Training

Anakin Skywalker put in a transmission to the Grand Vizier, Sate Pestage, who had sometimes intercepted his transmissions to the Emperor and kept him waiting. He outranked him, he just had to make them stand down. He couldn't even be sure that they would believe he was who he was. He was going to have to contact Admiral Piett, who was once of the most trusted officers under Darth Vader. He put in a code, so that they wouldn't come face to face to meet in his palace on Coruscent, or Imperial Center. The Emperor had ordered that he have a palace although Vader was more comfortable in space on on Vjunn. It was to show off his power, and Vader knew it and detested such a waste. When he had lived with his mother they had lived among other slaves and yet they had been happy to an extent. Even Padme who had been Queen and Senator had never been so extravagant, and as a Jedi the only thing he had really considered his had been his droids, his star fighter, and his lightsaber. He had no need for such luxuries. He didn't deserve them.

Anakin went into a training room, and took about the droid reprogramming it so that he could work on his karats, alone. He wouldn't put Luke or Ahsoka in harms way. After an hour he had the little droid programmed the way he wanted him. He took off his robe and boots, and stood there barefoot in Luke's Jedi tunics. He was going to have to get some of his own. He held Obi-Wan's lightsaber in his hands, clenched in the double grip he had employed during his Jedi years and he wondered just how much mobility had returned. As Vader he had to compensate for his bulking form and respirator, protecting it at all costs. Now, though he had been restored.

He stood and waited, feeling a whisper from the Force, he easily held out his hands and deflected the laser bolts as he had against Captain Solo on Cloud City. He stretched out with his senses leaping into the air and performing a duck roll as the blaster bolts missed him. The bolts were starting to come faster. Finally, he ignited the blue blade in his hand and fell into Form I, merely blocking the bolts, and he swiftly moved into Form II, he skipped over Form III, for Obi-Wan had been the Master of Form III and had taught to him, although he had never had much use for its defense, and Obi-Wan had always been there to back him up. He dropped to the ground, and dove to a safe area, whipping and kicking as he did so. He held the droid still with the force as he shrugged out of his tunic, leaving him in his pants, as if he was some deranged Force user pushing his body to its limits as sweat poured from his chest. He moved into his normal Form, Form IV, and began attacking and slashing turning the laser bolts against the droid. The bolts began coming faster, so that Anakin had to rely on the Force as he used it to speed his attacks and finally He jumped and placed the lightsaber in the droid. There was a collective sigh and clapping as Anakin bowed and turned around.

"That was magnificent, Father," Luke said in awe.

"I have seen anything like that since the days of the Clone Wars," Lando added.

"You truly are a Master of your Order," added another Rebel. Anakin blushed sheepishly.

"I didn't realize anyone was watching," he told them. Leia frowned her lips drawing into a line. She seemed to be considering something.

"That was remarkable, if I had known the old man and the Kid could do that, maybe I would have put more faith into the Force."

"Thank you, Captain Solo."

"The Force is with me. Even if I have betrayed it, it never let me down."

"Skyguy, the Force has never left you. Neither have I."

"I know, Snips."

"General Skywalker," Leia said softly. "Do you think you could train the Rebellion to do that?"

"I wish I could. I could train you to do that, but most of my abilities flow through the Force."

"Train me as what," she hissed again, "A Sith?"

"I would rather loose my ability to breathe than for that to happen, Leia." She turned around and left.

"Ouch," the Hand stated, "Looks like you've made an enemy."

"Of them I have many," Anakin replied, his eyes on the Hand. Soon the crowd dispersed, still talking about what they had seen. He could hear as they remembered his titles, the holo-net had made such a big deal of him. Padme had once told him that the only reason they were still fighting was because of him, because they believed in him. Anakin shook his head and made his way to the Hand. "Hand, I know what you are planning and I will destroy you before I let you harm Skywalker."

"Vader, I knew it was you. What would the Rebellion think if I revealed your identity, that Darth Vader is among them."

"Go ahead. You won't find a soul in this base that will believe you. I could destroy you without trying. I don't know what your plan is, Hand, and I don't care. If you hurt Skywalker, you will suffer more than anything you could ever imagine. The pain that you could imagine in your worst nightmares will be nothing compared to the pain I will put you through if you harm Skywalker or his friends. I will bring your worst fears to life and even that will not be the most you will suffer before I end your pathetic life," he growled, his eyes flashing yellow. "If I get even a hint of you harming him, you will wish you have never been born, your suffering will be so great." Anakin's skin paled and red entered his eyes. "I will see you as my drone until the end of your days. You will serve me and I will make every moment of your life unbearable, so that you will wish for death. Do you understand me, Hand?"

She nodded, and even though she felt the sickness, the disease that infected Vader, and she smiled, although she knew that he meant what he said. "Vader, you have no power over me. You know nothing of loyalty. If you had any sense of loyalty the Emperor would be alive now."

The yellow receded from Anakin's eyes leaving them blue and the sallowness disappeared from his skin, to be replaced by the image of Anakin as he had been prior to their conversation. "The Emperor is evil, Hand. You need to be able to break through his command, his control. Look around, Jade, these are good people. The Empire must fall, you know that. Deep inside, you know that Luke doesn't deserve any harm. The Emperor will twist your loyalty into something dark and crooked. Here we can both start anew without the control of the Emperor and its corrupt Empire."

"Father," he heard Luke's voice, and Anakin was thankful he hadn't seen how ruthless he had been with the Hand.

"The Emperor had many hands, you weren't the only one," Anakin told her and walked away without a backward glance.

"I didn't realize I had an audience," Anakin replied.

"I went looking for you, and Leia and Han went looking for me, and then Lando went looking for him and then they put in a word what you were doing in here..."

"It's no big deal, son, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka often drew a crowd when we were dueling. I hope I didn't frighten Leia."

"She's amazed, we all are. I didn't know that a Jedi could be so...wow, Dad."

Dad. Not Vader, not Father, but Dad. Would he ever hear the same words from Leia. "It will be a few weeks before I can meet with the Vizier, and I need to return to my Castle. It's the only way to end this."

"You mean return to the Empire?"

"I mean to put an end to the Empire. It's corrupt, and it's time for its rule to come to an end."

"I will make preparations. This is a good thing, Dad. We will make things right."

"Yes, we will, son. We will." Anakin glanced around, and Jade had disappeared. He could only hope that Leia's existence was as secret to the Empire as it had been to him. "This may not be easy but I will do what I must."

"I know."

"Would you like to train?" Anakin asked his son.

"Of course. More than anything."

Anakin stood at parade rest, with his hands clapped behind his back and reached out with his senses. He could sense everyone on base, and the Force that flowed through him. He could hear everyone's thoughts from Mon Momtha to Artoo. He pushed toward Luke's thoughts frowning at the easy access. "You must construct mental shields around your thoughts or else you will be easy prey to the Sith or evil a Dark Jedi. I was like that once...just after your mother died. I projected everywhere, I was unconcerned, after all the Jedi Order was destroyed, who was there that was a threat to me. But I learned and so will you."

He instructed Luke on how to project images or feelings he wasn't feeling, and most wouldn't dig too deep. It was essential with the Hand running around the Rebel Base. Anakin stretched out his feelings, he hadn't had such an unbridled grip on the Force since Mustafar, it was there and it was glowing and bright. He reached into Mara's mind, she had been shaken up by their encounter but that was to be expected. Anakin felt awful for having to go to that dark place again, he never wanted to be there again, but to protect his children he would do what it took. He sensed a familiar presence but it wasn't on the base, it was somehow elusive. And then he began letting go. He let go of his sorrow, of his guilt, of his anger, his disappointment, he released it into the Force. And when he stood up there were tears on his face. Tears for everything he had done. "The Emperor believed that even in that state I could achieve full potential, but the light, my guilt held me back. He may have been right. Although there were times that I did what he told me, I felt bad about it. I felt as if I had no choice, I eagerly learned what he had to teach me in hopes of overthrowing him and taking his place. In making the galaxy better, but like I was I was too weak, and he knew it. Trechery is the way of the Sith, my son."

"Are you a Jedi now?"

"I don't know. Perhaps, my son, I am neither, or I am both. After I fix the Republic, I'm going to request a vacation. There is somewhere I must be. There is only one place in the Galaxy that has ever healed me."

"Where is that?"

"That's personal," Anakin said turning on his heel and going to find his quarters. Anakin didn't know it but he still strode in the same purposeful walk as Vader had. He just hoped he was the only one to make the connection. Perhaps, his father had always walked like that. Perhaps in came from being in charge. Even as a Jedi he had been in charge of a fleet of soldiers.