Gates of Hell

Chapter 39 - Stand By You

Author's Note: Vader (and Anakin) talks to Obi-Wan (and Padme). :D THIS is probably one of the moments y'all have been waiting for! :)

Next chapter: November 9th

~ Amina Gila

Anakin is unconscious. He knows he is, but the Force is just as strong with him as ever, and with his bond with Vader thrown wide open, he can see flashes of the world through his older self's eyes. He can feel the battle, the death. He can feel Omega next to him, holding on, keeping him stable. He can feel the Jedi and the clones, can feel the death in the air. The Council, or some of them, at any rate, had meant this to destroy them.

They might have succeeded, too, but they underestimated how many of their own have begun to support Vader and his Empire. Anakin underestimated it as well. Jedi are fighting Jedi around them, stopping their fellows from coming near him or Vader, from trying to kill them.

He doesn't know if their support will be enough, though, and even in his unconscious state, the Force is with him.

Anakin pushes up a Force bubble, wrapping himself and Omega and the others who are close to them in a shield. It's the same type of shield he uses when he's trying to disappear, when he's on stealth missions. Maybe it won't fully work on Jedi, but at the very least, it'll push a Force suggestion at them that they should go elsewhere and ignore their group.

Injured as he is, it's the least he can do.

***

With Maul's death, most of the resistance has been dealt with, and Vader turns away from the battlefield, from the final skirmishes, making his way back to Anakin's side. Omega is there, just as Vader had thought she might be, expression strained yet determined as she throws her entire focus onto Anakin, onto keeping him stable, no matter how much she struggles. She's only a child, untrained for this, and yet, she's succeeded.

Vader kneels, resting a hand on Anakin's chest, channeling the Force into his body as they wait for Kix to get there so they can transport Anakin to safety. "You did good, Omega," he tells her, resting a hand lightly on her head. "I'm proud of you. You can let go now."

She looks up at him, biting her lower lip as she struggles to hold on, wavering on the edge of passing out from using the Force so deeply and heavily. Anakin is unconscious, too, now, his face far too pale for Vader's liking, but even unconscious, he recognizes Vader's presence and lets him in deeper. He's working to keep himself stable as well, and that is a large part of the reason, no doubt, why he's still alive.

"Okay," Omega finally whispers, breathing out as she lifts her hands, offering him a shy, but pleased, smile. She sways, blinking, trying to stay present, but the strain of using the Force so deeply and intensely, in a way she's completely untrained for, catches up to her and she goes unconscious, falling onto Anakin's chest, though thankfully not hard enough to jostle the knife still imbedded in his side.

Hunter makes a startled exclamation, and he's at her side in an instant, touching her, before looking up at Vader. "Is she okay?"

Vader inclines his helmet. "Merely exhausted," he replies. "She worked hard, and she is unaccustomed to the strain."

Hunter pulls her back, hefting her up into his arms, cradling her close and moving back as Kix arrives in a flurry, checking Anakin over and having him moved onto a stretcher to be taken back up to the Star Destroyer.

"I know you wanted her safe on Naboo," Hunter says, holding Omega's unconscious form in his arms as they board the gunship, "But she was adamant on coming. She said you might need help."

"I tried to stop them," Echo adds, a little guiltily.

"It is of no consequence," Vader states at last. "You could not have stopped her once she set her mind on coming. She is... stubborn, determined."