The Real Rise of Skywalker I (Patreon)

Helllo you lot! Here’s chapter two. I’ve been chugging along with this one and actually have the next five chapters completely done and am working on chapter six. I even took a small detour and did a Sith Victory, Darth Padmé one shot. I’ll post that next week, probably.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

-]|[-

Anakin’s first stop was Artiod Minor in Wild Space. He would have preferred something a bit closer to Tatooine, but most of Palpatine’s bolt holes that he knew of which were closer were much more closely surveilled. It took almost a day to reach it, which gave him a lot of time to himself.

The very first thing he did was castigate himself for his impulsiveness. This would have been so much easier if he could have just brought Padmé with him, but he knew that wasn’t really a possibility. Padmé, despite her usage of it as a spirit, was not a Force user. She most certainly didn’t have the power he did and would not have been able to survive the trip back. Still, they could have actually planned things first.

The second thing he did was meditate. He could feel the Force now like he never had before. He had been Darth Vader for longer than he had been Anakin Skywalker the first time around, though not as long as he’d been Anakin Skywalker after his death. Time had healed many of the wounds on his soul, and he was able to connect to both the Light and the Dark with much greater ease than ever before. Both sides of the Force were balanced within him. In perfect harmony. His love for his wife and his children burned just as bright as his fury and hatred did. He realized now that one without the other was just a recipe for disaster.

He also realized that the Force was still reeling from what he had done. No doubt the Jedi and Sith were both in a state of shock and panic. The whole galaxy would have felt his arrival. It almost made him giggle when he imagined Sidious dying of a heart attack when he sensed the sheer disruption Anakin had brought with him. He didn’t worry about it being connected to him either. With the shockwaves his arrival had brought, he doubted anyone, even Sidious or Yoda would be capable of determining even what Quadrant of the galaxy it had originated from.

After that, he took more careful stock of himself. His body was partially healed, though he was still missing his limbs, as he had known. His lungs weren’t in as good condition as he had thought and he thanked his lucky stars that he had arrived on Tatooine just after sundown during the very brief part of the day when it was dark and cooler. If he had shown up during Double Noon, he probably would have felt like his lungs were on fire. He carefully healed the damage and took a true, deep breath for the first time in decades.

Next he examined his equipment. His Darth Vader suit was mostly ruined and rather superfluous. He patched it up as best he could as it would serve for intimidation, though much of its functionality was no longer needed. Being able to actually eat something, even the slop the Trandoshan had with him on the ship, had him bursting into actual tears. He never knew just how much he missed being able to taste things.

One of the things that had come back with him was his Sith lightsaber. He carefully disassembled it with the Force to examine the Kyber crystals. They had been through so much, both with him and because of him. Sidious hadn’t given him synthetic crystals. Oh no, he wanted to push him further and further into the Dark. He had gotten Anakin a number of Pontite crystals that practically sang with the Light Side of the Force and taught Anakin how to Bleed them, turning them red and seething with fury and hatred.

Looking at one of them now, he couldn’t help his stomach churning over what he had done to it. It was like taking an innocent baby and tormenting it. “I’m sorry…” He murmured as he cupped it in his hands. He closed his eyes and fell into a meditative trance. Immediately, the crystal assaulted his mind with visions and hallucinations. Fortunately for it, Anakin was long past the point of being affected by such things. Slowly, the corrupted crystal calmed itself and the red started to fade as Anakin projected his own joy and love for his family into it.

The red vanished, and he opened his eyes to a crystal pulsing with brilliant, white light. He could almost hear angelic hymns being sung, though he knew it was only a figment of his imagination. He kissed the crystal, before releasing it and beginning his work on the second of the two. Dual-Phase lightsabers needed more than one, after all. When he was finished with his work, he carefully assembled the blade once more. It floated into his hand, and he ignited it. The blade was pure white and the embodiment of the Light Side. It pulsed powerfully in his hand, the aura not quite as contained as normal lightsabers were. He’d need to pay attention to that, lest something get burned if they got too close. It thankfully was nowhere near as unstable as Ben’s (he refused to call him Kylo Ren) lightsaber had been.

It would do for now. He’d had quite a few ideas as Darth Vader but had needed to let go of many of them due to the issues with his body. He was eager to build a second lightsaber, and perhaps even rebuild his current one to make the two compatible and able to be combined into a saberstaff. (Though he wouldn’t be as silly as Asajj Ventress and attempt to do that with two curved-hilt lightsabers. Really, what had the woman been thinking?)

With the necessities taken care of, he once again began to meditate to begin planning.

…

When he finally arrived on Artiod Minor, he quickly made his way to the Sith bolt hole. As expected, there was little surveillance, and what little there was he was able to destroy with ease. He approached the cave, wary of traps, and had to destroy quite a few of them. Everything from spike launchers to an acid sprayer to an electric floor. Thankfully, he had expected much of it and was able to make his way deeper into the cave. Soon, the natural features were replaced with unnatural ones, and he entered the small, Durasteel compound.

As he wrenched the door open, he smiled. There were dozens of ingots of Aurodium lying on a pallet, and he knew they would be worth more than enough credits to proceed with phase one. “Thank you, my master, for your contributions.” He smirked as he levitated the pallet into his ship. He went back in to check out what other goods were in there and smiled when he found a decent amount of Phrik and even some Beskar. All stolen, obviously. There was even a decent collection of Kyber crystals in there, though none of them called to him. He collected them all the same and brought them onto the ship. With nothing more of interest within, he used the Force to collapse the structure and then the cave behind him, burying any possible traces of his presence and destroying any monitoring devices he could have missed.

-]|[-

After that, he went to Corellia. He really needed to trade this hunk of junk for something better, at least temporarily. It took quite a long time to reach the planet, and it was making his nerves fray just a little. He landed his ship far more smoothly than the piece of bantha poodoo rightly should have been capable of and sighed when he stepped out into the Corellian air. He walked forward and tossed a worker the credentials and ownership. He almost laughed at the look on the lad’s face as he said, “all yours,” and walked away without a backwards glance. He was here to buy an actually decent ship. He well remembered the misadventures of the Millenium Falcon and, while he didn’t have the time to modify one like Han Solo had, it would serve his purposes. He was there to purchase a new YT, a 1930 specifically. They were rather new on the market now, but they had a good reputation for stability in the future. He made what few upgrades he could, purchasing the shielding options and upgrading the hyperdrive as well as having docking systems installed for small snub fighters.

He also made a few other trips to various locations to buy some quality mechanical parts for a droid he had dreamed up, but had never actually had a reason to build as Darth Vader. He also bought a few astromechs. It hurt to have an astromech that wasn’t R2-D2, but he had no idea if his little buddy had even been built yet.

The next thing he did was beeline straight for Naboo. While he would not actually approach Padmé right now (again, he looked terrifying), the earlier he planted the seeds he wished, the better it would be. The trip to Kamino would take a long time, and that would only be step one. He likely had at least a couple months before he’d be able to enter a new cloned body.

As he arrived, he made his way to the Naberrie family retreat in the dead of night, cloaked in the Force and invisible to the naked eye. The family was all sleeping peacefully, which suited him perfectly. It also made him frown, as security was nowhere near as tight as it should have been. Then again, Varykino was a fairly remote location and Naboo was a peaceful planet with little crime.

He made his way to her room, and nearly tripped when he saw how small and frail she looked at this young age. Far too small and frail for the amazing woman he had known. Using the Force to ensure she would stay asleep; he gently put his hand over her heart and began to utilize his Midichlorian Manipulation. She had more than an average human, around 3,000, but nowhere near enough to actually be Force Sensitive. As gently as he could, he began stimulating her cells and Midichlorians. It was slower than he would have liked, but at least she wouldn’t feel a thing.

When he was done, she had gone from a barely-more-than-average count of around 3,000 to a much more impressive count of 20,000. Well short of his 27,000, but more than the majority of the Jedi and Sith. He could also sense that this was her limit. If he tried to push any farther, he’d end up hurting her more than helping.

The sun was starting to lighten the sky, and he knew his time was up. “Sweet dreams, Padmé.” He whispered, before leaving and making his way back to his ship.

Now was the time for the tedious part.

-]|[-

He felt rather bad about it and mentally whispered an apology to Padmé, but when he left Naboo, he was up one stolen N-1 Starfighter. It was a good little ship and would suit him well for when he made the trip to Exegol. But first was Kamino, and he had not missed the little puddle world, nor how far away it was. Much of the trip was spent tinkering with the parts he’d bought and creating his new droid. A holodroid that had come to him in a dream. The rest of the trip was spent planning starships. He was glad he had not come to the past directly after his death. While the future had been full of horrors he didn’t really want to think about, it had also come with technological marvels he was basically salivating over. And that was the great thing about being a Force Ghost. No one could see him as he snuck into places like Kuat Drive Yards and memorized blueprint after blueprint. Now he was recreating the designs he had loved the most, such as his beloved Executor, and improving upon the designs to mitigate their failures.

Really, what had Lira Wessex been thinking when she designed all of these ships with exposed bridges and zero redundancies? And why had he not demanded corrective action when he noticed it? (Then again, he hadn’t said anything about the Venators either, so he supposed that was on him.) Also, why had the Empire abandoned the Assertor design when it was a better ton-for-ton dreadnought than the Executor?

He arrived and landed his ship like it was a snub, before exiting into the rain and raising his hood. He walked into the structure and cast his gaze around, pretending to be impressed by the clean, sleek, minimalist look. In all honesty, he rather disliked Kamino. He had always felt that it was far too… sterile. The ultra-bright white lights were headache-inducing. He was greeted after a few minutes by a Kaminoan. “Greetings.” She had a soothing, melodic voice.

“Well met.” Anakin replied back, his repaired enunciator installed in the bottom part of his mask giving him back his Darth Vader voice. He saw the cloner shiver slightly,

“What brings you to Tipoca City?”

“I hear you are the best cloners in the galaxy.” Anakin replied.

The Kaminoan smiled, “You are well informed, Mr…”

“Vader.” He replied, “I’d like to tour your facilities and see the validity of these claims.”

“Very well.” She replied, “This way, please.” She waved in a direction, and they set off walking, “Are you looking for personal use, industrial use, or military use?”

“Personal.” Anakin replied. “And there are some conditions that must be met, though nothing that will take away from the overall capacity of your facilities.”

“I see.” The Kaminoan said, “And who exactly do you wish to clone?”

“Myself.” Anakin replied. “But such talks are premature. Show me your accomplishments.”

“Very well.” She replied and took him to a balcony where he could see the first batch of Clone Troopers being grown. They were all inside small pods for now, though he knew they would be transferred elsewhere soon enough.

“Impressive. There’s quite a few of them.”

“Indeed.” She replied, “I trust this is a sufficient showing?”

“I’m not looking for mass production.” He replied, “Show me more. Something a bit more personal.”

She nodded and led him into a particular lab. This one had a much larger tube despite the small size of the clone, “This is one of our more advanced cloning tubes. Everything that the product requires is taken into account. The perfect temperature is maintained, as is the delivery of nutrients. They are taught from the moment their brains begin forming. This ensures the quality of the product.”

Anakin nodded, despite knowing all of this already. It also made him want to strangle the long-neck. He’d always hated how they referred to sentient beings as products. “I’d like to purchase your equipment, as well as the service of one of your technicians.”

“Oh, I’m afraid we do not sell our equipment.” She replied, her creepy black eyes tightening a little. “Merely our services.”

“Whatever your asking price is, is irrelevant.” Anakin said, making her eyes widen, “I am not looking to become a competitor, and this should be for a single use, barring complications. The more important point is that the cloning needs to happen on a different world which has something I need. Something that cannot be moved here.” He still wasn’t sure what that something was or where it was but trusted the Force to guide him to it.

“I see.”

“As you can see,” He removed one of the ingots of Aurodium from his pocket to show it to her. Instantly he saw greed overtake her. “I will pay very well.”

“Perhaps we can work something out.”

Anakin smiled.

-]|[-

It took far longer than he had hoped to come to an agreement, as Lama Su, the Prime Minister, had to get involved with the unusualness of the request. He also ended up needing to part with two ingots of his Aurodium. Far, far more than any of the equipment was worth, he knew from cursory readings of the Kaminoans’ minds. He could also see that they were quite curious as to his purpose and planned on using whatever they learned to advance their craft.

It made him bite back a smirk. He’d never allow this to be brought into regular service. Not when it meant Palpatine would inevitably gain access to it. In any case, after far too much back and forth and signing a contract with his ‘assumed’ name, he left Kamino heavy with one of their top-of-the-line cloning tubes and all the equipment it required. He also had a new passenger named Dala Te, who would be operating all of the equipment. The doctor smiled at him despite the nervousness he could feel from her. She didn’t like the fact that he was in his armor and mostly covered up. He rarely even took down his hood. “Shall we get started with the cloning process?”

“Not quite yet.” Anakin replied as he punched in the hyperdrive coordinates he wanted. Or rather, that the Force wanted. His fingers were moving quite literally with no input at all from his brain. “As I told your superiors, we require something at the location we are going to begin the process.”

“Very well.” Dala Te replied, “And where is it that we are going?”

“I don’t know the planet’s name, only where it is located.” Anakin replied, and her facial expressions changed a little bit. He could now sense both confusion and a little bit of nervousness from her. “You need not worry. I’m an old hand at… unusual Hyperspace jumps.”

She swallowed, “I shall take your word for it.”

“Good.” He said, sensing her nervousness increasing. “And relax.” He said, “It’s a fast ship, and it shouldn’t take us long to get there.” She nodded, and they settled in for the ride.

-]|[-

“It certainly is a pretty planet.” Dala Te commented as they landed. Indeed, it was a forested world with a beautiful pink sky. “Though I confess that I cannot imagine what would be required in this place to begin the cloning process.”

Anakin smiled, “You may go prep. I shall return.” He said, and she nodded, still feeling very wary, and went back inside. With a nudge from the force, he raised the ramp and sealed it, making sure nothing could get in. And then, following his feelings, he set off into the forest. The force guided him deeper, and he had walked for quite a distance when, between one step and the next, he felt like he had been punched in the gut.

The Force and its comforting presence vanished, and he let out a shocked scream, actually stumbling and falling to his knees. He couldn’t feel the Force at all, and he scrambled back. The second he broke that threshold, the Force returned to him, and he let in a great gasp of air. “What in the nine Sith Hells?!” He gasped as he scrambled to his feet. The Force nudged him, and he looked up into the tallest tree around, narrowing his eyes. “Those… lizards?” He narrowed his eyes and focused his senses, closing his eyes.

“E chu ta!” he exclaimed in Huttese. There was a… bubble of space in front of him that was completely and utterly devoid of the Force. It was like those lizards were emitting a Null Force zone. “Are they what I’m here for?” The feeling of affirmation, “Kark, how do I get them down?!” He listened to the Force. It wasn’t very specific, but he got the gist. Someone with a lesser connection would have gotten nothing. ‘So, they’re practically fused to the trees.’ He could see that now when he looked closer, using a pair of binoculars he had brought just in case, ‘Separating them would likely kill them, and I can’t exactly bring a tree to the ship.’

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Guess I’ll have to bring the ship to the trees.” He chuckled as he turned around, raising a hand. With nary a grunt of effort, the trees in a very large space big enough for the ship were uprooted and tossed like feathers. He would also need some space closer to the tree with all the lizards, so he grimaced and put his game face on. He entered the bubble and flinched hard as the Force vanished. He drew his lightsaber and moved quickly, cutting down another half-dozen of them as close to the ground as he could so they wouldn’t interfere overly much with the landing gears. He hurried away and breathed in deep as the Force returned to him. “This better be worth it.” He growled as he made his way back to the ship. One thing was for certain though… Sidious could not learn of these things. Period. And that meant that he potentially would have to be far harsher with Dala Te.

The sky darkened as he made his way back and the hair on the back of his neck rose. He drew his lightsaber and extended his senses. All of a sudden, beasts moving with the Force attacked him. He was quick to decapitate two and leapt over the slavering jaws of another. They were pitch-black mammals with canine ancestry. “Vornskyrs?!” He gasped as he cut another in half and Force Pushed the last through a tree. His eyes widened, “Oh, kriff. Those things must have evolved that Force blocking bubble thing to evade these things.” He let out a surprised chuckle. The galaxy never found ways to not surprise him.

…

“It appears you’ve come back empty handed.” Dala Te frowned as he reentered the ship.

“Not to worry. I found what I was looking for.” Anakin said as he walked past her, “Now I merely need to bring the ship there.”

“And what was it that you were looking for?” He could feel her mounting frustration.

“You do not need to know.” Anakin replied coldly, and she reared back as though struck. “Nor do your superiors.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal.” She said, some frustration leaking through.

“I am altering the deal.” Anakin finally turned and looked at her, “Pray I do not alter it any further.” And now the wariness turned into outright fear. She nodded as rapidly as her anatomy would allow. “Good.” He finished the walk to the bridge and took off. He flew the ship gently to the spot he had cleared and positioned the ship so that exactly a quarter of the room the cloning lab had been set up was within the bubble. As he turned off the ship, he walked back to the frightened Kaminoan. “You need not fear me unless you disobey.” He said.

Some anger rose in her, “I am not a slave.”

“No.” He agreed, “Nor do I wish you to be.” She relaxed a little. “Let me be frank.” He stated and raised his hand and clenched a fist. Beside them, a piece of metal crumpled with a tortured shriek.

She gasped, “J-Jedi! You’re a Jedi?”

“Something like that.” He crossed his arms, “I followed the Force to bring us here. I’ve never stepped foot on this planet in my life, nor did I know what I was looking for until I found it. But what I found is far more dangerous than I ever dreamed of. So I am now enforcing a non-disclosure agreement.” He said, his eyes hard, “You will contact no one. You will not attempt to research anything here. You will not even attempt to discover where we are.” Boy was he glad that he had locked down the Nav at all times. She would not know where he had brought them. “I will check to ensure you do not. When we are finished, I will return you to Kamino far richer than our contract required.”

“This is barbaric!” Dala Te protested, “You cannot expect me to-”

“That was the carrot.” Anakin stated, and she shut right up. “I do not wish to harm you, but I will if I cannot trust you. If you try to betray me, I will rip the knowledge of how to operate the equipment from your mind and do it myself. Is that in any way unclear?”

She swallowed heavily, and he could feel her fear and despair. “Crystal.”

His eyes softened, “Do what I ask, and you shall return to Kamino heavy with five ingots of Aurodium.” With her memories erased, of course.

“FIVE?!” She gasped, and he could see the greed burning in her eyes.

“Five.” He smiled, “Enough to retire, no?”

“Yes…”

“Then let’s get started.” He said, before they walked to the cloning room.

“I will need samples of your tissues.” Dala Te said, “Skin, muscle, semen, blood, and bone.”

“I see.” Anakin said, and for the first time, lowered his hood.

She gasped, “By the ancestors, what happened to you?!”

Despite being somewhat healed, Anakin’s entire body was still covered in scar tissue. He looked menacing. “Took a bath in lava.” He deadpanned, and almost chuckled when she full-body flinched.

“How are you even alive?!” Swallowing heavily, she pressed on, “Is there anywhere on your body that isn’t scar tissue?”

Anakin sighed, “I… don’t actually know.” He grumbled before removing his top armor. Her grimace told the whole story. He turned around.

“Okay, a small portion of your shoulder seems unburnt.” Dala said and grabbed a scalpel. “I would say that this is going to hurt, but…” She trailed off.

Anakin let out a dry chuckle, “Pain is an old friend.” He didn’t even flinch as she cut him, taking a small strip of skin away. She then didn’t waste the wound and got blood as well. She then grabbed a specialized tool which took just one muscle strand as well. “…Shall I take the bone from here too?”

“Go ahead.” Anakin said and grimaced just slightly when she shaved off part of it.

“Finished. I will apply a bacta patch now.” Dala Te told him.

“No need.” Anakin said, embracing the Light Side and healing the wound in seconds before her eyes. When he turned, she was staring at him in astonishment. He smirked dryly, “I was… not capable of that technique when I got injured.”

She let out a chuckle that was more of a squeak than anything. “Then I only require one more thing.” She moved on from that quickly.

“Ah, yes.” Anakin sighed, before accepting a petri dish and entering the adjacent bathroom. It was time to… well… not lay back… but certainly to think of Padmé. His wife, not mini Padmé back on Naboo.

…

“The DNA sequencing is finished.” Dala Te told him the next morning. “There were some…” She hesitated, “Irregularities.” She finished lamely.

“Not unexpected.” He said as he followed her into the room. He braced himself for the sudden Force blindness as he took a seat. “Also irrelevant, unless there’s something drastically wrong.”

She shook her head, “No, just… unusual.” She sighed, “But I will not ask. I doubt you will answer.”

“You are correct.” He chuckled slightly.

“Then my next question is whether we are ready to proceed, or whether you wish for any modifications?” She asked him.

“I do. Minor cosmetic ones.” He said, “I am naturally blond, but would like the clone to have black hair.”

“That is simple enough.” Dala Te replied and spent a few minutes typing. “Done. Anything else?”

“The eyes should be purple.” Anakin replied. It gave him a minor pang since he knew that Padmé loved his crystal blue eyes, but he needed to at least slightly differentiate himself from his younger self. It would be far too suspicious otherwise once he rescued himself and his mother. At least with some minor cosmetic differences they could pretend to be brothers. A few minutes later, she was finished, and they were ready to proceed. She began the process, and he asked the question that had been slightly worrying him. “How fast can he be grown to age fourteen?”

She startled, “You want to accelerate the aging? That is dangerous.” She told him, “The clones never turn out quite right. They are… unstable. Mentally, that is.”

“That is why we are here.” Anakin replied.

Her eyes widened, “This- that would revolutionize our work! Please, I must kno-”

“It would give my enemies access to it.” Anakin stated, his face going blank. She immediately quieted, “I will be very blunt, Dala Te. I am willing to burn this planet to the ground if it means keeping this out of my enemy’s hands. You have no idea the horror you would unleash on this galaxy.”

She swallowed, “I understand.” She said quietly, her fear of him practically suffocating the air around them. He didn’t even need the Force to feel it.

“Good. So again, how fast can the growth be accelerated?” Anakin smirked at her, though she couldn’t see it, “I doubt you’d like to stay on this planet for fourteen years.”

“I- this particular tube can accelerate the growth of the product by quite a bit, but I am uncomfortable trying to push it. There is no guarantee that this will work.” The Kaminoan woman told him.

“Then I will let the Force guide us.” Anakin replied and stood. I will meditate on it and come back with an answer. He stood and walked from the room, leaving her to ensure the initial stages were proceeding well.

A few minutes later, he walked back in, “Three months. The full gestation and growth to age fourteen can be pushed to three months.” Anakin told her.

“What?!” She gasped, aghast, “That would be nearly four times faster than any clone we ever produced! There wouldn’t even be enough time to teach it everything it needs to know!”

“There is no need to teach my clone anything.” Anakin stated, and Dala Te simply stared at him in disbelief, “All you need to do is ensure that all neurological functions are normal.”

She looked at him, and he felt bitterness waft off her, “Do you intend on creating a mere puppet to kill?”

“No.” Anakin told her, “All will be made clear once your job is complete.”

She hissed, “I don’t like this.” And then let go of her anger, “But I will demand payment regardless if this does not work. I am willing to go along with this, under protest, but you’re assuming the liability.”

Anakin chuckled, “You need not worry. Trust in the Force.”

“I don’t have the Force.” She protested.

“The Force is with all of us, even if the Force Blind like yourself cannot feel it.” Anakin said softly. “The Force will not lead me astray, for I am one with the Force.” It was a statement that had much more meaning than it did for most others.

“I suppose we shall see.” She replied angrily, before turning away from him. Anakin left her to her work.

He made his way to his own room and activated his new droid PROXY. “Greetings, master.” The PROXY stated.

“Hello PROXY.” Anakin greeted, “Are you ready for your first mission?”

“Yes, master.” PROXY replied, before starting to fizzle and visibly glitch as holoprojectors came alive and transformed it into an exact copy of Anakin in his Vader suit. “How do I look, master?” Even his voice had changed.

“As bad as I do.” Anakin chuckled, “Will you be able to keep this up for three months?”

“I will have to recharge weekly, but that can be done at night.” PROXY Anakin replied.

“Good. Things have changed. This planet is dangerous. If Dala Te wishes to leave the ship at all, you must accompany her and keep her safe. There are predators around. You are not to allow her to do any research into the small lizards in the trees next to the ship. I will be locking down communications so ensure that she does not try to hide anything. There will be security cameras all over the ship, and I have one of our Astromechs monitoring her.”

“Yes, master.” PROXY Anakin replied.

“Now let’s test your combat routines.” Anakin stated and drew his lightsaber. The room was more than big enough for this. PROXY Anakin also drew one he had built for its use, and a blue blade joined his white. Anakin got into Djem So and attacked.

-]|[-

It had taken two weeks, and a pit stop in Ilum for supplies, but Anakin had finally made it to Exegol. It was much slower than it would normally have been, because Anakin ended up having to tow a cargo container behind his N-1. He really should have thought this through and kept the old hunk of junk he had stolen. If he had sent it here ahead of time they would have arrived in similar time frames.

No matter and no use crying over spilled milk. He landed the ship in the Forbidden District and nearly hissed as he felt the taint of the Dark Side all over the planet. He projected Light from his body to keep the cold away.

The great part was that he could sense that not a soul had been on this planet in centuries. Sidious had not yet found it. It was a great boon and brought a smile to his face. The sight of the shipyards got rid of that smile really quickly. “What a load of bantha poodoo!” Anakin growled, “How the kark did Sidious manage to get this place producing hundreds of those pieces of junk so quickly?!”

He hadn’t expected the shipyards to be in such heavy disrepair. He sighed again, “It’s a good thing I bought all of those maintenance droids and construction droids.” He quickly opened the cargo container and revealed the dozens of droids he had bought. It was the work of a precise bit of Force usage to turn all of them on at once, and the thirty-six droids floated gently from the cargo container. “Alright. Get this place up and running.” He said, “I want the foundry repaired first. Cannibalize other shipyards and foundries if you need to. We need more droids to get this place going with anything resembling speed. One of you come find me when you’re finished.” He stated, and the droids all floated off.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to take longer than he thought, and he was going to have to scale back his plans a tad at least to start. ‘Maybe this is a good thing. It’s stupid to make this my main shipyard if I know Sidious will eventually find it. I’ll just be helping him.’ The more he thought about it, the more he realized that was likely entirely correct. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise? There were plenty of places in space that he could use to create and hide shipyards. His own Executor had been built in between systems.

Nodding to himself, he decided that would be the best use of this planet. He would cannibalize the old, dilapidated shipyards to create others in space. Fitting the shipyards with hyperdrives would be a huge pain, and he would need a good number of asteroid crackers to farm surrounding systems for materials, but it could be done. And if he lost access to Exegol, he would set Sidious back decades anyway.

His mind made up, he let the Force guide him and started exploring the world. For a Sith planet mired in the Dark Side, there wasn’t actually all that much to see. No Holocrons, no life… no nothing. It was a dead world, for all intents and purposes. “Typical.” He cursed the Sith once more, figuring they had probably ruined the world on their way out.

It took a day, but the maintenance droids actually managed to get some of the computer systems back up and running. Anakin was eager to see what he could learn and what designs these shipyards had once made. He was…mostly disappointed. Oh, there were some interesting things here and there, but most of it was just outdated garbage.

There were a few starship designs he liked, though not enough to replace one of his planned vessels. The Fury-Class Interceptor was certainly a great ship, and he practically drooled over the X-70B. It didn’t really have a place in a fleet, but it still had its uses. ‘Perhaps Padmé and I will be able to use it for official business, if everything goes well. It certainly looks sleek enough to pass as a Nubian design.’ He downloaded the schematics. He would definitely be working on it in his free time.

After that, he spent some time combing through the rest of the research the Sith had done, and felt his jaw drop when he saw something very familiar. “Starkiller Base.” He breathed in shock. It was right here in front of him. It was by no means complete, but the initial stages of research and development was right in front of him, plain as day. “And they designed it off of failed research into the Star Forge. They were trying to recreate it and failed but got that abomination out of it.”

He wanted to erase everything immediately but the thought of recreating the Star Forge was an enticing one. Not one that would eat stars to fuel itself and preferably one that utilized the Light Side of the Force… He sighed and downloaded everything before erasing it from all the computers. The Force agreed with him that he now possessed the only copy of the data on the planet. He hoped it was the only copy of the data in the galaxy. He also copied all the data on the final resting place of the actual Star Forge. He would quite like to see it for himself some day.

…

It took two weeks to construct a sufficiently large fleet of droids to start building the actual ship he had designed. He wasn’t planning on creating a Star Destroyer right off the jump, even with a droid army to help run it. Baby steps.

The Defender-Class Light-Corvette from Rendili Vehicle Corporation was a design he had always been fond of. It had been a well-loved Jedi vehicle for millennia. It had largely been phased out for the Consular-Class in this day and age, though he knew at least one had still been running after the battle of Yavin.

It was a great design for its time. Anakin was going to make it a great design for now. He started by making it larger. The original was 94 meters in length. Anakin raised that to 159 and enlarged the rest of the ship accordingly. He got rid of the outdated thrust engines and utilized the upgraded Ion engines from the Raider-Class Corvette from the Empire’s heyday. Sienar Fleet Systems might make some awful mass-production fighters, but their engine innovations were invaluable. He also had a different configuration for them, making them slightly smaller in scale from the original design and surrounding them with smaller engines with thrust-vectoring capabilities.

Next, he drew from his knowledge of Luthen Rael’s Fondor Haulcraft. He had been astonished when he had first gotten to tinker with it after the traitor to the Empire had been seized. He installed backwards-facing fléchette launchers, as well as a droid-intelligence-targeted dorsally-mounted dual laser cannon battery. He wanted to add the laser beam projectors as well, but the ship really wasn’t nimble enough for it to be worth it. He increased the number of missiles the ship had, added mine launchers for the seismic charges that he took from the Slave I, and added two rotary laser cannons from the TIE Avenger prototype. He added a few ion cannons for disabling enemy ships. Finally, he upgraded the main laser cannon batteries to quad batteries and improved their designs by implementing some of the Kyber crystals he’d stolen from Sidious.

Then, he put the increased size of the ship to good use. Taking once more from the Raider, he completely redesigned the middle to have a hangar door that could open on both sides of the ship. From here, he could launch six of the only good things to come out of the First Order: TIE Silencers. It had practically been love at first sight. The starfighters were so fast, so maneuverable, and so damn well armed that he had few improvements to make. He added the two laser beam projectors from the Fondor Haulcraft on each wing, again using the Kyber crystals to empower them further. He also added a mine launcher for the sonic mines and the rotary blaster cannons from the TIE Avenger. The cannons were all also upgraded with Kyber crystals.

The power requirements increased drastically, and he was forced to upgrade the engines and power plant as well. It made the ship slightly more claustrophobic because they were a bit bigger, but he could deal with less space inside a fighter. The cost for each ship, if he had been paying for anything here, would have ballooned from less than five hundred thousand credits to over five million. A Super Ace fighter as good as it was well worth the cost.

With the designs he had created, he was confident that phase one of his plans would proceed smoothly. Unfortunately, he needed to get back to his clone before the Defender II-Class he had designed was completed, so after taking a few test flights in his new TIE Silencer (and whooping like a little kid in his first space battle again) he set off for the planet his clone was being completed on.

He arrived back just in time. “Well, here we are.” Dala Te snarked. “One practically brain-dead clone, as requested.”

By the Force, this was surreal. Staring at himself floating in the tank, almost looking younger than he could remember himself looking… He probed the Force, ensuring everything was well with his clone. The Force fed reassuring feelings back. He smiled, “Thank you, Dala Te. You’ve done well.” He could sense that she wanted to give a sharp retort to that, her professional pride reeling at what she had created. “Move the tank towards me.” He ordered, and, with another scowl, she did as commanded. The second his clone crossed the boundary of the Null-Force bubble, his body twitched.

Anakin placed his hand on the glass and closed his eyes. Transfer Essence was a dangerous Dark Side technique, and not one he hoped to ever use again. The pain of the technique was immense, and he could feel his body giving out as he performed it. Red energy flowed from him into the tank, and then he opened his new eyes.

Dala Te shrieked in shock and terror as Anakin’s old body disintegrated right before her eyes. His old metallic limbs and the rest of his suit crumbled to the ground with loud clangs. And then she jumped again as the door of the cloning tube opened of its own accord, spilling the fluid inside out. She backed away and almost tripped in her terror.

And then she realized Anakin had stepped out and was admiring his fingers with a look of fascination. Wonder. He then started to make small little movements, before he began to stretch and work out the kinks in his body. Finally, he spoke, “Do you have any idea…” He trailed off, nearly sobbing, “What it feels like to not feel any pain after decades stuck in a ruined body?”

Her jaw had unhinged, “Yo-you- by the ancestors-” She was babbling as she realized what he had done. “Th-That’s why you requested- I-”

Anakin smiled and took a step, marveling at the feeling of a brand-new body. He took another step before moving like lightning, doing a butterfly twist that lasted for five full rotations. He let out a shuddering breath as he clenched a fist hard enough to crack his knuckles. He then closed his eyes and examined himself, before the Force urged him to put his Midichlorian Manipulation to good use. Apparently either his body had more potential to go, or the interaction with those weird lizards would afford him an opportunity he’d never get again. He spiked his own potential, raising his total number of Midichlorians per cell from 27000 to 35000, truly maximizing his own potential with the Force. He also ensured that the body was truly his and that no rejection or degeneration would occur.

He could practically hear the Force’s triumphant noises. It was nearly a leitmotif of its own. He turned to one of the chairs and gestured. The chair crumpled like it was imploding, turning into a ball of metal with a shriek. “My compliments, doctor.” Anakin smiled, gesturing once more and summoning his lightsaber to him. “…Though it appears I’ve forgotten the need for clothes.” He realized with some embarrassment. Nothing he had would fit him at fourteen. He looked over and realized Dala Te was basically catatonic. She was beside herself in utter shock. Anakin let out a chuckle, before lifting her with the Force and bringing her to her bed. “Sleep.” He said and eased her mind to shut down so she could recover.

Then, he went to his own room and began to meditate on the Light Side. Using such a vile technique would certainly imbalance anyone, and so now he needed to recenter himself. “PROXY, you can take off when ready. Get us back to Kamino.”

“Yes, master.” PROXY bowed and went off to the helm to get them into the air.

…

“Well, here we are.” Anakin said softly, “Kamino, as promised.”

Dala Te was still incredibly nervous around him. “Thank you, my Lord.”

“Only one thing left to do, I suppose.” He turned to her and focused his mind on hers, “You will tell me of any hidden message or data chits you left yourself.”

Her eyes unfocused, “I did not leave myself any hidden messages. Nor did I write any.”

Anakin blinked in shock, “Tell me why.”

“You are terrifying, my Lord. I do not want to die.” Dala Te said serenely.

Well, he would have to be extra gentle when he wiped her mind, wouldn’t he? “Purge all data from the cloning tube and any other devices which would have information on me, then return.” She did so in a vaguely droid-like manner. It took over half an hour for her to finish, and by then, Anakin had already landed the ship.

She then shook her head when Anakin let go of her mind. “W-Weren’t we in the cockpit?”

“Yes.” He replied, before placing a hand on her head. She didn’t have a moment to struggle as he gently and painlessly removed the memories of the past three odd months from her mind.

She shook herself when she regained awareness, “Wh-What? Who are you?! Where am I?!”

“Your client, and back on Kamino” Anakin replied, before handing a bag to her. “For your hard work.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” She protested and her arm sagged slightly as the weight inside hit her. She opened it and nearly fainted when she saw six ingots of pure Aurodium within.

“Oh, you’ll find you did. Well enough to earn a bonus even.” Anakin said as PROXY wheeled the cloning tube over. He opened the ramp, revealing the rainy ambiance of her home city. “I’m afraid you hit your head and lost a couple months.” The suggestion was faint and not enough to take control of her. It was just a gentle whisper for her to accept what he had said.

“I-I see.” She murmured, “Thank you for helping me through it.”

Anakin smiled at her, “I’m sure you’re more than ready to see your friends once more, and unfortunately, I have places to be. I wish you well, Dala Te.”

“You as well.” She replied, “Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t quite remember your name…”

“That’s alright.” He wagged a finger, “You don’t need it. Goodbye.”

Her eyes glazed for a moment, “I don’t need it. Goodbye.” She walked down the ramp with the cloning tube.

He walked back to the cockpit, eager to be off this puddle world. He had work to do.

-]|[-

The first thing he did was return to Naboo. For so long, he had longed to retire to the Lake Country. Varykino had been… he sometimes caught himself wishing he and Padmé had never left it. He spent some time in the air choosing the perfect spot to build a magnificent home for him and his family. The Force was his guide as much as his eyes, and once he was satisfied, he went to Theed to make the purchase. It was an island not that far away from Varykino that was just as beautiful, but much larger. It wasn’t quite as hilly as Varykino, which was good because he would need to build a hidden hangar for his Defender.

He then gave Theed’s economy quite the jump when he bought hundreds of construction droids, cargo containers, haulers, and excavation equipment and materials to build his new home. Shipping them to the site took no time at all, and the first thing he did was carve out a massive hole. It pained him to ruin such a beautiful spot but needs must. He had Durasteel shipped in by the carrier and it only took him a week to have the secret hangar, and all of its little secret entrances built. The hangar was designed to open a few feet down and then recess inwards into the surrounding landscape. He did that so he could replant the grass and return it to a pristine look. With the most important part done, he commanded the droids to begin working on the home itself and left.

As much as he wished otherwise, he returned to Exegol. He disliked the world and wanted to spend as little time as he could on it, but he needed to pick up his new Defender II. The ship was magnificent, and though he had been a little tempted to have it painted a rather monochrome black and white, he wanted to move away from Darth Vader. Instead, it was blue, gold, and white. He also had a good number of PROXY droids built, though only a couple of them had any sort of personality matrixes. They were just meant to man the guns, after all. They were mostly shut off at the moment, since they wouldn’t be needed.

The hangar was full with his six TIE Silencers, and he was almost ready to leave this planet behind. In the cargo bay, there were a couple of powerful Gravity Well Generators. He would need them to block off the Hyperspace lanes to the planet. Maybe if he was lucky enough, Sidious would even kill himself trying to find it.

With all the checks made and a quick shakedown of his Defender, he knew his ship needed a name. And he had a bit of a smirk on his face as he declared it the Revenant. With the ship named, it was time for her maiden voyage.

He finally had a ship with a good Hyperdrive (and he knew how tongue-in-cheek that was,) a 0.5 just like the Falcon had. He blazed his way back down the Hyperspace Lane, making periodic stops to let loose the Gravity Well Generators. He didn’t quite make the Lane impassable, but anyone who didn’t know of the traps would be in for a world of hurt. He also designed the Generators to accept a Hyperwave transmission that would disable them temporarily to allow his ships to pass unmolested. With that done, it was time to start making real changes.

He blazed his way to Shili, feeling his heart pound in anticipation. This was going to be his first big change, not counting him giving Padmé Force Potential. As he landed his ship, the surrounding Togruta gazed at it in awe. He slowly descended from his vessel wearing the robes of a Jedi. “Greetings.” He smiled at one of the elders.

“You seem rather young for a Master Jedi.” The old woman smiled back at him.

Anakin let out a chuckle, “Age is but a number, elder. Why, Grandmaster Yoda is nearly nine-hundred years old, and you’d be surprised at the acrobatics he can still pull.”

She chuckled, “What brings you here?”

“The will of the Force, of course.” Anakin replied, “It tells me one of your younglings has great potential.”

“You would be right.” The elder said, and he offered her his arm. “Thank you, young man. This way.” She led him through the village and Anakin’s heart again beat faster in anticipation. “We had yet to even notify the Temple of her potential. She befriended a Raxshir and rode him into the village. And she seems able to tell what others are feeling. She’s so compassionate.”

He smiled. That sounded just like his little Snips. “She sounds wonderful. What is her name?”

“Ahsoka Tano.” The elder told him, and he nearly froze when he laid eyes on her for the first time.

‘Oh, she’s so tiny…’ Protective instinct surged within him as they approached her. The elder let go of his arm and allowed him to approach. “Hello, little one.” He greeted her gently as he kneeled, a wide smile on his face. The love he felt for her snapped back into place immediately, as well as a momentary pang of hurt over what he had done to her.

She must have sensed his good intentions, because she immediately ran at him and leapt into his arms with a hug. He nearly started to cry as he wrapped his arms around her and stood. “Aren’t you precious? What’s your name, little one?”

“‘Soka!” The little girl cheered.

Oh, how she had deserved better. He would be better for her. “Well, I’m Anakin, little ‘Soka. I’m so happy to meet you.” She let out a keening noise and snuggled into his neck. He nearly died on the spot.

“Well, I’ll be.” The elder smiled, “I’ve never seen her take to anyone so quickly. I think you were meant to meet, and she’ll be a great Jedi.”

He smiled back at her, “I will make sure she is well cared for.” He put her down and smiled at her, “Would you like to learn the ways of the Force, little ‘Soka?”

“Foce?” She questioned, not quite getting it right. She wasn’t even three yet. Anakin’s smile widened and he held a hand to her. She gasped as he gently lifted her into the air and allowed her to fly slow, gentle circles around him. She was smiling so widely and making joyful noises, flapping her arms like a bird. “Foce! Foce!”

He put her down gently again and kneeled, “You’ll have to say goodbye to your parents and village if you wish to come and learn, little ‘Soka.”

“Foce!” Ahsoka chanted again, practically shaking in excitement.

He chuckled as he stood, “Then I’ll leave you to get packed and say goodbye, little one.”

“Kay!” She hugged his legs and ran off. It was impressive just how much more capable younger Togruta were compared to humans of the same age.

…

It took about half a day as Anakin was treated to the village’s hospitality. They held a going-away party for Ahsoka, which led to some tears as some of the other children realized she would be leaving. Soon enough, it was finally time to go. Ahsoka was again in his arms, now asleep from her tiring day.

“You take care of her, you hear?” Ahsoka’s mother pleaded with him.

“Like she’s my own.” Anakin promised, before he gave his little Snips a little kiss on her montral. “Thank you for letting her come with me.”

Her mother smiled tearfully, “She’ll be a great defender of justice. I know it.” She approached and gave her daughter one last kiss, “Goodbye, my little one.”

Anakin bowed his head slightly, “May the Force be with you.” He said gently, before turning and making his way back to the ship. He didn’t want her to wake up in an unfamiliar environment with no one around, so he kept her with him. As he had PROXY take off, he began to increase her potential the same way he had done for Padmé. He would do right by her this time and would make sure his little one was happy. As he embraced sleep as well, he sighed in happiness. This. This was what he had come back for.

-]|[-

Lord, even her yawn was adorable. “Well, good morning to you too, little one.” He smiled at her, still holding her in his lap.

She beamed at him and gave him another hug before squirming in his lap. “Hungwy.” She said.

“Well, can’t have that! Let’s go have breakfast.” He put her on the ground and held her hand, “Let me show you where the mess is.” After they ate, Anakin slowly started showing her around the ship. He let her know where not to go and then finished off by showing her her room. “And here is where you’ll sleep when we’re on the ship, little one.”

“Woooow!” She gasped as she looked at the size of it. “Big!” She determined.

Anakin chuckled, “Just wait till you see your room when we get home.” He told her and picked her up again. Was he touch-starved? Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise him. “Now, it’s time to start your lessons!”

She beamed, “FOCE!” Ahsoka cheered, and he almost felt bad that he was going to burst her bubble.

“Not quite yet, little one.” He said and watched as her face fell. “You have a lot of things you’ll need to learn as well, and you’re a little young to start on most of the things I’ll teach you about the Force.” She pouted at him. “None of that, little one. Patience is very important when learning to use the Force.”

“Why?” She asked, still pouting.

“Because if you’re not patient, the Force can control you, instead of you controlling the Force. That’s bad, okay?” Anakin told her.

“Dun get it.” Ahsoka looked confused.

He chuckled, “Don’t worry, little one, you will.” He sat her down next to him and gave her a data pad, “Now, let’s get started with Basic. This alphabet is called Aurebesh.” He told her and nearly burst out laughing when her eyes crossed at the big, unfamiliar word. He would laugh about it later, but for now, he set himself to teaching his little one what she needed to know.

…

It was as they were nearing the end of the Corellian Run and getting ready to transition to the smaller Hyperlane towards Tatooine that Anakin got that nudging from the Force. “Ryloth?” Anakin’s eyes narrowed, “Why should I go to Ryloth?” He asked but got nothing beyond that slight urging that he should head there first. With haste. “Alright then.” He canceled the previous directions and entered the new one into the Nav.

It only took another hour for them to reach the planet, and he consulted with the Force on whether he should bring Ahsoka with him once they landed. He very much got a negative on that. “Okay little ‘Soka, I need you to stay here on the ship for me, okay?”

She pouted, “But wanna go expwowe!” She pointed outside.

He shook his head, “It’s not safe for little ones, Ahsoka. We’ll have plenty of time to play and explore somewhere safer, okay?” She stomped her feet and crossed her arms. Anakin chuckled, “Already getting snippy, huh? Okay then, I think I’ll call you Snips.”

“Not Snippy!” She stomped her little foot again. Anakin burst out laughing and picked her up, laying a few kisses on her cheek.

“You be good, okay? PROXY here will take care of you. He’s really wizard.” He introduced her to the droid.

“Wizard?” Ahsoka asked, looking at the droid curiously, her momentary anger forgotten.

“Yup. Show off, PROXY.” Anakin commanded, and PROXY turned into a Zabrak. Ahsoka gasped and clapped excitedly. “I thought you’d like that, little one. Play with PROXY. I’ll be back soon.” He told her and put her on the ground.

The Zabrak had a growly voice as he clawed his hands, “I’m going to tickle you!”

Ahsoka shrieked and ran away, laughing. Anakin smiled and walked down the ramp before locking the ship down tight. “Security active. Anything unsavory comes near the ship, you give it warning shots first. If it refuses to leave, kill it. Protect Ahsoka with everything you have.”

“Yes, master!” His tiny army of PROXY droids responded.

Satisfied, he set off through the dense city. “Why did you bring me here?” He wondered as he looked around. As an Outer Rim world and one that was heavily reliant on the slave trade, Ryloth was full of unsavory bastards. It could be just as much of a hive of scum and villainy as Tatooine. All around, he could see collared Twi’leks of all colors. Crime lords and slave owners walked around with impunity. And like on Tatooine, apparently he was here because of a Hutt.

Much like Jabba, this Hutt he didn’t know the name of had his own headquarters on the planet. And he treated it like his own little fiefdom. It was a massive complex far bigger than even Jabba’s, though he didn’t own half the planet like the other slug did, so it made sense to have a bigger monument to his ego. As he entered the complex, he let his eyes slide past the dancers and the rest of the scum. Objectively he knew they were beautiful, but only his wife had ever really done anything for him. He extended his senses. ‘Why have you broug-’ His thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt like a speeder crash. ‘WHAT THE KRIFF?!’ He gaped at the sight of two tiny Twi’lek girls at the bar, plastering on smiles on their faces as they served alcohol to belligerent drunks. One was the rarest kind of Twi’lek; a red Lethan. The other was a blue Rutian. A very familiar blue Rutian.

‘WHAT THE KARK IS AAYLA DOING HERE?!’ The thought thundered inside his mind. It wasn’t just the fact that Aayla was here and very obviously enslaved. He had known that. They even had shared a bit of kinship over it in his first life, though they had never been close. His shock stemmed from the fact that Aayla had been a Padawan already by the time he was found, and closing in on becoming a Jedi Knight! ‘Why the kark does she look like she’s around five?! That would make her younger than me! WHAT IS GOING ON?!’

It was such a confusing situation that he barely noticed the other Twi’lek. ‘Oh, but she’s strong in the Force too. I don’t recognize her though.’ He shook his head. It was obvious what the Force had brought him here for. He closed his eyes and focused his senses, searching out for the presence of Quinlan Vos. He shook his head again when he realized he couldn’t feel a lick of his presence. He couldn’t be on Ryloth. Letting out a dry chuckle that went unheard in the loudness of the Hutt’s bar, he wondered what he was going to do. Freeing the two would be easy. Escaping from a subterranean city, on the other hand, would be difficult if he had pursuers.

He also wasn’t anywhere near ready to launch his Anti-Slavery campaign. He didn’t have the manpower or the ships or the infrastructure. No, he’d have to find another way to free the two from their bonds. He cast his gaze around the place and nearly had another mental speeder crash. ‘Is that a WAMPA?!’ He gaped at the collared beast. Slowly, a smirk rose on his face. ‘Oh, this slug is far stupider than Jabba.’ He brushed against its mind and found its fury. It wanted to rip the obese sleemo to pieces. The Hutt only had the creature for a few days, and it had already nearly slipped its bonds once. The Hutt had started using it as an enforcer, allowing it all the aggression it wanted against those who displeased the crime lord. But the Wampa wasn’t interested in being an enforcer. It already hated the Hutt because of how hot it was. Wampas were born and raised on ice worlds. It wanted to punish those who had brought it there.

‘Well, I would hardly be a responsible citizen if I didn’t give it what it wanted.’ He reached out with the Force, finding everyone with a blaster, hidden or otherwise. He then damaged each and every blaster subtly, making sure the Wampa would have the chance to rampage. He then stoked its anger against the Hutt, making sure it would attack him first. Already, it had started to strain against its chains.

And then Anakin snapped his fingers just for fun. The Wampa’s chains snapped all at once and the creature roared in triumph. The Hutt had a comical look on his ugly face as the Wampa barreled into it, knocking the fat, useless lump of flesh off his hoversled. And then the Hutt screamed gutturally as the Wampa began tearing him apart.

Half the bar was shrieking. The two little Twi’leks were terrified and hiding behind the bar. The other half of the bar pulled their blasters, knowing that if the Hutt died, it was their asses on the line and that their meal ticket would be gone. Explosions rang out throughout the bar as the blasters malfunctioned, blowing fingers and full hands off. Even more terrified shrieking erupted as half the patrons started running from the bar.

Anakin quickly made his way over and gently lifted the two girls from behind the bar and placed them on top of it. “No, please don’t hurt us!” Aayla shrieked in fear, and it made Anakin’s heart squeeze as he saw a woman he remembered being so strong and wise reduced to a terrified little girl.

He reached out and grabbed their collars. They crunched in multiple places and were shorn apart. Anakin flung the two collars away from them so fast that they broke the sound barrier before they exploded. The little Lethan was staring at him in shock which transformed into awe. “You’re a Jedi!” She exclaimed.

“Something like that.” He smiled at her and picked both of them up. “Come on. You both deserve better than a life in chains.” They both hugged him, Aayla looking like she was going to cry in relief. He summoned the Force and moved. The world blurred around them, and it was disorientating for the two little girls. But within moments, he had them at the Defender. The ramp dropped and he quickly made his way onto the ship. “Get ready to take off.” He barked, his voice carrying through the ship. Immediately, they heard the sound of the engines roaring as the ramp closed behind them.

He placed the two on the ground, “Well, that was sure something, wasn’t it?” He smiled at them as he kneeled.

Both of them burst into tears and hugged him again. “Shhh, shh. You’re both safe now.” He said gently as he rubbed their backs. “You’ll never wear collars again.”

“Thank you!” The two blubbered, crying into his shoulders. After a few minutes, they backed off.

“What are your names?” He asked them. He already knew Aayla, but he had no idea who the Lethan was.

“I’m Aayla.” She said shyly, “Aayla’Secura.”

“And I’m Kali’Moro!” The Lethan had a wide smile on her face as she introduced herself.

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Anakin.” He introduced himself, “And you two are strong in the Force.”

They gasped, “You mean we can be Jedi?!”

He chuckled as he stood, “I’m not a Jedi, little ones. I found the Code of the Jedi far too… restricting.” They looked confused, “Let me put it like this, little ones. There are billions of little girls all around the galaxy who are just like you two. Slaves who are suffering under cruel masters.” They both flinched, “And yet the Jedi won’t do anything about it. They can’t do anything about it, because the Senate will never let them do anything about it.”

Aayla gasped, “You mean the Jedi are slaves too?!”

Anakin opened his mouth to respond, before closing it slightly and scrunching his face slightly. “…From a certain point of view.” He said finally, “Not like you two were. No one owns them physically. But they are limited in many ways. They have chains they can’t see or feel. They can’t act how they would want to act. I suppose you’re right, though not completely.” He shook his head and grinned again, “But that’s a topic for another day. Would you two like to learn to use the Force from me?”

“YES!” They both cheered and hugged him once more.

“Good. Let’s go introduce you to Ahsoka.” He laughed, “Looks like she’s getting two big sisters!” Their eyes went wide, and they grinned eagerly. They followed him through the ship until he found Ahsoka. She was sitting at the table with PROXY, still in Zabrak form, and eating some fish. “Snips!” He called, and she whipped around to look at him when she heard his voice. “Meet Aayla and Kali.” He introduced them.

Ahsoka gasped as jumped from the chair, again displaying that grace that a human child would take a few more years to develop. “Hi!” She ran to them, “I’m ‘Soka!” She hugged the two happily.

Oh yes, this would definitely work out.

-]|[-

And finally, it was time to free his younger self and his mother. He left behind a trio of pouting little girls on the ship, having parked on the outskirts in the desert. Ahsoka had been really fussy and upset over not being able to leave the ship again, but if he hadn’t let her out on Ryloth, there was no way in the nine Sith Hells he was letting her out on Tatooine. Thankfully, this time she had Kali and Aayla to play with.

He exited his ship on a swoop he had designed and made his way quickly to Mos Eisley and found his way to Watto’s shop where he could sense the blazing supernova that was his younger self. It made him feel a burst of amusement, ‘What would happen if Darth Vader trained Anakin Skywalker?’ He snarked to himself as he entered the shop and then suffered his second mental speeder crash in as many planets. ‘…You’re just kriffing with me, aren’t you?’ He accused the Force.

He didn’t get a reply. Not that he expected one. At this point in time, he should have been seven and getting closer to eight. Instead, it looked like he was the same age as Aayla and Kali. ‘WHY THE KRIFF AM I YOUNGER?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!’ He almost punched himself in the face to try to calm himself. Instead, he just did as the Jedi did for once and released the feelings into the Force. “Hello.” He greeted little Ani.

His younger self jumped, “Oh, hi! Didn’t see you there!” He got off his stool, “How can I help you?”

“Where is the owner? I would like to discuss business with him.” Anakin replied.

Ani yelled, “Hey, Watto! Customer!”

Anakin heard flapping and then saw the Toydarian fly in, “Good day to ya.” Watto said in Huttese, “What do ya want?”

“I’m in the market for slaves.” Anakin replied, and he saw Ani’s face fall. “I hear you have two. The boy and his mother.”

“Ahhh, yes.” Watto actually looked a little uncomfortable. Anakin never really knew how he felt about his former owner. Watto had been a pain in the neck and occasionally crueler and more abusive than normal, but he hadn’t been like Gardulla. Yeah, he’d worked Anakin hard, but there were times he could almost have been called kind. He would give the Toydarian a chance to make it out of this encounter alive. “The boy’a makes me a lotta money, huh. He’s got skills that are hard to find. I am not interested in selling.”

“I assure you; you’d make far more in a deal with me than he could make you.” Anakin said. Ani’s face looked thunderous. Anakin took out a small cylinder and Watto’s eyes went wide. “A hundred grams of pure Aurodium. Far more than two slaves are worth, don’t you think?” Watto looked incredibly conflicted, so Anakin reached into his pocket and withdrew another cylinder.

Watto looked like he wanted to fly and snatch the riches right out of Anakin’s hand. “Why them, huh? You could buy a dozen slaves for that!” He exclaimed.

‘Does Watto actually care?’ Anakin thought to himself incredulously. “My reasons are my own. I’m not looking to abuse them, if that’s your concern.”

“Hmph! Easy to say, huh?” Watto almost growled.

Anakin almost matched him as his irritation began to rise. He remembered Qui-Gon trying to influence Watto with the Force, and the Toydarian had been immune to it. ‘Let’s test it then.’ He brought the full might of his presence to bear and focused it on Watto’s mind. “You will sell them to me.”

“Alrigh’, alrigh’ I will sell them to ya.” Watto agreed as the Chosen One’s will overrode his own. Anakin had to bite back a triumphant smirk. So much for immunity. He flew and grabbed the two detonators belonging to Ani and Shmi before handing them to Anakin.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Anakin handed over the Aurodium, “Try not to bet it all.” He chuckled as he turned to Ani, “Come along, little one. Your name?”

“Anakin.” Clearly his younger self did not appreciate being bought. Especially since Watto had at least been a known commodity.

“Oh, what a coincidence.” Anakin could barely keep in his laughter. “So am I.”

Ani blinked, “That will get… confusing.”

“We’ll just have to call you Ani then.” Anakin chuckled, “Now, where is your mother?”

Ani slumped again, “This way.” He led Anakin back home. “Moooom!”

Shmi smiled as she heard her son’s voice, “I’m here, Ani!” She called. Anakin felt a surge of pain and hope in equal measure when he heard her voice. “Did Watto let you out early?”

“Not exactly.” Ani said and watched as she turned around.

She laid eyes on Anakin, and they widened. “Who is this? Ani, what’s going on?”

“Our new owner, Anakin.” Ani replied, a look of frustration on his face. “Watto sold us, mom.”

“O-Oh.” Shmi said. She had a look of abject confusion mixed with a strange hope in her eyes. “My apologies, master.” She said softly and bowed.

Anakin smiled and took out the two detonators. Within a moment of playing with them, both Anakin and Shmi let out little squeaks as a very low-level electric shock reminded them of exactly where their bombs were. “Wh-What was that?” Ani asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Me disabling your bombs.” Anakin announced, before crushing both detonators and dropping them on the ground, “You’re free.”

They stared at him in disbelief, “Wh-What?!” Shmi looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

“B-But you, you spent so much money!” Ani gaped, “Why would you-?!”

“Do you know what this is, Ani?” Anakin asked as he drew his lightsaber. He ignited it, and the brilliant white blade roared inside the small dwelling.

“A lightsaber!” Ani gasped, a look of wonder crossing his face. “You’re a Jedi!”

“Not exactly.” Anakin denied as he extinguished his blade. Ani’s face became confused, “But I am certainly powerful in the Force. As are you.” He smiled at his younger self, “I would like to teach you.”

“How can you not be a Jedi?” Ani asked cautiously. “You’re not a Sith, are you?” He remembered hearing that word once.

Anakin chuckled, “No, not one of them either. I don’t need a label.” He declared, “And neither do you. Will you both come with me? Even if you don’t wish to learn, you will have a much better home on a much safer planet than this.”

Shmi finally reinserted herself into the conversation. “This is wonderful, Ani!” She smiled and hugged her son, “It’s an opportunity we’ll never have again.” She said, “So why don’t you go pack? It’s time for us to leave this planet.”

Ani beamed, “Okay!” He turned to Anakin, “Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome.” Anakin said to his younger self and watched as he ran into his room.

Shmi waited until the younger boy was gone, before getting closer to Anakin. She put her hands gently on his face, “Ani?” She breathed, the naked hope in her voice ringing so loudly.

Anakin’s eyes widened and he teared up, “…Mom.” He croaked in shock.

“Oh, my son.” Shmi threw her arms around him and hugged the life out of him.

“H-How did you know?” Anakin was in disbelief as he hugged her back.

She let out a wet laugh as she pulled back. “Oh, a mother knows, Ani. Even if you change your hair and eyes…” She kissed his forehead. She smiled weakly, “And after getting pregnant without a man… well… stranger things have happened. I try not to be surprised at what the Force can do.”

Anakin let out a laugh before he hugged her again. “I’ve missed you so much, mom!” He croaked.

“Oh, you’ve suffered terribly, haven’t you?” She said wetly, trying not to cry. Trying not to waste water. She felt him nod against her. “You’ll have to tell me.” She said softly, before pulling away. “But not now.”

“Not now.” Anakin agreed and wiped the single tear that had fallen away. “Go get packed. We’re leaving this dust ball.”

Shmi nodded and gave him one last kiss on the forehead, before she went to her own room.

-]|[-

“Oh, wizard!” Ani gasped as he saw the Defender.

“That’s quite a ship.” Shmi smiled at it.

“She’s brand new. Her class is the Defender II. I designed her myself.” Anakin chuckled as the ramp lowered. “Prepare for takeoff!” He declared as they got onboard and the ramp closed behind him, “Let’s blow this dust ball!”

“Yeah!” Ani cheered.

“Come on. Let me introduce you to the girls.” Anakin said and led them inwards. “Meet Ahsoka Tano, Kali’Moro, and Aayla’Secura.” He introduced the three girls happily. “Girls, meet Anakin Skywalker and his mother, Shmi Skywalker. They’re joining our little family.”

“Oh, you have the same name!” Aayla exclaimed.

Anakin chuckled, “Yeah, so we’re going to have to call him Ani.”

“Hi Ani!” The three girls hugged the boy, who blushed brightly.

Anakin raised an eyebrow, ‘Well now…’ He chuckled inwardly. Shmi also smiled at the sight. “Time to go.” He grinned at Ahsoka, “And yes, Snips, this next planet you WILL get to get off the ship.”

“YAY!” Ahsoka cheered and grabbed his hand to start dragging him to the helm, “We leave now! Now!”

Anakin chuckled at her enthusiasm, picking her up and kissing her cheek. “Yeah, let’s go. Come on. I’ll show you the helm.” They followed him to the cockpit, and he sat in the Captain’s chair. He quickly had them lifting into the air as he chuckled, “I will not miss Tatooine.”

“Me either!” Ani declared, “There’s too much SAND!”

Anakin chuckled and the two synchronized, “And sand is coarse and rough and it gets everywhere!” Everyone giggled at the two Anakins as they high-fived. “Ready to see space for the first time?” He asked his younger self.

“Yeah! It’s going to be so wizard!” Ani declared.

“Well, it won’t be long-” Anakin started to say, before the Force surged. “What?” He wondered as he listened to the Force.

“What is it?” Aayla asked, but Anakin did not respond.

He was frowning, “Why do you want us to go there?” He grumbled before he brought up the planet’s map. He pressed a location on the Hologram to enlarge it. “There’s nothing there.”

“Anakin?” Shmi put a hand on his shoulder, startling him. “What’s wrong?” She asked gently.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Anakin said, “The Force is just being weird. It wants me to go to another spot on the planet before we leave. But it makes no sense. There’s nothing there.”

“Has it ever led you astray before?” She asked him gently.

And oh yes, it most definitely had. Back when he’d been younger and stupider. “No, I suppose not.” He shrugged, “Sorry Ani. Looks like space will have to wait a little bit.” He turned the ship, and they shot off into the distance.

…

“No, seriously. Why did the Force bring me here?” Anakin grumbled as he stared at the mountain. They were slowly circling to try to get a view, but Anakin was stumped.

“Umm, maybe that cave?” Kali pointed, drawing his attention.

Anakin looked at it and pursed his lips. Ani grinned and said, “Maybe there’s something wizard in it?”

“Can we go explore with you?” Aayla tugged on Anakin’s sleeve. “There’s no bad guys here, right?”

Ahsoka threw her two credits in, “Expwowe!”

“…” Anakin glared at the cave. The feeling he was getting from the Force was that he needed to go alone. Moreover, it was telling him that the ship should stay in the air. He stood from the Captain’s chair, “All of you stay here. PROXY, keep the ship in the air.”

“Yes, master!” PROXY said and took command of the ship as the children immediately protested.

“Anakin, what are you going to do?” Shmi asked, a tremor in her voice, following after him.

“Don’t worry,” Anakin chuckled, “This is perfectly safe. For me, at least.” He hit a button, and an emergency hatch opened, drawing hot air into the conditioned ship.

“No, wait!” Shmi had her heart in her throat as Anakin jumped. She couldn’t even freak out, because the kids freaked out and she had to hold them back. The hatch closed and she picked up Ahsoka and hurried back to the viewport, “Get me eyes on Anakin!” She yelled, shaking in fear. The ship pitched forward and Shmi let out a sigh of relief as he was visibly slowing down as he approached the ground. “Oh, you little rascal.” She murmured to herself and hurried to calm the kids down. Ahsoka and Aayla had both burst into tears. “He’s okay! He’s okay! Shhhhh!” She bounced Ahsoka to calm her down.

Down below, Anakin landed with a dull thud. He started walking forward, “Now, what do we have here?” He mused as he got closer to the cave entrance. He extended his senses outward towards the cave but couldn’t sense anything of interest. ‘The Force doesn’t direct me to places by accident. There’s something important here. But what?’ He continued to search, but there was just nothing. It was an empty cavern. Nothing artificial in or about it.

A feeling from the Force gave him his answer. He frowned, but raised his communicator, “PROXY, fire one salvo at the mouth of the cave.”

“Yes, master.” PROXY immediately powered the weapons on and a staccato of turbolaser bolts raced out. They all impacted the mouth of the cave as commanded, rocking the area and throwing huge bursts of sand into the air.

“Wizard!” Ani, now confident that Anakin was safe, was just excited for what he had just seen. Ahsoka flinched from the loud, unfamiliar noises, as did Shmi.

Aayla and Kali both just said, “Wooooah!”

Down below, the sand settled. It had blown towards Anakin, who directed it around him with the Force. Anakin narrowed his eyes as he stared at the mouth of the cave once more. This time though, he heard something. Felt something. A smile crossed his face, “Oh, is it my Life Day?” He drew his lightsaber and ignited it as the sands began to shift.

The sounds of an angry Krayt Dragon reached even the Revenant up above and Shmi felt her knees weaken, “Oh no.”

Anakin grinned widely as the head of the beast erupted from the sands, revealing itself to be gargantuan. “Not just a Krayt but a Greater Krayt Dragon. It IS my Life Day!” He laughed before he set his stance. “This is where the fun begins!” He blasted forward, racing towards the beast so quickly his mother up above thought he looked like a lightning bolt. Anakin leapt, flying directly towards the Krayt’s eye and burying his lightsaber to the hilt in it. An absolutely acrid smell hit him right in the face as the eye boiled, almost making him vomit. The Krayt howled in agony and thrashed, whipping its head back and forth.

Anakin pushed off from its head and landed fifteen meters away, sliding in the sands. The furious Krayt looked right at him and opened its massive maw with a roar. Toxic-looking green acid burst from its gullet, spraying directly at Anakin. He raised his hand and pushed continuously with the Force, forming a shield that parted the stream. Droplets rained all around him and he had to raise his other hand to shield himself from above.

The Krayt’s stream of acid ceased as it continued to roar furiously. It closed its maw and crashed forwards, burying itself into the sand. Anakin turned and ran, making sure it was following as he gathered the Force, spreading it out amongst the sands. The second the Dragon erupted from the sand behind him, he whirled around. The sands rose at his command in a huge mass. He whipped it at the Krayt’s gaping jaws and the beast howled in pain as every part of its mouth started getting sandblasted. Even closing its jaw didn’t do anything because the sand was already inside its mouth, and Anakin was agitating each and every grain to scrape against its softer, unarmored insides. “Who knew sand could be useful?” He quipped to himself as the Krayt dove down again.

He extended his senses, making sure that it wasn’t about to come up from beneath him. He frowned as he realized it was retreating. “Oh no you don’t.” He reached for it with the Force and grunted as he realized just how titanic it was. His hand trembled slightly as he sharpened his focus, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth. Even his body was being dragged forward. “Kriff, this is harder than pulling back an escaping starship.” He started to growl and locked his feet into place in the sands. “RAGGGH!” He roared as he yanked the Greater Krayt from the sands. First its tail burst out, and then its body followed. It had five pairs of thick legs, all of which were thrashing and trying to dig.

Anakin couldn’t quite believe just how huge it was as its entire body finally left the sand. With a roar of exertion, Anakin threw the beast, sending it crashing back down. He staggered in a sudden burst of exhaustion. Even for him, digging a Force damned, adult Greater Krayt Dragon out of millions of tons of sand was a bit rough. He took a deep breath as the dragon thrashed and managed to get back onto its belly. It roared at him again and opened its maw to spray out some more acid.

Anakin threw his fist out, launching a powerful blast of the Force at the dragon. It was so powerful it visibly warped the air as it traveled. It impacted the Krayt hard, knocking its head back and blowing off a few teeth in the process. It staggered and again tried to turn to flee, whipping its long tail at Anakin. He leapt over it and again seized it with the Force, dragging it back into the battle. But this time, the beast succeeded in digging itself back into the sands. Anakin let go with a gasp, “Sithspit!” He cursed, following it with his senses. The sand around him was roiling and collapsing as it fled back towards the cavern.

To Anakin’s surprise, it then started to climb the mountain above the cavern, finding a perch to glare out at him. Again, it sprayed acid in his direction. Anakin ran, making sure to keep its attention. “PROXY.” He said into his communicator, “Get behind it and start blasting.”

“Roger!” PROXY quickly flew the ship around the mountain and whirled around. The turbolasers pulsed, raining down green beams of death directly onto the Krayt. It roared in agony and tried to get away. Parts of the mountain collapsed, great boulders of rock cascading down. The Krayt was so panicked it actually tried to move forward and then started to roll down the cliff face.

The earth quaked as it hit the ground with a thunderous boom. And still, it lived. Its armor was thick no matter how powerful Anakin’s turbolasers were. It got to its feet, but it had lost track of Anakin. He was right above it, having taken a powerful leap. He turned a dial on his lightsaber with the Force, extending the blade to its maximum length of three meters. He crashed down onto the Krayt’s exposed neck, burying the blade almost to the hilt into its flesh. He then immediately channeled Force Lightning through his blade, electrocuting the beast from within. It howled in pain, black lightning with a surrounding golden aura erupting from deep in its throat and cooking it alive. It thrashed for a few moments, trying to buck Anakin off, but it was much weaker than it had been.

Anakin got to his feet, the blade still mostly buried inside its flesh. He continued to channel Force Lighting into it, essentially extending the blade even further with electrical energy. He then jerked his hand, cutting its spine in one move. The beast immediately collapsed, crowing weakly. Its back half was still spasming, as was its head. Anakin drew the blade out and walked to the base of its skull, shoving the blade deep once more and finally killing it.

He breathed deep; his hair matted with sweat. He felt exhausted, if he were honest with himself. But he had rarely ever felt so alive. He extinguished his blade and hopped off the Krayt, “PROXY, you can bring the ship down now.” He chuckled as he raced for its belly. A huge nudge from the force had the beast on its side as Anakin ignited his saber once more, slicing into its gizzard. Despite the cauterizing effect of a lightsaber, with its flesh opened blood poured out onto the sands. Anakin backed away from the blood and raised his hand, closing his eyes and searching for the treasures within.

Krayt Dragon Pearl after Krayt Dragon Pearl burst from its innards in a nearly-macabre display. Most of them were big. One was utterly huge at nearly forty centimeters wide. It was the biggest one and an iridescent red. Some were really small. That surprised Anakin, as Greater Krayt Dragons generally didn’t produce smaller pearls. ‘Maybe it ate a Canyon Krayt recently?’ He mused as he examined them. A good number of them were small enough to fit into a lightsaber, and a pair of glittering black ones were calling his name.

He grinned as finally, all of the pearls were out. None of them had even a little bit of damage from the beast’s acid since he was so quick in harvesting them. And now, floating all around him like a collection of moons were nearly fifty pearls of various sizes. A worthy reward for killing such a beast. He turned around to go to the ship with his prizes, but his eyes bulged open as Shmi crashed into him, “Don’t EVER do that to me again, Ani!” His mother choked out.

And abruptly, Anakin felt bad, “Sorry, mom.” He murmured, kissing her on the side of the head.

She sighed as she pulled back, “By the Corellian Hells, I should have known you’d end up an adrenaline junkie. Ani loved flying Watto’s damned pod.” She could only be glad that Watto had sold them before he inevitably forced Ani to actually race.

Anakin grinned, “We’re Skywalkers, you know. We belong in the air.” He chuckled lightly. She pouted at him.

The two made their way back to the ship, where a bunch of anxious and waiting kids flung themselves at him. “Don’t EVER!” Kali sobbed.

“Do that again!” Aayla demanded.

“Papa cwazy!” Ahsoka said, and Anakin almost died on the spot from terminal cute.

Ani was the only one who got him. “That was so WIZARD!” He gasped, staring at his older self in complete awe.

“ANI!” The three yelled angrily, and Ani flinched.

“What, it WAS!” He protested, crossing his arms and pouting.

And then their attention was drawn to the pearls, “Wow, so pretty!” Aayla looked mesmerized as she reached for one.

“No, no, no!” Anakin quickly raised them higher. “Don’t touch.” The three girls especially pouted and looked at him with wide, watery eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. I need to wash them first. Everything covering the pearl is acidic enough to burn you.”

All of them flinched back from the pearls. He chuckled, “Let’s go wash them first.” He said, “PROXY, get us off this dust ball. Set course for Naboo!” It was time to go home.

-]|[-

Done!

Fuck I had a goddamn blast writing this.

So, few things. One of the comments from the prologue mentioned that Plagueis didn’t actually create Anakin, and that he was created legit by the Force in response to Plagueis’s shenanigans. I will go ahead and pass that along to the higher ups. (read: I don’t give a fuck.) One. That’s fucking stupid. Great job Force. You create someone to balance the Force, and you stick them on fucking Tatooine with a slave mother for nine years. slow clap Two: Nah, I wouldn’t like that even if it did make sense.

The cloning plot: Thank you Legends for the Ysalamiri assistance. Also, Vader DID succeed in cloning Starkiller perfectly, so nyehhhh!

Third: The gigantic number of pearls: Yeah, I know. Not very fucking likely by canon material. But seriously, if these things are supposed to technically be gizzard stones, there ain’t no way a monster as big as a Greater Krayt only had five or six in its entire body. They would do absolutely nothing of value. That bitch is 100m long. Much more likely is what I mentioned as Anakin’s theory in the next chapter: That being that by the time they manage to dig the beast out and start harvesting the pearls, the acid has already destroyed most of them.

Last: What are these random differences about I wonder? :thinking: Spoilers: NOW we’re (at least partially) in Legends. Anakin didn’t time travel. He yeeted himself into an alternate reality. I’ll be taking what I like from both and discarding whatever I don’t.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Later!