lip before he could.
"Ah...," The Sith says, shattering through those thoughts "I had a feeling that all was required was knowledge and patience. Now it is time for us to bring an end to the one who has summoned me."
"The one who has summoned you?" Anakin repeats before his eyes go wide. "You want to kill Vader?"
"Yes, he would come looking for you, and once the time is appropriate, you would die," Valum replies.
Anakin is reluctant before he suddenly has an idea. What if he is able to successfully lure Vader here, and together they could defeat Valum? They cannot allow the creature to continue spreading his influence by any means necessary.
But what is the point? A small voice tells him. Vader has been lying to him, and does he still even want him? Why would he want someone that insulted him in all manners? Maybe Vader did care about him in his own odd way. Whatever, Anakin would kill Valum by himself eventually if he has to, but this creature would not survive past a year.
Anakin bows his head, hoping that Valum takes the hint. Valum takes his silence as a submission, fortunately enough for the young man, as he turns and begins to walk out.
"My chains..." Anakin speaks, sounding unimpressed.
"You must break them," the Sith responds, "You tried before but you were weaker at the time, trying to call on both the light and dark. Now, you must reach for the darkness as a whole. Reach for your emotions and break the limitations placed among you."
Anakin glares at his hands silently, eyebrows furrowed.
"Think of your weakness, think of your crimes in another life, think of how you were manipulated by the one who you trusted so badly," the Sith says, "Think of how much you hate me. Use these emotions."
Anakin knows it is possible: without something to keep him in check, he could fall. If he unleashes the darkness in this speculator moment, it is possible that Anakin would never be allowed to go back...
"Embrace them..."
Anakin ceases pondering and glares up at the Sith, knowing that the more doubt he shows, the more he is likely to face endless amounts of torture. Anakin halts trying to struggle against the inevitable and repress his darker emotions. For the first time he unleashes his greater impulses, he feeds off them greatly, calling into the immense darkness. He trembles and allows a soft moan as raw power pulses down his body. It is like he had never been starved or tortured, to begin with. He feels strong, unbeatable...
With an animalistic roar, he yanks as hard as he could, sensing the chains resisting, trying to stop him from doing what he is doing, and that only fuels his massive ego, as he snaps them easily.
One by one, Anakin snaps his legs chains, granting him more freedom, before seizing the other one with his hand, breaking that one simply. He stares down at the broken chains with a hint of silent lament. It has been so easy...
"Lovely, isn't it?" The voice of the Sith speaks.
Through gritted teeth, he responds. "Yes."
"Yes what, my apprentice?" The Sith presses as if expecting something of him. Anakin knows precisely what that is.
He glares at him, clenching his jaw as well as tightening his hands up into fists. "Yes, my Master."
The Sith sneers at him for a moment but didn't press the issue. "Come. Your training shall begin."
Anakin takes a few steps to the doorway and places a hand on it. He pauses briefly, to stare back into the cell, the only place he has been for who knows how long, and the number of things he has done in there. He can feel the dark side flashing through him, but it isn't as he thought it would be, as the darkness never felt so delicious and so simple. There is nothing insidious or evil to him, no taint, no obedience to just go off and just start massacring those of the weak and innocent. It is just raw power, to do whatever he wanted with nobody holding him back, his chains just being broken figuratively and literally, something within him snapping.
And maybe that could be a way to save the galaxy...
A wicked grin spread across his face. He would do what he has to do. Vader's teachings still run home to him, thus saving him from losing all of his beliefs, but learning from this Sith, feeding off of him, and being granted true power is something that Anakin Skywalker is ready for. He wants to delve down into darkness as deep as he had to, learn everything he had to offer, and when he was prepared, he would kill the Sith. He'd regret the day he chose him.
And Anakin Skywalker honestly can't wait for that moment.
"Kina Ha," Vader declares, observing the Kaminoan half across the galaxy. "Is my first Clone prepared?"
Kina Ha is unlike the rest of her species, a rare specimen found by the Jedi Order. There is a common misconception that Yarael Poof is a Kaminoan, but while there are many similarities between both species, the major difference between the two species is in their skull morphology. Kaminoans have ridges on their skulls and a nose with open nostrils that is not vestigial. Quermians have smooth skulls and their nostrils are skinned over.
"No," Kina Ha replies, and Vader can tell that the Kaminoan Jedi still have a fair number of doubts about going behind the back of the Jedi Council like this and working with their sworn enemy. He probes the Force and senses she has no intentions of turning their partnership into the Council until the time is appropriate. "You know that you are participating in slavery. This Clone Army is disgusting."
It stings Vader at the reminder that he is creating someone who would serve him and him alone. It is nothing but obedience for those who are Soldiers of the Republic. Indoctrination from before birth is more than good enough for a reason why the Clones gave into their programming, not to mention there were hints now looking back before that the Clones knew the possible end-game, and still most of them executed Order 66 without a second thought. History is full of betrayals or former comrades in arms turning against each other when ordered, even without being indoctrinated and genetically modified to obey orders.
The Clones followed what they believed in long after the rise of the Empire. Commander Bacara and the Galactic Marines are one of them and most of those men have even served alongside Vader during the Galactic Civil War. They weren't the only ones. Another is Commander Bly. If placed in that situation, the Clones would have turned on their Generals yet again.
The Clones were humans, yes, and they did care about their brothers, but they were a lot of Troopers among the Republic that didn't care about their Generals as much as Rex cared about Anakin and Ahsoka.
Anyone who believes otherwise would be living in denial.
Vader now can exploit their loyalty, painful as it is to manipulate them. The Clones would follow any of those who they are inspired from as well as the Republic overall unless bred for a different purpose. That is who this version of Rex would be. Vader's personal Clone Trooper. And he had done that on purpose because he would not allow someone to wear his Trooper's face and claim his title.
Vader had read all of the Troopers' signatures until he found his Trooper. And when he did find him, the pain in his heart was crippling. The other men in his Legion came later in the Clone Wars, and Vader would keep an eye to see if they were born, but for now, he wants Rex at his side yet again.
"Oh, I agree."
The Jedi Kaminoan glares at him. "Yet you approve."
"Approve? No. View it as a necessity, yes." Vader replies. "I need my own Clone Legion, and the one Clone, CT-7567, can serve as the first of my Super Clone Troopers."
"And the others? The one who would serve the Republic?" Ha asks.
"They would serve as my backup Army. Very few would know of their existence and they would serve me and me alone." Vader replies, hating how so similar Sidious he is sounding right now.
"And what about the rest? You would just allow them to be slaves of the Republic." Ha responds bluntly.
"No. They would serve the Republic for now, but that shall change later down the road." Vader retorts, knowing that he would never feel right if he allows the Clones who he once protected to become the slaves to an institution that is destined to collapse. "The Clones that I have ordered for would be utilized for a different purpose."
Ha scowls. "Make no mistake, Vader, while you are proving to make moral decisions, the only reason why I'm still helping you is because I sensed no traitorous intent when we first crossed paths many years ago and do see that you wish to help the innocent."
"That isn't the only reason. You serve the Jedi Code - the true Codes, not the Order and the organization that they have become. Unfortunately, Jedi like you is rare, seen in only the likes of Qui-Gon Jinn." Vader replies, knowing that she was suspicious of him at first but did not let her arrogance blind her. "I would have loved if the Jedi agreed to negotiation and attempted to resolve this peacefully. Sadly, that wouldn't happen anytime soon."
"Qui-Gon may have joined you as a whole and given into his emotions, however, I am not so blind to trust you. I am only helping you though I am the one who hold the cards here. If you turn against me and try to eliminate the Jedi Order, I would know."
Vader replies, slightly flatly, tired of the suspicion by those around him. "I have allowed you to see through my emotions when we first encountered one again. What was it again? You saw no darkness within me that was aimed towards the Jedi Order and you believed that my goals were genuine. That have not yet changed."
"And you have been quite persistent in me giving the Clones - all of them - names. You may be many things, but you have not proven to me that you are truly evil." The Kaminoan Jedi admits, tilting her head to the side. "That shocked even me, paperwork notwithstanding, but all of the Cloners have done as you command."
"Good."
Good. That makes Vader's plan a lot easier. The Clones would just know that someone named Vader had given them the names and allowed some of them to have the independence that they didn't have in the other version of the Clone Wars. The Clones would choose to obey him when he reveals himself because, as he once said to Ahsoka, loyalty means everything to the Clones.
"Now, hopefully, the Jedi would eventually come to the realization that I don't want to wipe out their Order."
Ha regards him as if he has grown a second head. "You came on their planet and send a shockwave of darkness. You thought you would have been welcomed with opened arms?" She quips before her expression turns serious. "I do hope that this would not turn out to be a major mistake on my part." As if an afterthought, the Kaminoan Jedi finished with "May the Force be with you."
The holo-transmission deactivates, and Vader sighs. He would admit that he is feeling more and more lost without Anakin at his side. At one point, in a different life, Darth Vader would have relished running his blade through his younger self and finally cast him aside so he wouldn't have to be hunted by the shadows of the Jedi.
But now, Vader feels like he has lost a part of himself more than ever before, even when he was a Dark Lord.
Vader sits on the ground, cursing himself in irritation at again not finding Anakin Skywalker. He really cares about his younger self, but the fact that he doesn't know his precise location is beginning to grate on Vader's nerves. However, he won't stop searching, even if he has to search across the galaxy going into the unknown regions.
Anakin Skywalker never liked being lied to. When one deceives him, Skywalker would find out the full truth, and the explosive reaction would be immediate. That was why Anakin was pissed off when Obi-Wan of the other timeline pulled that antic in faking his death.
"Where is he?" Vader asks himself, knowing that he would never be able to forgive himself if Anakin Skywalker of this timeline is killed.
However, there is a faint part of Vader that feels Anakin Skywalker's presence, and while it flickers back and forth, his location is surrounded by a great amount of darkness.
It means that Vader would have to pierce past the darkness, finding it at its core, so he could be able to help Anakin. And a small part of him would admit that he would tear this entire galaxy apart if only to find Anakin Skywalker, the man who has been like his son.
On top of this, his mother's pregnancy is beginning to grow jarring, her losing her foot in her steps. She needs her son - the son of this timeline.
Vader calls to the Force to its full completion, damning the consequences, the fact that it would exhaust him.
"Where is Anakin Skywalker?"
He amplifies his senses, not caring if it would weaken his abilities for the time being. If Vader has to bend the kriffing Force to his will, he would.
The Force may punish him in one way or another, but Vader finds himself not caring about what the Force commands. He would find Anakin Skywalker and would help him. He has failed him once because he deceived him, but this time, their relationship would have no secrets. Truly no secrets.
And even the Force cannot help it.
At last, Vader sees something - nothing but a fragment but something that would serve a use when finding Anakin. He sees Anakin Skywalker standing among different ancient beings, presences that Vader has never felt before. No, Vader did feel them before, but they surrounded Sidious's throne.
Is it possible Sidious is alive or...
Or was Sidious serving yet another? Was the puppeteer yet another pawn? Or perhaps it was a double-crossed sword where they were two pawns?
Vader didn't suspect these sudden turns of events where he too is questioning everything. Now, he knows there is a greater danger out there, and he would have to bring this presence to an end before this leads to the death of the entire galaxy.
First, though, Vader would have to discover that individual's identity.