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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga AotC Missing Moments Theatre (Tatooine Incident): Still Playing... Raiding the Raiders - Completed!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by leia_naberrie, Aug 12, 2003.

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  1. Reihla

    Reihla Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2002
    Congrats! You've graduated from merely "dark" to the pit of despair! I was horrified for Nathan and could feel his shock and pain. Yes, it was very gory, but then it just about had to be to pack the right punch.
     
  2. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    Reihla:Congrats! You've graduated from merely "dark" to the pit of despair!

    [face_shocked] [face_laugh] Thanks! I think!

    -------------------------------------
    2nd March THREAD NOTICE

    RAIDING THE RAIDERS PART 6 will be posted on the 5th of March. I will be out of reach then so hopefully, my wonderful beta Dally will post it and update the title bar.
     
  3. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    __________________________________
    TATOOINE INCIDENT {CLIEGG}
    RAIDING THE RAIDERS 5/6


    ***

    It was a scene from a nightmare and if Owen had tried to take it all in, he would have lost his nerve. That was something he could not afford to do.

    The speeder flew into the middle of the camp, scattering the Sand People far and wide. A Gaderffii flew over his head and he bent even lower over the controls.

    ?Watch it!? shouted Marx, beside him.

    Owen looked up in time to see the large canvas and then he was ploughing through it, cutting through the tent and pulling the poles off the sand. The cloth fell on the speeder and pulled at it, the engines whined in protest.

    ?Reverse! Reverse!? Marx shouted.

    They were blinded by the thick cloth. Owen?s fingers felt clumsily for the controls and he could hear Marx?s frantic breathing beside him. From outside came the gradually increasing shouts from the Raiders.

    His hand made contact with the switch and he threw it. The speeder, the white cloth flying off above it, backed out of the tent sharply and into a line of Sand people. They scrabbled out of the way, trying to grab a hold of the speeder and climb into it. Owen spun the vehicle round sharply and threw them off. Behind him, Sholli raised the rifle shooter and threw an unbroken spray of blaster fire at them.

    Owen drew as close to the cross bars as he could get. The speeder hovered beside Cliegg Lars? prone figure; Owen refused to look closer.

    ?Marx!? shouted Sholli over the fire and the screams, ?I?m getting Owen?s father! Cover for me!?

    Marx caught the thrown rifle in one grasp and at once, stood on his knees, twisting his body round and blasting away at the Sand people that tried to get closer. Sholli jumped out of the speeder, grabbed Cliegg Lars? boots - boot - what? - and pulled. He let out a shout.

    ?What?? shouted Owen, panicked. ?What??

    ?Nothing!? Sholli shouted back. ?But I need help. I can?t carry him on my own!?

    ?You have to!? shouted Marx, bending low to duck a thrown knife.

    ?I can?t! Owen!?

    Owen jumped off the speeder in one smooth movement. He could hear Marx shouting after him. He grabbed his father?s shoulders without really looking at him and with one swing, he and Sholli threw Cliegg Lars into the vehicle. Then Owen?s eyes caught something.

    ?Nathan!? He ran the short distance to the man. Nathan Kendall lay on his side, his eyes wide open and glazed. ?Nathan, get up.? The man was still. For a moment, Cliegg thought he was dead then he saw the steady rise and fall of the man?s chest. ?Sholli, come and help me!?

    Sholli came at once.

    ?Hurry!? shouted Marx from the vehicle. ?I can?t hold them off on my own!?

    They threw in Nathan as smoothly as they had done Cliegg.

    ?Where are the others?? whispered Sholli urgently to Owen as he scrambled in.

    ?I don?t know.? Owen said grimly, getting behind the controls in time to knock off a Raider that had slipped under Marx?s fire and reached the speeder. He felt the weight shift as Sholli climbed in.

    ?What do you mean?? asked Marx anxiously as Sholli took the rifle from him. ?Where?s my father?? He shouted.

    ?We don?t know, Marxus!? Sholli snapped. ?Owen, get us out of here!?

    ?I?m not leaving without my father!? bellowed Marx and he dashed towards the side of the speeder.

    *

    ?No!? Owen yelled and threw the speeder into a 360° spin. Marx, poised at the edge of the vehicle, lost his balance and started falling outwards. Sholli dropped the rifle and lurched, grabbing him just in time. They fell to their knees, back into the vehicle together, with Sholli keeping a death grip on the younger boy.

    ?Can you see him? Can you see him?? Sholli gestured at the spinning whirlpool of fire and shadows that surrounded them. ?We don?t know where he is! And we don?t have time to look!?

    ?You can-? began Marx, squirming viciously.

    ?What? Ask them? We?re out-numbered! There?s nothing we can do!?

    ?What do you care!? shouted Marx. ?Let me go!?

    Violently, Sholli yanked Marx to him so they were eyebal
     
  4. Padlei

    Padlei Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2003
    Wow. I'm a little confused as to who's who so I guess I have to read it more...
    The 4th part was indeed very horrifying but I'm almost... used to it with you. ;)
    That was awful to see them forced to abandon the others... The Tuskens sure don't look better with this fic. And I thought they were bestial before reading this...

    BTW I'm late with this but at least I beat RS77 ... [face_mischief]
     
  5. RebelScum77

    RebelScum77 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Damn! That Padlei is a cunning one. ;)

    But in my defense I'm in the middle of the busiest week I'll have all year... I know, excuses, excuses...

    Anyway, the horror just keeps coming :eek: Just when I think, "Oh things can't get any worse", it does.

    You're using perfect levels of graphic description and tension. It gets more evident with every post. I can't wait for the emotional aftermath. How far are you taking this? I would love to hear Cliegg's POV of Anakin blowing into town and finding Shmi, and then hearing about what Ani did to the Tuskens single handedly. Oooh, actually that would be a good epilogue. Hell, if you don't write it maybe I will... LOL, I'm jumping ahead of myself here... shocking I know. [face_laugh] ;)
     
  6. Darth_Lex

    Darth_Lex Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2002
    Yikes. :eek:

    This just keeps getting worse... :_| I knew it would, but still...

    Great job with Owen's character here. He has so many of the characteristics we see in ANH, and also from brief glimpses of Cliegg in AOTC, that it seems like we know so much more about him than we really do. And here I think you've taken those hints and fleshed them out beautifully into a determined and strong - and yet still frightened - young man. Well done. :D
     
  7. Reihla

    Reihla Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2002
    Great action scenes! :) I feel like I understand Owen much better now. I love the piloting skills you've given him - probably made him more sympathetic to Luke in later years. How very heartbreaking to know they couldn't go back for the people they loved.

     
  8. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    Padlei:
    The 4th part was indeed very horrifying but I'm almost... used to it with you.

    Almost? [face_devil] [face_devil] I take that as a personal challenge! [face_laugh]

    Rebel:
    But in my defense I'm in the middle of the busiest week I'll have all year... I know, excuses, excuses...

    Tut.. Tut..

    You're using perfect levels of graphic description and tension.
    [face_blush] [face_blush]

    How far are you taking this?
    To quote geo3 again! : I CAN?T POSSIBLY SAY! 8-}


    Hell, if you don't write it maybe I will... LOL, I'm jumping ahead of myself here... shocking I know.

    Feel free! Can I put up a link here?

    Darth_Lex:
    This just keeps getting worse... I knew it would, but still...
    [face_devil]

    Great job with Owen's character here...I think you've taken those hints and fleshed them out beautifully into a determined and strong - and yet still frightened - young man. Well done.
    [face_blush] Thank you!

    Reihla:
    How very heartbreaking to know they couldn't go back for the people they loved.

    :_| I'm glad that touched you too!
     
  9. mixza

    mixza Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2004
    Gaffi stick through the neck? Ouch...
     
  10. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    Hi everybody -- this is leia_naberrie's beta, Dally. I am posting the latest chapter of her marvelous story. I haven't done this before, so I'm not sure how to update the title bar. Sorry about that!



     
  11. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    __________________________________
    TATOOINE INCIDENT {CLIEGG}
    RAIDING THE RAIDERS 6/6


    ***


    In the days that followed, lying in his bed as he battled with his guilt and sorrow and resigned himself to his new life as a cripple, Cliegg tried to recall what happened that night after the Raiders had poured down on him and his shooter had been snatched from his hand. The best his memory could serve were flashes of sound and colour; no particular sequence, just certain images that had scarred into his mind and would remain there forever.

    Holding long knives, slick and slippery in his grip.

    The press of bodies, a virtual wall of the giant-sized Sand people around him.

    Blood spraying like the fountains of the Ator into the sky.

    Pain in his back.

    Pain in his arm.

    Slash.

    Cut.

    Stab.

    An upraised arm, an uncovered chest?

    Adrenaline gave him extra perceptiveness. His eyes saw a flash of weakness and his knife followed through. He sold his life as dearly as he could.

    The blade in his shoulder. Falling on his knees.

    The white moons being gradually blocked out by a wall of darkness.

    A masked face close enough to reach out and stab. He had.

    The bones of his elbow snapping.

    Darkness.

    A graveyard of old friends.

    The chiselling of sand pebbles on his face as he was dragged across the ground.

    Fire. Monstrous shadows.

    The pattern of blood on a blade.

    Darkness.

    A white face with black hair billowing around it.

    Another one he had failed.

    Impossible.

    But it had leaned close and he allowed himself to believe.

    He was so sorry. He had not saved her.

    ?Akia, I?m sorry.?

    Her dark eyes smiled at him. ?Wake up, Cliegg. Wake up.?

    Her face morphed and became different, old, careworn but uniquely beautiful.

    ?Shmi! Shmi!?

    Dark blue eyes, kind and sad. ?Wake up, Cliegg.?

    He had to. He had to help her.

    ?Wake up, Cliegg!?

    ?I?m sorry... I?m so sorry...?

    He could not save her.

    *

    ADDENDUM


    Jinn, Marxus

    A week after the raid, accompanied by Owen Lars, he made another attempt to rescue his father and Shmi Skywalker from the Tusken Raiders. Their covert reconnaissance of the camp yielded such harrowing information that they abandoned any hope of recovering their parents alive. Marxus Jinn remained on Tatooine for three more seasons, during which he wedded his childhood sweetheart. After the death of his mother, he and his small family relocated off-world. Their new habitat was invaded by Republic forces almost immediately after their arrival and Marxus was killed in an aerial bombing. At the end of the Wars, Marxus? widow and her daughter, Camie returned to Tatooine.


    Kendall, Nathan

    He escaped the unspeakable fate of his comrades with a few physical wounds that eventually healed. His mind, however, suffered internal damages. Soon after his return home, he was observed to have suddenly developed alarming habits, which included parading the farmlands half-clothed, ?hunting? the Tusken Raiders by calling out challenges to imagined Raiders. He reacted violently to attempts made to pacify or restrain him and his family eventually allowed him to wander the farmlands as he pleased. Two seasons later, he was officially certified incurably insane by a visiting physician from Anchorhead. Young children took to calling him Nattie Kendall and that was the name he was known by until the end of his life.


    Lars, Cliegg

    The superficial wounds of his injuries healed; his mutilated leg was amputated and he was crippled for the rest of his life. He retired from active farm work and became a contemplative man who lived out his days in the comfort and love of his family, deriving a special joy in his grandson. After he died, he was buried in the Lars? family plot, along with his parents and his wife, Shmi.


    Lars, Owen

    Physically unharmed by the encounter, he remained on Tatooine and took over actively running the family business from his father. Two seas
     
  12. Reihla

    Reihla Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2002
    The account from Cleigg's perspective was appropriately horrific - no specific details, just vague images of the whole experience. I thought that was an interesting merge from Akia to Shmi in his mind. Real life losses have a tendency to do that, so I found the touch very realistic.

    I like how you ended it with the short biographical look at each of the four survivors. Neat, how you tied Camie to this series of events :)

    This whole series was very well done. While the subject matter wasn't particularly enjoyable, the reading of it was intense and really drew me into the events as they happened. Excellent work!
     
  13. Darth_Lex

    Darth_Lex Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2002
    Wow. Cliegg?s thoughts and emotions were so sad, and powerful. :_| What a terrible trauma?

    And of course he blames himself. Poor guy? :(

    Liked the epilogue ? and of course you?d pile on more tragedy for Jinn and Kendall. Owen may have been the last of the Lars bloodline, but his influence on Luke is a lasting legacy to which the entire galaxy owes him an immense debt.

    Another great work. :D
     
  14. RebelScum77

    RebelScum77 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    That

    was

    beautiful.


    Wonderful epilogue. I know how difficult writing that sort of poetic imagery is, and you did it beautifully. The addendum was interesting as well, we really got to care about the other settlers and it was good to hear what happened to them.


    Hmmm... now you got me thinking about a Lars' POV story.... perhaps I'll explore that a bit.... right....... now. ;)
     
  15. Padlei

    Padlei Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2003
    That was really awesome. That was a terribly awful topic to handle and it must have been difficult to write about that so kudos to you! :)

    Please don't take what I said as a personal challenge! [face_shocked] I couldn't take it... *faints* 8-}

    On a side note RS_77 I know I know... 8-} Let's say this is a draw... ;)
     
  16. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    I'm back! :)

    mixza:
    Gaffi stick through the neck? Ouch...
    Ouch indeed! [face_laugh] And welcome to the theatre!

    Reihla:
    This whole series was very well done. While the subject matter wasn't particularly enjoyable, the reading of it was intense and really drew me into the events as they happened. Excellent work!

    Thank you. That means a lot to me. This story started out as a single vignette - a hybrid of Nathan's 'waking up scene' and the 'epilogue' from Owen's PoV. Then I thought of using it as a writing assignment for myself - to test my skills at action/suspense. I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

    Darth_Lex:
    Liked the epilogue ? and of course you?d pile on more tragedy for Jinn and Kendall.

    Ouch! That hurts! [face_mischief]

    Another great work.

    Thanks! :) [face_blush]

    RebelScum77:
    beautiful.

    [face_blush] :) [face_blush]

    The addendum was interesting as well, we really got to care about the other settlers and it was good to hear what happened to them.

    I actually think that it's not really fair to call this Cliegg's tale anymore. It's the Farmers' story and why not? They all shared in the tragedy.

    now you got me thinking about a Lars' POV story....

    Oh please do! I'm looking forward to that!

    Padlei:
    That was a terribly awful topic to handle and it must have been difficult to write about that so kudos to you!

    [face_blush] [face_blush] Thank you! It wasn't that bad [face_devil] I am a bit ... sadistic at times... but only in my mind! [face_laugh]

    Please don't take what I said as a personal challenge!

    [face_mischief] Spoilsport!
     
  17. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    PREVIEW for the upcoming scene





    TATOOINE INCIDENT: AFTERMATH (The Lars' Story)

    They heard the roar of the scoop engine, the peculiar whine of high-energy repulsor-lifts against sand, and then silence.

    Owen stared down at the scratch marks on the wooden table. He could feel his father?s gaze on his neck and Beru?s small hand in his elbow but inside he felt nothing, empty. It was not that he had forgotten so quickly. He doubted if any of them could ever really forget, but he had pushed the useless rage and bitterness into a rarely opened compartment in his mind and put himself to his work with a passion. Now, Anakin Skywalker?s return had brought all those feelings to the fore again: the anger, the misery, the bitterness, the guilt. And he could barely stand to be in his own skin.






    First Chapter will be posted on the 19th of March ... See you then!
    ;)
     
  18. Reihla

    Reihla Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 17, 2002
    Well, it's the 19th ;) (at least, it is where I live)!

    Just putting this back on pg 1 to help leia find it for the update. :D :D
     
  19. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    Thanks Reihla. Are you in my timezone by any chance? [face_hopeful?]



    [b]THREAD NOTICE[/b]

    The latest chapter is rather long, more than twice the size of the last one and not really appropriate for this anthology-ish thread so it gets its own! Lucky devil, huh! [face_devil] [face_silly]

    Hope this doesn't make the Theatre any more confusing... [face_sad]

    Here's the link:

    [link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=15266882][b]HEALING - The Lars' Story[/b][/link]
     
  20. geo3

    geo3 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2002
    Well, I'm unforgivably late again. There isn't a suitable excuse for that, so I won't try to make one. The only thing I can say in my defense is that I wasn't ignoring your story at all - in fact, it stayed with me for a long, long time. The images are still with me, in fact.

    I guess I just found that it was hard to form a response right away. It's really a powerful brew that you have concocted here. So later, after having gained some distance, I went back to figure out just what makes it so powerful.

    I know you mostly as the author of introspective vignettes; I don't remember having read an action piece from you before. I have always found your vignettes remarkable for their poetic qualities and for their deep insights into the characters in particular, and human nature in general.

    Now, in this piece, you have shown that you handle action just as well, but you don't concentrate just on that. You don't spare us the deep insight into the character's experiences. So, when those experiences happen to be horrific, we aren't spared the almost visceral experience of being inside of the character at the time that these terrible things are happening.

    It was not a series of screams. It was one perpetual cry that continued from echo to scream to echo. Nathan felt the salt of tears in his mouth and he shouted his rage into the empty, hopeless night. One of the Sand people walked to him at once and stabbed him in the leg with his Gaderffi. It was a mere pinprick to the perpetual agony that was his body but Nathan was surprised he could even still feel pain. He fell on his side and listened to another farmer?s hysterical sobs.

    ?I?m sorry! I?m sorry!?

    Nathan wondered who it was and why he was apologizing. He did not realize that he was the one crying.


    All those details - the salt taste of tears, and rage and helplessness, the comprehension that the pain is so great that a vicious stab feels like a pinprick, and the very real sense of being disembodied - bring us right into the moment.

    It's amazing.

    Your action scenes move swiftly, but they are equally vivid. The scene where the boys must become reluctant heros in order to save their fathers and friends was wonderfuly done. I could feel their panic and terror in every line:

    Cliegg Lars? boots - boot - what? - and pulled. He let out a shout.

    ?What?? shouted Owen, panicked. ?What??

    ?Nothing!? Sholli shouted back. ?But I need help. I can?t carry him on my own!?

    ?You have to!? shouted Marx, bending low to duck a thrown knife.

    ?I can?t! Owen!?


    And of course, you never lose the poetic touch:

    Sholli gestured at the spinning whirlpool of fire and shadows that surrounded them.

    The last post, with Cliegg's disjointed thoughts and experiences, was poetry.

    Whew. Is there anything you can't write?

    Well done. REALLY well and bravely done. I don't know about anyone else, but for me this story will always and forever put the scenes with Cliegg and Anakin and Owen in AOTC in a very different light.

    And now I see that there is another one up! I'm going straight there.

    Hope this doesn't make the Theatre any more confusing...

    It does. It makes it hopelessly confusing. I may get lost and never be heard from again...


     
  21. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    Yoohoo! I can?t believe I almost missed your review! :) :)

    I'm unforgivably late again.

    Not unforgivably late, my dear. Fashionably late. Late is the new Pink. 8-}

    I guess I just found that it was hard to form a response right away. It's really a powerful brew that you have concocted here. So later, after having gained some distance, I went back to figure out just what makes it so powerful.

    [face_blush] [face_blush] Wow!

    You don't spare us the deep insight into the character's experiences. So, when those experiences happen to be horrific, we aren't spared the almost visceral experience of being inside of the character at the time that these terrible things are happening.

    That?s me, wannabe Stephanie King of the JC Boards! 8-}

    Your action scenes move swiftly, but they are equally vivid.

    Thank you. I really value your comments; like you noted, this is a new genre for me to write and any kind of insight is much appreciated.

    The last post, with Cliegg's disjointed thoughts and experiences, was poetry.

    [face_blush] [face_blush]

    Whew. Is there anything you can't write?

    [face_blush] [face_blush] [face_blush] [face_blush] [face_blush]

    Well done. REALLY well and bravely done. I don't know about anyone else, but for me this story will always and forever put the scenes with Cliegg and Anakin and Owen in AOTC in a very different light.

    [face_blush] :) :) Thank you so much.

    I may get lost and never be heard from again...

    :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
     
  22. geo3

    geo3 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2002
    Late is the new Pink.

    **howls**

    I just put that in my signature.
     
  23. Jedi_Bant

    Jedi_Bant Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2004
    This is one of the most incredible series I have ever read and how, how, how much I wish you had written the book... Because all these stories _belong_ there even if they coudl not have been shown in the movies. Shmi's stories were so sad and how I wept when I read them. I don't think Anakin should have killed the Tuskens but I am not sorry for them or their children, I am only sorry for Anakin because of what they made him do!
     
  24. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    geo3: Where is it? 8-}

    Jedi_Bant: What a sweet and thoughtful review. [face_blush] I, too wish that there had been more of the Lars released officially... but if there had been, I won't have needed to write this, would I? ;)

    I wept when I read them. :eek: :eek: That's the highest compliment you can pay to a writer! :) Thank you!

    THREAD NOTICE:

    I am re-posting an older story here because it belongs to the Tatooine Incident series.
     
  25. leia_naberrie

    leia_naberrie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2002
    TATOOINE INCIDENT

    SLEEP NO MORE - Anakin?s Story

    ~*~*~


    He had failed.

    His hands had touched Darkness and now they were stained crimson with blood that was spilled in hate and vengeance.

    Alone and condemned, Anakin Skywalker stood in the darkest part of his mind and contemplated his self-destruction.

    The demon voices swirled in his mind ? soft and seductive, promising power, moaning their bloodlust. He had had those voices in his head for so long he could no longer remember when they had first spoken to him. They had always sounded strangely familiar, like the voice of someone he actually knew but could not quite place. They had always spoken softly, their words muted. Even in his moments of anger and impatience, when they seemed to become louder, they still remained indiscernible; it was as if they spoke in a foreign tongue. He had been taught early to recognise them for what they were ? the taunting of the Dark Side ? and he had been showed how to remain impervious to their temptations.

    His Master had once told him that every apprentice, at one time or the other, was tempted by the Dark Side. Youth with all its inherent vulnerabilities ? insecurity, impatience, and pride - was a constant beacon to the negative side of the Force. Padawan Anakin Skywalker, with his peculiar history, had had more than his fair share of baitings from the Darkness but under his Master?s tutelage, he had learnt how to ignore them. The whispers had always eddied in his mind without latching unto substance or provoking a response.

    Until last night.

    Last night, he had spoken back to the demons. And they had replied, clearly, distinctly. Their language was neither Huttese nor Basic but something primitive that could not be categorized linguistically. It was enough. He had listened to what they said, considered what they offered. And he had taken. He had reached into that buried well of Darkness and it had given him the power of rage and hatred, the power of destruction, the power of evil.

    He had paid with his soul. And he was still paying.

    He had unlocked the Darkness within and now, he would never be able to shut it back.

    Now, the voices murmured their madness to him, in him; each obscene word sharply articulated like blades stabbing into his soul. With sudden abhorrence, he finally realized why the voices had always sounded so familiar. The demon voices were simply variations of Padmé?s: the Darkness was using her voice with its various nuances in pitch, tone and accent. It was the epitome of sacrilege. He listened to every malicious inquiry, every warped suggestion whispered in that beloved voice and his soul shrunk inside him with horror and self-loathing. If he had to do violence to himself to silence that voice, then he would.

    And what had this - this bargain he had made with the demons - profited him? The realization of his weakness? She had died. He could not save her.

    There was only one option left.

    Anakin Skywalker reached into the gaping maw in his soul and prepared to wield that power against himself.

    From outside his mind, the demon voice spoke.

    The Light shone at the Darkness fiercely; and the Darkness shied from it, writhing in his grasp. He held onto it even as the furore threatened to overwhelm him. There was her softness on his cheek and the sound of her voice in his ear and her presence was bathing him with compassion. He cringed away. He had despoiled her very image with his depravity. He was tainted, ruined forever and he neither desired nor deserved her compassion. He held on more firmly to his purpose. The voices in his mind were rising and falling with what sounded like panic.

    But Padmé still drew him to her. Her strength was intractable, pulling him into her warmth and softness. The whispers in his mind were stilling, fading into indistinct murmurings as if her presence was in some perverse way as soothing to them as they were to him. The sensations she was invoking in him were too powerful to resist. He felt th
     
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