Insurrection

Chapter XI - Hero of the Past

"Padmé... I'm sorry..."

A single, unbroken tear found it's way down the crooked and cracked face of the Dark Lord. Anakin Skywalker was no more, this much was true. Of all the scars and disfigurements he carried with him, it was Padmé that hurt the most.

"What if I had convinced her? What if Obi-wan hadn't turned her against me?"

All this was a fleeting thought in his shattered mind. But it was there - as persistent and bold as ever, making him truly feel like a shell of the man he once was. Encapsulated by his own metal cocoon, this was the only place Vader could pull himself from the shroud of darkness he had so naively through himself into. The only place, where he could just... grasp at the memories of old.

The pride he had as a General, the love he had for Padmé, sweet, precious Padmé. Even now, he still feigned a little in hating his former master, Obi-wan Kenobi. They had been friends once. Brothers, even...

Was this all really worth it?

To damn the memory of...

"A....An...Anakin."
"Do you copy? This is Obi-wan Kenobi! My transport has crashed at sector 138 and I am in need of assistance."

Anakin's comlink crackled as it forced Obi-wan's message through. Holding on to the inside of the LAAT, Anakin raised his right arm to respond;

"Master, i'm jus-"

A rocket had penetrated the engines of the ship... smoke bellowed and wailing noises could be heard excruciatingly piercing the ears of the current passengers. The LAAT door was ripped from its hinges, violently tearing a Clone out of the ship with it, disappearing in a single scream.

Anakin could make out the surface through the smoke cloud, and it was rapidly approaching.

"Brace for impact!"

The LAAT smashed into the surface, dragging its heavy weight along the ground, bending and breaking into itself as it violently ripped into the surface, leaving charred remains, trooper and debris alike. What was left of the LAAT after it had finally came to a stop, was merely a shell.

Once the slow moaning of bending metal had gone quiet, and only the noise of small fires remained, the world seemed like it paused for some time. Anakin was dazed and on his back in the dirt, his hair matted and his face covered in thick soot. He rasped quietly, as if his body was suddenly just coming back online.

Anakin's eyelids were stuck shut - he wiped at them with the strength he had left, since so much of it now eluded him. He had managed to brush the dried blood from his eyelashes, and forced his eyes open, to bare witness to the horror before him.

He staggered to his feet. Luckily for him, the LAAT had only thrown him out at the last moment, preventing what could have been a deadly fall. Looking around him, all he could see was ruin; Clones littered the floor, covered in dirt and blood. Their corpses now food for whatever scavenging predator awaited them - they had come to their grave. Limbs had been severed, complimented by the impaling of a few of his good friends, rested so quietly upon shards of metal, as if a totem to the dark fate that now consumed them.

Anakin fell to his knees... his strength was failing him, but worse, so was his will. Was this all really worth it? Seeing some of his soldiers, who he had become so fond of, crushed and broken like that, had completely perverted this war in Anakin's mind. Was the cost worth this?

He had to compose himself. He had to keep moving, or else this would all have been for nothing.  The sacrifice of so many, would have been for nothing if he did not continue the mission.

"....A...Anakin, do you copy? I've been trying to contact you for some time now!"

Obi-wan had disrupted the peaceful trance Anakin had manipulated himself into. His gaze no longer jarred, snapped him back into focus. His eyes, narrowing and absorbing the light. His fingers, pressed into the dry soil, and spread into the crevices of his heavy metal hand. His throat, raspy and bruised - the smoke had filled his lungs and left his lips cracked and his tongue dry.

"I must find Obi-wan..."

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AUTHORS NOTE

It has been some time, since the last chapter. I had planned to end the story there (and still might) - this was a nice exercise for me to flex my writing ability once more and see if i had improved. It has been quite some time since I last wrote creatively. Let me know what you think, and perhaps I will continue!