Anakin's Legacy

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away........

Prologue

Coruscant was a planet of many myths. Tales were told of this strange planet that had long ago lost the face of its surface to an expansive city. Coruscant was the only planet that was just one great city. A city of tall towers and buildings that stretched upward into the sky that one could scarcely tell where the ground began. Weaving their way between the labyrinth of cold, hard steel, hundreds upon thousands of space ships and hover transports went about their business in the controlled chaos that surrounded the planet.

This was the center of the galaxy. The planet that everything revolved around, including the Galactic Republic, the political power in the galaxy. A government of old that spanned thousands of generations in its existence. It went back so far that no one could remember when there had never been the Republic. Hundreds of representatives from hundreds of worlds met on this world in the Senate to discuss the peace between the systems. Despite all this though, there was unrest among the politicians. Rumors of corrupt goings on, greed, and power hungry individuals stirring the Republic.

A great temple in the heart of Coruscant, seemed to stand out from the chaos around it. The space ships and hover transports seemed to instinctually avoid drawing to close to this place. It was both comforting and forbidding at the same time giving it the air of being unapproachablility. The Temple was a kilometer-high, transacted pyramid crowned with five elegant towers. It soared above its surroundings, isolating itself from the babble of Coruscant's never resting citizens. It was a constant reminder of an older, less complicated world.

This temple was home to the great Jedi, the defenders of the Republic. These Jedi were known for their great abilities in the use of manipulating the Force. The Jedi Temple had been their home for many generations, almost as long as the Republic had been in existence. The design of the Temple was a symbol of the Padawan's path to enlightenment- to unity with the Force, through fealty to the Jedi code and council. To every padawan, Knight, and Master it had a different meaning just as each Jedi was special in his or her abilities in the Force. Whether it be the power to see in to the future, telekinesis, the power to create allusions, or any of the other millions of special gifts.

One young man saw and remembered all this as he looked up into the dwindling light in the skies of Coruscant. He stood alone on a balcony from one of the Temple's five towers. He was contemplating the future, of what it might hold for the Jedi, the Republic, and himself. He did not sense the fact that it would be his actions that would change the course of the future. For he was one padawan that the Jedi Council rested their hope on. His amazing Force abilities had left many stunned and wondering. On his shoulders lay a task of which he could hardly comprehend. He was the Chosen One. The one who would bring balance to the Force or not at all.

He was Anakin Skywalker.

He sensed the white hot sentient beings conflicting emotions as they went about their lives. He could sense the underlying unrest and disorder, that so many were trying to pretend was not there. Amongst them all he sensed an elusive evil. Something that tinged the Force with the touch of anger and fear. The lives of many would be taken or kept due to his actions. Of this Anakin knew.

"No balance," He murmured to himself, "Not yet."

With that he turned and walked away.

Chapter One
Clues

Some fifty years later across the galaxy from Coruscant on Yavin 4 stood Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker. He stood alone atop the new Jedi Temple. The Temple had once been home to an extinct race of aliens. Later it was used as a base in the attack against the first Death Star. The Temple of old that had once occupied Coruscant had been destroyed years ago. Luke was not thinking of that now. He was unaware of the fact that fifty years ago Anakin had stood alone in his own Temple on Coruscant. He was only aware of the fact that it was the anniversary of the destruction of the second Death Star, the destruction of the Emperor, and the death of his father.

Unlike his father though, he was not contemplating the future, but the exact opposite, the past. Ironically enough he was thinking of his father and what his life must have been like. There was so many things he didn't know about Anakin Skywalker. He didn't even know who his mother was. He'd never met her. She must have been someone special to capture the heart of such a man as Anakin. So many things that were lied about or never explained. So many things that he would probably never know.

If he could ask his father one question, it would be why he had become Darth Vader. How could such a kind, loving man become the wretched man that had been Vader consumed by hate and fear? Why if he had a wife he loved and a bright future ahead of him? Luke sighed to himself. That question would probably remain unanswered for the rest of his life.

Luke?

His wife called out to him through the Force. He felt her coming up behind him and turned to her with a smile. Mara Jade Skywalker was a beautiful, fierce Jedi Knight. She had a dancer's body, fiery red hair, and emerald eyes. Mara had once upon a time been the Emperor's hand and had actually at one point wanted to kill Luke. Now she loved him and had married him to prove that. Mara had never been one to give up easily or feel hopeless. Her temperament was like that of her hair, fierce. He loved her all the more for it.

"Luke, there's an incoming ship sending a transmission. They want to talk to you," Mara told him.

"I'll be down in a minute to get it," he replied.

Mara turned to go. She hesitated a moment, then asked, "Why do you keep dwelling in the past, Luke?"

"The past is something I can't get rid of," Luke sighed.

She shook her head. They walked down to the communications room together. He switched on the view screen. A beautiful, pale green skinned and golden eyed, female Twi'lek appeared on screen. She looked rather old, but that did not diminish her beauty in the least. She smiled, warmly, but her lekku(head tails) twitched with anxiety. She nodded at him cordially.

"Master Skywalker, my name is Pala. I would like to request a meeting with you. I know you are probably quite busy, but my companions and I have important information we wish to pass on to you," She said, her voice was gentle and a touch husky with age.

"Of course you may meet with me. I can always spare a few moments for important matters," Luke smiled, politely.

"I gratefully thank you, Master Skywalker. I promise it will not be a waste of your time," She smile back in return.

Luke sent the landing coordinates to her, then ended to transmission with her. Luke turned to Mara with a bemused look.

"What do you think that was all about?" Luke asked her.

"It didn't sound like anything urgent to me. I would be on my guard though if I were you," Mara remarked.

Luke nodded in agreement.

Luke watched the spaceship come soaring over the Massassi trees of Yavin 4's jungle. It was an older ship that looked as if it had seen more than its fair share of battles. It was guided down carefully between the trees to the clearing by the Temple, that was used as the landing zone. It settled down on its landing struts with hardly a jolt. Whoever was piloting the ship was quite adapt. The landing ramp hissed open. Pala was the first one down the ramp, followed closely by a tall older human man. He was well built with dark, piercing eyes that seemed to have seen to much pain in his life time. His raven black hair shimmered nearly blue in the bright sunlight.

"Greetings, Master Skywalker. This is my good friend Kitster," Pala gestured to her friend.

Kitster smiled and shook Luke's hand. He studied Luke closely, then stepped away. A bothan male poked his muzzle around the hatchway of the spaceship. His ears were back showing his agitation.

"It is quite safe, Dorn," Kitster reassured the wary bothan. He turned back to Luke. "Our friend is always a little wary of new places."

The bothan came down the ramp, cautiously. He was a big, strong looking male. He probably stood over 6 feet tall. His brown silky fur rippled in a show of nervous energy. He stood next Kitster and nodded his greetings to Luke. Dorn was obviously not the talkative type.

"If not much of a problem could you please ask the rest of your family to join us? This is really for the whole family to hear," Pala asked Luke.

"I don't see a problem in it. Matter of fact the whole family is here on Yavin 4 at the time," Luke smiled.

"How very convenient," Pala smiled back.

Luke didn't miss the secret look that past between the three when Pala said that. It had been a somewhat amused look. Did they already know that the Solo family was all here before they came? He shot Mara a half surprised look. She looked a little suspicious, but both felt no ill feelings from the trio. Luke shrugged, as Mara went to track down the whole family.

Within minutes Luke's office was filled with people. The Solos all looked interested to know why they had been asked to meet here. They'd only got a brief explanation from Mara. The Solo family consisted of Han, Leia, and their three childern. The 16 year old twins, Jacen and Jaina. Both had brown hair and brandy brown eyes. They looked alike, but they had many differences both physically and mentally. Then there was Anakin, who was 14. He'd been named after his grandfather by Leia to show the galaxy that she showed no ill will towards the man that had been her father. He had brown hair as well, but striking bright blue eyes like Luke and Anakin Skywalker.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. It is very important," Kitster said first, after they had introduced each other all around.

"First though I think you should know a little about us, so that you do not have an bad impressions," Pala looked at Kitster as if for approval.

Kitster nodded to her to continue. One thing was clear these three were very close.

"We were one time members of the Rebellion's undercover agents. We collected information for the Rebellion," Pala went on, "We were also at one time slaves on the world on Tatooine. A planet I'm sure you all know well. We lived there as children. The information we have to give you is about someone who was a very good friend of ours, and a slave, as children."

"Who is this person?" Luke asked, feeling a tingle run down his spin.

"Anakin Skywalker," Kitster said, simply.

Anakin Solo burst out before he could stop himself, "Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Knight!"

"You're right he was, but before he was found by a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn, he was a slave," Kitster replied.

"This is some kinda joke, right?" Han put in.

Kitster shook his head. "I'm afraid not. We found information about Anakin, old Jedi codes, and training techniques on a mission during a mission for the Rebellion. We spent the last several years hunting down more information of what we could about Anakin's life. What we know of Anakin is very little, but what we found brought Anakin's life into a more cohesive form."

Kitster let this sink in for a moment.

"Dorn," Kitster said to the bothan.

Dorn nodded. He lifted the small case he'd carried into the office with him onto Luke's desk. He undid the locks and popped it open. It was full of disks, holocrons, and data chips. Each was numbered and put in order by years. Luke pulled out the first holograph with a bemused look. It was a fuzzy holo appeared of three young boys, standing with their arms around each others shoulders. They all seemed around the same age of nine or so. The two, one the left and right of the boy in the middle, were clearly Dorn and Kitster. It was the boy in the center that captured everyone's attention. The boy was small, slightly stocky with dirty blond hair, bright blues, and a pug nose. His clothes were rough looking and homespun, a little big on his small body. For one so young, his eyes seemed to show a look of wisdom and one that has already seen so much of the hardship in the galaxy. Despite all this he smiled warmly. They all stood in front of modest quarters of slaves.

"That's Anakin back on Tatooine," Pala pointed to the boy in the middle.

"A friend of ours took that for Pala to keep," Kitster told them.

"Why would Pala need a picture?" Jaina asked, curiously.

"I was going to escape Tatooine, because I was to be sold to a mercenary who wanted to train me as spy. Anakin and the rest of my friends helped me to escape. I wanted something to remember my friends by," Pala answered.

Kitster pushed the case of information towards Luke. "These are yours to have. Keep them. It is the least we can do for all that Anakin had done for us."

"We must go now," Dorn said softly.

They turned to leave.

"Wait," Luke said.

Kitster turned to regard Luke with a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Please stay. You are welcome here as long as you like at the Academy," Luke endeavored to persuade them.

Kitster turned to his companions. With a brief nod from Pala and Dorn, he turned back to Luke. "We would be honored to stay. Thank you for the kindness you have showed me and my friends," he nodded to them all, "We will go so that you can have time with your family to look over the discs."

The three turned once more and took their leave. Luke ran his hand over the top of the case. No one spoke for a moment. He gently pulled out a data card from the case. He examined it closely, as though he didn't want to look up to see his family's faces.

"Luke, how do you know this isn't some scam?" Leia was the first to speak.

Luke shrugged, "You could sense their sincerity. I don't think they were lying."

"We sensed that too," Jacen put in for both himself and his sister.

"I think they mean this. I think we should give them half a chance," Luke said, looking at all of them in turn.

"I don't think they were lying either," Anakin remarked.

Everyone regarded Anakin with a curious look. One thing about this boy was that when he said or felt something it was usually the truth. Anakin seemed to be unusually strong in the Force for one so young. But he was hotheaded and reckless like his grandfather had been. As like Luke too. This caused Luke to keep an ever watchful eye on him least he do something impusive or rash.

"I think we should check out more of these discs before we make anymore judgments," Mara suggested.

They all agreed. Luke grabbed his data pad and slipped the data card he picked up into it. A second later information scrolled across the screen. Luke's eyebrows shot up in amazement. He scanned down the information with growing surprise.

"Listen to this," he said and began to read.

"1,000 years ago Jedi and their Republic were threatened by yet another group calling themselves Sith. During the earliest and darkest years of the war between the Jedi and the most current Sith order, many people began to fear that the Dark side had taken hold of the galaxy and become invincible. In addition to giving the usual reassurances that the Light side is stronger than the Dark, Jedi elders of the time issued an unusual and puzzling prophecy. They said that there would indeed come a time in the galaxy, and even the Republic that the Dark would seem to take over. During this time, a deadly enemy would challenge the Jedi Order. However, when all seemed lost the Force itself would conceive a Chosen One who would restore balance to the Force. This Chosen One would initiate an epic conflict in which every person would have to side with either pure good or pure evil. Shades of grey would be eliminated, and ultimately the forces of good would triumph over those of evil. Most people assumed this Chosen One would come in their lifetime and lead the Jedi Order against the Sith. It was assumed that the Chosen One would bring balance because all the forces of good would rally around him, and the Sith Order would be abandoned by all but its own wicked members.

However, the latest sith war did not end in epic conflict between the good and evil. By contrast, the sith forces self destructed (see page 8,067). In present times, many Jedi scholars have come to the conclusion that the Chosen One was a means for generating hope during a dark time, rather than a prophecy. Nevertheless, some Jedi Masters still believe it is true." Luke finished.

"Incredible," Mara murmured.

"That sounds so much like our battle between the Empire and the Rebellion," Leia breathed, "An epic conflict. No other war has done such damage to the galaxy."

Han took the data pad from Luke to examine it. "Wait there's more on here. Apparently written by that Qui-Gon fellow," Han told them.

"I found this prophecy as a padawan in the Jedi Temple's vast library. I believe this prophecy to be true, and also believe that I have found this Chosen One. I found him on a remote planet named Tatooine in the Tatoo sector by chance of fate. I have never felt such a strong connection to the Force as I have in the this boy. Not even in Master Mace Windu or Master Yoda, and the boy is only nine standard years old! My padawan apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, has informed me that this boy's mid-chlorians (cells in a sentient being's body that is involved in the use of communication with the Force) count is 20,000. Nearly double that of Master Yoda's!

The boy did not even realize that he had the use of the Force. Though he exhibited all the signs of a Force sensitive child. The ability to see several seconds into the future and react in kind to it. His mechanical skills and piloting skills near that of a seasoned professional. He is the only human who has ever podraced, no easy feat even for a six armed alien, and won at it. His mother, however, knew he was special and had asked me to take him to become a Jedi. I feel it is my duty to do so. The Force has lead me to the boy. I can not deny that. I fear that I will have many troubles in trying to obtain his training for he is older than the Order usually takes on.

I'm writing this now as the Council tests him. I can only pray that they will grant my wishes. For I feel this boy will shape the fortunes of many in the galaxy. I have not mentioned the boy's name, but I will now, seeing as I feel he will be important one day. His name is Anakin Skywalker.

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn," Han read to them.

They were all silent for a time. Each was quite stunned at what they had just heard. All of them were thinking the same thoughts. Could Anakin possibly have been the Chosen One? The idea seemed almost absurd, but then......? During this silence, Anakin peeked into the case. He ran his finger over the discs. He felt the Force whispering something to him, then stopped at a particularly odd one. He pulled it out to look at it. It was a tarnished and worn looking holcron. It looked as though it had been beaten up quite a bit. It appeared to have blue, yellow, and whit symbols painted over it. The symbols appeared to be almost like racing colors. Was there a significance in those colors? Why would Kitster have added that to the stack of information? There didn't seem to be any discernible way to turn it on. Flipping the holocron over and over in his hands, Anakin brushed it lightly with the Force trying to sense its underlying purpose.

Anakin dropped it in surprise, when it buzzed to life. The picture was murky, full of static, and bent lines. The voice coming through was distorted and hardly audible. Anakin increased his Force touch on it. He pushed the Force down into its central workings, searching for the problem. He quickly located it, then with easy, fixed it. A young man seemed to jump into clearer focus. He was probably in his early twenties. He was a handsome young man with bright blues and short sandy blond/brown hair with a braid hanging down over his shoulder. He looked like Luke in a way. The look on the young man's face was a mask of urgency and worry. Han grabbed a piece of flimsy as the young man began to speak.

"If.....u.....ge-..t....this.....Mast-....-enobi.....it ....-s......of......-he......most.......grav-...... im-ort-..ance......You.....mus-.....fin-d.....," the holo buzzed a second and the holo distorted, before continuing, "am-e....is......Anak-in.......Sky-walk-..r......the....coordi-....ates...... Coruscant.........Imp-......Palace.......1342.......b-low......base-.....ment." It cut off then altogether, done with its message.

"Did anyone get that!?" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah, I did!" Han waved the flimsy he'd scribbled the message onto or at least what he could make of it.

"Read it out," Leia demanded, just as edgy as Luke.

"If you get this Master Kenobi it is of the most grave importance. You must find-. Name is Anakin Skywalker. The coordinates, Coruscant, some palace there, 1342, below the basement," Han read to them.

"Obviously Anakin wanted Obi-Wan to find something important," Leia remarked, "And we know its on Coruscant."

"But what palace?" Han wondered.

"Imperial Palace!" Leia and Mara exclaimed in unison.

"Below the basement! Yes, those coordinates take you directly to the Palace!" Luke was getting excited, "That's it! We have to go see what it is!"

Leia put up her hands as if to stop Luke. "Now wait a minute, Luke. This could be dangerous. It may be something completely over our heads. You can't go running off like a loose turbolaser," Leia reproached him.

"Leia, we have to find out what this is. It maybe some vital clues that could help us get answers to some mean unexplained things," Luke's voice sounded desperate.

"I agree with Leia, Luke. We need to slow down and think this over carefully," Mara put in.

Luke looked away from them all for a moment. He knew they were right, but the fierce desire to find out what this secret was burned in him. It wouldn't do though for him to take off before he thought it through logically, he decided. They all waited quietly for Luke's reaction. Almost like they were holding their breath. It was Anakin who broke the silence first.

"I think he should go for it," Anakin remarked.

Luke looked up at Anakin. "Why?"

"Whatever it is, Anakin wanted it found. He seemed pretty upset about it. The least we can do is honor that."

Luke speculated over this a moment, then nodded, "Alright then, I'll go."

"You're not going alone," Mara said, firmly.

"He won't. Chewie and I are going with him," Han said, diffidently.

Luke consented to this with a smile. "Thanks Han. I'd also like to take Kitster with us."

"But you hardly know him!" Jaina cried.

"He seems to be the one with strongest connection to Anakin. I think he will be a good help to us in our search."

Han shrugged, "Ok, then we leave tomorrow morning," Han stated.

Luke agreed and that was that.