Summery: Five years after Mustafar, Darth Vader is but a shadow of the powerful Sith Lord he should be. To the point where the emperor must use the apprentice bond to force Vader to act. But why?

Chalk it up to two undaunted women who will not let even death stop them from saving the soul of the man they both loved.

Based on StarWarrior72's "The strength to do for his child"

Force-Speech

*Thoughts*

Disclaimer - I neither own copyright nor receive money for anything. I write to improve my ability and for enjoyment.

We all need something to fight for:

Chapter 17 : Calm before a tempest.

Ahni, you need to wake up. You need to contact your men, so that they will bring Owen and Beru home. The captain of the starship is growing suspicious as well. Shmi spoke softly to her son. "Mmph, just a couple more minutes, Mom." Anakin mumbled. Suddenly he sat bolt upright as his mother's words finally registered his eyes wide and almost wild. It was pitch black in front of him and for a moment he felt totally cut off from everything.

That is until panic blossomed in his mind, a panic not his own. "Father? Are you there?" A small voice shaking with fear roused him to reach out and catch the shaking form of his son. Though he wasn't able to see a blasted thing, he could feel in the Force where Luke was curled up. "Easy Luke, I'm right here. You're safe little one." I made sure you were protected from the suns Anakin. I knew you could not stand the harshness of the day without the suit. Yet there was only one way I could aid your body's recovery and that was to keep you near my grave.

Shmi now appeared, though faintly and her glowing form was enough to light the enclosed space. Bits of debries had come together to form a dome over the area, with plenty of space for stretching fully out. Anakin smiled slightly at that, remembering all of the times he had fallen out of his pallet onto the floor as a child. And how restless a sleeper he still was. The area in front of the marker was stirred up as if someone had thrashed around in a wrestling match in front of it.

"Huh, guess I'm still able to roll all over the place. Then again the only way I've slept at all the last five years is sitting up and staring at white panels till I nodded off," Anakin said in amusement. Only to be answered by a grumpy voice. "Yes you do still sleep as if being chased by a herd of stampeding banthas Anakin, as does your son! Between the two of you, it's a wonder I managed to get any rest myself!" Obi-wan was in a out of the way corner stretched out in the sand with his head propped up on one hand.

Anakin gave a all too familiar snicker at that remark. "You look quite comfortable to me, Master!" He rose and stretched out, noting that some light was now filtering down from just above his head. It was enough for Obi-wan to note the extra height difference all of a sudden. Anakin had grown to be taller then his master even by the beginning of the Clone Wars yet now..

"Either my eyes are decieving me or you've managed to gain six inches Anakin." He noted the scar tissue around Anakin's mouth twist as the younger man scowled. "Not naturally Master."

And Obi-wan could see what Anakin meant. Without the black armor covering the prosthetic limbs that served as his lower legs. the cruelty of the Emperor was obvious. Anakin's legs had been severed just above both knees and that was where the metal began, drilled right into the bones of his upper leg. It did not even blend into the burned flesh, as Anakin's original prostetic had.

Only what appeared to be wire cabling matched up with the rest of him, serving as nerve connections. The knees were nothing more then hinges, without any support. Bending them had to be extremely uncomfortable. The lower 'legs' were nearly twice as long as they should have been with just the barest of wiring. All of which made Anakin look like he was standing on stilts rather then metal replacements.

Anakin caught the look Obi-wan was giving him and managed to smile. "It's not as bad as all of that, Master. In fact even with this junk stuck on my chest, I still feel like I've lost twice my own body weight without the suit!" As if to prove himself to the older Jedi, he bent down and swung Luke up into his arms spinning around as he did so. Luke's laughter was infectious and it was a rather comical sight to see Anakin dancing around bare save for a pair of briefs he'd managed to pull on the night before.

Obi-wan joined in the laughter finally, shaking his head at father and son. "You look absolutly ridiculous Anakin!" he managed to say as Anakin finally flopped back down to the sand. Still chuckling himself, Anakin managed a mock-pout. "Master, you don't have to rub it in!" He finally let out a sigh and slowly clambered back to his feet. "I need to get dress and contact Rex. Captain Torreck has been less then happy about my pressence aboard the Eradicator. He'd like nothing better then to get rid of me somehow, and we can't chance him contacting Sidious."

That statement made Obi-wan sit up straight. "Surely the by now the Emperor has learned that you're on your way back to the Light Side." Anakin shook his head at that. "Actually, he's not even conscious. When Savage nearly took my shoulder off, it sent a blast through the Force. When he recovers.." Anakin trailed off and almost snarled the next words. "..he won't be able to sense my 'link' to him. We just have to make certain he believes I am dead." It was then he noticed Luke paling and gathered himself together. "Master? Please do something for me," he said softly. "What ever it is Anakin, I'll do my best," Obi-wan said.

"Promise me you'll knock some sense into my head if I start loosing control again. It hurts Luke and I won't have my son suffer because of me!" Obi-wan stroked his beard as he considered the request. At last he said,"It sounds quite hazardous to my health. But I will gladly do so, my brother. I don't want to see Luke suffer any more than you do."

"Thank you Master, it takes a great weight off my mind," Anakin told him as he began to put on the spare clothes. "Daddy, do I get to go with you? You're leaving again right?"

Anakin had managed to get the grey pants on. Now he paused and looked down at Luke. "I won't leave you here my son. I want you to come with me. Obi-wan and I can take care of you. I know that's what you want and what we both need. But it will be dangerous. If the 'bad man' finds out about you, he wn't stop until he gets you. And he'll make sure a lot of people get hurt."

Luke looked down and scraped a foot in the dirt. "You might get hurt too, Daddy. And I know Ben's gonna help you, but I can help you feel better too! I don't care about getting hurt, I just want to be with you!" "Well, I just hope Owen and Beru can accept that. Owen in paticular. He despised me from the first. If it wasn't for your mother, I would have never understood why." Anakin told his son.

He turned back to Obi-wan as the older Jedi spoke up. "Care to enlighten me, Anakin? I've had the devil's own time with Owen myself. The last time we met, he threaten to blast me on site."

Anakin snickered as he said,"Probably for the same reason Master." He sobered and said, "Owen was outraged that I had the temarity to show up as late as I did. Mom spoke of me but Owen was disgusted that I never even contacted her. He didn't understand the Code and why I could just leave my mother here."

Anakin let out a sigh as he continued "Padme managed to speak to Beru about the fact that Jedi are not suppose to have 'attachments'. Owen probably heard about that and didn't want you taking Luke away. He disagreed with that part immensly." Obi-wan shook his head. "Well that explains the reaction I've gotten from him when I discussed training Luke here."

Anakin didn't reply as he was too busy getting the tunic on properly over his torso. With the respirator device still sticking out it made putting a shirt of any kind on, awkward. Little hands tried to help and Anakin knelt down to be closer to Luke's height. "Then I get to go with you and Ben? Wizard!" Luke said as Anakin finally managed to get the tunic down over the metal without tearing it.

"Well, are we ready Master? I've got a few ideas about what to do about the Eradicator" Anakin asked as he picked up his sable cloak. He eyed the suit jumbled carelessly in the corner and added, "That dratted thing will come in handy for what I've got in mind." Obi-wan got up as well and brushed the loose sand from his clothes. "Luke why don't you go ahead and grab us something to eat." All smiles, Luke nodded. "Okay Ben, I'll be right back. Aunt Beru always keeps some sandwiches case she's out and me and Uncle Owen get hungry." Part of the mound collapsed slowly, allowing for an exit, and Luke dashed out into the late afternoon.

Anakin watched him go with a small smile on his face. Then turned back to Obi-wan as the later cleared his throat. "It may take some time before we are ready to leave Anakin. You do realize that your stepbrother will likely put up a fuss." 'Which is why you'll be the one speaking to Owen, Master."Anakin told him with a snicker. "After all you're the 'Negotiator' of the two of us. And it's not as if we need to leave that quickly." Obi-wan sighed at that. "Actually there is somewhere we must go to as soon as possible. I must mention this now. I should have told you earlier even though there were other distractions." Anakin cocked his head to one side at that. "What is it Master? I sense your unease. What ever it is I promise to wait and think before reacting." Obi-wan sighed. "Anakin, that's a rather large statement. There is no easy wayto speak of this." He paused then plunged right ahead. "Anakin, you don't just have a son. Padme was carrying twins."

Eradicator Cargo Bay:

Piett was astonish at how many clone troopers were boarding the Lambada class shuttle he'd been assigned to. There must have been at least 20 of them, which was all a shuttle of this type could hold. All of them wore the same patch of small numerals on the left shoulder of their armor. Piett could not make out the numbers, yet it had to have some significance to these troopers. Yet if he had been able to see the numbers, he might have understood the trooper captain's muttered remarks. For the numbers belong to one of the most famous regiments of the Clone Wars, the 501st under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker.

Rex surveyed the gathering of his clone brothers and nodded once sharply. They were all here, save for the ones that were with the trooper carrier. All of them were long time veterans, survivors of the one campaign that was the benchmark for the true members of the 501st. They had all survived Umbara and the deccimation of more then half of their ranks. Rex would not forget the traitorous Beaslik that took command from Skywalker. Nor that it was the Chancellor that had called the General back to Coruscant.

When Order 66 came and Skywalker led them against the Temple, they were on the verge of breaking free from the genetic alteration. It was in the aftermath that it truly broke in on them what they had done. They might have gone the way of other groups of clones who could not live with themselves. Cody had been one of his brothers that 'put a hole in his helmet' as the saying went. The one thing that saved them was when they were placed under Darth Vader's command.

Vader hadn't seemed to care one way or another. All that was expected was perfection in duty. Rex had known though who's identity had been hidden away behind the black mask. You don't serve as a direct subordinate under a man and not be able to tell who he is, no matter how much he changes. At least that's what he told his brothers. They were skeptical, and he decided to take matters into his own hands.

He'd volunteered to face the Dark Lord alone in private. If he was wrong and they took him out in a body bag, then his brothers could do as they wished. But until then, they owed it to the General not to dissert him now. And Rex had been proven right. Now his brothers who numbers had dwindled to about 50 clones all told, had spread the word amongst themselves. The phrase they had begun to fear they would never say to one another. "The General needs us"

The ride planet-side was made in silence. With Piett onboard as officer over them, the clones did not dare to discuss what was happening. Though they did speak, it was covertly discussed in the signals that had been employed in the Wars. It wasn't till Flash turned the shuttle towards the co-ordinates that Kicker had given them that Piett spoke up. "Where exactly are we going Captain? Why would Lord Vader hole up in a abandon homestead?"

Rex would have replied had it not been for the Eradicator signaling them. "Shuttle Neutralizer, this is the Eradicator. There has been an explosion at the Troop Carrier's last known co-ordiantes. Divert your flight path and investigate at once."

Flash looked over his shoulder at his commander who made a quick chopping motion then put his hand out palm down and lowered it. Nodding the clone pilot turned back to the communcations. "Unable to comply. Shuttle engines are overheating and we need to put down to allow to cool."

There was silence for a moment then "Shuttle Neutralizer, our boards show green lights for your engines. Your orders are to divert your flight plan at once!" Flash's co-pilot, Swipe glanced back over his shoulder at their commander. Rex seemed to hesitate and then his hands nearly blurred with a complex set of signals. Just a few seconds later an explosion rocked the Shuttle. "You might want to check again Eradicator. We've just lost our port engine and the starboard one is sputtering," Swipe growled at the comm.

The reply was laced with static. "... reading massive... back in ... shut down primary... Repeat reading... feed-back in main... do you..." With a final ear-splitting screech the communications went dead. Rex looked over his shoulder at the Lieutenant as the shuttle rocked violently. "Ya might want to strap yourself in sir. This landing's going to be a bit.. rough."

Perhaps rough was a bit of an understatement. And the term 'landing' was quite optimistic. When Piett managed to clamber out of the ruined shuttle into the sunsets, the first look he had of the shuttle left him weak in the knees. *How could any of us walk away from that, let alone all of us with barely a scratch?* he thought in astonishment. It looked like the shuttle had simply folded in on itself on impact and was now a triangular hunk. Yet the interior of the shuttle where the troopers and crew had been, had somehow remained intact.

"Captain, the homestead's about a half-click to the north. Best I could do under the circumstances, sir," Flash seemed almost apologetic. "Pilot, from what I am looking at, we're lucky to have made it out at all, let alone with hardly a scratch," Piett broke in. He sighed and shook his head. "We need to find Lord Vader immediately. I doubt any reason will satisfiy him about this situation." Piett then turned back to Rex, who was now standing next to him. "Order your men to fan out, Captain. I don't want to loose anyone now. Especially from negligence in regarding this as 'friendly territory'."

Rex nodded and turned towards his 'brothers'. "You heard the Lieutenat. Move out!" The troopers fanned out four abreast with Piett following in the back. He was 'suppose' to be in the middle under standard Trooper deployment. Yet he insisted to act as 'scout'. In his own mind, Piett would rather take the chance that he would be the first casultiy if they were assulted, rather then face the Dark Lord's infamous wrath.

However once they reach the small cluster of domes in the sand, Piett pushed to the front and looked over at Rex. "Well Captain? You said Lord Vader is here yet I see no signs of him or our men. Care to explain what's going on? Before Rex could answer a figure emerged from the dug-in house. Though it wasn't wearing the black armor or mask, the stance was unmistakable.

"I think I'll handle the questions from here, Rex. Take the rest of your troops and bring the other half of the 501st back here. And be careful. Tatooine is fairly hostile at night." Rex straighten and and gave a sharp salute. "Yes sir. Alright boys, you heard the General, move out!" In a lower tone of voice Rex added, "Good to have you back General Skywalker."

Piett was left standing in shock as Rex moved to rejoin his men. He then noticed a small boy that had come up to stand besides the towering Sith. Vader simply crossed his arms acrossed his chest and stared at him with cold blue eyes. "Milord? Is that you?" Piett finally stuttered in disbelief. Even as he finished speaking, he raised his hands towards his throat almost in an unconsious defensive reflex.

Anakin sighed gustly as he dropped his arms, one hand automatically reaching down to catch one of his son's. And Piett could have sworn that he heard the Dark Lord mutter,

"Oh yea thanks Master. You did have to say that it could take a while!"