The Dark Side was thick on Mustafar - why, of all the places in the galaxy had Darth Vader set up his home base here - and while Anakin was still getting used to having the Force back after his 'operation' which restored his Force sensitivity after the Jedi tore it from him, he could feel the Dark Side keenly.

But after a few minutes, Anakin pushed the feelings aside - the last few years along with his wake-up calls on Coruscant and Corellia when his future was torn from him had made him accept that there would be times when he would have to let things go - and focused on the here and now.

As he did, he turned to the Daughter, and he was not surprised to find she was looking at him in concern while she was trying to stop herself from feeling sick; the Daughter was the personification of the Light of the Force, and she was the truest manifestation he had ever seen, a being of beauty and wonder.

Instantly he was concerned, he gently took her hand and kissed it, feeling the warmth wash away the coldness of the Dark Side instantly.

"Hey," he said softly, "are you okay?"

The Daughter smiled sweetly at him. "I'm fine, my love," she smiled wider when he blushed. "I'm just…unsettled. I've never been away from home like this, and being so close to a different source of the Dark Side. It is…a little strange."

Anakin smiled back despite feeling in the Force the Dark Side was slightly stronger around this whole system. The Daughter realised it too if the way she tilted her head upwards as if she had seen something, and she just wanted a closer look.

"There are more dark siders here, Anakin," she said thoughtfully. "Do you want to deal with them as well?"

Anakin had grown a great deal ever since Mortis, ever since his 'broadcast' into the Force; he wasn't sure he wanted to do anything to the Jedi, beyond giving them the mother of all wake-up calls, and the Daughter was inclined to agree with him, for different reasons.

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully, "I was hoping to just deal with Vader, and prevent him from taking control of the Empire and making things worse for the galaxy at large. And yet…balance."

The Daughter nodded, smiling in approval. "I'm pleased you've paid a lot of attention to my Father's lectures, my love," she said pleasantly, "if you make me deprive the Inquisitors of the Force, it will throw both sides of the Force out of balance."

"Exactly. But I want to deal with Palpatine; the galaxy is in danger if we don't stop him."

"Yes, Darth Sidious is the worst personification of the Dark Side. With the Inquisitors, they will fill in the vacuum once the Sith are gone; but even if you did deal with the Inquisitors with my help, the Force itself will make sure a new dark side group will rise to power."

Anakin nodded, remembering his science lessons. "Physics tells us, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and nature does abhor a vacuum; even if something happened to both the Jedi and the Sith, the Force will simply replace both groups."

"Yes," the Daughter nodded in confirmation, and she took Anakin's hand in her own, gently squeezing it. "That's it exactly. But do you want to deal with the Jedi?"

Anakin sighed. When he had made his ultimatum through the Force, directed and aimed towards the surviving members of the Jedi Order, the Sith, and their acolytes, Anakin hadn't had any truly clear thought about what he was going to do with them. But now…

"I want the Jedi to survive," he couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth after what the Jedi had put him through, "but if they do, will they grow up and stop going with the status quo?"

"I don't know, but maybe the Jedi's time has come," the Daughter suggested. "Anyway, right now, let's go and stop this Darth Vader."

-8-

The moment Anakin landed the ship, he and the Daughter instantly felt Darth Vader before they saw him. He was like a supernova of Dark Side energy. Anakin had never really paid much attention to the man who had become Vader, but he recognised him at once. And yet at the same time he didn't. Vader was much older than he had been the last time Anakin and he had crossed paths, but the Dark Side was so strong around him that it had physically corrupted him beyond his yellow eyes.

The Dark side had a terrifying effect on the body, deforming it, and corrupting it. Vader had delved deeply into the Dark side, and it was showing in his appearance.

Vader ignited his lightsaber, the blood red of the blade highlighting every single gleam of his body armour. But Vader didn't have a chance to use it before Anakin and the Daughter held up their hands and froze him. The Sith Lord didn't stand a chance. He screamed as they worked to remove his Force sensitivity, altering his brain chemistry along the way, and by the time they were done, he was a passive, mild-mannered figure.

One Sith Lord down, one more to go.