Chapter 3
Anakin wondered if his father put him in this position just to punish him in his own way. At the very least, the Queen and Handmaidens were light. Good people. He'd met them all. Padmé. Sabé. Yané. Saché. Rabé. Eirtaé. By far, he felt the most attracted to Padmé. They were all pretty, but something made her the prettiest in his eyes. Like he was drawn to her.
"So how is your father?" Yané came around to asking after a few moments.
He blinked. Crushes were normal. Small infatuations too. But keeping them, all protected was his job.
"You'll grow to like him."
"No, like what is your father like? What about the crusaders?" Saché pressed.
He arched an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"
"Please tell. What are they like?" Eirtaé asked.
"They used to be slaves to the Hutts like I was years ago before my father united former slaves' and trained them up against the Hutts and their remnants." Anakin hated it when he told people about everything, he and some friends back home been through, but there was so much progress that deserved recognition.
"That's a simplistic explanation," the Handmaiden replied, putting her hand on her hip.
"Naw, Eirtaé, the boy's father is going to tell his young son about how it really happened," Rabé replied sarcastically.
"Hey, I'm just saying!" Eirtaé shouted.
"Ugh, you two need to grow up," Sabé replied in exasperation as much as amusement.
Rabé smirked. "Weren't you and Padmé arguing a few days ago about who had the better looks even though you guys look exactly alike?"
"We do not!" Padmé and Sabé chorused, sharing a look at one another.
"You two look more alike than your own sister," Yané giggled. "It's spooky."
Looking around at the various staff of the Queen, many seemed unhappy with their bantering session. Anakin wondered why. It was harmless at the end of the day, and they obviously were trying to bury their grief about the possibility of losing their world by teasing one another. It was harmless.
Father walked in, followed by another man strong with the Force. A Jedi who looked seconds away from exploding. And numerous other people, also three other Jedi, two in some sort of healing trance the old man wrapped around them.
"They dare attack a Republic's fleet?!" Someone shouted. One of the Queen's advisors.
"Could hardly call it a fleet," father said simply. "You need to get off Naboo, go somewhere safe," father advised the Queen.
Conceding with the man, the Governor put in his own two cents. "Your Highness, I will stay here and do what I can," Sio Bibble - that was his name - declared. "They will have to retain the Council of Governors in order to maintain some semblance of order."
"Beware, Governor, Gunray would not listen to any negotiations," Father replied. "His goal is to take over." He placed his hand on his belt. "Gunray will not relent his power so easily."
Panaka scowled, "This is coming from the man who burnt entire worlds."
"Trust the propaganda of the scum to make me look like a villain," father rolled his eyes. "Yes, I burnt worlds, but the people on each of those planets were far from innocent. Now enough about my "terrible atrocities"; we have other manners to attend to."
The Governor moved to Queen Amidala's throne.
He ordered,
"Let's move."
Eldric Vossen was never given a chance. Long ago, he was yet another Jedi, one of the best in his classes, though the Masters often warned him about his arrogance. Chopping off another Padawan's hand in a training session led to the Council breaking him down and leaving him bruting in the cell as he was transferred to the Jedi Citadel, heavily monitored and watched. That was until the great Master broke them free. None refused his offer to join the combat, all of them wanting to vent their grievances to the weak Jedi Order and making them pay for their injustices.
They were waiting for some spoilt little Queen to drag her off to a cell which would be heavily modified. Yet, for some odd inconceivable reason, something cold was going through him. It was as if someone was watching them, intending to make them pay for assisting in this battle.
In the blink of an eye, blaster rifles, carbines, snipers, pistols, and weapons of all types were trained on their opponents, causing some to take steps back. They looked at the armor, could see the fierce dragon symbol across their chest plates, making them ever the more intimidating. Their armor was modified to a tea, seeming to have went through hours of construction, any weaknesses typically noted patched up.
He immediately put the pieces together to who they represent. Humans, Togrutas, Twi'leks, Duros, Nautalons, Ithorian, Rodians, Aqualishs, and many more.
The Dominions. They recognized Ann Gella from anywhere. She was the Head General of the Army, someone who was often seen at Vader's heel. Few remembered that she was a simple slave girl when discovered by Vader.
"You made a mistake in assuming this would be easy," the Dark Jedi at the front stated.
To their credit, they didn't respond verbally. What came was concussion and frag grenades. The majority of the Dark Jedi launched away in time but some of them who were slow to react, including anyone or anything behind them fell in small explosions.
The Dominions were eerily calm, looking at them as if they were nothing of concerned. With their increasing blaster fire, they were the ones on the defensive now. Unfortunately, some of them made fatal errors which the Dominions took advantage of.
Some of the Dark Jedi swung their lightsabers around, only to come face to face with fists, kicks, and blasters. Their blasters were good physical weapons as well as sidearms. They also worked in perfect coordination, knowing exactly how to neutralize them.
Worse, none of these people fell. When it seemed like Eldric was about to be claimed next, something changed. They finished up whatever they were doing and fell back in few marches, as footsteps made themselves known. The pale-skinned Togruta's hand tightened over his lightsaber when a hooded figure came up. The people fell back, their blasters still aimed around them.
Thankfully, he wasn't alone.
The Ithorian of them charged up, lightsaber swinging down at his forehead. Mid-swing, the figure activated the lightsaber, and stabbed him through the chest. It took much within Eldric not to fall back as his hands wrapped around the hilt with a grip that could cause the hilt to break.
The Lasat came at his direction, attempting to use his slightly taller height to his advantage. That encouraged them to all to charge forward, none of them wishing to disappoint the Master. The figure swung out at the floor, throwing debris in their eyes, stunning them briefly. What Eldric could faintly see was the figure effortlessly deflecting each of their blows, not even staggering from his position. He butted his hilt against his stomach and stabbed him through.
When his Pantoran ally came at his flank falling into Form III, Makashi, the hooded figure ceased his defensive entourage and attacked, sending series of assaults at his direction. To his credit, the Pantoran managed to deflect each of his strikes, but his flaw was depending too much on defense. The hooded figure feinted an attack at his foot before swinging his lightsaber up and eviscerating him within a span of a second.
The hooded figure tilted his head and angled his lightsaber in front of him for the other two, giving no emotion. The Duro charged forward with a battle yelp. The figure took several casual steps back, allowing him to come forward at him, when at last he slashed him across the stomach, causing a death cry to fill the air.
He was alone.
Looking at all of his former allies now lying on the ground, Eldric felt fear. Could he manage it? Could he defeat, or at least escape this man, and warn the Master about him?
The figure swung his lightsaber around in a flourish.
Eldric knew he mustn't fail the Master!
He called the lightsaber of his fallen Duro's comrade and came forward with both lightsabers. Try as he might, the figure absorbed each of his strikes. The Dark Side stormed through him, and he reached out to it, willing it to knock him back. He grasped for more power, tossing a wave of lightning which traveled through his body without harm.
As the last of the lightning disintegrated around him, the figure simply looked at him. Despite this, the figure didn't performed any Force tricks. It surrounded him, but he wouldn't call upon it. It was at his command.
The figure kept his stance, simply absorbing every strike that came a them. He attempted to push both blades through his stomach and back, but the figure caught them a mere second before he would have succeeded.
He just wouldn't...!
'KRIFFING DIE!'
At last, in a simple stroke, the figure swung his lightsaber around, and at last chopped his left appendage off. He screamed in pain as he fell back.
The figure didn't move closer, instead he angled his lightsaber at his side. Was the man going to kill him, or perhaps he wanted to delay his suffering?
The figure didn't even regard him, instead he deactivated the blade, placing it back onto his belt as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and turned to look at a nearby armored Twi'lek, the head of this formation. "Ann, get everyone on board. And come around for a pickup."
The famous Twi'lek nodded.
"Your name, pilot."
"Ric Olié, sir."
He nodded. "I'm getting you your ships, however I need your Nubian Royal Starship for a parting gift from me to the Viceroy."
That earned confused looks by each of the pilots.
"You would find out later..."
He grinned mischievously, and the Dark Jedi shivered at what he was thinking...
"Once we deal with our little friend here." The figure looked down at him as if he was a God casting judgment on a failed prophet. "Why are you here?"
"I'm loyal to my Master! You would get nothing out of me!" he shouted, hand clutching his stump," the Togruta snapped coldly.
The figure grabbed his throat and slammed him against the wall, pressing into his mind. "Don't play with me, child. What is your Master's plan?"
Eldric couldn't resist for long, not with his mind being cut through as if it was butter. Part of him screamed as he spoke, not out of his own fruition. "We are instituting a Inquisitorius Program, sent out in the galaxy to stop all threats and... kill Jedi who is a threat to the Grand Plan. We were meant to capture the Queen of Naboo under Lord... Sidious's orders."
"Ah, so he formed it earlier this time around," the figure noted idly.
The Togruta fell to the ground. His fangs bared as he looked up defiantly. "You will pay for what you have done! Our Master will make you burn!"
"Quite touching loyalty," the figure responded, sounding amused. "Run now-while I'm feeling merciful. Tell Sidious that I'll be waiting for him. Perhaps with the information, you would be allowed to live, presuming that the bastard doesn't fry you on sight. He has a tendency to do that after this."
Eldric wanted to stay and fight, but with his right hand being unavailable right now, the Togruta knew what he had to do. He gripped the empty stump as he ran. He would have to return to Coruscant, to inform the great Master that the figure knew of his name.
It would be better than remaining behind here just to having to report his failure to the Master anyway.
Surprise surprise, when the CR90 Corvette rose into the sky, it did so in the face of heavy resistance. Along with their allies, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation had grown paranoid and wanted to blast the ship out of the sky. While capturing the Queen had been preferable, they were not above from killing them, and take Naboo by force.
After all, a Sith could always be the source of advice to deal with any legal troubles that would follow for killing the monarch of this peace-loving planet.
A whole wave of Vulture droids came down on them, and the Corvette began pushing itself through with brute force. Behind them, the few weapon emplacements in Theed, all of which were located at or near the Royal Place, fired. Nabooians fighters tore into the air, shredding through everyone and everything at sight.
Quickly, some of the Nabooians' fighters fell, and truth be told it was amazing that even some of them had lasted somewhat in space.
Starfighters exited the Corvette as well, helping their Nabooians counterparts. The Dominion fighters fared much better. There were still one or two casualties, but they have been trained to do this, pulling strategies that shocked many of the Trade Federation's witnesses.
At that moment, a J-type 327 Nubian Royal Starship came to the sky. Confused about what the kriff was happening, some started aiming for that one. Surprisingly, their missiles and turrets bounced off. Eventually, they wasted all the ships they could in bringing it down. It didn't waver despite the great intensity.
Five battleships shot from extreme close range, also receiving a lot of heat from the opposition's side. The pilots had some training, at least to save their necks from being blasted out of the sky in some embarrassment.
Eventually, the Trade Federation's leading pilot fell, the ship exploded out of the sky. Then that on the left flanks got cut through, the organic pilots screaming as they felt pain like no other. The third and fourth one was slammed into by bullets, but the latter pilot wanted to take some of them out, swerving around and breaking guard. Unfortunately, too late, the Dominion fighters brought it down with ease.
At that point the remaining freighters charged forward to another round of Vulture droids, and it seemed like they would crash against one another. Only twenty seconds or so later, missiles and laser cannons came at each other, and they blasted each other out of the sky.
Finally, the CR90 Corvette cleared out along with the remaining Dominions fighters and a few Naboo stragglers. While there had been some damage for sure, the Corvette could make it to any planet in the galaxy.
Those who lived to saw as at the last moment, the starship blasted through all of the Captor-class heavy munitions cruisers, leaving waves of blue energy in the air. The poor fools never had a chance. At that moment, the Corvette vanished in hyperspace just as the few enemy troops left came behind to blast it out of the sky.
Suffice to say, that just broke so many laws of space travel!
"What we're going to call that one, father?" Anakin asked the old man with a grin. "The Vader Maneuver?"
To his part, his father did stagger. Insane tactics like that were the norm for Anakin, but this one was unwise considering how much energy he had spent just to send a powerful "message" to send to the Trade Federation. Petty bastard, he snickered.
"How is that possible?!" One of the Nabooians on board shouted.
"The Force," he answered simply.
"Why can't a regular person do it?" another woman asked.
"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops. Without precise calculations, the ship could pass through a star, or bounce too close to a supernova; but ramming into another ship is not really a possibility. Hyperdrive doesn't produce energy; it simply shifts the ship's dimension, to allow it to move places more quickly, while avoiding most normal interaction with matter. The only exception is where gravity is so strong, or energy is released so quickly, that it creates abnormal distortions in hyperspace; and this could destroy the ship itself."
Anakin paused.
"Additionally, coming out of hyperspace before you hit something in it is a safety protocol built into EVERY hyperdrive and no one couldn't override it." he continued. "Such a move is so utterly illogical because in space battle someone can build a hyperspace missile and sacrifice some astromech or so on a suicide run in enemy territory. An idea tried and failed long ago."
He grinned slyly at them, "Just for you to know. Exerting such power like that could result in sensory overload to normal Force users."
"Why not him?" A darker skinned woman pondered.
"You will learn quickly that the old man is far from that," he laughed. Despite what they believed, he wasn't being arrogant. It was a simple fact. "Usually he - and the Navy - prefers honorable space battles, but the Trade Federation been pissing him off for over five years now. He'd done it to make the bastards realize which enemy they've made and give them something to think about. Some time with meditation would re-center his mind."
"Yes," Father added at last, a slight strain in his voice. "The Force is a pathway to many abilities some considered to be unnatural."
"Father, I'll check on the Queen and handmaidens. I know they're taking it hard."
To be honest, Anakin was very skeptical of the Jedi. He'd saw right through Obi-Wan Kenobi. He'd always liked making friends, but the Jedi weren't peacekeepers based on the life his mother lived. Befriending the Jedi weren't in the cards right now. He didn't consider them enemies but heretics of that abusive Order were going to be headaches in the future.
Around Padmé and the Handmaidens, he sensed that they were young girls like him, forced through a traumatic hardship. They were brainwashed too by pacifist-freaks government but were still inherently good people who were withholding judgment enough without threatening to aim their blasters at his father's forehead in any vulnerable position he may be in.
He moved to the back chambers they had been relocated to. Slightly startled, they looked up.
"I can sense you're all worried. How about I take your mind off of it?" Anakin asked his new friends.
"What are you talking about?" Saché asked tiredly.
"I can bestow you all impressive tricks that you have never seen before."
"Are you supposed to be a Jedi?" Sabé inquired, furrowing her left eyebrow and wrinkling up her face. "In ancient history, it is said that Force users cannot use their abilities unless necessary."
"We and my father are not Jedi," he replied. "Even we have a way to ensure our own satisfaction."
"Oh, come on, you two are unique, but they are multiple recordings of past wars where Jedi did the impossible," Rabé declared, rolling her eyes with a roguish smirk. "You probably couldn't show us anything new."
"Grab your blasters." He responded. They complied. "Get in front of me and shoot me."
"What?!" They all cried simultaneously.
He rolled his eyes. Do they really think he would kill himself?
"I am far from suicidal. Just shoot me. I have it all under control."
Slowly, hesitantly, they did as he commanded and raised their guns before pressing the triggers. The 14-year-old reacted instantly, quickly raising his hand, effortlessly diverging them so they exploded against the wall in a harmless spray of flying white shards. They stopped firing and stared at Anakin in awe, never seeing anything like it.
"Woah!" Rabé hollered, describing the mood in the room.
"How did... you do that?" Padmé inquired in awe.
The others in the room have similar thoughts.
A startling squeal of astonishment escaped Yané. "That is awesome!" she exclaimed.
"That is so cool!" Sabé added, her voice cracking slightly, swallowing. Anakin got the vibe of the most professional from her, but she clearly liked having fun too.
"I'm so adopting you as a brother after this!" Rabé added. "Need you to scare off some guys."
He laughed at that.
"Come on, do it again!" Yané cried.
He nodded, permitting them to fire once again, and they do, expecting him to pull off the same ability as last time; but instead of doing so, a purple plasma emerged from his hand, and it rolled up into a shield, shielding himself from the blaster bolts before he pulled the shield in, along with the blaster shots, the short blue plasma eventually vaporizing all together and curling up in his hand. It created a mini-explosion and transmitted a shock wave through the Force, but he ensured that it didn't harm the ladies.
They stopped firing, unable to believe what they just saw as they stared at Anakin with admiration. Again, he remained impassive, his hand outstretched.
"How?!" Eirtaé shouted in awe.
"Want to see me suspend blaster bolts in mid-air with my bare hand?"
The girls jump up simultaneously.
"Yes!"
Arthur's note: An old buddy of mine shown a fan edit of the Last Jedi of where Luke used the Force to do the hyperspace ramming and I'm like "What a wasted opportunity!" I just had to show it here, to show how a different beast Vader is now compared to the past.
I loved that moment in Heir or the Prophecy so much (shame the story fell through). Just rewritten it and used Anakin instead because I gotta give him his own moments without being shadowed by his good old father. Not going to lie: This chapter is mainly laying down the ground work what this Anakin is like. I don't want him to always be near Vader. This Anakin is calmer, more controlled, but there's still that bad side. Vader taught him to control his emotions so he doesn't get as angry as much, however he would throw shit at your face and not regret it at all.
If you want to know how powerful he is, pretty much as powerful as Revan during the Mandalorian Wars and Galen Marek through his time as Vader's pupil. Pretty much Luke's control, Ahsoka's finesse, and Galen's aggression. I'm not making him a Gary Stu so Sith like Sidious and Plagueis can beat him at this point, but he would surely give them a run for their credits. And REMEMBER, guys, this is EU related. ALL Force users are powerful even without their lightsabers! That silly idea where a Force adept is rendered defenseless when they lose their lightsabers is not playing a factor in this verse.
May the Force be with you all always!