Hey, everybody. Back with Chapter 2.
So, this one will mostly focus on Anakin, and dive into a bit of Legends lore. Hopefully it should be good.
Let's get to it.
Guest: I'm still trying to decide what to do with Tarkin.
Guest: Well, Obi-Wan is one of their teachers right now and he brought them back to the apartment while Anakin was out on his mission. You need to chill, dude.
Chapter 2- Visit to History
As Anakin flips a few switches as he prepares to drop out of hyperspace, he glances down at his display screens. His navicomputer shows he's nearing the end of his run.
"Alright. Almost there, R2," Anakin says.
R2 lets out a few beeps and trills. Anakin chuckles and says, "Don't worry, R2. The Republic has scouted this place before. We'll be safe." R2 beeps twice in response.
Anakin monitors his navicomputer for the last few moments of his run, before he reaches out and pulls back on the hyperdrive throttle. His Eta-2 interceptor's hyperspace ring powers down, and the ship drops out of hyperspace. As it does, Anakin watches as his destination comes into view. Ruusan.
For the last decade, as often as he could, Anakin had travelled the galaxy to search for the secrets of the Jedi and the Force. He realized that although he had defeated Darth Sidious and the Sith, it didn't mean his role as the Chosen One was done. He wanted to learn every secret he could about the Force, and help teach those secrets to a new generation of Jedi to lead the Jedi and the galaxy into a new era.
Of course, this didn't just mean for him to look for secret Force powers that had been long forgotten. He also wanted to learn the history of the Jedi, and the Sith, as much as he could to gain a better understanding of both sides and use that in his quest to help build the Jedi into better versions of themselves. His next stop on that journey was Ruusan, a planet he had not yet his many travels across the galaxy. He wanted to see the spot where the New Sith Wars had ended, and where, according to a record kept by Palpatine that had been recovered, the Rule of Two had begun with the ancient Sith Lord Darth Bane. However, Ruusan had been mostly abandoned for centuries, and there was a layer of uncertainty around this journey. However, that's also part of the thrill for Anakin.
Anakin monitors his instruments carefully as he descends into Ruusan's atmosphere. Aside from some minor air turbulence in the mid-atmosphere, Anakin doesn't detect any particular irregularities or dangers in the atmosphere. As he descends through a few clouds, he gets a better view of the surface of Ruusan. Despite the heavy warfare that occurred on this planet a thousands years ago, the planet seems to have recovered well, and vegetation is growing well.
Anakin looks down at a map of Ruusan he had gotten before leaving Coruscant. The map had been labelled with logos showing where various actions and events that had occurred during the fighting on Ruusan. Anakin flies down low over the landscape of Ruusan before he finally spots a good landing spot. Anakin throttles down his fighter as he descends towards the landing spot, gently setting it down after a few moments.
Anakin quickly powers down the fighter before raising the canopy and climbing out. He looks back at R2 and says with an amused smile, "Stay here and watch the ship, R2. I'll be back by nightfall."
R2 beeps a few times. Anakin just shakes his head in amusement before he turns away from his ship and sets off across the landscape of Ruusan.
As Anakin walms across the landscape of Ruusan, he begins to feel what is not visible to the naked eye. This place, though appearing well and healthy to the naked eye, Anakin can sense the slight wound in the Force that exists in this place. He can feel all the death and destruction that occurred all those centuries ago, rippling through the Force even now. However, he can also sense the enormous power in the Force, known as a Force nexus, not far up ahead at his destination.
It doesn't take Anakin long before he comes over a hill and sees his destination up ahead. The place known as the Valley of the Jedi, site of the final confrontation of the New Sith Wars.
Anakin makes his way down into the valley, taking his time to look at everything he passes. Here, he can see some of the signs of the war. Some damage to the walls and floor of the canyon, and some wreckage of vehicles and weapons that have survived a thousand years of isolation. As he continues down the canyon, he also begins to see a few skeletons. Skeletons contained within armor, and in most cases, lightsabers lying next to them. Anakin stops a few times to examine a skeleton or a fallen lightsaber. Yes, he's definitely in the right place.
It doesn't take too long before Anakin reaches the fort at one end of the canyon. As he enters it, he feels the presence of the Force nexus growing even stronger, confirming this is the correct spot.
Anakin head down into the below ground floors of the fort. Finally, he enters a massive cave connected to the fort. As he enters, he sees a massive crystal on the far side of the chamber, surrounded by several statues of Jedi. As he slows down, Anakin hears a series of screams through the Force. Although the skeletons had been removed long ago, Anakin knows this is the spot. The spot where Lord Khan and his followers detonated the thought bomb, killing a hundred Jedi and the entire Brotherhood of Darkness. This is the spot he came here for.
When Anakin had learned of the story of how the New Sith Wars ended because of Lord Khan and his thought bomb, he had always been intrigued as to what actually happened. Now, he's hoping that coming here, he'll be able to learn a bit more about what happened, and be able to understand one more power of the Dark side.
Anakin makes his way into the center of the chamber, stopping right in front of the crystal. He takes a deep breath and kneels down in front of the crystal. He closes his eyes and begins to open up to the Force. One thing he had perfected in the years since the Clone Wars was a power of meditation. In spots where intense events, especially ones that involved the Force, Anakin had learned how to experience visions of the past through meditation. It couldn't allow him to see anything that had occurred in that place. Just specific, climactic events involving the Force. And the visions were not always clear. But they had served him well on many occasions.
Anakin opens his mind up to the Force, allowing the light side to flow through him. Then, he begins to reach out with the Force to touch the nexus and the Force ripples he can feel in this place. After a few moments, he feels a wave of power flow through him, and then finally, images begin to flash through his mind.
Anakin watches as, in his mind's eye, a vision of the chamber, without the crystal and statues, filled with a number of individuals in cloaks or armor, all holding their arms up.
Anakin looks among them, and soon recognizes one of them as Lord Khan. Then, as he continues to watch, he sees an orb of energy beginning to form in the middle of the circle. Anakin begins to watch and listen more carefully, wanting to learn anything he can from this vision.
(Coruscant)
In the living room of her and Anakin's apartment, Padme smiles as she watches the twins practicing some of their lessons. The two are using the Force to pass balls through the air between each other, never physically touching them. They're using two balls, with each pass involving them passing one ball to the other and catching the one the other is passing to them.
"You're doing very well, my little stars," Padme says, using one of her favorite terms of endearment for the twins.
"Thanks, mama," Luke says with a smile.
"Mom, when is Lola gonna be fixed?" Leia asks. One of her favorite toys was a toy droid she named Lola. Lola had been damaged in an accident the day before, and Padme had sent the droid to a repair shop to get fixed.
"She might be back tonight. If not, she'll be back tomorrow. Don't worry, the mechanics are taking good care of her," Padme says cheerfully as she moves to the kitchen to pour a drink for herself.
Suddenly, Padme hears the sound of a speeder pulling up to the pad on the outside of their apartment. She looks over to the door leading out onto the platform, wondering who it could be. A few moments later, to her surprise, Ahsoka comes walking in.
"Ahsoka!" Padme exclaims, happy to see her friend.
Ahsoka smiles brightly at her friend in return. Ahsoka has grown up a lot since the end of the Clone Wars. She looks older now that she's in her late 20s, and is now an even more accomplished Jedi. She has also been adopted as an honorary member of the Skywalker family, just like Obi-Wan was.
"Hey, Padme. I just got back from Saleucami, and I couldn't pass up the chance to come by and visit some of my favorite people before I head back to the Temple," Ahsoka says.
Padme hurries over to Ahsoka, and the two share a quick hug. Ahsoka then glances over at the twins, who are still focused on their practice activity. She smiles proudly. "They're doing so well. You must be so proud of them."
"I definitely am," Padme says in a voice full of pride. Padme then looks at Ahsoka and asks, "How's your Padawan doing, Ahsoka?"
Ahsoka had finally been given her first Padawan two years ago. Her Padawan was a young man named Zett Jukasa. He was a young human Jedi who was one of the fastest learners amongst the Padawans, and had even taken part in the defense of the Jedi Temple ten years prior, though without the knowledge of his instructors. He's now 20 years old, and had undergone most of his training with another master before they were incapacitated two years prior due to a horrible accident. As a sign of their faith in her skill and knowledge, Ahsoka had been assigned to finish his training.
"He's doing very well," Ahsoka says proudly before explaining, "He is actually scheduled to take the trials starting in the next few didn't come with me to Saleucami because he wanted to get in some special training with Master Kenobi and Master Yoda so he could be totally ready to take the trials."
"That's excellent," Padme says happily.
"I know. I'm very proud of how far he's come," Ahsoka responds with a smile.
"Do you think you'll put in for another Padawan once Zett completes the Trials?" Padme asks.
"I don't know. I've liked teaching him how to be a Jedi, but I feel like I also have a lot of other stuff to do and a lot of travels still to make. I might take a break for a year or two before I try and take on another Padawan," Ahsoka says.
"Well, whatever you do, I know you'll excel at it," Padme says.
Ahsoka smiles gratefully at Padme. Right then, they hear cries of, "Auntie Ahsoka!" The two women turn their heads and smile as they see the twins coming running in, extremely excited to see Ahsoka. Ahsoka laughs and steps forward to give them hugs as Padme watches happily. Life couldn't be better these days.
And, I'll end there.
So, I know not a ton happened in this chapter, but it is important. I wanted to show the kind of travelling and investigating that Anakin has been doing in the decade since the Clone Wars, and dive a little bit into Legends lore. I also wanted to show Ahsoka and show a bit of what's going on in her life.
Regarding Ahsoka's Padawan, I originally thought about using Reva (aka Third Sister from the Obi-Wan show), since she would also be the right age to be a Padawan, but I wasn't sure how many of my readers would like that. So, I decided to use Zett Jukasa. For those who don't know who that is, he's the young Padawan that Bail Organa saw executed by clone troopers when he visited the Jedi Temple during the attack in Revenge of the Sith. Since he obviously is still alive in this universe, I thought it would be nice to bring him into this story.
Alright, next chapter will be very exciting. I think you will really enjoy it. It'll be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!