Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Wars, the right of ownership of Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and I guess Disney too. The only thing I own is the characters you do not notice and the plot.
Chapter 4: Not so Dead
Mark stands on the bridge of a Republic Attack Cruiser. Captain Kia was standing right beside him without a helmet. "You know what; it is good to be out of that base. Not use to all that sitting around. How about you General?" ask Captain Kia. "I am not your General anymore. The war is over." say Mark. "Still you got command over us." say Captain Kia. "I know. Once we make away from Coruscant jump to Hyperspace to Bakura." say Mark.
It took 2 hours to load up one Attack Cruiser with weapons, vehicles, Starfighters and troops. During the Clone Wars they would have been ready to take off in less than a second of a notice. That was one of the things that 3rd Legion proud themselves on. Like the 501st Legion, the 3rd Legion is well known is one of the strongest troops in the whole Grand Army of the Republic even before Mark took over command. Under his command it got very famous. Just like back in his universe.
Mark was always the type who tried to make sure that most of his troops live. To him they were just not Clones but living people who deserves to have a life, no out that they all share the same DNA and basic thoughts but never the same experiences.
Once they were out of range of Coruscant gravity pull they jump to Hyperspace. Mark walks through the halls to the quarters that the Skywalker family is in. Mark did not even knock as the door slides open.
Leia was sitting in front of the couch with her legs spread and holding her favorite teddy bear. Anakin and Padme are sitting on the couch watching a Holomovie they bring along for the kids. Since in Hyperspace it is very hard to receive information from the Holonet, you will need a special device and even with them it is hard to get a good connection. The Holonet is used for Holographic communications and to watch shows through the galaxy. Due to Hyperspace disturbing that they are very hard to get.
Mark found Luke trying to sneak upon the distracted Leia. Mark could tell Padme was looking at him through the corner of her eyes. Mark crosses his arms as he watches this. Luke attempts to scare Leia works until he got punched by his sister because of a reflex.
Luke falls down in pain as he holds his groin. "Leia!" say Anakin holding back a laugh. "I am sorry! He shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" say Leia look over her shoulder to her parents with an innocent look. Mark sense she was innocent too, because she was unaware it was a reflex, a reaction to the sneak attack that her brother do to her. After awhile Luke overcome the pain and launches at his sister. Anakin used the Force to separate the two before Leia could begin to fight back. He knows that both of them can do some serious damage to each other. Luke and Leia is hold up in the air. Luke is trying to punch Leia as they were being hold in the Force.
"If you two wants to finish the movie with Mommy and me then you two will sit there and behave or you two will go to your rooms for the rest of the day." say Anakin. "But I did nothing!" say Leia. "You punch your brother." say Anakin. "He scared me! I didn't even think about punching him. It just happens." say Leia try to prove her innocent.
"Anakin, use the Force, Leia is right. Smart like her mother. It called a reflex, when Luke sneaks up on her it was her muscles who did it. Even through Luke was being playful when he tried to sneak up on her. He did attack her first with the trying to punch her." say Mark.
"I am sorry Daddy." say Luke as he looks at Anakin. "I am not the one you should be saying sorry to." say Anakin as he put the kids down. As soon as Leia was on the ground she grabs her teddy bear and turns her back toward Luke. Leia was cuddling her teddy bear into a tight hug. Since an assassination attempt on Padme life that end up getting the teddy bear destroy, Padme have order a lot of them in storage. Mark remember that week, it was hard for Leia to go to bed without being with either Mark or her parents. That was during a trip to Tatooine to visit the Lars homestead. Leia never knows the differences. To her she got her favorite bear. That is one thing they have to make sure she always have before leaving.
They watch as Luke try to apologize to her sister. Leia was being stubborn and not listening to him for awhile which made Luke feel bad. It wasn't until Luke hug her and tell her that he was sorry that she stop being so stubborn. Leia let go of her teddy bear and hug her brother lightly.
That is the thing about the twins they love each other even through when they are fighting they will forgive each other after awhile. Usually Leia is the one who takes awhile to apologize and accept apologizes. It is her stubbornness that she has gotten from her father.
"So exactly why are we going to Bakura?" ask Anakin as he watches the kids lay down on the floor next to each other watching the Holomovie. Leia is playing with the arm of her teddy bear.
"You know about the station that was built to try to bring order to the Outer Rim. It was used for patrols and holding criminals until someone from Coruscant can get them or any other planets that are looking for. Well it got destroyed by the Sith. We are trying to figure out how they found out. Either it someone one in the Bakuran government or its military or one of the few Senators that knows about it. I highly doubt it is any of the Senators." say Mark.
Anakin nods as he turns his vision to the Holovision. The twins bust out laughing at something that is funny. It was a movie that they have watches million times before but that part is always funny for them.
Looking at them enjoying themselves and being around their parents made him thinks of the Luke and Leia in his universe. No out they might be happy where they are not knowing about who their parents were, but they are most likely not as happy as those that is in front of him.
Mark knows if he stayed in that universe he would protect Leia while Obi-wan protect Luke. Mark knows he could have defended Leia from Darth Vader in his universe. Than again he could stand by the Emperor and Darth Vader hiding his presence in the Force from them. They would never know he was next to them.
"Padme, when we arrive to Bakura, Anakin you will stay with her and the kids." say Mark. "I am perfectly fine of taking care of myself, plus I am for sure that knowing your mother she will have guards to protect me during my stay. That station was my idea and I want to personally find out who destroys it. I mean the person who gave the Sith the information about it." say Padme as she turn to look at the twins who is not paying any attention to their surroundings as they are engulf into the movie.
"I think we will find who did it. A lot of lives were lost because of this." say Mark as he looks at Padme. He still have feelings that she should have not went , but what can he do, she is in charge of her life and being the Chancellor she has the power to go anywhere. If she was a civilian, she would have sneak on somehow. He knows that much about her. She is exactly like the one in his universe besides not being dead and her twins not knowing each other.
Padme nods to the comment made to. A lot of good people on that station have died. Something she will have to report when she makes a speech. No out no one knows about the station, it is only right to let them know how their friends and families members have died. She knows this would have been something Palpatine would most likely keep a secret since no one knows about.
"I want to see the recording." say Padme. Mark fish out a Holodisk from his pocket of his robe. He tosses it to Padme and she viewed it couple times and notice something in the background. "There something strange about it, only if it is larger." say Padme.
She got up and walk toward the doors. "Maybe we should pause the movie until Mommy get back." say Leia to her father. "Nah, that is okay. Go on and watch it, I might be awhile." say Padme walks out the door. Mark quickly follows her.
Mark sense she is onto something that neither him nor the Jedi had found out but she had find something. "So what did you find?" ask Mark taking big steps just to keep up with the shorter and younger Chancellor. "I think I see someone that none of us to expect to see again." say Padme.
Mark raises an eyebrow at her. There are a lot of people he does not expect to see again. The list can go one for awhile. At the top of that list was Palpatine. He is for sure Palpatine is no longer alive, because he sense his spirit vanished. "Who?" ask Mark. "I am not for sure but something does not feel right." say Padme. "Another gut feeling?" ask Mark. "Something like that, there is someone who is remaining in the shadows as the Sith Lord was talking." say Padme.
The Durasteel blast doors to the bridge of the Attack Cruiser slides open to allow Padme and Mark enter. As the door slides open with a silent hiss and close with the same hiss, some of the Clones that were working at the computers on the bridge look up.
Mark follows Padme to the Hologram Projection Pod. She hooks the disk up to the pod. She played it and as it plays she fumble with dials, buttons and switches on the pod to enhance an area of the recording. The area she was looking at keep getting more enhances. Soon a very blurry outline of a face appears.
Mark did not want to disturbed her as she works. Mark focuses on the image. He wonders. Soon the image got a bit clearer for Mark to be able to see. He sees brown eyes and balding gray hair.
Mark runs a face recognition on it. Only a few seconds another Hologram appears by the Hologram that Padme was working on. Mark turns his head to look at the name. Padme gasps as she stumble backwards couple minutes.
Mark did not need the Force to tell him why Padme was shaken by the face and the name. The name is what had haunted the Naberrie family for the past 4 years. A person that Mark cannot believe used to be part of his family. Even through many good people with his last name, but with the first name and the last name of the person he saw, now that spells bad news.
It was a name that has been cursed by people of Naboo and Bakura since 4 years ago. It is the name of a highly respected Bakuran Military General Maxus Zane. "A 100 percent match. That is impossible. I saw you and Darred kill him." say Mark shocked.
"Oh god… Oh god!" say Padme breathing quickly as she saw this. Mark senses fear building up within Padme as her breathing became shallow and quicker. "Not even a Clone could have 100 percent matched, they will have 99.5 percent. Not even Cloning Technology can be that good." say Captain Kia looking at the image.
Mark knows Captain Kia is right. It has been proven before because Mark has taken a face recognition on Jango Fett and some Clones and all the Clones come out to be 99 percent. The only thing that can be 100 percent is if it was truly the person.
Right away Mark can see the scene on Naboo with Sola on the floor afraid to open her eyes. The door busted open and in came a very pregnant Padme with a Blaster Pistol and Darred with a Blaster Hunting Rifle. They both shoot at the time. Mark see himself walks into the room after hearing the shot and Sola screaming thinking her daughter was the one being shot.
He should have known that was a Clone, but he was so hoping that it was Maxus laying dead that he got confused. He overlooked. He can tell the Clones around him are different despite they are all the same with the Force. Mark slams his fist down on the Hologram Projection Pod. He cannot believe he was so stupid. Haven't all the years being a Jedi taught him anything? Haven't going through the Clone Wars taught him anything?
"The one that was killed on Naboo must have been a Clone." snapped Mark lightly. Mark look over and notice that Padme is still staring at the image of Maxus Zane with pure terror. She is not even trying to hide it from her eyes.
The door slides open and Anakin and the twins rushes into the room. "Mommy!" shout Luke and Leia as they rushes forward and hug Padme. They have sense their mother being scared. Anakin look at Mark and than his eyes went to the pod. His eyes widen as he look over the information. "He… is alive? I thought he was dead?" say Anakin more than shocked at the information. He hated the guy for what he did to his in-laws. It was because of him that his kids lost their remaining Great Grandmother who was talking very happy about Padme having babies at the wedding before her death.
"The one Padme killed was a Clone. He is more cunning than Palpatine and that is saying something." say Mark. "Please never use a saying with that name again." say Anakin shaking his head. He hates the name Palpatine for what he almost dead. If it was not for Mark he would not have what he have now and his friend's father almost took that all away.
"He is working for the Sith." say Mark. Now Mark think back all the times he thought he encounter his father. He is for sure the only one that was real was back at the Jedi Temple when they were talking about Bakura and that it is trying to get rid of the remaining Separatist forces.
Mark eyes turn back to Padme who was on her knees with the twins hugging her. She is hugging her twins as if they were her only lifeline and if she let go she will be heading to the other side of the Force or that she is their only lifeline and if she let go they will be heading to the other side of the Force. Mark hates seeing Padme like this, never once had an assassination attempt have shaken her up than like the one that took place on Naboo 4 years before. Then again it was the first assassination attempt against her family too because of who she was and what she did.
As soon as they drop out of Hyperspace he has to let the Jedi Council know. He needs to let the Bakuran Prime Minster know what they have found out too. The Bakuran Senate will most likely want to do something about it. They were the one who remove all his father honors and ranks from the Bakuran Military. His father was used to have a lot of support on the planet until his actions in 19 BBY.
The Bakuran Prime Minster told him when he first meet him that he highly doubt Maxus Zane was dead because in his military career people thought he was dead but he come out of it alive. He is very cunning. He likes to use the element of surprise to his advantage. So there is still a bounty on Maxus's head. He is one of the most wanted people on Bakura and he wanted dead or alive, if dead with solid evidence that proves he is dead.
One way or another, Mark knows his father is going to get what is coming. If he had sided with the Sith, then he better stays out of Mark's way. He will not hold back on knocking him down if he needs to. He promises the Force and the people of the Galactic Republic that he will protect them.