Chapter 23
Summary: Alternate World: The Empire Prevails and the Jedi have all been in hiding for thirty years. Emperor Palptaine searches for a way to live long past his dying body through cloning technology and his attempts at descendants. One of his " experiments' ' escapes and comes to live a slave's life on Naboo. He will meet and forever his destiny changed by the fateful meeting with none other than one young Naberrie girl…
Location: Imperial Shipyard, and Space Port, Coruscant
Month 4 Day 14 Year 28 BBY
The mechanical breathing is the only sound in the silence within the shipyard. Heavy booted footsteps are not heard close by as it is after midnight, most of the Imperial ships are only guarded from certain portions of the day and night, unless they are preparing for departure. Anakin is certain there may be only one or two Imperials stationed in the control tower a night shift- the graveyard ship which no one liked. He had experienced such light guards during his own shifts at the prisons.
He stops short behind a Imperial Star Destroyer's large doorway, and eyes a holodroid. He uses the force to snatch it out of the air and crush it via the force. The droid beeps its last piece of language and silence follows.
The relief rushing through Anakin is heard through the respirator. It sounds menacing as more of a monster taking its first breath of life. He returns his breathing to normal, which is softer in sound and much like a speeder's engine. He turns left of the wall and scans the area. Within his mask, the color is scanned in red and shows different points of entry to several of the ships, and his eyes fall onto the control tower.
The control tower stands a fair twenty kilometers in the air. Its shaded glass hides anyone inside. There is only one entrance and exit which would be to a shield blaster door, and then a lift. Anakin mutes the mechanical voice of the mask and calls over in his comm. " Obi-wan, I need a heat signature count. How do I access this feature within the suit?"
" There should be a button on the chest control panel. It should light green one."
" I can't see any color besides red, Ben." Anakin retorts with annoyance clear in his tone.
" Right, if you look down at the panel, it should be the second one on the left side."
He uses his gloved hand to press the second button on the control panel. His view fills with shadows of redder signatures. He smirks within the mask and mutters, " Found it."
" Good, how many?" Calls Qui-gon.
His red heat vision counts five stormtroopers guarding the area surrounding the few kilometers between him and the control tower. His eyes lift to the tower itself. Inside, he can make out two signatures guarding the lift, and as his eyes raise to the top, only two heat signatures there too.
" 9 heat signatures, a piece of cake." He boasts.
" Anakin, remember no casualties if possible," warns Qui-gon.
Anakin sighs and mutters something under his breath- nothing Qui-gon can understand. He doesn't want to make a huge mess out of this- just enough to cause a distraction, just enough to destroy those control panels and scramble the navi computers.
He steps a few meters at a time. He counts the meters in his head. One.. Two. Three…
… Ten..…. 20….
His count continues until his eyes land on two stormtroopers pacing the area. Their white armor reflects off the lights coming from the tower. The black helmet lifts and eyes the lights over the shielded doorway.
I need to get rid of those lights.
His mind searches for the best route. He could throw his lightsaber towards those lights via the force. Plan B would be to throw one of the stormtroopers towards the lights overhead, but that would cause a lot of movement and screaming. Plan C is the wisest- use the force itself and crush those lights with his bare- gloved hands.
Anakin's right gloved hand reaches out and he closes his eyes, feeling the object through the force. The sound of the metal screeching is louder than he thought it would be, but it is enough to darken the entire area. All goes pitch black.
" We have an outage," comes from the stormtroopers within a few feet of Anakin.
Anakin keeps his breathing low, the sound of the respirator is not as loud as before. He uses the force to keep his steps as silent as possible.
" Hmm, BCD81, checkout the malfunction. Those lights were just checked before shift." Orders the Commander of the stormtroopers.
" Yes sir," Calls one of the other stormtroopers.
He's halfway to one of the stormtroopers, from behind. Within his mask, the heat signatures show four of the five stormtroopers within the area. He allows the breathing to become slightly louder within the darkness.
" Sir, what is that?"
" What are you talking about?"
" Argh!"
The blurry outline of a blue lightsaber is seen as it slides through the stormtrooper. The black cloaked figure is so agile that two of the stormtroopers don't even have time to react. Their bodies fall to the ground, with a large burn mark through their chest and armor.
" What in the blazes is that!" Screams one of the three troopers left.
The booming voice of the monster seeps into their bones. " Your worst nightmare."
One of the troopers feels his larynx collapse beneath his helmet, gurgling sounds come before his neck is broken with a snap. The gloved hand throws the dead trooper off to the side without a thought.
Anakin senses the trooper to his right and brings his blaster up to fire. He does not get a chance, as he is thrown towards the last storm-trooper and is flung into the doorway- knocking them unconscious.
" Anakin! What in Sith hells are you doing?" Obi-wan shouts into the comm.
Anakin ignores his demands and allows the dark shroud of the force to fill him. He sighs as it flows through him easily- and around him.
This power feels way too damn good.
He senses the two Imperials within the control tower become acutely aware of someone or something thundering towards them. Anakin eyes the doorway and the door is closed. He sighs and says through the mask, " You want to make this difficult, don't you?"
His voice is booming, distorted by the vocalizer. The two Imperial guards inside quake within their boots. The blaster door is about twenty meters in length, the height is half of that. The standard Imperial gray has been used in the metal of the doorway. It is in the shape of a hexagon.
Anakin closes his eyes and allows the shroud to wrap around him. He is cloaked in the darkness- shrouded by the dark side. He senses the chill within the area, and the altercation of many of the life forms within the control tower. He had learned this trick from Maul. The technique is fully effective on those who are trapped within the confines of an interrogation room or their cell. The control tower is no different; those beings have trapped themselves within their surroundings as well.
Anakin reaches out within the force again- this time with both hands stretched out, gripping the piece of doorway and imagining himself forcing it open within this grasp. The screeching of the blast door can be heard, almost like a nuba screaming to escape its owner's force of giving it a bath. The blast door continues to scream in its own terror as it is forced open- little by little.
" What in Kriff is that monstrosity!" Screams one of the guards within. His terror reeked off of him in waves like a tidal wave.
Anakin draws into his fear, fueling himself to have enough power to finish opening the door. His eyes open and the blast door is open enough for him to go on through. He takes the steps of the monster he wears. Two.. ten… fifteen steps.
The menacing figure of the monster appears inside the doorway. Both terrified guards spring from their posts, their eyes staring into the soulless monster.
They are pitiful creatures. Kill them. The fueled dragon whispers through his thoughts.
" What- are yo-?" One of the guards asks the creature standing within his space.
The cackling of the creature is heard by this terrified lifeform. His terror fueling the creature and his power.
Anakin's mind for a mere moment turns to the man's question. Did this creature have a name? He birthed this creature and now that he's felt their reaction, he knows he'll never go back to just spying and walking the lines of being just a Jedi- just someone who sits back and watches the galaxy burn. Not when he can feel this in control- feel this powerful.
Yes- let go, accept your destiny. The dragon coos to him, almost like a babe's lullaby.
He is the father of this creature. He remembers a name from Nubbian mythology used by the ancient Nubbians- Vater. Vater was supposedly this fallen hero. He was deemed a hero by the ancient Naboo after he rescued their planet from an asteroid that was on its pathway to destroy the planet. He is considered to have been possibly a force user as he used his hands and mind to read others thoughts and to crush his enemies. Vater's real name has never been revealed as the name Vater stuck after he fell in love with a regular Nabooian citizen, married and fathered a child. The story goes on that Vater's enemies kidnap his wife and kill her. Vater is known to have fallen to the enemy's trickery and used the " dark side of the force" to save his child and try to bring his wife back from the dead. He was deemed the " dark father" and his name was given to Vater.
Anakin didn't want to use the exact name of the fallen hero as he did not see himself as a hero. But this creature he had fathered in a way- brought him to life and he is that of darkness.
" Vader," His voice booms through the mic within the mask.
The man does not get a chance to respond as he's thrown towards the lift. He shrieks as his head hits the wall and he's knocked unconscious- not dead, but could have a concession. The other guard shakes his head as he eyes the creature.
" No— please—" He begs.
" Open the lift doors and I'll spare your life," Vader demands.
The man shudders and begs, " I cann-ot I'll- be-"
Vader cuts him off and uses the force to choke him.
" Do it now."
The man struggles to breathe and clutches at his throat.
" Anakin! Kriff stop it!" Obi-wan's voice commands within the helmet.
Do it- put this pitiful creature out of his misery. The dragon commands.
Vader lets go of the force choke and the guard presses the lock for the lift.
" Thank you," Booms Vader's sneering voice.
He tosses the guard into the left wall, knocking him unconscious. Vader takes those large steps of his and enters the lift. He places his gloved hands on his belt, waiting impatiently for the lift to reach the top of the tower. There is a high possibility that one stormtrooper may have called back-up which means he has about ten minutes before the cavalry arrives and then his mission will be a mess.
" Anakin, you need to stop this madness- abort the mission," commands Obi-wan.
Vader snorts into the mic and ignores his madness. If he were to abort the mission then many other lives will be at risk. What was the cost of a few guards and stormtroopers which are clones anyway?
" Anakin, I outrank you, abort the mission." Obi-wan demands.
" No, a few guards and stormtroopers' lives are nothing compared to those innocent people on Sullust who die if I don't finish this mission." He retorts after ignoring the first command.
It seems like forever and a day to be in that lift. Those ninety seconds seem terribly slow. Vader's mind goes over the plan. He tries to knock out the two guards and set the charges, and throws their asses into the lift with him. The thermal detentaors that he brought are strong enough to destroy the top of the control tower, leaving the bottom untouched- at least he hopes.
Destroy the entire building- those left to die deserve it. Sneers the dragon.
The lift dings and as the doors open, Vader steps out, one black boot at a time. The color drains from the two Imperials' faces. Neither of them say a word, as they are swung via the force into the respecting walls; one to the left and one to the right. Both fall to the ground, but one cries out trying to get back up. He is like a nexu in a ring, savage and fearful for its life. Vader says nothing as he gestures his force choke.
" It is in your best interest to halt your deranged actions," Vader demands.
The guard gurgles from the choke hold and Vader throws him towards the lift. A loud sigh comes from the mask and Vader turns to his main mission; the main navi-computer.
At least his piloting skills and classes are beneficial. The Imperial Instructor at the Academy who taught his piloting class last semester, down to the last Imperial Ship, had outlined how every ship is connected to the main control tower and navi-compter. The navi-computer directs the ships in a way, their coordinates to any place in the galaxy are in this database. However, it only affects ships that are within range of the blast, any ship off-world will not be effected as their navi-compters are not linked to the main one while off-world. They only reconnect when they land in this shipyard or the other one on the other side of the planet. But this is the main Imperial port for military ships.
Vader places the two thermal detonators along the control panel and sets the charges for 3 minutes, that should be enough time to throw these two officers into the lift with him, and get to the bottom of the shaft. After that, their lives are in the hands of the force. He refuses to be a hero for Imperials.
" Charges set- 3 minutes," Vader's voice booms through the comm, as he forgot to mute it.
" Anakin, why won't you listen to me? The likelihood of success is a low percentage-"
He cuts Obi-wan off by barking, " I don't want to know the odds. I have less than 3 minutes to get the hell out of here."
He presses the button on his control panel to mute Obi-wan, fuming. He'd deal with a lecture later and he knows there will be one. This mission is more important. Vader uses the force to open the lift doors and lifts the two unconscious life forms into the lift with him. The doors close and he continues the 90 second descent to the bottom, half the time the charges will need to go off.
Less than 1 minute and half.
He tries to wait patiently for the lift as it opens, but as soon as the doors spread their metal barriers for him, he throws the two life forms into the corner with the others that are also unconscious.
He does not sense the calvary coming yet which means he has time to ride out this high.
60 seconds.
Vader strolls through the open blast doors that are now crunched from the strain of the force. He continues to distance himself from the area.
30 seconds
As he has come a mere ten meters from the building, he turns around an Imperial Destroyer, and waits. He waits for the charges to blow.
5 seconds
4, 3, 2, 1…
The ground quakes. His red gaze flickers up to the control tower as the top clearly has caved in. The entire tower does not come down around them, but the shaded glass windows are blown out, and the roof has caved in. You can see a portion of the lift from where he is standing.
Maybe I should have destroyed the entire tower.
He feels satisfied. This should delay for a time so the rebels have a chance. Vader has never felt so satisfied in this life.
To Be Continued…