Act 1 Part 6

What comes next?

There is one truth that all will experience, death. But all who share the gift of life abide by another truth, choice, to have to choose, just as death is inescapable so too are choices.

A day had passed since Padmé and Obi Wan had arrived at the Lars' farm, except for the occasional conversation with Beru or Owen Padmé had simply focused on taking care of Leia. If she did anything else or even relaxed her mind simply brought her back into endless despair, she had already accepted the fact that she would not get any actual sleep until she collapsed from exhaustion which surprisingly did not bother her all that much. Collapsing from exhaustion was honestly preferable to the nightmares and what if scenarios that her mind created which only brought her to tears. She was in no mood or state to have the conversation that she knew she would have to have with Obi Wan sooner and most likely, not later. Obi Wan had seemingly made or already had a routine of practicing with his saber both at dawn and dusk, night was approaching and frankly she did not want to put the conversation off any longer.

"Obi Wan, we need to talk… I think we both know what about as well." Those were the words which the Jedi Master had been dreading for the past two days. He had known that it hadn't been a question of if but of when they would have it.

"Yes… I know…" That answer told Padmé all that she needed to hear really… he just like her had no clue.

"What are we going to do?" Yes… that was the question that they both wanted an answer too… What are we going to do?

"I think it's a matter of what we must do Padmé… We must protect Leia from the clutches of the Emperor, we must find a way to destroy him… How we are going to achieve that feat only the force knows." He knew that he was stating the obvious but the plan had to start somewhere.

"I've had a thought in the back of my mind but I don't know if it would be smart or simply insane. A rebellion… one against the empire, now when it is at its weakest." Just like always she detested violence but now she had felt that her immaculate shield on that ideal was starting to crumble. Palpatine would never give up his power, there was no peaceful solution to the empire question.

"Padmé, how would we even go about starting such a movement, the galaxy is tired of war and strife, I think we both are too." Obi Wan had experience training resistance movements but this would be on a galactic scale and just like he said how would the two of them even go about creating such a movement and more importantly keep it going against the might of the Empire.

"I have connections that we could use and you are one of few remaining members of the Jedi Council. We are not helpless nor at our wits end, out of all the people in the galaxy we are probably among the most qualified to lead such a movement." There was a fire in that little speech which she had thought was extinguished… even if she was heartbroken she was very much still the passionate senator from Naboo that she had been during the war.

Obi Wan was somewhat taken aback by her words, all of that was true, she did possess the political connections to people that would naturally be inclined to side with them against the empire… but him…

"Yes, I'm one of the last surviving members of the Council but how does that help except from my experience in war, I don't see the point that you're trying to push." He admitted to her that he did not understand what she was getting at… he was by all accounts a better General than a Jedi… evident by… by his only apprentice falling to the darkside, which also led to the destruction of the entire Order.

"Stop that, you know exactly what I'am trying to get at. It will be your task to reassemble what is left of the Order, not everyone is dead and now more than ever… we need the Jedi, to bring back good as the dominant force in the galaxy, for the sake of everyone that will suffer under the empire." The passion and energy was clear in her voice, he had heard it many times before in the young senator, this was not a discussion anymore, she had decided that this is what they are going to do. It reminded him of Anakin and his stubborn nature, they had truly been a fitting match for each other. Still…

"What about Leia, if we do this she will be in more danger and will by extension be a target for Palpatine were he ever to find out you are alive." He knew that there was no point in arguing against forming a rebellion but he still held out hope that maybe, just maybe Leia could at least weaken the fire in her mother's soul. Either it was that or she would push even harder now which meant that he would need to concede immediately or face the undesirable consequences… really Anakin, you're plaguing me from the grave through your choice in life partner.

"I'm well aware of the risk, but understand Obi Wan… we have an obligation that goes beyond ourselves, an obligation to the galaxy and its people. We cannot abandon that duty out of fear… both of us also have more than duty as a reason for having to do this…"

"You need not remind me of that fact… if there is any reason I would fulfill that obligation it would be because of that… there has not gone an hour since that i've not thought of it…" It was clear to both of them both of what they were speaking of and why they did not wish to name it outright.

"Also I have a solution to the famous senator problem, which would make hiding my identity easier and at the same time create a symbol for our rebellion… hopefully." She said in a mischievous tone, clearly the senator from Naboo had something interesting in mind.

"Well now I'm intrigued, what might this plan be, senator?" Obi wan replied

"Well, before I tell you, dinner is done so get your sorry ass inside Kenobi."

Thoughts in the Night

Nightmares, Visions, Dreams, the only thing that separates them is what we define them to be. A nightmare may very well be a vision and a vision might be a dream.

Padmé found herself walking on a lava shore on Mustafar, what was she doing here? I don't remember ever being here, looking up she saw her ship standing on the same platform where she had landed it when she came to Mustafar in search of Anakin. Why was she here? As far as she was aware she never got further than the landing platform where… where Anakin… no, she threw those thoughts from her mind as far as she could even though thoughts are not physical objects one can throw… she simply had to imagine something else… something to rid her mind of, that.

Then she heard a pained groan, full of anguish and bestial fury. Looking around she could not locate where the sound had come from, what was that? Then once more she heard it and this time it included a scream of pure hatred, it made its way through her soul producing a chill in her bones despite the overbearing heat produced by a river of lava beneath the small ridge she was on. She could never mistake that… she knew exactly who it was… Anakin… She rushed forward along the ridge line she nearly fell over several times due to the loose rocks, but when she reached the source of Anakin's voice she was stopped in her tracks by the sight before her.

No, this can't be real… no… no, please let me wake up… please.

When she did not wake up or anything else happened she once again looked down towards the shore of lava, where a charred and mutilated body was slowly moving around. Mustering up her strength she began making her way down towards him… why? Why was she seeing this? Had the loss itself not been enough? She had not pressed Obi Wan for any more details than he had given, she knew that he had died after Obi Wan had left him burning, but this? She could not put it into words, she truly understood why Obi Wan had been so utterly destroyed and broken back on Polis Massa. How could he not be knowing that he was the reason for this…

Falling over next to Anakin's charred body she could not stop the tears that began flowing down her cheeks.

"Ani, please, you'll be fine… we can fix this, we can do something… anything…" The sheer horror of what she was seeing was indescribable to her, her Ani… She rolled him over onto his back resting against her lap… the look in his eyes… the colour… it was not the same, not the ones he had had that day. These were the same beautiful blue eyes that he had always had, the ones that would greet her in the morning and look at her in the most indescribable looks. This was her Ani not whatever Sidious had turned him into that day, this was him, the same person she had met as a boy in that junk shop on Tatooine… where he first called her Angel…

The hot atmosphere changed to a cold one suddenly, she was no longer on that shore… wait, where was Ani? Looking frantically around he was nowhere to be found… the image of his blue eyes was still branded in her mind, he had laid there burning as the same person she had known for 13 years, the same person she married, the one she loved with all her heart. Not that which she found on Mustafar…

She was now in a long empty corridor, it was earily devoid of life… it looked similar to the corridors she had seen on venators before and unlike the ones on the venators this one both looked and felt sterile. Suddenly she heard a loud bang from behind her, spinning around immediately she was startled by the sight before her… a tall, jet black figure standing with its head firmly embedded into a dent in the wall.

What is happening? She knew that all of this was clearly a dream… but still… why was she seeing this? Who is that? Why are they smashing their head against the wall with such force to leave such a dent? Her mind a tumultuous mess she completely missed that the figure had dislodged their head from the wall and was now staring at her. The black mask that she was now looking at made her recoil with fear… not only had she just seen the love of her life a burned husk, but now this too? It was all too much for her…

"Padmé?"

Then as if on command she found herself in reality… she felt herself trembling uncontrollably… was this really how she would have to live life now? Haunted by the images of Anakin, his blue eyes contrasted by the burnt flesh around them… And what of this dark figure? The voice of the figure had clearly been a man's voice although… it was horribly distorted… robotic, yet through it all she heard it… the pain…

Who was that? Why did he appear in her nightmare? Sometimes she really wished that she was psychic or something like it, if only to understand what goes on inside her own mind. She was well aware that there would be no more sleep awaiting her this night. She looked over towards the makeshift crib that she and Beru had made for Leia, where she now lay soundly asleep…

"Ignorance is Bliss…"

A New Order

To start believing in yourself might seem like a steep hill to climb, but a push in the back from a friend can go a long way to help.

Obi Wan had found himself dreading sleep the past few days because of the dreams that came to him when he did try to rest… the only other times where he had found it hard to sleep had been similar to his current reason.. but still, so different. The images of Qui Gon and Satine in his arms almost felt like a mercy now if he thought of them… they hurt and fill him with immense regret but they could not match the current pain… the hole in his heart and soul. The images of Mustafar and the things that occurred there filled him with pain and sadness which only Satine's death had managed before but he had realized something after that day on Mandalore… The images that hurt the most were not those that actually happened, the images of what could have been… those were the most painful by far. What if she had not died? What if Anakin never fell to the darkside? What if they were both alive and with him now? The pain of reality he could take even though the sadness was nearly debilitating, the pain of what could have been, that pain he would never escape.

He was sitting on the edge of the hole the farm was located inside of dangling his feet over the edge, sleeping had never been all that hard but today he was completely unable to sleep. The things he and Padmé had talked about were still lingering in his mind… starting a rebellion against the empire, that is something he could do, that he did not question… but the rest… that was something entirely different. Him rebuild the Jedi Order from scratch? How was he going to manage that? Padmé's words held true… yet still… she apparently believed him capable of doing the monumental feat of rebuilding the Order… how could she believe that?

Obi Wan's only actual apprentice had abandoned the light and been among the driving factors for the fall of the republic and destruction of the Jedi Order. His only other "semi-apprentice" had been Ahsoka, she had been Anakin's padawan yet he had still had the role of something along the lines of grandfather to her. He had taught her many things throughout the war but that was seemingly not enough either. If one could speak of Jedi as having lineages then the lineage he was a part of was clearly a failed one. Yoda, Qui Gon and himself against Dooku, Anakin and Ahsoka. Lumping her into that group was not entirely fair, she had never abandoned the Jedi teachings but she had still left the order, Dooku and Anakin on the other hand, they combined made enough of a counterweight to make it a fair assessment that it was a failed lineage.

How did Padmé think that he could lead this new order that she wanted him to create… even through all of his failings she still somehow believed that he could do it. How was he supposed to meet those expectations from her? How would anyone go about doing that?

"Obi Wan, you know what you must do." Obi Wan spun around immediately on hearing that voice… Qui Gon's. It was clearly him yet he looked like a hazy smoke, almost like the descriptions one gives to ghosts.

"Master!? How? What is going on?" He was dumbfounded to say the least, here before him was an apparition of his long dead master. How could this be? He had never heard of this occurring before, was he going insane now thanks to everything that has happened or is this a dream?

"This is reality Obi Wan, the answer to the question you are asking yourself right now is one which you already have." The calm soothing voice made Obi Wan calm down from the shock of the situation.

"What do you mean? What question?" He was incredibly confused by all of this. I already have the answer to my question? Which one is he referring to?

"The question that you've been brooding about, you already have the answer to it." After saying that Qui Gon disappeared, now there was nothing infront of Obi Wan but the sand and dunes. What had just happened? Obi Wan was dumbfounded, how did he do that? Was that even Qui Gon? He had sensed his presence through the force clear as day but it still felt unreal. I already have the answer to my question? Staring out across the dunes he knew one thing. He was very, very, very confused.

The Point of No Return

When you find yourself at the metaphorical "edge" the point of no return, do not fret over what might happen if you step off, focus on why it is you're stepping off.

Obi Wan and Padmé were eating breakfast, neither one had slept that night. Padmé beset by nightmares and Obi Wan fully unable to sleep plus the surprise of seeing his old master in ghost form. They had not said a word to each other during the entire time they'd been sitting, both somewhat both preoccupied and apprehensive about the conversation that they would undoubtedly have. Obi Wan finally mustered up the courage to start it even though he knew that there would be no turning back once they had decided.

"Padmé, I've been thinking of what you said yesterday, are you completely sure that this is the course of action that you want to take? There is no doubt in your mind?" He was pretty sure he knew the answer he would get already but he still wanted to ask her just to make sure.

Padmé did not give him an answer immediately, she knew what he was doing. The last chance to back out… she thought she knew Obi Wan pretty well to know that he simply asked out of courtesy, he knew what the answer would be.

"Obi Wan it is not that I want it, it is about what we both owe the galaxy and its people. Trust me there is nothing more I want than to just lay down everything and just exhale, a long and extremely drawn out one… but I can't. We have to fight even when we don't want to or have the strength to… if we don't then how can we expect others to do it?" There it was, that was her declaration now it was time for Obi Wan's.

"Very well then, I will do what you asked… but I'm not going to rebuild the Jedi Order. He paused for a moment and took a breath. I'm going to build a new Order, one that I hope I can rid of the problems and shortfalls the old order had." He exhaled slowly, Padmé had made her statement and now he too had done that.

There was no need to say anything further, they both knew what they had done… they'd gone past the point of no return. Neither one of them would give up now, they were going to do this whether they succeeded or not… these two were simply too stubborn for their own good. Both of them rose from the table, Padmé went to contact some old colleagues that might be interested, yet it would not be as Padmé Amidala. She might be risking it all right now but she was going to take every precaution she could think of, reaching her room she picked up the piece of japor wood she had been working on throughout the night. She had fashioned herself a mask, one that would help her remain anonymous and build a reputation around… a symbol. Obi Wan went to train, the fatigue he had felt from the restless night was seemingly gone now. He needed to start figuring out the specifics of his "New Order" that he was going to create, a task which he was well aware of would be a monumental endeavor but a worthwhile one.

The Workshop

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."

Pablo Picasso

Vader was standing in the middle of his workshop which he had managed to turn into a veritable mess… one could say that he had been a little too excited and single minded with all the freedom. He had never really had the time or been able to truly let his imagination run wild before… during his time with the Jedi…

He had made several new creations in the short time since his arrival to the estate, between trying to sleep and training his new apprentice; his time had been completely occupied by tinkering. The only interruption to this cycle had been a communication from Palpatine, with his new task… instructing inquisitors. From what Palpatine had told him he understood that they were former Jedi that had turned to the darkside, they were supposed to continue the purge by hunting the Jedi that had managed to escape their inevitable fate…

The idea of teaching this rabble of glorified attack dogs was not very appealing to him, for one, he was currently training his own apprentice, his new right hand. Second reason was more a personal one, going back to Coruscant would only remind him… of his Angel… the time he had spent in his little workshop and when he had been training A'parr had been rather blissful in fact. There were no nightmares, visions or images going through his mind during that time, being preoccupied seemingly helped him push the horrors in his mind away… but there was no eternal escape from them. During his isolation he discovered that he had been starting to seemingly hallucinate… several times since mustafar… several times he had seen her, everytime she looked so… real…

He was aware that he was going to suffer through these nightmares and visions, maybe for the rest of his life, maybe until he fulfills the oath he swore… hopefully. He could at least get some respite from teaching A'parr and tinkering in his workshop.

He had made several things but two stood out, the training droid which he had named M-1 and his new ship. M-1 had originally been a IG-100 MagnaGuard, although any one who looked at it would probably not recognise it as such. The chassis was painted black along with the rest of his parts, he had improved its reaction times, computing times and almost everything else. Had the Confederacy had these droids then he was sure that there would have been a much larger list of casualties among the Jedi Order. On top of his assignment as A'parr's trainer/sparring partner, Vader had also seen fit to entrust him with guard duty of the estate. He had never really been an enthusiast about droids due to having to fight them for the past three years yet he had realized that they would be perfect for him now. Loyal to a fault except for hacking, which he had seen to would not be a problem with M-1, he had acquired several HK series Assasination droids for added security which would operate under M-1.

His new ship was somewhat nostalgic, it was a N1 Starfighter… the first type of ship he had ever piloted and the same type which he had flown in during the battle of Naboo almost 13 years ago. Along with general upgrades to almost every system inside the ship he had replaced the two blaster cannons with a pair of dual blaster cannons instead for added firepower. He had removed the droid port entirely to make room for a very special upgrade, a seismic charge launcher. He had never seen them in action but was well aware of their destructive power. The ship was overall completed, he had taken it for a test flight once so he had done some calibrating with the steering and engine but there were still kinks to work out.

Those kinks would need to wait however, no matter how much he did want to return to Coruscant he had to. Training inquisitors… maybe he could use them as test subjects, using them to test a teaching method was not something he had thought of previously, maybe this trip would bring some good at least.

Mustafar Platoon

Place your trust in the man standing beside you. When the moment of truth comes, that trust will mean more than anything else in the world.

Stag was reading over the report that he had received earlier that day, and the list that accompanied it.

1st "Blue" Squad / Mustafar Platoon

Former Designation: CL-2207 "Boomer" / 501st ARF Lieutenant

New Designation: MPC-0001 "Boomer" / Mustafar Platoon Lieutenant

Former Designation: CS-1104 "Kano" / 501st Sergeant

New Designation: MPS-0002 "Kano" / Mustafar Platoon Sergeant

Former Designation: CS-4343 "Coric" / 501st Sergeant

New Designation: MPS-0003 "Coric" / Mustafar Platoon Sergeant

Former Designation: CT-4356 "Attie" / 501st Corporal

New Designation: MPT-0004 "Attie" / Mustafar Platoon Corporal

Former Designation: CT-2432 "Locket" / 501st ARF Corporal

New Designation: MPT-0005 "Locket" / Mustafar Platoon Corporal

Former Designation: CT- 7894 "Kix" / 501st Medic

New Designation: MPT-0006 "Kix" / Mustafar Platoon Medic

Former Designation: CT-4373 "Nax" / 501st Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0007 "Nax"/ Mustafar Platoon Marksman

Former Designation: CT-4312 "Del"/ 501st Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0008 "Del"/ Mustafar Platoon Spotter

Former Designation: CT-8476 "Bones"/ 501st ARF Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0009 / "Bones" Mustafar Platoon Sapper

Former Designation: CT-4368 "Zeer" / 501st Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0010 "Zeer"/ Mustafar Platoon Grenadier

It was a list for a new unit that he had been reassigned to along with 9 of his own men. He had spent the day picking out the nine that would go with him to this platoon. Clue and Sprinter had been obvious choices but the rest had been somewhat more difficult. The orders he'd received had been to pick out 9 of his best men and report to Kamino as soon as possible, no reason why had been given except that they were going to be reassigned to this new "Mustafar Platoon". He knew very little of the planet except that it apparently looked like old religious interpretations of hell, black rocks, burning lakes and rivers of molten lava.

He had several questions as to why he and his men had been chosen to make up the second squad, the first squad was entirely made up of troopers from the famous 501st Legion. Yes, the 84th Marine Regiment was an accomplished unit but not nearly as famous as the 501st, other units like the 212th, 41st or even the 21st Nova Corps seemed like they would've been a better fit. Then there was a second question, why wasn't the entire unit made up of troopers from the 501st instead of reassigning troopers from two different clone units? One possible answer was the difference in specializations, compared to the 501st the 84th was very focused on space combat and planetary sweep operations. The 84th often got sent to more remote worlds where there wasn't enough of a separatist force to justify sending units like the 501st to, this had eventually led to the 84th being among the most proficient clone units in skirmish tactics and smaller engagements. He knew that he would most likely not get any answers until they reached Kamino so there was really no point in racking his brain over it right now.

Apart from himself, Sprinter and Clue there were seven others currently on the transport that was taking them back to Kamino, Coil, Chess, Danger, Cross, Guido, Imp and lastly Champ. Most of them had served with the regiment for the entirety of the Clone Wars.

The youngest was Danger, who was prone to getting himself into danger constantly hence his nickname. He'd been with the regiment for two and a half years initially being a replacement but rather quickly found his calling as the one that found ambushes. Admittedly that was mostly because he would walk into them and somehow managed to survive every single one.

Imp and Champ were two peas in a pod, explosion maniacs. If there was an explosion somewhere in the skirmish it was a pretty safe bet that it was caused by one of them.

Guido was something of an oddball in the regiment, but a rather useful one at that, fluent in several languages and rather adept with research in general. You had a question about some plant, ask Guido. Stag himself had probably uttered that statement a hundred times himself.

The rest Cross, Chess, and Coil were pretty ordinary, Cross was among the best medics in the regiment. Chess was a devil at any type of tactical game you could think of, mostly sabacc though. Coil was an efficient workhorse of a Sergeant, he usually got the most unruly replacements in line and up to speed in less than a week at times, that would probably not be a needed skill in this new unit but he was still one of the best Sergeants the 84th had to offer.

2nd "Green" Squad / Mustafar Platoon

Former Designation: CC-1042 "Stag" / 84th Marines Commander

New Designation: MPC-0011 "Stag" / Mustafar Platoon Commander

Former Designation: CS-1865 "Sprinter" / 84th Marines Sergeant

New Designation: MPS-0012 "Sprinter" / Mustafar Platoon Sergeant

Former Designation: CS-2283 "Coil" / 84th Marines Sergeant

New Designation: MPS-0013 "Coil" / Mustafar Platoon Sergeant

Former Designation: CT-7635 "Chess" / 84th Marines Corporal

New Designation: MPT-0014 "Chess" / Mustafar Platoon Corporal

Former Designation: CT-4726 "Danger" / 84th Marines Corporal

New Designation: MPT-0015 "Danger" / Mustafar Platoon Corporal

Former Designation: CT-8467 "Cross" / 84th Marines Medic

New Designation: MPT-0016 "Cross" / Mustafar Platoon Medic

Former Designation: CT-2648 "Clue" / 84th Marines Specialist

New Designation: MPT-0017 "Clue"/ Mustafar Platoon Marksman

Former Designation: CT-3856 "Guido"/ 84th Marines Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0018 "Guido"/ Mustafar Platoon Spotter

Former Designation: CT-8347 "Imp" / 84th Marines Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0019 "Imp"/ Mustafar Platoon Sapper

Former Designation: CT- 3856 "Champ" / 84th Marines Trooper

New Designation: MPT-0020 "Champ" / Mustafar Platoon Grenadier

Before they had departed from the Excellence he had submitted that list, all spots filled and every trooper accounted for. They had their new roles and designations. Now it was time to see what was going to happen, in some way he was kind of excited, the unknown future…

This would also serve as a good distraction… thinking back to Praesitlyn was not something he wanted to do… never again.

Author's Notes:

To those who recognize the names on the "Blue" squad roster I give you a star, only Locket and Bones are ones I made myself.