Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 77- Uncertain

(October 26, 2052)

Anakin looks up as a flight of Mustangs streaks overhead. However, he quickly refocuses on the task at hand.

In the last few months, the Alliance has moved steadily across the galaxy. They had continued to advance towards the Core from Falleen, and begun moving into the Colonies from Thyferra. However, as the First Order have tightened their defenses, the Alliance has shifted their efforts to the galactic "north" and started an advance from Box Pity towards Kashyyyk.

Today, the Alliance had finally launched the invasion of Kashyyyk, ready to finally liberate the planet. This was also one of the first operations where the Alliance had extensive support from the Mandalorians. Din Djarin had joined the invasion personally, bringing with him a large number of his warriors to assist in the liberation.

While most of the invasion forces was naturally attacking the main concentrations of First Order troops and liberating the main cities on the planet, Anakin was leading a small team on a special mission. Galen Andor had come to Kashyyyk shortly before the invasion was launched, and he had identified a secret research facility in a relatively sparsely populated region of the planet. Galen had remained in position to observe movement in and out of the facility, and mere hours before the invasion was launched, he reported the presence of a Knight of Ren in the facility. And so, at the last minute, Anakin was reassigned to lead a small strike force to the facility to capture it and kill or capture the Knight of Ren that was there. Anakin had requested Din Djarin come with him, and the Mand'alor had agreed, bringing a dozen of his warriors with them. A shuttle had landed them about 2 miles from the facility, and the group had trekked on foot from there. Now, they have almost reached the facility.

Anakin turns to look at Din Djarin as they reach the top of a hill overlooking the cave complex where the facility is located. Despite the fact that the man is now in his 60s, he still seems to be in incredible shape. "You keeping up alright, old man?" Anakin asks.

Under his helmet, Din smirks a bit. He'd been warned about Anakin's personality before the mission, and found him to be a more sarcastic version of Calvin. "I may be getting along in years, but I am not diminished as a warrior," he responds to Anakin. Anakin just grins in response.

The two stop for a moment, looking down at the entrance to the cave system with an analyzing look. "What do you see?" Anakin asks.

"Hmm. Two guards posted outside with heavy repeating blasters, but clear signs in the rock of hiding places for heavier defensive laser cannons. Footprints outside the entrance and the way the earth is churned up suggest heavy traffic, which means we'll be facing a lot more inside," Din quickly gives his assessment of the situation.

"Good assessment," Anakin says. He then smirks and says, "You and your warriors ready to go?"

"Of course," Din responds.

"Alright. Then get ready to fly down there and take out the laser cannons if they come out," Anakin says. He then closes his eyes and extends both hands out towards the cliff face.

For a second, nothing appears to be happening. Then, the cliff face begins to shake slightly, sending small rocks tumbling down. This attracts the attention of the guards, who look up at the cliff face. Then, Anakin gathers his hands together at his side, and begins gathering Force energy together so strongly that the Mandalorians can actually see it balling up between his hands. Then, with one quick movement, he thrusts his hands outward, releasing the energy all in one massive Force wave. The Force wave slams into the face of the cliff, and with an ear-splitting crack, the surface of the cliff breaks apart, sending hunks of rock, some of them bigger than a man, raining down on the ground around the caves. Both guards stationed outside are crushed immediately, and the attack reveals the defensive laser cannons planted in the cliff. Some were destroyed in the attack, but others remain in place.

"Warriors, take them out!" Din orders.

Five of his warriors quickly take to the air with their jetpacks, streaking towards the cliff face. As the laser cannons begin rotating up to engage enemies, the warriors launch rockets from either their jetpacks or wrist launchers. The rockets batter the cannons and easily destroy them, leaving the way into the caves unguarded.

"Good. Let's go," Anakin says with a confident smile on his face. He then starts to hurry down the slope of the hill towards the cave, drawing his lightsaber as he goes.

Anakin and the Mandalorians soon enter the cave. Just inside the cave entrance, they see the blast doors leading into the research facility. Right as they enter, the doors open, and multiple stormtroopers come rushing out.

Anakin immediately ignites his lightsaber as he lets out another Force wave, this one much weaker, but enough to knock most of the stormtroopers stumbling. He then rushes forward and slashes his lightsaber through their ranks, cutting down half a dozen in short order. The Mandalorians quickly gun down the remaining troopers with great precision.

"Alright. Let's move quickly," Anakin says.

Anakin and Din lead the other Mandalorians into the facility, taking care to move as quietly as they can without compromising speed. As they move quickly through the facility, they take careful note of what they see along the way. For the most part, things they see do not leave any impression of a particular kind of research being carried out.

Then, the group finally reaches a larger chamber, and what they see catches them off guard. A series of what look like bacta tubes lie along the far wall, each holding some kind of dark liquid, and a form suspended within the liquid. The bodies seem to be at different stages of development.

"This looks similar to what Adams and I found in a lab on Nevarro, a lab that was run by a cloning engineer," Din mutters.

"Cloning," Anakin mutters. He then curses under his breath and mutters, "I wonder if they're trying to make a clone army to reinforce their military."

Suddenly, a dark figure walks out from behind a tank, and Anakin's expression darkens. "A Knight of Ren. As we thought," Anakin mutters.

Din turns to his warriors and says, "Continue to search the facility. We will handle this."

"Yes, Mand'alor," the warriors answer before they begin to scatter. Din, however, remains right by Anakin's side.

Anakin takes a step forward, holding his lightsaber at the ready. Then, a Praetorian Guard emerges as well, wielding a long vibro-blade. Kylo Ren had reformed the Praetorian Guard following the death of the Guards he slew on the Supremacy.

Anakin narrows his eyes and says to Din, "You take the red one. I've got the black one."

Din doesn't respond. Instead, he just draws the Darksaber from his jetpack and ignites it, the black blade springing to life with its signature sound. He then hurries forward to engage the Guard. The Guard whips his vibroblade around and slashes at Din, but Din blocks it with the Darksaber, the first time he has used the Darksaber in real combat in decades.

Meanwhile, Anakin takes slow, deliberate steps towards the Knight of Ren before him, holding his saber at his hand, daring the knight to attack him. The Knight holds his war hammer tightly, but doesn't take the bait.

"You would do well to surrender. I've slain many of your fellows throughout this war, and I doubt you will be any different," Anakin taunts the knight.

"You delude yourself. The light will always be extinguished in the end. The dark side is growing in strength, and you will not be able to stop us," the Knight responds.

Right as he finishes, Anakin takes his chance and dashes in, slashing at the knight's knee. The knight brings his weapon down and blocks Anakin's blow.

The two begin a fierce duel, and the knight is immediately on the defensive as Anakin slashes at him relentlessly. Anakin is utilizing Vaapad, as is his usual style. The knight is desperarelt trying to block Anakin's blows, but is being pushed back and back, completely defensive with no opportunity to strike back.

Meanwhile, Din is still engaged in battle with the Praetorian Guard. Although he is a little bit slower with his age, he is still a fierce warrior, and is much more proficient with the Darksaber now than when he first acquired it.

Din blocks a fierce downward blow from the Guard before he kicks the Guard in the knee and physically shoves the Guard back. He then tries a strong slash at the Guard's shoulder, but the Guard blocks the blow. The Guard then spins to gain momentum and slashes at Din's hip, but Din turns slightly to let the blow hit his armor, and the weapon deflects off of it.

Din then raises a fist and fires off several whistling birds. The deadly darts slice into the Guard, and two of them make it through his armor, wounding him badly. Din then slashes the Darksaber, taking off one of the Guard's hands. The Guard stumbles back, trying to shift his weapon to a one-handed grip and strike back, but Din presses his advantage and shoots a burst of flame from one of his vambraces. As the Guard stumbles back, trying to put the flames out, but Din leaps forward and drives the blade of the Darksaber right through the Guard's face. He holds the saber there for a moment before drawing it back out and letting the Guard's body drop to the ground.

As Din stares down at his fallen opponent, Anakin is still dueling the Knight of Ren. The knight is starting to tire a bit from the ferocity of Anakin's attacks. Then, Anakin tries a purposely low strike, which the knight brings his weapon down to block. Anakin then elbows him in the face, and as the knight stumbles back from the blow, Anakin drives his saber forward and through the Knight's chest.

Anakin feels a sense of twisted satisfaction as he holds the saber in the knight's chest. The knight looks into Anakin's face from behind his mask and growls with his remaining strength, "Your victory means nothing. The master of the dark side is rising and growing in strength, and when you meet him, you will fall."

Anakin snarls and kicks the knight's body off his saber. And the knight falls to the ground, dead.

Anakin stands there, holding his saber at his side as he looks down at the body of the knight. As he stands there, the knight's last words play through his mind. Something tells him that the knight was not referring to Kylo Ren. But if he wasn't, then who was he talking about?

Alright, i'll end there. Hope you guys liked it.

So, next chapter will begin the "Rise of Skywalker" series of events. But rest assured, it will be much, much different from the movie, and have some interesting twists.

Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!