Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. This one will showcase a character we haven't seen much of yet, but I think you'll like him.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 35

(February 11, 2050)

Above the planet of Ankus, a relatively obscure planet on the border of the Mid Rim and the Unknown Regions, a Phantom stealth shuttle drops out of hyperspace. In the cockpit, Anakin Hall adjusts one of the levers on the control panel. He then turns to the copilots seat, where a female Elf is sitting, monitoring her controls.

"Alright. You ready for this, Zelda?" Anakin asks.

"You bet," she responds with a grin.

Anakin grins. Zelda is an Elf who is currently the only non-human member of the ASAT team, and the only woman on the team. She was incredibly strong in the Force, and her Elvish gifts made her an exceptional warrior. Of course, her real name was not Zelda. Her real name Azazeldia, a name given because she came from a noble line on Alfenon. However, her name was long enough that when she joined the ASAT team, her teammates nicknamed her Zelda. Not just because it sounded like part of her name, but because she bore some resemblance to the fictional character.

Zelda was one of Anakin's best friends on the team. The two had gotten along well since Anakin joined the team, and they worked very well together, especially in combat.

Now, the two had been sent to Yaga Minor on a special mission. Yaga Minor had mostly gone unnoticed by both the Alliance and the First Order, despite its proximity to the territorial lines between the two factions in that part of the galaxy. However, recently, the Alliance had intercepted a transmission that suggested that some member of the group Kylo Ren belonged to, the Knights of Ren, had come to Yaga Minor. The Alliance had been trying to track down the Knights of Ren since before the war started. With a chance now to get some of them, Jonathan had dispatched Anakin and Zelda to Yaga Minor to investigate the report and see if they can strike a blow against the Knights of Ren.

Anakin guides the shuttle down into Ankus' atmosphere. He keeps the shuttle within the cloud cover of a storm system near the equator as he descends towards surface, trying to ensure he remains unspotted. The shuttle doesn't break through the cloud cover until its at an altitude of just 5000 feet. Anakin then turns the shuttle north, heading in the direction of an ancient Sith hideaway on the planet from the days of Exar Kun. He and Zelda had decided that if the Knights of Ren were on the planet, the most likely place they would be would be this Sith stronghold.

The flight to the stronghold takes only 15 minutes. Anakin spots it up ahead and chooses to set down the shuttle about a mile and a half away for safety. He and Zelda power down the shuttle, then get up from the pilots' seats and head into the back of the shuttle.

The two quickly gather up the few supplies they're going to need before Anakin pulls the lever to open the cargo door. The ramp lowers with a distinct whirring noise, and Anakin and Zelda slip out of the shuttle. Zelda then uses the Force to raise the lever, closing the cargo door.

"Alright. Let's move," Anakin says, and the two start jogging over the landscape towards the old Sith stronghold. Of course, being in excellent shape, the two have no trouble maintaining a relatively quick pace across the uneven, rocky landscape. Even large ridges or outcroppings of rock don't hold them back, as they simply use the Force to leap up and over the obstacles in their path.

In a relatively short time, Anakin and Zelda reach the ruined stronghold. As they come to the gate, they find that it has long crumbled away. Most of the outer walls of the stronghold have either partly or fully collapsed, but the inner sanctums of the stronghold are still mostly intact.

Anakin and Zelda pause at the gate. Zelda turns to Anakin and nods at him. Anakin nods in return before he gets down on one knee and rests the palm of his right hand against the ground. Taking a deep breath, Anakin opens himself up to the Force. Zelda can feel the Force coming off of him, and for a moment, the orange hue of his skin that he inherited from his mother seems to become a bit more vibrant.

Anakin remains motionless for a several moments before he lifts his hand off the ground and gets back to his feet. "Yeah, they're here," he says. Anakin is very adept at sensing the presence of other beings in his surroundings, particularly if they are Force sensitive.

"Then let's go get 'em," Zelda responds as she removes her lightsaber from her belt and ignites it, its green blade shining brightly. She then leads the way into the ruined stronghold, Anakin following close behind her as he ignites his own lightsaber.

The two move carefully into the stronghold, careful with every step. They know the Knights of Ren are here, but have no idea where exactly. The two make their way past crumbling walls until they reach the central sanctums of the stronghold, the part that is still intact.

As they enter, they immediately spot a staircase leading down into the ground. They pause for a moment and look at each other, then nod to affirm that they will head down the stairs. The two descend the stairs, on high alert and ready for anything.

As they get down into the first underground floor, they realize that the floor is almost completely dark, with their lightsabers providing most of the light. They start reaching out with their feelings, trying to sense their surrounding.

The two make their way through three chambers with no sign of any enemies. Then, as they enter the fourth chamber in their path, the two freeze. They can feel it. A shift in the darkness of this place.

Anakin leads the way into the chamber, taking slow and careful steps, Zelda following a few steps behind. Then, as Zelda is almost caught up to Anakin, she feels something behind her. Then, she hears the sound of a lightsaber igniting. Zelda whips around, bring her saber up, the blade clashing with another saber. One with a brilliant orange blade. A second later, she sees the twisted mask of the man wielding the saber.

"You will die here, Jedi," the Knight says in a distorted voice.

"I'm not a Jedi," Zelda says with a smirk before kicking him away from her and charging at him, a fierce duel commencing between them.

A few yards away, Anakin whips around as he hears Zelda's saber clash with her enemy's for the first time. He sees Zelda initiating the duel with the Knight. Then, he senses something coming up behind him. He turns around again and sees three more of the Knights of Ren coming up behind him. One is wielding another orange-bladed lightsaber, a second wields a massive vibro-axe, and the third wields some kind of war hammer made with beskar steel. Anakin spins his lightsaber in hand as he readies himself for battle.

"The darkness always rises again. And today, your light will be extinguished," the Knight wielding the lightsaber says.

"Let's see about that," Anakin says. Then, without warning to the Knights, pieces of rubble from across the chamber lift off the ground and begin throwing themselves at the Knights. The Knights try to protect themselves with their weapons and the Force, but Anakin takes advantage of the distraction, charging forward and attacking all three of the Knights at once.

As Anakin is taking on his opponents, Zelda is in the midst of dueling her opponent. Zelda has shifted her stance into that of Soresu. Although her opponent is somewhat skilled with his saber, it is clear to her that his skill is far below hers. Zelda deflects all of his blows with incredible ease, spinning her saber around in front of her and blocking each blow.

Then, the Knight tries slashing at Zelda's head, and Zelda sees her chance. Zelda brings her saber up and deflects the saber away from her. As she does, Zelda lets her momentum carry her around, spinning slightly so that her back is to the Knight. The Knight tries to recover and bring his saber down on her head. Then, to his utter shock, a second green blade erupts from the hilt of Zelda's saber, springing out from the butt of the hilt. The Knight is caught completely off guard, and the blade goes right into his chest. He freezes, and then his body goes limp a moment later. Zelda pulls her saber out of his chest, and steps away as the body falls to the ground, the saber the Knight had been holding deactivating.

Zelda grins to herself as she looks down at the blades of her lightsaber. Zelda was the only Force sensitive in the Terran Alliance that wielded some called "a true double-bladed lightsaber". Many others wielded sabers with two blades, but they were all sabers with very long hilts, also known as saber staffs. However, Zelda's saber had a hilt of usual length, but had a blade emitter on both ends. She switched between using one blade and two blades whenever it fitted her. It also gave her a good advantage, as her opponents usually weren't expecting to see a saber hilt that was so short having two blades. Often, she would use it just as she did, starting with a single blade and revealing the second at the right moment.

Zelda now looks over at Anakin, who is still duelling his three opponents. The Knights are striking at him repeatedly, but Anakin is moving at a speed that is almost unnatural, his lightsaber flashing around him as he deflects every blow around him. Anakin is one of the most skilled lightsaber duelists in all of the Terran Alliance, and his opponents are learning that the hard way.

Although Zelda knows that Anakin could not only survive against but probably kill all three of them, she is not about to pass up the opportunity to lessen Anakin's bragging rights, and charges forward to help him. The Knight wielding a vibro-axe sees Zelda approaching and turns to face her. Zelda slashes one of the blades of her saber at the Knight, but he blocks it. As the two of them begin dueling, Anakin glances over at the two of them out of the corner of his eyes. He proceeds to roll his eyes at Zelda, but continues his own duel.

As Anakin realizes that Zelda defeated her opponent, he gets an idea and starts backpedaling in the direction of the fallen Knight. Thinking they might have an advantage over him, the two Knights still fighting push harder against him. Exactly what Anakin wants.

As Anakin gets closer to the body, without slowing down in deflecting the blows coming at him, Anakin reaches out with the Force and grabs hold of the fallen Knight's lightsaber. He then uses the Force to pull it towards him, but not yet igniting the saber. When the saber is just two feet behind him, Anakin leaps upwards and backwards in a backwards butterfly twist as he uses the Force to activate the saber. The lightsaber's blade springs to life, just in time for the saber to drive right into the stomach of the Knight wielding a war hammer. The Knight groans as the saber enters his body, then falls to the ground.

Anakin lands on his feet and prepares to face the remaining Knight. However, it seems like the Knight has other plans. The Knight turns and begins running out of the chamber, calling out, "Let's go!"

The Knight still fighting Zelda pushes back against Zelda's saber and uses a wave of Force energy to knock her back a feet before turning and running after his leader.

"After them!" Anakin shouts.

However, the leading Knight had prepared for this. Reaching into his pocket, he presses the button on a detonator he has. Immediately, charges the Knights had planted in the walls of the stronghold begin to detonate.

Anakin and Zelda stumble as the explosions rock the chamber. Anakin curses a bit then says, "Get over here!" Zelda rushes over and crouches down beside Anakin, knowing what he has planned. As soon as Zelda kneels down beside him, Anakin reaches out with both arms. Immediately, all of the rubble around them begins to lift off the ground as the walls start ripping apart. The rubble begins flying towards the two, forming into a large ball surrounding the two of them. Anakin continues to summon more and more rubble as the explosions continue until the ball is at least a foot thick.

Zelda waits patiently as the explosions continue, and Anakin continues to hold the rubble around them. Zelda hears several times the sound of collapsing rubble hitting the ball around them, but failing to break through.

Finally, the explosions stop. Anakin continues to hold the rubble around them for another minute to ensure that everything is safe, then dispels the ball, sending the rubble flying out in all directions.

Zelda stands up, and the two look around at their surroundings. The stronghold has been mostly destroyed. The walls still standing before have all crumbled, and they can even see the sky, the roof blown apart. The two stand there in silence for several moments before Anakin sighs in frustration. "They got away," he mutters.

"Those two did. But remember, we managed to kill two of them. That's still a big victory. Any Knights of Ren we can kill is something to celebrate," Zelda says.

"You're right," Anakin says. He smiles a bit and says, "Thanks for always reminding me to see the bright side, Zelda."

"No problem, my friend," she says with a smile.

The two look up at the sky, wondering when next they'll find the Knights of Ren, and silently promising themselves to ensure that next time, their opponents won't escape.

And, I'll end the chapter there.

I hope you liked the return of Anakin. For anyone who doesn't remember, he's Ahsoka's youngest son, and one of the strongest Force sensitives in either galaxy. He'll be making periodic appearances throughout this story, but I wanted to show a bit of what makes him so dangerous.

And then, his friend. Since the newest Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom (possibly the best video game ever by the way), recently came out, I decided to do a little homage to the series here, and then I thought of creating the character of Zelda as fun little nod to the series. Of course, this isn't a crossover with the Zelda series. I just thought it would be fun.

Speaking of Zelda, I have recently started writing Legend of Zelda fanfictions, and my first one is already up. If Zelda is a series you like, go check it, and all future ones, out on my profile.

Alright, next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!