Anakin did not have much experience with children much younger than him. Tatooine wasn't a great place to raise them, so most children he knew were about his own age. On that planet, by the age of nine, children either knew how to avoid trouble or learned very, very quickly.
He tried not to think about the ones that didn't.
But these younglings were all about half his age!
It had already been a tad uncomfortable after he had somehow stopped...whatever was making all of them scared and screaming earlier. He had gotten stares before, but never these looks of awed adoration. And he didn't think it was that impressive.
But after his short conversation with Vader, things got a bit...Worse? Better? More intense? More intense was a good description.
Because now he was trapped on one of the seats, mobbed by these tiny younglings of various species, all excitedly asking questions faster than he could understand them.
"That is enough now!" Phara Nannar chastised, the Kushiban hopping up to stand on the backrest next to Anakin. All of the younglings quieted under their teacher's tone. "I understand you are all curious and have many questions for Young Skywalker, but please allow him some breathing room and peace," she requested, her tone more kind and understanding now.
"Yes Master Nannar," the children intoned apologetically.
The bunny-like master smiled before turning to Anakin and growing amused at his owlish expression. "First time with younglings?" she asked to the boy.
Anakin nodded slowly. "It felt like being a ship surrounded by Jawas," he remarked quietly, almost afraid to provoke them again.
Phara gave a squeaking chuckle, the amusing noise eliciting a few laughs from the children themselves. "Not an incorrect comparison," she said in jest before growing serious, and inquisitive. "I don't mean to pry, but I am confused by you as well, Anakin Skywalker. You are not a Jedi Youngling?"
Anakin shook his head uncertainly. "The council was going to tell me if I could join, but then..." he paused to consider the proper phrasing. "Vader happened."
"Yeah, he definitely did," Telloti remarked under his breath, getting shushed by several younglings- including and especially Ahsoka.
"An apt way of putting it," Phara conceded, giving the boy a considering look. "May I ask, how do you know...Vader?"
There was a hush over the children as Anakin looked uncertain. Did he want to tell this story? He wasn't sure. It was getting late and he was tired from the entire day. The creeping exhaustion was making it hard to think. "He was with Master Qui-Gon when they came to my planet. He saved me when someone tried to kill me after I won a pod race to help repair the ship they and the others were using," he abridged for now.
There was a short silence in the room before one human girl spoke up. "What's a pod race?"
All of the children leaned back in frieght as Anakin's snapped his head to the voice, giving the youngling a wide eyed stare of disbelief.
Another youngling next to her leaned over and loudly whispered. "It's a race with these things that are like really fast hovercars."
Anakin blinked hard at that. "You're not wrong, but I still almost feel insulted," he remarked, confusing the children again. "If its okay, Master Nannar? I'm going to go wait and see when the council wants to see me."
"It might be best if you wait here," she stated warily.
Anakin turned to give her a confused look. "Why?"
Because there was a Sith Lord in the Temple and he might steal away a powerful child like Anakin if given the chance. That was the first instinctive answer Phara had and wisely chose to not say it allowed. "Do you even know the way there?" she questioned with a head tilt.
"Yes, I was there twice earlier. There's an elevator down-" Anakin paused, glancing to the door to remind himself which way was which, before pointing to the right. "-that way that takes you up to the highest floor, then go towards the middle to find the one that takes you up the spire."
One did not become a successful podracer without keeping a good mental map of places.
Phara paused to consider; The meeting with Vader wasn't in the Tranquility Spire, and at least some of the council members would be heading back there afterwards. Still..."Younglings," she addressed to the Clawmouse clan. "All of you wait here. I will escort Young Skywalker to the spire and return after," she instructed.
Anakin wasn't sure if leaving a group of children alone for even five minutes was a good idea, but they seemed fairly well behaved and obedient to Master Nannar.
He blinked as he felt a hand tugging on his shirt, causing him to look down at the blue-and-white top of a familiar orange head. "Leaving?" Ahsoka asked sadly.
Anakin smiled, patting her on the head- gently, remembering that they might be sensitive. "Don't worry, I'll come see you later, Snippy," he assured playfully.
"Ah-So-Ka," she corrected, trying not to smile. Still, she hugged him quickly. "Thank, Skyguy."
Anakin returned the hug before turning to the small fluffy Jedi Master. She nodded, sensing his readiness to leave and turned to head out of the room with him following behind. "It was nice to meet you all!" Anakin called, waving over his shoulder.
"That was very kind and brave what you did back there," Phara said in appreciation.
Anakin flushed a bit at the praise. "I wouldn't say that. I still don't know how or even what I really did," Anakin said uncertainly. Winning a pod-race? Yeah, he'd take a lot of pride in that, being the first known human to do so. That was something he knew he could do, something he'd been practicing for. He could win another one if he had the chance. But what happened earlier? He had no idea if that was a fluke or an accident, if he could even do it again.
Phara smiled with an amusement. "I was actually referring to you helping Ahsoka back to us. I believe she mentioned to me that you carried her until she could stand."
"Well, I would have carried her the rest of the way but...," Anakin paused, motioning to the vastness of the temple, before resuming his walk.
Phara nodded in acknowledgement. She wasn't sure if the Force or growing up in the temple attributed more to Jedi never getting lost in the Temple.
"Can I ask you something?" Anakin asked to break the silence.
"Yes?" Phara answered encouragingly.
"What...are you, exactly?" Anakin inquired delicately.
"It's quite alright. I'm sure I look like something most would eat if I wasn't sapient," she remarked good naturedly.
Anakin grimaced in distaste. "Some still might on my planet," he remarked, getting a strange look from her. "You ever heard of Tatooine?"
She looked thoughtful, then cautious. "Outer Rim?" she guessed, knowing such lawless places allowed treating weaker sapients as food.
Anakin nodded. "I guess you can also say it's honorary Hutt-space," he explained tellingly.
Phara shook her head. "You have my sympathies," She remarked, deciding to change the subject. "I'm a Kushiban. My kind is from a planet of the same name. We rarely leave the planet, so I'm not surprised you've never seen one of us before."
"...I was about to ask how the Jedi ever found you, but my story of the last few days seems much more unlikely when I think about it," Anakin said as they reached the elevator.
"The Force works in mysterious ways," Phara remarked vaguely. "Anything else you'd like to ask?"
"Yeah, what is Ahsoka?" Anakin asked with a pinched brow as the elevator started to rise. "I've seen them before, but I'm not sure I ever got the actual name. They kind of remind me of Twi'leks though."
"Ahh, she would be a Togruta," Phara said before gaining a distasteful look, but not directed at Anakin. "And I doubt you're the only one to make that comparison."
Anakin looked quizzical and spoke before his brain could catch up with him. "Because of all the sex slavery?"
Phara gained a wide eyed look at the bluntness, but regained her calm quickly. This boy was from the Outer Rim, and one of the worse places by the sound of it. It shouldn't be surprising he knew of such things. "Yes, that would be it," Phara acknowledged calmly.
Anakin shifted uncomfortably. He knew slavery was outlawed in the more Coreward regions, and the laws were actually enforced here, but was it something most people didn't talk about at all?
His thoughts were brought to a close as the elevator came to a stop, opening before them.
Darth Vader was staring down at them.
Phara Nannar stared with ears trembling and erect, unable to process this sudden arrival.
There was a long, long silence with only Vader's breathing to fill it.
"Skywalker," Vader greeted.
"Vader," Anakin returned, his surprise settling rather easy.
"Master Nannar."
The Kushiban blinked, looking over to see a green alien walking up to them. "Master Yaddle?" she greeted questioningly.
"Are you leaving?" Anakin asked with a small scowl.
Vader nodded, ignoring the internal relief of the furry Jedi. "I have said my piece to the Jedi. There is no reason for me to linger here," he explained, examining the boy intently. "You are seeking to know the council's verdict."
"Well, yeah. Though, I'm not sure what I'll do if they say no," Anakin opined honestly.
All three adults knew that there was no chance of that now. The Order would never allow one as powerful as Anakin to remain untrained, leaving him likely to be brought under the wing of one Dark Sider or another.
"Master Yaddle," Vader spoke without looking to her. "Would you give the boy and I a moment to speak in private?"
Phara was very alarmed by the suggestion, more so when the green Jedi nodded. "Down the hall, we shall be. Come, Master Nannar. Of your younglings, tell me you must," Yaddle called over as an obvious attempt to give them both space.
"Is this a good idea?" Phara whispered as they walked away.
"They speak in secret or here, prefer which would you?" Yaddle retorted solemnly to Phara's unease.
"I hope the Jedi have not disappointed you too much, Skywalker," Vader remarked, and Anakin almost thought that might be a joke.
Anakin shrugged. "The Grandmaster was pretty wizard," he stated offhandedly. "Some of them have no idea what pod racing is though."
They both knew this wasn't what they really were going to talk about.
"So, why did you have to do all that?" Anakin asked with a sigh. "I mean, you wanted to just talk to them, right?"
"I caught one of their members doing something highly illegal. I brought them here to hand them over, the others misjudged the situation," Vader explained honestly.
"And you took advantage of that," Anakin stated knowingly. But not disapprovingly.
"It is called an intimidation tactic," Vader explained calmly. "I am one, they are thousands. And they already believed I was their enemy. Telling them I am not would not be enough. So I gave them a reason why they should not try to make me an enemy."
"That...doesn't make sense," Anakin said with a head tilt. "Wouldn't that just make them want to attack you more?"
"It would, if I had killed anyone," Vader agreed. "All this did was humiliate them. But they believed until now that I would never pass up the chance to kill them."
"So, you're trying to prove them wrong, by beating them up instead of just killing them?" Anakin summarized. "Well, that is definitely intimidating, I guess."
"Regardless of what the Jedi decide, I am not your enemy, Skywalker," Vader said abruptly, making Anakin stiffen under the words. "After the many years to come, there will come a day when you and I will meet on some distant battlefield. And it will be your choice if you decide I am someone you feel the need to oppose. Not the Order, not your Master, not even the Force itself. That decision will be for you and you alone."
Anakin looked up at him with wide, wide eyes. As if he was seeing something that only he and Vader were privileged to witness. "You didn't free me to teach me, did you?" Anakin asked as some strange realization came over him. It was obvious why Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were so weary of him being around Vader, at least somewhat.
"I did not," Vader agreed, watching as the Dark Side drifted around the boy longingly, but did not come unhithered.
"Then why? What's so special about me if you don't want to train me?" Anakin asked uncertainly.
Vader was silent, pondering just what was it he would have wanted...no, needed to hear in this situation, at this age. It was hard to imagine, being on the other end of this entire predicament, but he had an idea all the same. "Consider it a gift," Vader said, his voice heavy from the decades of his life. "One former slave to another."
Anakin's eyes widened in a stunned shock at that revelation.
"Regardless of your choice, as long as you make it for yourself? I will respect it," Vader vowed to the silent boy. "Enemies or not, my only hope is that you do not disappoint me, Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin stood numbly as Vader walked beyond him, the elevator closing and descending behind the boy as Phara scurried over to him. "Anakin, are you alright?" she asked in concern.
Anakin gave her a strange stare before giving a small smile. "Yeah, I think I will be."
The Kushiban looked on in concern as Anakin walked towards the spire elevator with his head held high.
"Escort him, I will. Younglings of your own to watch, you have," Yaddle instructed to the smaller master.
It was one of the rare instances where Yaddle found herself looking down to speak to someone instead of up.
"Very well. Thank you, Master Yaddle," Phara said before turning back to the elevator, having to wait for its return.
Meanwhile
The Dark Side of the Force rippled and rolled about Darth Vader as he continued to the exit, letting every Jedi know that he was finally leaving their precious temple.
If he noticed a certain snippy youngling peaking out to watch him, he chose not to acknowledge her.
He had no intention to influence his younger self this much, but their meetings just keep happening. Was that an effect of the timetravel on the Force, bringing the two of them to meet repeatedly? He didn't know. But he did know he was right. Unless he died too soon, there would undoubtedly come a time when he and his younger self would meet on the battlefeild
He was less curious about what the boy would choose and more about what circumstances that fateful day would be formed around.
He paused once he was outside, looking over the same path he took to enter the temple. Night was in full now. Most of the Jedi he had defeated had long risen on their own accord, the rest taken to the Jedi Temple's medical bay. What was left were shattered statues, a pathway broken, and debris dotting the way.
It was almost amusing to him; It felt like he had created more collateral damage in the moment than he could see.
"Vader."
The Dark Lord turned to face the approaching group of Jedi that consisted of Mace Windu, Yoda, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Dooku and a half dozen other council members.
He wasn't surprised his departure had grabbed their attention, but he sensed something about them as they neared. They weren't here to fight, but they clearly had something to say.
No, something to ask.
"Yes, Jedi?" he acknowledged, trying to get a read on what this was about. "You can rest easy, I am leaving your precious temple."
"You said earlier that both our orders need to clean house," Mace Windu stated with a narrowed look about him.
Vader said nothing, waiting for them to get to the point.
"An act of good faith, we would request," Yoda explained calmly, watching Vader intently.
"You want me to expose another Sith," Vader guessed, getting a subtle nod from Obi-Wan. So, they were actually going to milk his offer before considering it.
How very Sith of them.
"More specifically, the one that came hunting for the Queen of Naboo on Tatooine," Dooku clarified civilly. "Surely that one would be amongst those you would need to...clean out, as it were."
Vader debated what to say exactly, how much to reveal. He had honestly thought this question would be overlooked, since it hadn't been brought up during his talk with the council. Still, they weren't wrong. He had to give them something if he wanted them to believe he was genuine in his claims.
He could tell them about Maul, there wasn't much special to explain really. But there was still just one small problem, a very important factor still in play.
Sidious was neither dead nor dying.
"That one is of little concern," Vader admitted calmly. "It is his teacher that needs to be dealt with."
"Teacher?" Qui-Gon asked with a suspicious scowl. It was an interesting distinction to make, teacher instead of master.
"Imagine a being that personifies everything you fear and believe about the Dark Side of the Force, Jedi," Vader remarked ominously. "Cruelty for the sake of cruelty, power for the sake of power. A being whose beastly ruthlessness is matched and restrained only for his cold intellect. One who hates any and all things that do not bow to his whims. Who only knows joy in the suffering and death of others, be they his enemies or not."
A chill ran over the Jedi at the description, growing tense at the explanation. The air seemed to grow suffocatingly tight, and none were sure if that was the Dark Side or their own minds playing tricks on them.
"His name is Darth Sidious."
Meanwhile
There was a joke amongst the Coruscant Security Force officers.
"There is more crime under Coruscant than in the entire Outer Rim."
The new recruit stared at his training officer quizzically. "You really think so, Vane?"
Kenith Vane snorted as the two humans walked through the precinct parking pads, filled with the panther interceptors. "Its a figure of speech. Look, Guzzoth? I get it. You're a new recruit fresh off of guard duty on Centax-1, dreaming of transferring and/or retiring to Hesperidium."
"I've...never mentioned Hesperidium before, Sir," Gulgik Guzzoth remarked uncertainly.
"You didn't have to. Even if you don't know it yet, that'll be what you want. That's the dream end for most of us here," Vane remarked with some bitterness. "Have you ever been to Coruscant before? I mean really been here?"
"Not really? I lived here for about half a cycle after joining signing up at a local academy. Then it was training of Centax-3, and then they needed more guards on Centax-1."
"I bet they did," Vane murmured. "What do you think Coruscant is? And I don't mean that cthon-shit about it being the Capital of the Republic and center of civilized worlds."
Guzzoth paused to consider his wording. "A hell-maze of skyscrapers, filled half with people who are under the misconception that their dung is worth something, and the other half not having enough umbrellas to take cover from said dung as it's being tossed?"
Vane stopped abruptly, turning to give the rookie an amused look. "Amazing. Almost everything you said is correct."
"Almost?" Guzzoth questioned with interest.
"It's covered, not filled," Vane corrected as they continued walking.
"I'm not sure I understand the difference?" Guzzoth stated with a furrowed brow. Vane tossed something over his shoulder, Guzzoth frantic to catch it, scrutinizing it oddly once in his grasp. "Vane, is this a watch?"
"It's a Level Reader. You only get these on Coruscant, because we're the only sorry rats that need them," Vane remarked, taking on a very serious look. "Don't ever take that thing off if you can't see the sky. Best not even then."
"Is it supposed to say "0" on it?" Guzzoth asked.
"I set it to inverse mode. That tells you how many Levels between you and the surface," Vane explained.
"Sir, I know about the Undercity," Guzzoth assured, a bit annoyed.
"Press the button on the top, set it to the normal mode," Vane instructed, ignoring the statement.
The newbie quirked a brow, but did as he was told.
He promptly stopped walking.
Vane didn't say a word.
"Level 5127," Guzzoth read off, glancing out to the seeming endless sea of cars and buildings. "And each level..."
"Is a layer around the entire world, more or less," Vane finished, taking a breath. "No matter how many times they drill that number into your head in class, it never really...dawns on you what that means until you're here. Thousands of layers, each one another planet-wide area, many abandoned as time marched on."
"How in the hell does anyone manage that kind of territory?" Guzzoth asked in disbelief.
"We don't, Rookie," Vane admitted, sagging his shoulders. "The further down you go, the worst it gets. Sure, the first thousand or so levels down are relatively safe. As safe as big cities can be. But once you hit below Level 4000? As a general rule, there starts to be entire levels that no one wants to travel alone in. But it's only like that every fifth-to-tenth level until you get below...I think it's 2850 right now?" he paused to shake his head. "Crime-ruled levels are too common after that for my liking. Everything below the lower two-thousands? The higher-ups widely considered those to be a lost cause in terms of law and order. We just do patch jobs there, stem and contain the problems. Everything with less than four-digits is just lost, period. I don't know if anyone has been down to the double-digit levels this century."
"That's...that's insane, Sir," Guzzoth stated in shock, swallowing thickly. "You would need an army of police just to try to keep that under control."
"And that's why we don't have it under control," Vane stated grimly. "I don't know what stories you heard about us, but the Coruscant Security Force has a surprisingly low amount of corruption. Or at this region it's low, I couldn't tell you about the others for sure. Too much hearsay and rumors. Honestly we're mainly just underfunded and undermanned, when compared against something this big. The ones uptop just want us to keep the surface reasonable safe. Still, it doesn't help with the other things down there either."
"...Other things, Sir?" Guzzoth asked warily.
"All those ghost stories you hear, about monsters in the bottom of Coruscant? They're true. Bunch of weird creatures. Main ones are Cthons and Corridor Ghouls," he stopped, leaning against his own interceptor. "There's something of a truce between the police and the criminal underworld here, to help one another against things we both considered...worse then each other. One side sees some, we tell every other group."
"...Wouldn't the gangs just use that as a way to ambush the police?" Guzzoth pointed out.
Vane smirked dryly. "Last gang that did that, every member was killed by their rivals. Most gangs just kill the liars. After all, dead levels don't help either side."
Guzzoth stared at the officer for am moment before looking back to the Level Reader. "Not exactly what I signed up for, Sir."
"Trust me, we all say that," Vane assured with a wary voice. "I try not to sugarcoat it for rookies. You had a good idea of what you were up against. You just...can never appreciate the size of the problem until you're close enough to it."
"You're not very good at encouraging speeches are you?" Guzzoth remarked dryly.
"Not at all!" Vane remarked with a grin. "I'm amazed any of the rookies stuck with me stick around."
"Officer Vane."
Both humans turned to see a blue humanoid droid approaching them. A police droid to be exact, the GU-series or Guardians as they were commonly called.
"Ahh, just in time!" Vane said, putting a hand on the robot's shoulder. "Gulgik Guzzoth, this is my non-organic partner, GU-50. We all call him Guso. Guso, this is my newest newbie."
"I see," Guso said, starring at Guzzoth for a second. "I hope you do not take this hurtfully when I hope you fail, Private Guzzoth."
"Umm, why? Is there some kind of Organic-Droid rivalry?" Guzzoth asked in concern.
"No. There is a wager on Officer Vane's tutelage success rate. Four new recruits have quit under him, another four have stayed and become sufficient officers. I have a great many credits on him driving you away," Guso explained.
"Oh, no that is just hurtful, Guso! After I saved you from melting!" Vane remarked, grinning despite his complaints.
"You were the reason we were both almost melted," Guso retorted factually, turning back to the new recruit. "My financial stakes in this regardless, I hope you are alive by next cycle."
"Umm, thanks, I suppose," Guzzoth accepted, awkward and somehow more concerned now than he had been after learning about man-eating monsters in the depth of the city's lower levels.
"So, what do you have for us, Guso?" Vane asked curiously.
"There have been reports of explosions in the area known as the Works or the Flats. We have been tasked with investigating the matter, and reporting if it is a serious matter or merely an accident of abandoned equipment," Guso explained.
"It's very telling that an explosion can be considered a "non-serious" matter on this planet, depending on where it happens," Vane said under his breath. "Come on, Guzzoth, Guso, let's go."
Meanwhile
"If so terrible, this Sith Lord is, why not reveal him to us?" Yoda questioned curiously.
"You would not believe me if I told you," Vader stated pointedly.
"Try us," Mace retorted sternly.
Vader gave him his full attention, taking a step closer to stare down the Jedi. "Tell me, Master of the Order: How many?" he asked ominously.
"How many what?" Windu countered suspiciously.
"When you brought your fellow Jedi to confront me upon my arrival," Vader clarified. "How many Sith did you believe were standing amongst you?"
Dead silence flowed over them at the obvious implications.
"You're lying," Ki-Adi-Mundi stated strongly. "You're trying to say that there is another Sith, on this planet, right now."
"And thus my point is proven," Vader stated harshly, turning to Windu once again. "This is what you are up against, Mace Windu. Whether you believe it or not, you stood next to a man who smiled at you while being dedicated to the eradication of everything you believe in. And you never suspected a thing."
Mace's eyes widened ever so slightly before narrowing. There were only two men that fit that description; A Senator and a Chancellor. "You're expecting me to believe that Sith have been able to infiltrate the highest points of the Republic without us knowing?"
"The Order of Bane has been plotting in secret for a thousand years," Vader countered. "What exactly did you think they have been doing to that end, for all this time?"
"That would mean they have been here for years, decades," Dooku commented thoughtfully, grimly as he cupped his chin. "Right under our noses."
"I don't suppose you have anything to prove this?" Even Piell asked with an unconvinced look.
"I'm not obliged to help you every step of the way, Jedi," Vader retorted, beginning to walk away.
Then he stopped at the top of the stairs.
Sidious wasn't just alive, he also wasn't fighting with Plagueis anymore. But it didn't feel like they were chasing each other. Something unexpected had happened.
"Vader?" Obi-wan called cautiously, feeling the tension growing in the air.
There was one thing he could do, to prove he was telling the truth. And if this could be the only chance he had to pull a feat like this off.
Besides, he took more than a little joy in stacking the deck against Sidious as much as possible.
Vader squared his shoulders and the Jedi all tensed.
As did every Dark Sider in the galaxy. They could feel Vader grasping onto the fading might of the coalesced Dark Side, to keep hold on what remained. Few would be willing to release their power over the Dark Side once more, but they did not feel that intent from Vader.
They and the Jedi both could tell his true intent; Vader was making one final use of the remaining combined might of the Dark Side.
The Dark Lord turned back to the very wary Jedi, regarding them frostily. "Jedi."
Cold and Cruel. That was the only way to describe his tone.
He held out a hand, motioned as if to grasp something behind him.
Yoda's eyes widened.
"This Night, And Never Again."
Vader twisted his hand.
And the Grandmaster swore he felt the Dark Side itself reel back in shock.
"What are you-" Mace Windu started to demand, only to stop as it hit him all at once, like a flash grenade.
There was a great cacophony in the Force as Vader pulled at...something. Something that many were trying to pull away from him. Something that Jedi could not touch, could not see through in the Force.
Yoda was the first to feel it, see it in a way, what was really happening.
And for once in a long time, Yoda truly had no idea how to make sense of what was happening before him.
The Dark Side lost its shock and howled to itself in dark, perhaps masochistic approval.
Vader ripped his hand away.
And Windu and every other Jedi paled. The truth was now undeniable.
They could sense Them now.
For Darth Vader had torn a hole in the Veil of the Dark Side.