Arthur's note: Do remember in this chapter that Kenobi is not Canon to this. Not only did George Lucas went on record himself saying that they fought only on Mustafar and the Death Star, but I find that story extremely unrealistic tbh.
Chapter 2
A robed figure walked inside the doors to a palace with a shorter figure in custom-built armor. Flanking them was another hooded figure.
As they moved inside of the palace, they were stopped when the patrols of organics stood in front of them, drawing their weapons as the two figures walked closer.
"Halt!" The male at front shouted, raising his blaster half-way. "Your name now!"
The first robed figure activated his red lightsaber and cut through seven of them while throwing another into the wall, crushing the poor man. The rest were swiftly disposed of via saber throw which returned to the figure's hand all in a span of a second.
They moved down the halls. The patrols hadn't yet secured the palace entirely, so they made it within the throne room with lack of resistance. When those within noticed them, most of them diverted their blasters to their direction.
Paying no heed to the fools, he focused on the Queen, checking through the Force to see if she was relatively unharmed. If one could see his eyes, they would see the pain briefly crossing it before it was replaced by forced apathy.
A smaller figure stood aside him, eyes regarding the Queen, hands on his belt. He wore black armor, a symbol of the Dominion on his chest plate.
Queen Amidala looked at the taller robed figure as fearlessly as possible. He removed his hood as did the figure aside him and both looked at her. Her jaw tightened as she looked at the two men of similar appearances.
The one figure possessed long brown hair, falling down to his shoulders at this point in time. His beard was developed, extremely well-kempt.
The other possessed shorter brown hair. He was cleanshaven, at the taller one's shoulder, also having his fair share of muscles.
Stopping her eyes on the taller figure, she spoke. "Supreme Leader Vader. Only you could be so bold. The Republic Senate won't sit still for this. When they hear you've attacked a diplomatic-"
"We have no peril with the Naboo." He smirked at a reminder of another young lady. Ironically, Padmé was the same age as Leia during that time: 19 and prepared to mouth off anyone. "Your highness, what if I told you the blockade isn't a secret? The Federation wants to intimidate planets and no longer cares about legality." he waved his hands at the fools. "That's why they work with this scum. Speaking of which..."
He didn't react with pulling out his lightsaber. Instead, he turned to the younger one and nodded, "Anakin, take care of them."
"Threepio," the figure motioned to him, "would you do the honors?"
The third hooded figure unveiled himself, revealing a golden droid with claws. A blaster was gripped in his hand, a chestplate which had been augmented with armor, a programmed flamethrower among many other weapons in the droid's wrist that would activate among command.
"Yes, Lord Skywalker," the tall droid responded in a deeply modulated tone, pointing his built-in wrist rocket to the bunch of fools and firing. The few who survived turned their blasters on the droid as the two Force users merely looked as if they were watching a Holofilm.
Being too shocked to react, they were cut through in seconds, the battle droids following.
Deep down, Vader still couldn't believe that Anakin altered Threepio's whole attitude, but he understood it somewhat because the protocol droids were mainly unnecessary. Sure, an extra hand in the mess halls was welcomed, but overall, the former slaves who chose to help out instead of on the battlefield filled that role just fine.
Once the final threat was dealt with, Threepio spoke. "These body bags never cease to get old, my Lord."
"While it is true that the Trade Federation was formally loyal to this Dominion, you want to know the reasons why, Majesty?" He leaned in and subtly planted a Force field to disable any transmissions. "Their economic sources were quite useful."
"You were using the Viceroy?" Rabé asked, sounding a little amused. Vader remembered instantly why he'd liked her.
"Correct. I have enough that Gunray was nicely willing to provide me with." Vader smirked shyly. Any fools who thought he wouldn't planned for this outcome didn't knew him. "My High General was recorded in telling Gunray to back down so that would last in court let alone any hearing that would occur." Along with my spies, Vader added mentally. "I can't wait to tear this blasted foundation apart."
"Why are they doing this?" Padmé asked with a frown. "I thought your Dominion would fit their interests."
"This was inevitable," Vader laid the half-truth down upon her. Sidious remaining Senator for another four odd years and utilizing Valorum, both with outright manipulation and his command over the Force, proposing bills such as extending the terms of Chancellorship and making him appear to be a tyrant, contrary to when the Senate asked him to stay longer to deal with the secessionist movement in another lifetime. Brilliant!
Any other time, such a move would have been suicidal for his political career, but Sidious reinforced him, playing the role of an innocent old man who believed that re-electing a Chancellor at a time of the Republic going through a split would be unwise which many people understood, begrudgingly if anything else. This also allowed him to operate from the shadows and adjust the Grand Plan with Vader's direct involvement.
"There's someone else who they are acting under. Chacar Staogb." He pulled up a Hologram of the woman. "This woman is dangerous. She united the rationalist fractions of the Hutt Empire and has been avoiding detection for many years now. Undoubtedly, this is a ploy to frame us for the invasion to act under the illusion that we are no better than the Hutt Empire."
Queen Amidala stared with a stone face.
"Why are they allowed free reign in the Rim by the Republic?" Sabé asked flatly.
"Due to the Republic abandoning the Rim, over a hundred years, the Trade Federation alone built one of the largest, and most potent navies and armies in the galaxy. It's wiser to tear them down one by one." Anakin answered, standing straight. Vader nodded in approval at his direction.
Before Amidala could response, a voice barked. "Your Majesty!" Vader turned to look at one of the Queen's guards who had just ran into the room. "There's an attack! They are burning our fields!"
"Queen Amidala!" Lieutenant Typho interjected. "I believe we should go along with the Supreme Leader! He may be our best hopes as the ambassadors might not arrive on time!"
The Queen's eyes became considerate.
"If he wanted us dead, he would have done it by now, or handed us over the Trade Federation," Yané reasonably pointed out.
An explosion in the sky alerted them.
"What's that?" The Queen queried.
Vader sighed. "Looks like your ambassadors has arrived after all."
He closed his eyes and reached out into space. Obi-Wan's presence had always connected to him through a Force bond that he most likely didn't realized had been forged when Vader came back in time.
Three other Jedi were with him, unsurprisingly one of them resembling the greater light of Qui-Gon Jinn, who lived another four years.
Ugh, time travel and ripple effects!
Since the Trade Federation had been noted to join the Dominion, they were officially acting under them.
"Let's prepare for our visitors," Vader focused on his short-term situation. The Jedi getting themselves killed was not productive in the ideas Vader was going for. "Captain, Lieutenant, if you will."
"What about the Queen and her maidens?" Panaka asked.
Looking at his pupil, he smirked. Well, Anakin could consider this payback for the last time he'd refused to do his chores.
"Anakin can take care of them."
Siri bisected the final droid in sight, making Obi-Wan smile somewhat painfully. It still had been surprising that the Jedi Council agreed to them going on a mission together.
It had been ten years since their assignment to help Taleson Fry... since they'd confessed their feelings for each other... since they'd decided to remain loyal to the Jedi Code and their duties... since they had stated they were nothing more.
He saw Siri less after that. Part of that came with how quickly things changed. The presence of the Dominion forced a lot of the Jedi out of the Outer Rim. On the few times that they were both at the Temple, Siri tended to avoid him, and it was returned, unless in a group setting with some of their other friends, like Reeft, Bant Eerin, Garen Muln, Luminara Unduli, and Quinlan Vos.
It hadn't been just losing someone who he had known. Their bantering session was different than the rest. She knew him. She was his best friend, despite their rough start. She'd been part of the reason why he returned to the Jedi Order when he also had feelings for Satine among Qui-Gon's understanding.
It was difficult being around her. No matter what happened, nothing could ever change what he felt about her. She was determined to be the best Jedi she could be and so was Obi-Wan. What choice did he have? But their friendship... there still had to be something there.
The 29 year old Jedi Knight shook his head and stared at their former Masters, noticing Siri avoiding eye contact. They were no longer those Padawans. They were full on Jedi Knights, Siri already asked with the sacred responsibility of raising a Padawan. If they gave into emotions not Jedi like, it could lead to their immediate expulsion among the Jedi Order.
That would be selfish...
"The bridge," Master Gallia said to Qui-Gon, and both stabbed their lightsabers through the door-Qui-Gon on the left, Adi on the right.
As if fate had come to curse them, reinforcements came to aid their fallen comrades, and fired - leading to Obi-Wan and Siri to defend their master's flanks.
One by one, the droids fell as they found themselves at each other's backs.
They each paused when they heard the faint sound of the second doors closing, and Jinn and Gallia nodded at one another, before readjusting themselves, stabbing the doors through again.
They began to melt. He hoped they would make it.
Unfortunately, it was not to be as the sounds of rolling made itself known, as Obi-Wan found himself crying out. "Destroyers!"
Two brown droids revealed themselves, firing a round of shots at them, deploying blue shields. Six more came alongside them, each doing the same. Qui-Gon and Adi abandoned their current objective and moved to their former Padawans flanks as well.
"Shield generators!" Obi-Wan snapped.
They sped down the corridors, knowing that they were outnumbered and outgunned.
Blaster shots were still flying behind them.
Qui-Gon pointed up to the air vent, and they all nodded. With one swipe of his lightsaber, the vent fell away, allowing Siri to jump in first, followed by Obi-Wan, then Adi, and at last the male Jedi himself.
"We have to make it to the hanger," Qui-Gon declared.
"The hanger may be tightly guarded now," Adi pointed out with a frown.
"Well, as of now, us trying to capture the Viceroy would be suicide," Obi-Wan wisely added.
"Come on, let's go."
They made it through the ventilation shaft - up until they arrived into another corner - where they saw the wrecked hanger.
"Lieutenant Pellaeon," Qui-Gon said into his com. "We're in the hanger. Due to some complications, we have failed to apprehend the Viceroy."
"Blast," the Lieutenant said. "We're sending a ship on board, but we might be forced to land. They have outnumbered us."
Once the ship came on the notably empty hanger, the four Jedi dashed on board. The eight droids came out yet again and fired at them, causing the small ship to shake.
"Take off!" Obi-Wan cried to the mixed-skinned pilot who yanked on the controls, and they each flew in the direction of the Republic's cruiser.
The four Jedi walked to the bridge, meeting up with the Lieutenant who had been audibly unhappy about not apprehending the Viceroy.
"They must have already invaded the planet," Qui-Gon stated.
"Well, the cruisers took some hits. We lost one already." Pallaeon did his best to maintain his semblance of control.
"Sir...our defensives are... ahhhh!" The second cruiser blew up seconds later.
"They have us surrounded! Land the cruiser!" he shouted to the pilot who took the cruiser down. "This is finna be a real tough landing!"
The droid freighters were coming in their direction, shunning this ship as well with their bolts despite their shields being up.
And someone... none of the Jedi could get a grip over this pilot despite feeling it was a living being... sent three proton torpedoes, damaging their engines.
"We're going down!" Pellaeon shouted, moving over to the nearest seat and securing himself.
"Just like we have all learned!" Adi shouted.
The Jedi raised their hands, attempting to keep the cruiser from falling apart as it broke through the orbit of the planet. Mini explosions burnt around them.
And Obi-Wan and Siri both felt a rush as they were saved from the world burning around them.
Vader moved out, only having to take care of a group of clankers along the way. Captain Panaka and Lieutenant Typho followed behind, along with their own company or platoon of Royal Guards.
"That finna hurt!" One of the guards said.
Refusing to respond, he outstretched his hand to the flaming cruiser coming down, sensing the presence of his former Master on board. It didn't required much effort to stop the cruiser in mid-air. The cruiser strained itself to explode, but its efforts were nothing compared to someone deeply attuned with the Force.
Gently, he lowered it onto the ground and calmed the flames with a wave of his hand. The windows ended up breaking into shards when they were falling out of orbit or crashing so there was the entrance. Hopefully, Vader didn't got Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon killed. The other two Jedi, he couldn't recognize their signatures, though both were familiar.
"Quite a happy landing," said a familiar accent, one that Vader hadn't heard for years.
Some of them limped out, audibly surprised that they were still alive. Others were collected by the Naboo guards who, once assured that they wouldn't be caught in flames, were eager to do their jobs.
Vader stiffened for two reasons. It had been many decades since he'd saw Obi-Wan Kenobi-their two battles on Mustafar and Death Star notwithstanding. That was when the old man went off to Utapau, when the Clone Wars was on the crisp of ending.
And... Siri Tachi... it had been a long time since he even thought about the woman in particular. While Obi-Wan took the death of Satine harshly, he closed himself off weeks after Siri's death to the point where he didn't talk much after it happened.
Additionally, Vader himself always liked her.
Today was a bearer of surprises, it would seem.
He looked at the one in charge of the vessel...
Gilad Pellaeon...
The man had the opportunity to serve under such various and illustrious personages as Vader himself, Tarkin, Piett, and Sidious himself. Pellaeon had had a relatively promising career under the Republic, with promotions after the Gavryn incident and command of a small task force in the Clone Wars. In the New Order, however, he never had promotions. Pellaeon spent years on board as second-in-command. The man had been one who didn't view the Empire without error, but he was above all loyal to the Fleet as an institution; his main quarrels with the government were in the form of ironically Vader himself whose easy spending of the officers under his command generated some significant measure of resentment within Pellaeon and many other Fleet officers.
Sometime after the Battle of Lothal, he was among those who returned from the Unknown Regions along with Thrawn's Noghri bodyguard, Rukh. Although the Chiss nor none of the Imperial forces knew what happened to Bridger, they have been awaiting their orders. Ironically, Sidious sent them out into the Unknown Regions and Wild Space both to attempt to explore and map them out as well as furthering Imperial interests and potentially expanding the Empire by Sidious.
Due to some of the injured and conscious pilots, Qui-Gon Jinn and Adi Gallia came next, unconscious, severe wounds marking their bodies. Definitely would die if they were not brought to the nearest medical center. Force healing was a dangerous Force power. If one needed to go into a Force healing trance, even for non-fatal wounds, one would be out of commission for a few days at least. Depending on their conditions, a couple of weeks even.
The Force was an energy field. By tapping into the energy of the Force, someone can speed up the healing process. You gave it an additional source of energy to supplement the metabolism. That energy allowed the cells to grow and heal much faster.
But, simply giving energy cannot heal everything. If someone was dead, pumping energy into the body won't heal it. It was dead. It won't heal scars or regrow limbs. It would only accelerated what the body would be able to heal on its own.
Of course, eventually they saw him.
"You!" Obi-Wan cried out. "You're the Supreme Leader!"
Vader simply stated, "So I am..."
"You are not going to hurt the Queen!" Obi-Wan stumbled over, his hand gripping the weapon as he activated his lightsaber, positioning the blade up into an Atari form. Right, Obi-Wan never cared to explore Soresu this time around. Also, he wasn't the first Jedi who defeated a Sith in a thousand years.
He arched an eyebrow and pulled the lightsaber to him, grinning as Obi-Wan reached out for the hilt. "We don't need any of that, Padawan." Oh, how it amused him to see the man who used to recommend patience yet couldn't exhaust the project himself even at the age where he was supposed to be raising Anakin.
Obi-Wan grounded his teeth. "It's Knight."
Vader shrugged. "Not acting like it."
He placed his former Master's lightsaber on his belt. "The Naboo is waiting for you."
"We're not going anywhere with you," Obi-Wan said.
"I'm afraid you would have to," he responded simply. He would not be letting his former Master get himself killed because he had a chip on his shoulder.
Tachi, while not happier with this predicament, acted far more mature and moved past him. Obi-Wan kept his arms crossed like a prudent child.
"Kenobi, if you continue playing games, I will drag you..."
"I'm not going with a Dark Sider anywhere."
Seeing that he wouldn't listen to reason on his own, Vader gripped his arm with his hand and brought him in. A childish part of him found him embarrassing Obi-Wan in front of Siri as he did to Anakin when he'd first reunited with Padmé as delicious revenge.
Of course, it came with the effort of the somewhat injured Jedi trying to pull away.
"Let me go! Let me go now!"
"This is really an embarrassing display. Being a Jedi Knight having to be told to cease acting like a child..." Vader commented with disapproval that wasn't hard to muster.
"Fine you win! I will go with you willingly!" The immature Jedi growled.
Vader fought a grin. "That's a good Jedi. Oh, if you continue acting like a child, I will hold you in front of the Queen and her staff."
Obi-Wan bit down on a response that would have likely been very immature and responded with a nod, realizing he had no other choice.
And Obi-Wan glared at him every chance while walking down the hallway with Vader covering him.
Too bad...
Arthur's note: Well, I guess that answers that question of what would have happened if Vader trained Obi-Wan? Lol
Anyway, there was a Guest who said I forced Canon to remain the same on Net and added this: "I see no reason why Vader allowed the Trade Federation to join the Dominion. He knew exactly what would happen." Well, duh, Vader would be prepared for when, not if, the Trade Federation chose to return to Sidious's pocket because they were extremely greedy. They were, also, one of the wealthiest corporate organizations in the galaxy, and they controlled most of the interstellar shipping passing through the Rim territories. Allowing them to join him for the short time made life easier for the Dominion and saved even more slaves because of the money and supplies they had along with some of the other corrupt organizations. Sidious did something similar by playing the pawn for local governments in the original timeline until he dissolved the Senate permanently in A New Hope. Like those governments with Sidious, Gunray believed Vader was his pawn instead of the other way around.
In this timeline, by 32bby, the Dominion was starting or already had began pushing the Hutts and fractions out of the Outer Rim and started having greedy corporations like Trade Federation and co approaching to help migrate the conflict of course for their own interests. The last Vader needed was for them to join the Hutts and their fractions as he could still have won but that war would have been even more bloodier for everyone. The Republic was also going through a splinter at the time since the secessionist movement all but built up earlier so election processes couldn't be trusted due to many conflicting interests so Valorum stayed into power through much controversy with the backing of good old Palpy. The invasion of Naboo didn't happen for that reason as well as because the Sith had to adjust with how to handle the political fallout while remaining popular among the massives. Right now, Padmé at this point as said in this chapter is 19 and is in her second term, meaning Anakin's also 14 and will be playing a bigger role. I might go into that time point one day but the reason why I didn't right now was because it really wouldn't be affecting the Echoes story-line so for now it's just concepts.
May the Force be with you all always.