DISCLAIMER
I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn stood at the center of the Hall of Knighthood. The room was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything. He relied on the Force to sense everyone else. The other masters were also standing, forming a circle around him and his padawan, who stood facing him.
At once, the masters ignited their lightsabers and held them pointing up with both hands. A miriad of blue and green, with the exception of Master Windu's purple blade. They cast a radiant light that illuminated this sacred rite.
Qui-Gon lit his own green blade. "Kneel." he said, causing the masters circling them to point their lightsabers down. His padawan went down on one knee and bent his head down.
"By the right of the council." he brought the blade and hovered it over one shoulder. "By the will of the Force." he hovered the green blade over the other shoulder. "Rise Obi-Wan Kenobi." he hovered the blade over his head before letting it sheath. "Knight of the Jedi." he finished.
Obi-Wan rose to his feet and faced his master. Qui-Gon wore a proud smile. Obi-Wan has been the most talented of all his padawans. He was an accomplished practitioner of Soresu, the third form of lightsaber combat. He was patient and welcomed any learning experience.
Obi-Wan was headstrong and still had so much to learn. He had always taught his padawan to keep an open mind and to, above all else, follow the will of the Force. His padawan also followed the Jedi code and the the High Council without a second thought, something they had argued over many times.
Qui-Gon always believed that only the will of the Force should stand unquestioned, even if it went against Jedi protocol. This had led to many disputes between himself and the members of the council. So much so, that he had denied a seat when it was offered. Something few, if any, Jedi before him had ever done. He was not the type to sit idle while there was so much corruption and suffering in the galaxy.
Nevertheless, Qui-Gon was still proud of his young student. "You have done well, Obi-Wan. To be knighted at the age of twenty-one is no small feat." he said to him quietly
Obi-Wan smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you, master, I hope I continue to do so. Though, I still have much ahead of me." he said.
"That goes for all of us." he said with a light smile.
"A noteworthy feat, this is, young Kenobi." came the voice of the Grandmaster.
Qui-Gon and his newly knighted padawan turned towards the small green jedi. He was the oldest member of the order at a staggering eight hundred sixty-four years. That is, if one were to use the Galactic Standard Calendar. Keeping track of time on a galactic scale will always be a bit confusing.
"Thank you Grandmaster Yoda." Obi-Wan said humbly.
"Show you your new responsiblities, I trust Master Jinn will." he said.
Qui-Gon bowed his head in agreement. "Of course, Grandmaster Yoda."
"Go then, and may the force be with you." said Master Windu. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both bowed and left.
They kept an even pace as they walked through the temple corridors. The Hall of Knighthood was now far behind them
"Go ahead, say it." Qui-Gon replied with a knowing smile.
"I'm taking this braid off the first chance I get." he said, flicking the padawan braid that hung behind his right ear. "I can't count how many times this thing has whipped into my eyes when in a fight. Or my mouth for that matter."
Qui-Gon chuckled. "You were the one who insisted on having it. I never bothered with a braid myself. Always believed they were a rather pointless tradition, as did Master Dooku. Also, do you often fight with your mouth open?"
"But it is tradition, I had to do it. And no I don't, at least not anymore." Obi -Wan replied with a sigh.
"Are you any less of a Jedi without it. There is more to being a Jedi than how you manage your hair." Qui- Gon replied, making Obi-Wan sigh. With another smile, Qui-Gon spoke again. "I believe the news of your knighting will turn more than a few heads around here. It's not often someone your age achieves knighthood, at least in this era of peace."
"I hope not too many. Right now, I just wish for some peace to meditate."
"Not even if Padawan Tachi were to offer congratulations? I hear she's returned with Master Plo Koon after being sent to Alderaan." Qui-Gon said with an innocent tone.
Obi-Wan's eyes widened slightly. "Siri is back? I mean...that wouldn't be so bad...I guess."
"A pleasant surprise is it?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I don't know what you mean." Obi-wan replied gar too quickly.
"Obi-Wan." he said blankly. Did he really think he could be fooled by that.
"Siri and I decided we would not act on our love for each other. It is forbidden. You know this already." Obi-Wan replied, his voice more subdued.
Qui-Gon looked over at him. Obi-Wan was in many ways the ideal Jedi. "I know. However, ignoring such strong emotions, especially towards someone dear to you, is far more dangerous than letting them run wild. I see the way you both look at each other, and it is a beautiful bond that you have with her." Qui-Gon said. His now former student remained silent so he decided to continue.
"I have not given up hope that the Jedi will eventually be free of these limiting and contradictory beliefs. If we are unable to express love, how are we any different from the Sith? Are we to be machines without any sense of compassion? he asked.
"Love, like any other emotion, can lead one down the path of darkness." Obi-Wan said, as if he rehearsed such a response.
"So can fear. Eventually, we must all face our fears, not run from them. We cannot devoid ourselves of emotion, but we must also not be overcome and controlled by them." Qui-Gon countered, to which Obi-Wan could not reply.
Tatooine, Mos Espa
"Anakin."
His eyes snapped open. There it was again, speaking softly, but loud enough that he could hear it perfectly. The voice that he could not recognize, but sounded so familiar. It did not sound like anyone he knew, and it always spoke softly to him. It sounded like what, he would imagine, a caring father would. He'd been hearing it for as long as he could remember, and even now, at eight years of age, he still didn't know where it came from. His mom could not hear it either. No one could, only him.
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and pulled the covers off him. Anakin hopped off of his small bed and made to get ready for his day. Today he would be racing again at his owner Watto's command. The blue toydarian junk dealer had been making a lot of money by betting on him in backstreet podraces. Anakin was the only human on Tatooine that could podrace, and win no less.
Anakin had even built his own podracer from waste materials that Watto had no use for. The toydarian junk dealer had no real faith in Anakin's skills though. He only ever let him race against amatuers in underground races.
He walked into the tiny kitchen of their small home in the slave district of Mos Espa. His mother was already awake, fixing up a small breakfast. No doubt, she did not sleep last night. She always got nervous when Watto made him race.
"Good morning, mom." he said to her.
Shmi Skywalker turned to her son and smiled. Anakin could always make her smile, he was the only one that could do so effortlessly. "Good morning, Ani." she said quietly.
"You don't have to be so nervous, mom. I'm a good pilot, you know that. And I love podracing." he said.
She gave a long sigh in response before smiling at him. "And how do you know I'm nervous?" she asked.
Anakin shrugged and said "I just know. It's like..." his brow furrowed as he tried to find a way to say it. "...I don't know how to explain it, but I know your nervous." he finished.
Anakin has always been incredibly perceptive, inhumanly so. It was the reason their owner, Watto, had started entering him in underground races. His reflexes were far beyond what a human should be capable of, and that made him a gifted pilot. Podracing was an incredibly dangerous sport, any small mistake could mean the end of your life. But for Anakin, it was as if he saw things happen before they actually did. Shmi was always terrified when Anakin raced, and it didn't help that he was an adrenaline junky. Despite her fears, he had never once lost a race.
Even as an infant, he had shown early signs of genius. He had started saying words at just six weeks old, and by the time he was two years old he was fixing droids and reprogramming them. A skill that their owner made quite a lot of money from.
Anakin had so many amazing gifts he could use to make a life outside of this wretched planet. Only, he was a slave. He couldn't leave, or Watto would kill him with the press of a button.
"I'm your mother, Ani. I'll always be worried about you." she told him, bringing him into a warm embrace.
"I know that to, mom." he said, before his eyes widened. "Oh! Wait a minute, I forgot to show you something!" he broke away from her and ran to his small room. He darted straight to his little work bench and started pilfering through it. "Come on, where is it?" he muttered.
He shoved aside the protocol droid he had been building to help his mom around. His numbering was C-3PO. Sure enough, he found what he was looking for under the droid. "There you are!" he grabbed it and ran back to his mom.
"Look!" he said with a big smile.
Shmi just looked at the small device. "What is it, Ani?"
"It's a scanner. I'm almost done making it, I just need to find a processor for it. I've been sneaking things out of Watto's junk shop when he's not looking, but I haven't found the one I need yet." he said.
"Ani, how many times have I told you not to do that?! If Watto caught you-" she began, only for Anakin to stop her.
"He won't catch me mom, and I'm not taking anything he'll miss. Honestly, he's kinda dumb when it comes to the stuff he sells." he said with a laugh.
Shmi gave another long sigh. "Fine...fine, so why is this scanner so important?"
"Because I'm gonna use it to deactivate our chips!" he said happily.
Shmi froze. She could not believe what she just heard. To deactivate their chips? Their slave chips? She brought a hand up to where her left shoulder met her neck. She felt the small scar that marked the location of her chip.
"Ani this is-"
"Our ticket to freedom. I built a slicer into it as well. That's why I need a good processor. If I can find the frequency and tune the scanner to it, then I can deactivate them." he said.
"Freedom." She could seldom believe it. Shmi had been a slave since she was captured by pirates as a young girl. The thought of freedom after so long seemed alien to her. She brought her son into another embrace, this time squeezing the breath out of him.
"Ani, this is amazing. I'm so proud of you." she said, tears escaping her.
"Soon we'll be free mom. And then we can leave this planet and travel the whole galaxy. I promise." he said.
Shmi pulled away a little and cupped his face with both hands. "I don't need to travel the galaxy, Ani. I just want you to be happy." she said to him.
"So does this mean your okay with me racing now?"
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Qui-Gon sat still in his chambers as he meditated. It had been a month now since Obi-Wan's knighting. The young man had taken to carry out his new duties diligently. It would still be some time before he was ready to take on a padawan. Qui-Gon, however, now found himself with much more time to himself. It was a luxury he rarely ever had now that he thought about it.
His thoughts drifted to the council, and his latest disagreement. He had once again brought up the subject of the Jedi Code, and how he believed it needed to be reformed. For too long the Jedi have allowed themselves to be chained by their own dogma. Instead of being disciplined and in control, they have become slaves to their own teachings, and blind to the will of the Force. Now, the order was much more concerned about the whims of the senate and following protocol than anything else.
"We have fallen away from what the Jedi used to be."
He knew the answer to why, of course. It was arrogance, pure and simple. The Jedi have allowed themselves to grow far too comfortable in their abilities. Not bothering to so much as entertain the subject of new ideas, much less, reform. They had become static, unbending, and fearful of change.
His newly knighted padawan was among those that saw the Jedi code to be infallible. However, Obi-Wan was wise beyond his years, and Qui-Gon had faith that his former student would eventually come to the same conclusion. This also brought him to another thought.
"Where does my path go now?"
It was a question he had been asking himself quite a lot recently. Should he take on another student? He was now in his late forties, still considered prime for a Jedi. Or, should he be content as an independent master of the order? He knew he could not sit still and watch the Jedi further blind themselves to the Force. At the same time, he knew that they would not entertain his notions any further than they already had.
"What is my purpose now? " Qui-Gon asked.
In that very moment, a powerful vision came upon him, so intense that it nearly threw him back against the wall. Qui-Gon suddenly found himself in a vast desert. Looking around desparately, he caught sight of a figure standing on a high hill. Tall and broad-shouldered, the man before him stood still as his robes swayed with the desert wind. He was clothed in Mandalorian armor, the dark silver of beskar shining in the desert sun. Curiously, his helmet was mostly concealed by the large hood of his dark cloak. The face of the helmet was adorned with red, making it stand out from the rest of his attire.
Qui-Gon found it hard to breath in his presence. Looking at him was like staring into the very heart of the Force! He was power...pure power! He could not feel even a trace of corruption.
And then the vision ended. Qui-Gon's eyes snapped open. He took a long, desperate gasp of air, he hadn't realized he'd stopped breathing. As he sat there, taking shaky breath, Qui-Gon came to a startling realization. A memory from a few years ago surfaced.
"Fully defeated by just anyone, the dark side cannot be, but only by the Chosen One. And who might be this Jedi? Know I do not, but not yet born is he or she. This much, sense I can. A vessel of pure Force the Chosen One will be, more powerful than any Jedi in history."
Grandmaster Yoda had said these words to him in the temple archives. They were studying the Great Holocron. Qui-Gon had heard of the Chosen One prophecy, but the Jedi hardly concerned themselves with it. It had surprised him to hear Yoda speak on it. He shook his head, now was not the time for this.
He had to find out who that man was. If he had an ounce of the power he just felt, then the Jedi must train him. He could not be allowed to fall to the darkside. He took deep breath. "I should seek Master Dooku's council.
Tatooine, Mos Espa Outskirts
Anakin felt the wind in his hair as his podracer sped through the desert expanse. He loved this feeling, the wind, the speed, everything about it made him forget he was a slave. When he was racing, it was just him, the podracer, and the track. Of course, there was also the competition, but these poor saps were hopeless. Anakin was king on the track, and racing against just two other opponents was nothing to him.
At the moment, he was trailing behind a rodian bounty hunter who thought he could beat him cause he was just a kid. This guy was some big shot according to Watto. The slimy bastard had actually pulled out a blaster and shot the power coupling of the other racer, sending them spinning out of control, and forcing him to swerve out of the way and lose his building velocity.
This was the third and final lap now and they were coming up on the halfway mark. It was the furthest from Mos Espa, and situated in a rocky canyon. Anakin flipped a switch on his control panel that connected to his turbo system. Once the screen showed it was ready he would wait for the right moment to engage it.
He was catching up now, on the next turn there would be a hill they would use as a ramp. It was a tricky part of the race since you had to maneuver the podracer perfectly to give yourself a good lead. His plan was to blast his turbo thrusters as soon as he was on the incline. The rodian had completely spent his on the first lap.
"Moron." he thought. He was the one that Anakin really needed to beat. Watto had gotten him to wager his ship on the race. Anakin did not know what type of ship it was, but Watto was practically drooling at the thought of it.
As they neared the hill, Anakin got a bad feeling. He felt something coming, something big, but he couldn't tell from where. He was also focused on the track in front him. The feeling kept getting more intense. Anakin placed a finger on the button that would engage his turbo thrusters when he was nearing the incline. The rodian was still ahead of him, and was already nearing the edge of the hill.
When the bounty hunter launched into the air, a monstrous shape came up from behind the hill and caught the entire podracer in it's mouth as it jumped into the air. Anakin looked up in horror at the largest krayt dragon he'd ever seen. He was frozen in shock and fear, his finger was still on the button, but he hadn't pressed it even as he went up the hill.
"Now."
He pressed the button just as the beast was about to land. The thrusters engaged and the podracer accelarated past the form of the dragon at incredible speed. Anakin was in the air soon after, he angled his podracer to land perfectly on the track and sped off. He heard a terrifying roar and looked back to see the dragon dive into the sand and swim after him.
And it was fast!
"Why is it so fast?! Giant monsters are supposed to be slow!" he tried to reason to himself.
He was nearing the canyon where the halfway marker was, but his mind was on the bloodthirsty monster chasing him. As he flew into the canyon he started to shift and swerve around the boulders and arches of the rocky area. Unlike him, the krayt dragon was swimming through everything in its path. Smashing apart the boulders under the sand. And it was not slowing down despite that.
"Come on, I'm not even a small snack to this thing!" he thought.
Anakin was panicking now. The dragon was getting closer by the second, and he was already at his max speed. As he passed under another archway, the krayt dragon rose it's head from the sand and smashed into it, completely destroying it. The debri flew everywhere, literally making it rain large rocks.
Anaking was rapidly swerving as he tried to avoid the hazardous downpour of large rocks. However, they were coming down too many too fast, and he eventually lost control of his racer when a boulder landed right in front him. Anakin flew off his podracer after making sharp turn that threw him out of control. He landed roughly on the sand and immediately went to his feet. He whipped his head around rapidly as he tried to look through the sand that had kicked up. It was starting to subside, but it was still difficult to see.
That's when he heard the menacing growl of the dragon. Anakin slowly turned and saw the massive head of the krayt dragon. It's eyes were glaring at him like he was a juicy morsel. He started to back up slowly, but soon found his back against another boulder.
Most of the sand had now subsided, letting Anakin see the beast clearly. It was absolutely massive. It was the same color of the sands around them, a natural camoflauge. Only the the head, and most of it's neck was above the sand, but it was enough for Anakin to indentify the beast.
It was a Greater Krayt Dragon. This particular subspecies had sixteen limbs, all of them legs. They also had ridiculously long necks and spiked tails. The head was huge, crowned with horns, and featuring two eyes that were small in proportion to it's overall size.
The dragon slowly advanced, it's huge mouth opening enough to fit his home inside three times over, and it was not even fully opened. He could see the acid drool dripping onto the sand, and it's teeth were larger than he was. It was moving slow, as if playing with it's food. What was he supposed to do here? Make a run for it? Even his podracer wasn't fast enough!
"Do not be afraid."
Anaking blinked as he kept his eyes on the beast. He was about to be a snack to this giant dragon! How could he be calm right now?! Why shouldn't he be afraid?!
"Because I am with you."
At once, Anakin's racing heart slowed and his breath evened. He couldn't explain it if he tried, but in that moment he could feel everything. He felt wind and the sand, and the stone scattered around him. He felt what little moisture there was in the air, and the fire of the twin suns lightyears away. He was in perfect harmony with everything around him. He could even feel the movement of all the planets in the galaxy, drifting through the void of space. He could hear the heartbeat of the galaxy. Anakin had never felt such power.
Though he could not see them, Anakin's kyber blue eyes started glowing a brilliant white.
Looking at the beast before him, Anakin felt no fear now, he was in a complete trance. He took a step forward, and then another, showing the monster that he would not back down. The dragon roared and reared its head back before launching at him, it's maw wide open. Anakin raised his arm, his palm open, and held at the fast approaching danger
When it was right in front of Anakin, the dragon's mouth slammed shut. It's fast approach slowed at an alarming rate until Anakin's hand was touchin it's lower jaw. The boy being too short to reach any higher.
Anakin was still completely calm as he held the dragon in place. "You will leave this place." he said. "Crawl deep into the desert, and leave me be."
The krayt dragon, one of the most fearsome beasts in the known galaxy, obeyed the command of an eight year old boy. Turning away from Anakin, it buried itself back into the sand and left.
Anakin looked around for his podracer and found it stuck between two boulders. He stretched his hand out to one of them and made it levitate away from his ride.
He woke from his trance, his eyes reverting back to their crystal blue. He was in shock at what he just did.
"How did I...?" Anakin could not finish his thought as he stared at his hands. He had done strange things before, but never on this scale. He had, effectively, just told a krayt dragon to piss off.
And it did!
And then, he levitated a boulder.
Anakin decided to not think about it right now. He needed to get out of here, and he had to finish this race. Now that his competition was wiped out, he would win regardless. He felt bad for the rodian though, that was a really crappy way to go out. Thankfully, his podracer was undamaged, somehow..Anakin really hoped he would not run into that thing again.
When he finally made it back to the the finish line, Watto approached his podracer.
"Ani! You never disappoint me when you race!" the toydarian said with his rough, scratchy, voice, as he flew over to him. "How far behind did you leave those fools anyway?" he asked noticing that Anakin had arrived with no one tailing him.
"They're dead." Anakin said, only slightly bothered by it. He was no stranger to death. Life on Tatooine was not exactly peachy, and as a podracer he had seen many die on the track.
Watto's beady eyes widened. "What?!"
"That bounty hunter shot Taris's power coupling. He crashed and blew up." Anakin said.
"I don't care about that stupid dug! What happened to the rodian?!" Watto asked.
"Eaten by the largest Krayt Dragon I've ever seen. That monster swallowed him whole before it dove back into the sand and chased after me. I was able to lose it in the canyon though." Anakin lied. There was no way he would tell Watto what actually happened. Next thing you know, he'd be trying to overthrow the Hutt's with his magic slave.
"Damn that piece of bantha poodoo! Now how am I supposed to get his ship. Paranoid fool has it hidden in the outskirts!" Watto yelled in frustration.
"Why would he do that? The landing bays in Mos Espa shouldn't be too much for a bounty hunter." Anakin said. "If the jawas run into it, he'd be done for."
"It doesn't matter now. I still got some money out of this anyway. There no chance I'm going out there. The Tusken's are bad enough, but there's a beast out there now to!" he yelled. "Come on brat, you clean up that podracer and then your done for today."
"Well technically the Krayt Dragon is long gone now." Anakin thought. Watto however didn't need to know that.
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
"Still facinated by this tree are you?"
Qui-Gon turned to see his old master approach. "It's difficult not to be. Coruscant is naught but steel and stone, a planet wide monument of galactic civilization." He said and looked back towards the tree. It was the only one on the entire planet, carefully preserved at the temple roof where the sun shined on it. "The rest of the planet feels..." he tried to find the right words.
"Dead by comparison?" said Master Dooku. To which Qui-Gon nodded in agreement.
"I always thought the same myself. However, I don't believe you called me here to debate the nature of this tree." Dooku said.
Qui-Gon sighed and turned back to his old master. "I have recieved a vision." he said, making Dooku's curiosity spike.
"Go on." Dooku encouraged.
"I saw him, Master." Qui-Gon said softly.
"Him?"
"The Chosen One that the ancient prophecies speak of. He...master if you could have felt what I felt. He was a nexus of pure Force energy. As if the Force was incarnate." Qui-Gon said, his words betraying the awe he still felt.
"Incredible." Dooku breathed out. He knew Qui-Gon was not the type to jest about this. "When did this vision come to you? What else did you see?" he asked.
"After Obi-Wan was knighted, I was unsure where the Force would take me next. I sat in my chambers and meditated as I often do. Everyday for the last month." Qui-Gon admitted.
"Ah yes, Obi-Wan, I have met him only recently. A very well to do knight, if a bit rigid." Dooku commented. He was actually surprised that someone under Qui-Gon's teachings was able to remain so strict. He was almost impressed.
"Obi-Wan has a habit of taking everything the council says as infallible revelation. His brief departure from the order on Melida was almost a decade ago, but it still haunts him. I have faith he will forgive himself one day. He is wise, but still young." Qui-Gon replied.
"I had much the same experience after you were knighted. Spending so much time as a teacher, it often makes you forget that we are also still on our own path. We are all still learning Qui-Gon. Everyday." Dooku said to him. His features looking solemn as they always did.
"If only the High Council shared that belief." Qui-Gon sighed.
Dooku's eyes narrowed. "Those fools would sooner see the Jedi under the command of the Supreme Chancelor. I lost any respect I had for the order after my mission with Master Windu on Raxus Secundus." The Jedi had become far too subserviant to the senate in his opinion.
"There was once a time when I would have refuted that. But recently, I have a hard time believing otherwise." Qui-Gon sighed.
"I will always consider it my greatest achievement that you did not inherit such traits." Dooku said earnestly.
"Is that praise I hear, Master?" Qui-Gon quipped.
"Yes, for my phenomenal mentoring." Dooku said. They both shared a laugh after that. It had been so long since he and his master had bantered like this.
Dooku stepped closer and rested a hand on his old padawan's shoulder. "What else did you see?" he asked.
Qui-Gon decided to just tell him everything. Every detail from beginning to end. He knew that, out of everyone in the temple, he could trust his old master.
"His connection to the force was...I'm not sure if I could call it a connection. It felt like standing before the heart of a star. If that kind of power fell to the dark side...there would be nothing capable of stopping him." Qui-Gon said solemly at the end of his tale.
"And he was Mandalorian?" Dooku asked. "There hasn't been a Force sensitive Mandalorian since the age of the Old Republic. Tarre Vizsla, if I remember correctly." Dooku pondered.
"If he is Mandalorian, he could be anywhere in the galaxy." Qui-Gon sighed.
"Trust in the Force Qui-Gon. He was shown to you for a reason. All that happens is the will of the Force." Dooku said.
"You're right. I need to wait and see how this will unfold." Qui-Gon said. There was no other option. He couldn't very well scour the galaxy for a single Mandalorian.
Dooku stayed silent for a while and gathered his thoughts. Qui-Gon, despite his arguments with the council, was fiercely loyal to the Jedi and the light. He was the definition of what a Jedi ought to be. Wise, humble, and always following the will of the Force. Even if it put him at odds with Jedi tradition and dogma.
"And when you cross paths with this person? What will you do?" Dooku asked.
"I'm not sure. I only saw him for but a moment. I don't know what my role is in any of this." Qui-Gon sighed. "There is only one thing I am certain of."
"Which is?"
"His time is coming. There can be no other reason for this vision at this time. I do not know when, or how, or from where, but his time is coming. Which can only mean one thing." Qui-Gon left the answer hang in silence.
"The Sith are returning." Dooku said. His aged brow creased in a contemplative frown.
"If they were ever truly gone at all." Qui-Gon said. "I will go to the archives and look into the Great Holocron to see if it will reveal any new information on the prophecy."
"I wish you luck Qui-Gon. If there is one thing I did right in my time as a Jedi, it was teaching you. I will be leaving Coruscant on assignment soon, it might be a long while before our next meeting." Dooku said with a rare smile.
"I understand, Master. May the Force be with you." Qui-Gon replied.
"May the Force be with you."
Tatooine, Mos Espa
Anakin was finishing up his tasks in Watto's shop. The place was always a mess, and the toydarian couldn't be bothered to anything himself. Right now, his owner was at the nearest cantina, probably trying to secure another race event. This left him alone to his own thoughts while he labored.
He still hasn't found the processor he needs for his slicer. It was just his luck that he had to build it out of premium quality parts. He was not going to risk blowing up himself or his mother on account of second hand processing units. However, this made the stupid thing very difficult to get his hands on.
But, He would not give up. Not a chance.
It had been a few days since his race and unfortunate run in with the krayt dragon. He had been trying to figure out how to recreate whatever ability it was that levitated a giant boulder like it was a feather. At first, he tried to just mimic what he had done and held his arm out with a constipated look on his face.
That hadn't worked.
He kept at it for at least an hour before trying a different strategy. He crossed his arms and focused solely on the object trying to force it to move. Again, with a constipated look.
That hadn't worked either.
After no success, Anakin decided he was going about it all wrong. Maybe forcing it to happen was not what he was supposed to do. He looked at the small box he had just filled. Anakin raised his hand to try once more.
"What if the trick is to-" Anakin was cut off as the box slightly trembled in place.
"No way." he whispered in shock. He raised his hand and the box sightly levitated of the work bench. Anakin had only ever heard stories of Jedi moving things with their mind. "This is so wizard."
He heard the sound of Watto's wings flapping in the air. He dropped the box on the table and his arm fall to his side. The toydarian came in to find him standing in a completely organized shop.
At least by what Watto considered organized.
"Brat! You'll never believe this. I finally secured a spot on the Boonta Eve Classic." Watto said with a greedy smile on his face.
Anakin's eyes widened. "For real?!"
"You have no idea how much money I'm going to make." Watto said.
"Well, since I finished everything here, can I take the podracer and practice a bit today?" Anakin asked hopefully.
"What...er... yeah sure whatever." Watto waved him off. He was far too caught up in his own greedy thoughts to care.
Anakin raced out of the shop and to his podracer. He would finally race in the Boonta Eve Classic, the biggest race on the planet.
Soon enough he was speeding through the outskirts of Mos Espa. He was careful not to go further into Tusken Raider territory. While he was excited for the race, Anakin didn't really need the practice. In fact, the real reason he was out here was to try and find that bounty hunter's ship.
There were only so many places that you could hide a ship out here. Anakin kept speeding through the outskirts, keeping an eye out for any large rock formations. Eventually he found a cliff face with a large cave opening.
"This has to be it." he said.
Anakin entered the cave in his podracer before shutting it down and climbing off. Thankfully, it wasn't too dark inside. The large opening provided plenty of light.
Anakin looked around and slowly walked further into the cave. When he made it far enough he found a large opening to his left, and right in the middle of it was a ship. He approached and got a closer look at it.
"What a piece of junk!" Anakin said.
He walked around the ship, getting an overall look at the design. "Corellian." he deduced. "She's got potential though." Anakin placed a hand on the hull of the ship.
Suddenly, his vision cut out and he saw the rodian entering the access code for the boarding ramp. "Ha! That stupid junk dealer thinks his little slave can win him my ship. He'll owe me money for the rest of his life."
Anakin's stumbled back as the vision ended. "Okay, that was new." he said.
He found the boarding ramp on the starboard side. He entered the code he saw in the vision and the ship opened up. He made his way inside slowly and cautiously.
The more he explored the clearer it was to him that the rodian wasn't a bounty hunter at all. He opened a door that led him into the cargo hold.
"That guy was a weapons smuggler not a bounty hunter!" he said in shock. The cargo hold was more of an armory. There were blasters of all kinds all over the place, entire containers of them. Pistols, slugthrowers, rifles, snipers, heavy repeaters and more. There were thermal detonators and flamethrowers as well. What really scared him was the amount of ion disruptors. Those things were no joke, one shot and you were done for.
Anakin had never seen so many blasters in one place. "This must be worth a fortune!"
As he continued to explore, he found a small box hidden in a corner. Anakin opened it up and had to stifle his gasp.
"No wonder this guy hid the ship all the way out here." he said quietly, his eyes wide.
Inside the box there were three Krayt Dragon Pearls. However, they were small, only the half the size of his palm. These did not come from a fully grown krayt dragon. A fully grown dragon would have a pearl the size of his head. They were still insanely valuable though.
"Now it makes sense why that dragon was so angry. This moron raided it's dwelling and killed the hatchlings." Anakin thought.
"If Watto got his hands on this ship, he'd be richer than Jabba the Hutt." Anakin said to himself. In that moment, Anakin started to form a plan. The wheels in his prodigous mind turned as he laid the groundwork for his and his mother's freedom. He would secure a better life for them, and this ship, a long with all it's contents, was his best chance at doing so.
Anakin exited the ship and locked it down. He was confident that no one would find it here for now. Jawas were not known to roam in caves, and Tusken Raiders were nomads that slept in their small tents under the sky.
Anakin made his way back go his podracer. He was about to get on when he heard someonne speak.
"Greetings, young Skywalker."
Anakin's head whipped around so fast it almost gave him whiplash. There was no one behind him. "Who's there?!" he asked. He tried not to sound as scared as he was.
"Over here."
Anakin turned back around and gasped. It was ghost. Ghost were real apparently, and this cave was haunted.
"The cave is not haunted."
"Ah! You reading my mind!" Anakin yelled as he grabbed his head with both hands.
"Not so much reading as I am hearing." The ghost muttered. "Calm yourself child. I am not here to harm you."
Anakin calmed down a little. He took good look at the ghost. It had long, dark robes and strange looking armor on. It wore a large hood over its head, and it's face was concealed by a mask. The only hint that it was a ghost was that he could see through it's transparent form.
"Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Anakin asked nervously.
"I have known the name of Skywalker for thousands of years." said the ghost.
Anakin's eyes widened. Thousands of years?!
"I have waited a long time to meet you, Anakin. My name is Revan, and the line of Skywalker began with me."
Coruscant, Unknown Location
"What news do you bring me?" he asked his kneeling apprentice.
"My Master." Maul spoke. "The Viceroy has agreed to our deal. The Trade Federation will begin the construction of the droid army as soon as possible. They estimate it will take at least three or four years..." his apprentice said.
"But?"
"They are concerned over the legality of such an army at their command. If the senate-"
"The senate will be of no concern. I will make it legal. They need only to build the army." he said. Everything was going as planned.
"And once the army is built?" his apprentice asked.
"We will use it. I will have them launch an invasion, and use the ensuing conflict to attain more power in the senate." he said, with a twisted cackle.
"What of the Jedi?" his apprentice asked.
He snorted. "The Jedi are all blind to the Dark Side. They will not get involved in any of this unless the senate asks it of them. If that comes to pass, then you will take care of them."
"And where will the invasion take place?"
His cackle came back at the question. There was one planet he hated above all others. One that championed everything he despised.
Democracy.
Peace.
Justice.
He found it all repulsive. They disgusted him, and he wanted them brought down. His goal with this plan was not their destruction. No, instead he would have them all kneel to the empire he would build. He cackled more as he looked at his apprentice.
"My home planet, Naboo."
AUTHOR NOTES
I had this story brewing in my head constantly while trying to continue my other story, The Wolf.
How do you like that Revan twist? I actually have an idea on how the Skywalker line could begin with him. I will reveal ot in the next chapter.
Obi-Wan is a knight already? How will this change the prequels?
In this story, Bultar Swan does not exist because...well she's really not that important. No offence to any who like her character. Instead Siri Tachi from the EU will be Plo Koon's padawan.
Also I changed a lot of peoples ages including Qui-Gon and Anakin. In this story he would be 12 by the start of the prequels. There will be more characters who will be made older or younger depending.
And just so you know ahead of time. Anakin will be doing a lot of Starkiller level stuff. He is going to be quite broken in this story. I'm going for a different kind of story than The Wolf.
As for who his romantic interest will be. I have actually no idea yet. However, I don't think it will be Padme. The OT timeline will be drastically changed with the plot I'm going for.
The ship Anakin finds is not the Millenium Falcon. In fact, it's not really a Correllian ship at all. It is a canon ship but, I just decided to make it a Correllian. And it won't be revealed until or maybe after phantom menace. Take a guess?
Let me know what you think.
Also I am still writing more chapters for The Wolf, but this story would keep infecting my train of thought.
