Obi Wan stepped off the lift. The door to the chamber was open and walking inside he found the entire Jedi council as well as Master Nu, the head archivist, already present.
"Excellent. You're here," Mace Windu said, wasting no time. "We have a development in the Vader case."
"Oh?" Obi Wan said. After all these years of nothing, he hadn't expected that somehow.
"Quite," said Master Windu. "CorSec provided us with this security holo."
Obi Wan forced himself to watch the holo, knowing just what he was about to see. There had been five Jedi killed this time. One master, three knights, and one padawan. Darth Vader was growing ever bolder.
Sure enough, when the holo started playing, he saw the chaos of six slashing lightsabers which one by one went out as their owners were murdered. Finally the only ones left standing were Vader and the sole Jedi master, Master Har Kai if Obi Wan remembered correctly. In one last desperate effort, she took off running and leapt into the air, driving her saber down towards Vader's head. He ducked, but not before the Jedi's lightsaber just barely grazed the edge of his mask. And Obi Wan saw it then. The footage was grainy and slightly blurred, but just for a moment, right as he turned and skewered the Jedi master through the heart, you could just make out the face of Darth Vader.
Obi Wan found Master Nu sitting with a datapad in the archives the next morning.
"Have you made any progress enhancing the footage?" he asked without preamble.
Master Nu nodded. "I believe so. Nothing is certain of course, but this is what our algorithms have come up with." She picked up a holopuck and a blue figure appeared.
Obi Wan looked at it for a moment and frowned.
"Not what you expected, is it?" Master Nu said, giving him a knowing look.
He shook his head. "It's just… he looks so young. Like he could be a padawan practically." Rather attractive too. Which of course didn't matter. He supposed young attractive people could be vile murderers just the same as ugly middle aged people, but it just wasn't what he'd expected somehow. And of course there was the matter of the sheer skill Vader displayed. It was clear he knew every form of lightsaber combat backwards and forward and had a level of ease with the force most Jedi masters could only dream of… Could someone who Obi Wan would generously place at 25 standard years really have attained that level of mastery?
"Our algorithm estimates his age at 18 standard with a confidence interval of plus or minus two years," said Master Nu. "I suppose it could be off slightly," she added, her lips pursed in a way that clearly said my archival algorithm is definitely not wrong.
"It must be wrong," Obi Wan insisted. "That can't even be close. Vader has been a threat for nearly three years now." There was no way the Sith Lord who had killed countless Jedi masters was a teenager.
"The algorithm has never been wrong before," Master Nu insisted. "With a confidence interval that tight, there is really no question."
Obi Wan chose to ignore that comment. "Have you found any matches?"
"I am running a scan over the entirety of the holonet as well as every frame of security footage we have in the archives over the past decade."
"And? Any matches so far?" Obi Wan reiterated impatiently.
"We must wait for the scan to complete," insisted Jocasta Nu.
Obi Wan took that as a no, but he tried not to be discouraged. "How long will the scan take?" he inquired.
"You should have an answer by tomorrow evening."
Obi Wan sighed. Patience, he reminded himself. "Thank you, Master Nu," he said, bowing his head slightly.
The next morning Obi Wan stopped by the archives no less than once every hour.
"Still not done. I will comm you when the scan is complete," an impatient Jocasta Nu told him sometime around lunch.
After that he resisted the temptation to go down to the archives again. It wasn't easy, but he was a Jedi after all. He sparred with Quinlan for a couple hours, mostly losing due to being so distracted. Finally, just after 6pm he received, The scan has completed. I will review results with you tonight if you wish.
It was only years of Jedi discipline that kept Obi Wan from running all the way to the archives. "So? What did you find?" he queried the moment he saw the head archivist.
"There are 27 probable matches found," Master Nu reported.
Obi Wan's heart sank slightly in his chest. 27 wasn't nothing, but my goodness… The Jedi archives were extensive and usually would turn up thousands of results for any given being. Tens of thousands if they spent a lot of time on one of the highly populated core worlds. "Did you get a positive ID on him?" Obi Wan asked.
The archivist shook her head, somewhat sadly Obi Wan thought. "No. With so few results… and no apparent pattern to the ones we have at that… Well, I'll give it to you to comb through, but my impression is that this Sith avoids being seen unless there is a particular purpose to it."
"You think he's undercover?" Obi Wan clarified.
"I will let you reach your own conclusions," Master Nu said, her lips pursed, "But for all intents and purposes, he doesn't seem to exist in any official capacity."
Obi Wan frowned. Only clearly he does.
Then - Seven Weeks After the Invasion of Naboo
Anakin stared in awe as Sidious drove the speeder up to what was by far the most magnificent building Anakin had ever seen. The house - if it could be called that - was nearly as big as Jabba's palace, but rather than harsh sandstone, it was bright white with elegant curvature and gleaming transparisteel windows. But that wasn't what impressed Anakin the most. Instead his eyes were drawn to what was behind the house. Lush green trees and… and far more water than he had ever seen in his life.
"It's a…" Anakin searched for the word, "ocean?"
"It's a lake," Sidious corrected. "Oceans are much larger and have salt water."
Much larger. Anakin couldn't fathom that.
"Now come, Vader. We will begin your training right away."
Anakin forced himself to tear his eyes away from the lake and followed Sidious behind the house to what appeared to be a stable. He could hear the sound of barking and growling as they approached. Sidious opened the door, and Anakin followed him inside. He saw about a dozen canine-like creatures with large tusks protruding from their lower jaws.
"You are to care for these anoobas," said Sidious. "You will make sure their water troughs remain full, and they are to be fed twice a day, two scoops per beast. And you will stay here with them. He indicated a cot in the corner."
Anakin nodded. It sounded more like work than training, but he was used to working.
Sidious continued, "You will join me for meals when I am on planet, but most days I will not be. On those days a droid will bring food to you."
"Yes, master," Anakin said. Then asked, "May I go outside, Master?"
"You may wander the grounds during the day, but not at night, and you are to eat your meals in here. You are also not to go up to the house unless you are summoned."
Anakin nodded. That seemed fair enough.
As it turned out, caring for the anoobas was quite easy and took very little time. Each Anooba had its own run with a small indoor area and a larger area outside. At first they barked and growled at him a lot and it was a little scary to open their cages to set the food inside, but as the days went on they seemed to grow accustomed to his presence and merely looked at him when he approached their cages.
He spent his days sitting by the lake mostly. He was still in awe of it. He had to touch it just to make sure it was real water. Anakin had never thought water had a color, but the lake looked so blue. That is, until you got close to it then it was colorless as he had always known water to be.
The meals the droid brought him were better than any Anakin had ever known. Juicy meats, deliciously seasoned roast vegetables, and sweet tangy fruits he couldn't even begin to name.
He would sit outside the stable for hours at a time and watch the anoobas run up and down their fences, playing with each other as best they could being separated as they were. The dogs seemed a bit lonely, Anakin thought. He was rather lonely too.
Aside from the anoobas, the droid that brought his meals was the only company Anakin ever had. It didn't seem to have a very advanced personality driver. When Anakin asked its designation it informed him in binary that it was S3V7, but when he asked if it liked being a server droid it simply repeated that it was S3V7. He wondered if Master Sidious might let him make some enhancements to it.
On the third day, instead of S3V7, a protocol droid came down to the stable at midday. "Hello, I am C3G8," it greeted him.
Anakin smiled at the droid. "Hey, you remind me of one of my friends. He's a C3 series protocol droid too!"
"That is most excellent, Master Vader," C3G8 responded enthusiastically. "I've come to tell you that Master Sidious requests your presence up at the house."
Anakin couldn't help but be a little excited. He'd get to see the house. Not to mention another being for the first time in days. He followed the droid.
They passed through the doorway and Anakin looked around, awed by how spacious and clean this house was. "Whoa! This must be a cool place to work!" he exclaimed.
"Quite right, it is," the droid informed him happily. "Now, you are to wash and then join Master Sidious for lunch. The fresher is through that door. Clean clothes are waiting for you."
Anakin walked through the door and stared, once more awed by the sheer size of the room. It was like no fresher he'd ever seen. It was larger than the quarters he and his mother had lived in back on Tatooine.
He saw a stack of clothing sitting on a plush armchair and unfolded them to look. It was a plain looking tunic and pants, but Anakin marveled at how soft they were. They looked like they would fit pretty well too. There was also a fresh set of boots that looked the right size for him. Anakin stared. They looked brand new. He'd never had brand shoes before. There was also a large fluffy rectangular sheet though Anakin had no idea what that might be for.
He quickly pulled off the clothes he had been wearing which were rather dirty now after nearly a week without washing and stepped into the sonic which was quite different from any he had seen before. Instead of a control panel there were some kind of knobs. Experimentally, he turned one of them.
Anakin yelped and jumped back when suddenly he was hit by cool liquid. A water shower, Anakin realized with wonder. He had heard that they were commonplace on some planets, but he had never quite believed it. Tentatively, he stepped back under the stream of water.
It was uncomfortably cold. He wondered why anyone would choose this over a sonic. Curious nonetheless, he tried turning the other knob and found that the water became warmer. Now the sensation was quite nice.
He looked down and saw the water going down a drain and suddenly was hit by a wave of anxiety. He knew how much water there was in the lake outside, but still… it just didn't seem right to waste it like this. He worked as quickly as he could to scrub the grime off his body and turned the knobs back the other way so that the water stopped flowing.
He stepped out and saw he was dripping water all over the floor. He realized this must be what the fluffy sheet was meant for. He used it to dry himself and the drops he had left on the floor then dressed in the clothes that had been left for him, all of which indeed fit perfectly.
C3G8 was waiting for him when he opened the door of the refresher. "Excellent, Master Vader. I can take those and dispose of them for you," the droid said, indicating the clothes Anakin had changed out of.
Anakin was confused. Why was the droid going to dispose of his clothes? They were admittedly not as nice as the ones he had on now but they still worked fine. Nonetheless, he handed them over.
"Now, you will be dining on the terrace, seeing as it is such a lovely day. Head just through those doors, and Lord Sidious will be with you shortly."
Anakin did as he was told and sat down on a bench to wait. He could see the lake from here and it was rather beautiful, he thought.
After a few minutes passed, his master appeared. "Ah, Vader," Sidious smiled an encouraging smile. "You'll have to forgive me for not joining you for a meal before today. I'm afraid the Senate has been rather hectic this week. Please come, have a seat." Sidious indicated a table with two seats, and Anakin obediently sat down in one of them.
He was nervous, but Anakin found that it was surprisingly easy talking to Sidious. Serving droids brought out one course after another as Sidious questioned Anakin about his time at the estate so far. Where had he explored? Was he enjoying the food? What did he think of the anoobas?
"I like them alright," Anakin informed him. "At first I thought they were kind of scary, but they don't seem that way anymore."
"I see," said Sidious. "I'll have to come down there when I get the chance to see how you are getting on with your training."
Anakin still didn't see how this was training, but he replied, "Yes, master."
It was two days after that when Sidious came to the stable. Anakin had just given the anoobas their evening meal, and they were all resting peacefully.
"Ah, yes. It seems you are doing quite well with them," Sidious remarked. "Though their pens do need cleaning."
Cleaning? Sidious hadn't said anything about cleaning the pens though Anakin saw they were rather dirty. He should have assumed that he was supposed to clean them. "Yes, master. Sorry, master," he said quickly.
"No need to apologize, Lord Vader," Sidious said. "I did not tell you to clean the pens, so you did not. I did not expect you to. However, if I ever do tell you to do something then you will do it or you will face consequences. Is that clear?"
"Yes, master," Anakin answered.
"Excellent," Sidious answered with a nod. "I will tell you when you are to clean the pens. Starting now. There's a shovel and bucket hanging on the wall over there and some new straw. Clean up the droppings and spread some new straw in each pen."
From his cloak Sidious pulled out a rod about the length of his arm which Anakin recognized as a bantha prod. That had been one of Watto's favorite methods of punishment too. But to Anakin's surprise, Sidious passed the bantha prod to him. "You may need this," he said.
Anakin nodded. "Thank you, master." He wasn't particularly afraid of the anoobas, but it was probably a good idea to have it just in case.
Anakin clipped the bantha prod to his belt and picked up the shovel and bucket Sidious had indicated. He carefully opened the nearest pen just enough for him to slip inside. The anooba in here, a female that Anakin had decided to call Lexi, lifted her head slightly to look at him but otherwise didn't react. Anakin quickly went about cleaning the droppings from the pen then spread some new straw. The next several pens were similarly easy to clean. A few of the anoobas stood and sniffed him, but that was it.
The final pen housed a male that Anakin called Krayt due to him being the largest of all the anoobas and the ravenous way he always devoured his food. Anakin carefully unlatched the gate and tiptoed in, shutting the gate behind him. That's when he heard a low growl.
Anakin froze. The anooba was staring at him from a few feet away. "Easy boy," Anakin said, holding out a hand for Krayt to sniff. Krayt sniffed his hand and laid back down, but continued to stare at Anakin with unsettling intensity. Anakin tiptoed around the pen slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves. Krayt continued to stare at him but did not growl again. Relieved, Anakin spread the straw then carefully stepped past the anooba and out of the pen.
"That will do," said Sidious. "You are to continue caring for the anoobas, but now you are to feed them only once a day."
"So I am to give them four scoops then?" Anakin asked, confused. Feeding them twice a day seemed to work perfectly well, and he wasn't sure why Sidious was changing the routine.
"No, you are to still give them two scoops, but now only once a day," Sidious stated.
"Yes, master," Anakin responded, even more confused. Sidious obviously had a lot of money. Anakin was sure the cost of the feed wasn't a problem for him. "Only… won't they be hungry?"
Sidious smiled, but there was something off putting about the look. "Yes, I'm sure they will be."
Anakin frowned. It didn't make any sense. But he remembered his master's words. If I ever tell you to do something then you will do it or you will face consequences. He nodded. "Yes, master."