Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Hope you all had a good Christmas (or whatever holiday you may celebrate around this time of year).
Let's get to it.
Chapter 12- A Vision of Old
As the sun sets slowly over the landscape of Coruscant, Anakin makes his way slowly towards the Council Chambers for the meeting of the Council that has just been called. Although he knows it's just a fairly routine meeting to discuss the status of the war, he's grown tired of these meetings, though mainly because he's grown tired of the war.
It's been almost a month since the battle over Geonosis for control of the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, which they discovered was the official name for the battlestation. Since then, the war has devolved into something of a stalemate. The Republic had lost most of its Jedi Generals and large numbers of clones because of Order 66, but the Separatists had also lost General Grievous. Also, there were some spies within the Separatists who had hinted that Palpatine may have eliminated the Separatist Council to assume full control of the CIS.
The Republic had managed to take a few worlds in the last month, but their advance had stalled. However, with new weapons, and especially new warships, coming into service, the Republic is hoping that soon they'll have the resources to break the deadlock. In the meantime, they are just trying to recover from the loss of so many Jedi in Order 66.
All of these thoughts and more are running through Anakin's head as he heads for the Council Chambers. Soon enough, he enters the Chamber.
As he enters the Chamber, he sees Mace, Yoda, Oppo Rancisis, and Jaro Tapal, a Jedi who had been appointed to the Council to fill one of the many vacancies left by Order 66. All the other members of the Council, including Obi-Wan, are deployed across the galaxy to command Republic operations.
"Welcome, Master Skywalker," Yoda says in greeting.
"Thank you, Master Yoda," Anakin says. He then walks to take his seat in the circle.
Soon enough, the meeting begins as the remaining Masters call in via hologram. Once everyone has entered the meeting, Mace speaks up to begin the meeting. "Thank you to all of you for being able to take part in this meeting. We are here to discuss the status of our Outer Rim offensives."
One by one, the masters deployed across the galaxy inform the council of the state of their operations they are commanding. Thankfully, the major operations are all meeting with relative success.
Finally, once they have gotten done with telling the status of the war in the Outer Rim, Mace turns to Anakin. "Master Skywalker, can you tell us about the search efforts for Palpatine?"
"I just had a meeting with Chancellor Organa earlier today. Plapatine has been taking great care to keep his location hidden. However, intercepted Separatist transmissions have suggested that as time has passed, Palpatine has trying consolidate power over the Separatists, and introducing more Sith ideologies into the CIS. During our discussion, Chancellor Organa and I both agreed that we believe Palpatine is trying to transform the CIS into a new Sith Empire," Anakin says.
"Were there any specific references that could give a clue to his location?" Shaak Ti asks.
"No, nothing. The only clues very incredibly vague, and all they say is that it's within territory currently controlled by the Separatists," Anakin responds.
"Hidden well, Palpatine is. Difficult to find him, it will be," Yoda says.
"We will continue to search for Palpatine while leading the assaults in the Outer Rim. With the new Imperator class ships coming off the assembly line, we should soon have the advantage we need to devastate the Separatists," Mace says. He pauses, then says, "We will now adjourn to allow those of you deployed to return to your duties. May the Force be with you all."
Everyone echoes that, then those deployed begin signing off. Obi Wan looks at Anakin and the two share a nod before Obi-Wan's hologram fades. Anakin then bids goodbye for the day to the rest of the Council and leaves the chamber, heading for home. After a long day, he's ready to spend the evening with his wife and children.
(That night)
Night has now fallen over Coruscant, although that hasn't diminished the hustle and bustle of the busy city.
In the Senate district, in Padme's apartment, all is peaceful. Anakin and Padme had managed to get Luke and Leia to bed, and had since fallen asleep themselves. R2 and 3PO were in the living room, both on low power mode.
In their bedroom, Padme is sleeping soundly, as she usually does when Anakin is in bed beside her. However, Anakin is still partly awake, his mind consumed with his worries about the war. He wants the war to end so he can actually spend considerable time with his family, and finally put an end to the suffering Palpatine has caused.
Anakin rolls onto his back, tiredly staring at the ceiling. Finally, his eyes begin to close as his drowsiness begins to overpower him despite his worry.
Suddenly, he hears a voice in his head. "Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin feels alarm shoot through him. This is not Qui Gon's voice. He has no idea whose voice this is. More than that, he realizes that he cannot open his eyes.
"What is this?" he says to himself in his head.
Suddenly, Anakin finds himself in a bright, empty space. Looking around, he sees a hooded figure standing a few feet from him.
"Who are you? Where are we?" Anakin demands of the figure.
"We are in your mind, Skywalker," the figure responds. He then chuckles a bit as he says, "As for who I am…I am someone who was like you, Skywalker. A Jedi who served the Republic in war. I defied the Council for the good of the galaxy. However, unlike you, that path took me into darkness. It was only through strokes of good fortune that I returned to the light. I left a lasting impact on the galaxy, just like you have the potential to do."
Then the figure pulls back its hood, revealing the face of a middle aged man, with a few scars on his face and light beard. He looks right at Anakin and says, "I have gone by many names, but the one you would know me by is Revan."
Anakin stumbles back, shock filling his entire being. Of course he knows the stories of Revan. Revan had been one of his favorite figures in the history of the Jedi. He saw a lot of things about himself in the story of Revan.
It takes Anakin a little while to recover his senses and finally blurt out, "R-revan? How?"
"When I finally died for the last time, I became one with the Force. But, through what I had learned throughout my journeys, I was able to maintain my consciousness after my physical death. I have for the most part kept myself out of the affairs of the galaxy. But, I believe the reason I have been able to is to guide you. In my days, I destroyed the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Malak, and I helped to destroy the Sith Emperor once and for all. Now, I have come to guide you in destroying the Sith of your time," the spirit of Revan says to Anakin.
"But how? We can't even find him," Anakin responds.
"Darth Sidious is the culmination of a thousand years of preparation. The Rule of Two, established by Darth Bane, has culminated in him. Sidious sees himself as the heir to the great Sith Lords of old. He has a fascination with the history of the Sith. And he wishes to fulfill the goals of the ancient Sith, of galactic domination. That has led him to where he now resides, keeping himself hidden as he works to transform his faction into a new Sith Empire," Revan answers.
"But where is this?" Anakin presses.
"Where else would he go to save a planet of the Sith? But not one so well known as Korriban. There is one other. One that served as the capitol of the Sith Empire in ages past, but has abandoned for a long time," Revan answers.
Anakin thinks carefully, running through what he knows of the Sith's history. He didn't learn a ton of their history during his time in the Jedi, but he knows a little. It takes him a few moments before a name comes to his mind. "Dromund Kaas?" he asks.
"Your knowledge serves you well. Travel there, and you will indeed find the Dark Lord of the Sith," Revan says.
Anakin is quiet for a few moments, digesting this new revelation. Then, Revan speaks again and says, "I do not know if I shall speak to you again. But keep this in mind, young Skywalker. The Force will always guide you. And it is in the light that you will find what you truly seek. The secrets of the Force are far beyond what the Jedi know. In time, you must discover some of these secrets for yourself. Follow my words, and you will rise to become the greatest Jedi to ever live. Farewell."
Revan's spirit then fades from sight. A second after he fades away, Anakin suddenly finds himself back in his body, his eyes opening and looking up at the ceiling. His mind races over what he just experienced, and this new revelation of Palpatine's location.
"It's time to end this," Anakin mutters to himself.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
I hope you liked the whole dream sequence with Anakin speaking with Revan. I thought that would be an interesting addition to the story.
So, yes, Palpatine is hiding out on Dromund Kaas. The next few chapter will feature the Republic preparing for and then carrying out an attack on Dromund Kaas and defeating Palpatine.
Now, I have a question for you all. I plan for this storyline to continue on into the time when Luke and Leia are young adults, with another conflict taking place in their young adult years where Anakin is a leader. My question is: should I just continue this story with a massive time jump in between chapters, or should I separate it into two separate stories? Let me know in reviews.
Alright. Next chapter will be up in the next week or two, hopefully. Until it's up, please leave a review and stay tuned!