I'm Your What? (A What-If)

Well, Sabé is thinking of battle droids... I'm guessing stormtroopers are probably an improvement (unless, of course, they are aiming at Skywalkers). (BTW, are they under orders not to hurt Anakin Skywalker?)

 

SithAbigail, I got an idea. How about the Jedi get stunned with blasteres set to stun! The problem with the Jedi Technique to fight off uncociousness is that it takes a moment to set up, and you don't have that moment when you are being stunned. Then, you could have them fight their way out of their imprisonment. I would write it, but I have ugh, work to do.

--Mr. P

 

Good post. Like the Olie/Sabe exchange where she mentions he restates the obvious.

 

Hee hee ... the GFFA equivalent of "Thanks for the newsflash, Captain Obvious!" ;D

As I told the skywalking list, on Wednesday I promised some friends I'd sing in a RENT medley with them for the school's talent show. What I did not know then is that the talent show is May 4, which is next Thursday. It'll be another week before I can even think about posting ... but you're in excellent hands!

On that note, keep up the great work all of you. You're writing wonderfully!

 

Luke watched as Obi-Wan held in a smirk and brought his lightsaber out within a second. "I confess to not knowing much about this time but I do know when someone is breaking the law---"

In a flash of an eye, Obi-Wan was down, shot by a Stormtrooper standing on top of a nearby building. A second later, so was Leia and Master Qui-Gon.

NOOO! Not again! Not again! Luke's mind screamed at him to move, to do something. He stood frozen until he saw a 'trooper aim at Father... "No!"

Luke force-swung the blaster away, but it did no good, someone else just took the 'troopers place and Father was down. Luke raged out, knocking as many troopers down as he could manage before he found himself in handcuffs.

The Imperial Captain laughed cruelly and collected the various Lightsabers. "Don't worry Commander, your friends are not dead. My orders currently stand not to hurt anyone before the Emperor's arrival." The Captain spoke this name reverently, as if he was awed at the very name. "Believe me, you'd be stunned too, if it wasn't the Emperor's wish you stay awake."

Luke twitched and tried to open his handcuffs, with no visible success. The Captain spoke conversationally, grinning. "Force-proof. Nice little bit of technology from the Old Republic to help keep Jedi scum in there place."

The young Jedi kept quiet as he was pushed along the road, trying to block out Watto complaints about not getting his money right away. Walking, he noticed how the Stormtrooper carrying Father was cradling Father in his arms, unlike the others who were all but being dragged by the hair. That's something to remember.

Finally, they reached the outskirts of town and were greeted into the Imperial-class ship. It was large but not excessively so. The Captain's eyes brightened as he looked at Luke and Luke himself questioning the Captain's sanity. "You get to be taken to the holding cells. Have fun!"

You know, there are some days I feel everyone's out to get me. The rest of the time, I know.
*******
I know this is short but I promise to post later today! i have to go... But i will post later

[This message has been edited by SithAbigail (edited 04-28-2000).]

 

Qui-Gon woke in a small, dingy cell on the hard floor and feeling sore all over. Obi-Wan? Are you alright?

Yes Master. It seems they just put everyone in cells, to be left alone until some Emporer comes. I have been conferring with Luke and he refuses to tell me anything of importance because of the timeline... Maybe you can convince him, Master? Obi-Wan's voice was tinged with worry and a little fear, not for himself but for his Master.

Closing the communication with Obi-Wan gently, the Jedi Master contacted Padawan Skywalker. Luke? Can you tell me more of this situation?

But the timeline, Master...

Qui-Gon got up and stretched, trying to get rid of the soreness that came with being stunned. Young Skywalker, the timeline is shot to Sith anyway. We can just hope we don't remember anything when we go back.

He could almost hear Luke's mental nod, Fine. We've been taken by Imperials. We did say we were wanted. Watto, apparently, knew that and turned us in for cash. Now, the Emporer is coming to interrogate or kill us. Well, whatever makes him happy, right?

Ignoring the sarcasm, Qui-Gon crinkled his nose in thought. Does he think he can really handle a Jedi Master and two Padawans?

Why not? He and Vader killed all the rest. He heard a small mental chuckle. Did I mention they were Siths?

Qui-Gon cut off the communication quickly, he needed to meditate on this. He sat down and let his mind drift with the force.

A fire filled the Jedi Temple, smoke was everywhere. The creche leaders were panicked, trying to get the babies out with the Initiates helping. All Padawans and Knights were helping to fight the men in white armor while the alive Masters concerned themselves with the Sith Lords.

A young female Master fell, electrocuted leaving the temple with a horrible death scream. The Sith Master laughed, enjoying the power that came from her death and killed another. He killed until all that was left was screaming Padawans and young Initiates, too scared to have left.

Then he and the Sith apprentice exited the scene to enter another, apathetic to the pain of those remaining. The only time they stopped their path of destruction was when the apprentice picked up a small blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy who was about to be killed in the chaos.

The Temple burned and the infants wailed, the Initiates screamed and the Padawans clutched their heads in agony.

Qui-Gon broke out his meditation hours later, sweating and feeling as though he had lived all it. Vowing to tell Obi-Wan not to seek visions in this time, he went right to sleep on the small bunk.

 

Abigail -- is the vision meant to be accurate or symbolic? I mean, obviously, Anakin didn't turn when he was still a small, blond-haired boy (still has to marry Amidala!) but I wasn't sure if you meant him as the child, or if he was the apprentice in question, or if it was the middle apprentice, the one for Episode 2 (that's the one I was figuring conducted the major part of the purge, leaving Vader the "hunting down" part, but I'm open on it -- I'll just have to re-work my Vader a little bit).

 

Actually, I assumed the apprentice had to be Vader, if the Jedi are being killed in mass...which made me wonder if the boy being saved was Luke -- what an interesting idea (if I'm right )!!

[This message has been edited by ami-padme (edited 04-29-2000).]

 

Actually, it's an interesting idea even if you're not right about Abigail's intention. I've often wondered what would have happened if Vader had decided to take Luke when he was little, or if he and Leia had figured it out. But I'm going to avoid wondering too much. I want to do something with my life other than writing fics. For now, I'll just stay out of Vader's POV.

------------------
Amidala had fallen into a fantasy as she walked through the desert -- she often daydreamed as she walked, though few people knew that -- in which she was stranded here on Tatooine, charged with finding a precious artifact which only she could locate, and she had to find it before the Trade Federation got to it. Silly, she knew. She had enough real worries. But the fantasy helped; after watching Ani race yesterday, she was having a lot of fantasies about going out and taking action on the matter. It seemed like a good thing to do, though of course, Naboo had no army, and she simply couldn't run a war -- negotiations and Senate censure were her only hope. But how she wanted to take it into her own hands!

"Hello, Your Highness."

She looked up.

Daydreaming or no, she'd kept her ears open, but she hadn't heard the black-robed man approach. The attacker from before. From her own time. His face was covered with nightmarish tattoos, and horns grew sharply out of his head. He had a lightsaber on his belt, but it was not drawn. At his size, he hardly needed it to intimidate her.

"Who are you?" she demanded, then remembered to add, "You seem to have mistaken me for the queen."

"My identity is not your concern, Your Highness, and we're both aware that I've made no mistake." He reached out a giant hand toward her --

Then a bright red light split the air in front of her, barely missing that hand. The robed man stood back, then drew his saber -- but he wasn't looking at her. He looked up at the nearby mesa.

Amidala became aware of another sound, a soft, horrible sound that she associated with hospitals and dying. The hiss-shush of a respirator. She looked up. Standing above her, dark cape blowing back in the wind, was the Imperial official she had seen earlier, the man with the death's head mask. Lights on his chest went up and down with each breath.

Dear Maker, she realized. It is a respirator. He's wearing one.

She didn't have time to register much more, because he was flying down from the mesa, landing with great force between her and her attacker. "You must leave, Your Highness," he said. "Immediately. This does not concern you."

"It seems to me," she said, "that it concerns me a great deal."

"Amidala," he said, with slow, deliberate patience, "leave now. Follow this road until you come to Sanctuary."

"I don't know Sanctuary, and I don't know you." But the second part felt like a lie.

"You will come to know both. Walk away."

The attacker laughed, a cold, knifelike sound in the dark. "If you have replaced me, my Master's standards have been lowered. If she is in your way, cut her down!"

"I intend to kill neither of you, but you must both return to your own time."

The voice that came into Amidala's mind was loud, intrusive, and commanding. Go to Sanctuary. You must survive. All depends on it.

Before she had a chance to answer -- or even comprehend what had been said -- the Imperial official

(vader but no not vader amidala please GO!!!)

pressed an attack on the man who had tracked her in the desert several hours -- or thirty five years -- ago.

Red sabers crossed, lighting up the desert night. Amidala backed away, not wanting to leave, but needing to avoid those deadly arcs.

She felt a small, warm hand on her own, and looked down.

A little girl, with a scar across her nose, was tugging at her. "Come on, he said to come to Sanctuary. He said." She put the emphasis on "said" in her voice, but in her eyes, the emphasis was on "he." Those dark eyes flickered momentarily to the duel, to Vader, then turned away in terror, then back in fascination. Finally, she shook it off. "Follow me. I'll

 

I really like this story. I would contribute more, but I have other things that I have to do, most notibaly school. Just a note for the Duel, remember Vader's special lightsaber. It has 4 blades, but he could choose to only use one, you know. Just remember that when doing the duels, because Vader could maneuver his blade that he turns one on, and it sticks into Maul (or anyone else's) stomach.

--Mr. P

 

I figure he probably still has his other one, which would be more maneuverable for the opening salvo where he throws it, but when we get into his POV or Maul's on this -- Amidala is too baffled to notice such a nicety -- he'll have it. Or, conversely, that could be saved for a second duel. This probably won't be the big climatic thing (on page 3, I should hope not! )

 

Okay, see, I was going for symbolism. Writing it I was going for 'Anakin has been taken by the Dark Side', with the blonde boy as Ani and the Dark Side synbolized by Vader.

I guess it could be Luke as a what-if idea. Like, when they go back to their time he remembers having a son and hunts him down years later. Things to ponder

 

Okay. Cool. I like the symbolism a lot. It's just that in a fic like this, it's hard to tell what's a possible reality!

Back later. I have a young Anakin post in mind.

 

Anakin woke up in a soft bed, a blanket wrapped around him. He could smell something delicious cooking nearby. He did not entertain the thought that he might be waking up from a dream. Never in his waking life had he been in such a comfortable place.

He opened his eyes, and was disappointed. This wasn't some rich room from a holoproj program. It was cold and made of steel, and the droid that was doing the cooking was a single-purpose, half-brained drone (one of the reasons Anakin had liked working on Threepio was that the protocol droid -- just on account of what it was supposed to do -- had to be able to do a lot of things and think in lots of ways). He sighed, and pushed the blanket down.

A door slid up, and a man in an olive green uniform came in. "Good evening, Master Skywalker," he said. "We're under orders to watch over you well. You've fallen into poor company. We barely had time to save you. Who knows where the rebel scum may have taken you, if they'd gotten you out of Mos Espa?"

Rebel scum... anger rose in Anakin's throat, until he was sure he had to sick it up. Luke was his son. And Leia... had she said what he'd thought she'd said? Was she his, too?

"They're my friends," he said, having no desire to explain the situation to this man.

Soft bed or no, there was something wrong with this place.

"I note you share a name with the Jedi. He is, perhaps, your father?"

Anakin didn't answer. He didn't recognize any of the insignia on the man's uniform, but he did notice that there wasn't much of it, and Anakin talked to enough pilots to know that the higher the rank, the more buttons and ribbons went along with it. This guy was probably not much more than a lieutenant.

"If so, he doesn't deserve to have a son, not a man who would abandon you to the streets of Mos Espa, and only come to collect you when you got big enough to start to be useful."

"Where are they?"

"They have been placed under arrest. They'll be taken to Coruscant for trial."

"Why are you being so nice to me? I was with them. You should put me where they are."

"We are under orders to see that you come to no harm."

"Why?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Why not have some nice soup, and get some sleep?"

Anakin narrowed his eyes. He didn't like it when people thought he was stupid. "I want to know where my s- my friends are. I want to see them."

"It's not possible."

"Let me talk to someone who can make it possible."

"Someone will be coming soon enough." The officer went through the door, and it slid shut behind him.

Anakin thought about threatening to run into a wall and break his nose, then blame the officer for doing it when whoever it was got there, but he thought of Padmé right then, about how reckless she thought he was, and he figured maybe she was right. For a second, he was gripped by a panic that she was in a cell someplace, then he remembered that they'd been leaving in the first place because she'd slipped away. It was Luke and Leia and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon who were locked up. And these people with their soup and soft beds better not be hurting them.

What would she do? he wondered. What would she do if she was in a nice room while her (our) children were locked up someplace, maybe getting hurt?

Well, Padmé was with the queen, and she always spoke like she agreed with the queen. The queen was going to speak with someone to help her people. Patient and calm. Dignified.

He'd never be able to do that. He was no good at waiting. But he'd have to.

He looked around the room, trying to look casual, because he figured there'd be spy stuff in the walls. There were no free vent shafts -- the grates were actually cut into the wall, not removable. The door was locked. There was nothing to cut with. And the droid couldn't even talk, let alone be convinced to do something not exactly in its programming.

He had to think of something. He had to get Luke and Leia and the Jedi out of here (the idea that he'd be rescuing Jedi might have been funny, if he didn't have to figure out how he was going to go a

 

A young Imperial ensign, Saryn Zoron, paced back and forth in the prison section. He had been ordered to make sure the Jedi didn't escape and was growing increasingly bored.

The only reason the Captain put me here is so if they do get out, I'll be killed first.

Saryn knew the Captain thought he'd been the one to steal Kalara's prized blankie to give to the cafeteria lady with the crush on Captain Kalara. He hadn't done it though, honest!

Besides, if he had gotten Kalara's blankie, it would have been sent special delivery to Lord Vader.

Snickering at that thought, Saryn realized he had the sudden urge to check that younger Jedi's cell. What had been his name?

He couldn't remember. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be important if the prisoner had excepted somehow... What's-His-Name was a Jedi, maybe he used some Jedi trick to zap himself away. He'd seen that in a Holo once, as a kid.

"Don't be stupid, he has to be in there." Saryn rolled his eyes disgusted at himself but he couldn't shake the feeling that the prisoner had excepted.

After a half-hour of standing there, running through all the nursery rhymes he knew including 'Little Boy Jedi, come blow your Sax' and 'Little Ms. Yaddle, sat on her tuffet', (What was a tuffet, anyway?).

Of course, one couldn't forget:
Yoda's gimmer stick sat on wall,
'til Yoda's gimmer stick had a great fall.
All of Yoda's knights and all of the Chancellor's men
Were glad they couldn't put the gimmer stick back together again.

Still, he couldn't put the feeling the Jedi had escaped out of his mind. Well.. I suppose opening the door for a second wouldn't hurt.

Keying in the intricate door code, he saw the Jedi kneeling on the floor, meditating. Saryn breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, hoping he hadn't disturbed the Jedi.

Before he could exit however, he was slammed on the head. Right before the blackness took over, Saryn saw the Jedi, (Obi-Wan, his mind supplied at last) leave, closing the door behind him.
******
I have writer's block and this was all i could think of... Sorry, it's not longer!

 

I was wondering, is the holodrama that the imperial saw possibly the one in the Ultra Stressed Jedi Students (love that thread)? It would be cool if it was.

--Mr. P

 

Up! Great post. Hope to see another one soon (PLEASE!)
(just thought I'd rescue this from page 3!)

 

This is great! To The Top!

 

Leia sat on the edge of the hard cot, glad that she'd been brought more comfortable clothes than the metal bikini before this happened. Hearing metal scraping on metal every time she shifted on the uncomfortable surface would have driven her mad by now.

She wondered if all the cells were this small, or if this had been given to her especially because she disliked small spaces. There was room here for precisely three paces in each direction, and turning usually involved hitting her hip on something. She'd finally giving up, but her mind continued to move, back and forth, over and over.

We should have told them everything before we went into town, they'd have been more careful, we'd have left sooner, they should have known Watto wasn't to be trusted...

And so on.

She heard a sound outside her cell door, a brief scratching, and she jumped to her feet, reaching instinctively for a blaster that had been taken away. She'd been out of the loop for six months and didn't have any vital information

(The rendezvous point at Sullust...)

that they would want, but that wouldn't stop them from pulling out the interrogator 'droid. Vader himself had used it sparingly and with distaste -- that had been bad enough, thank you -- but other Imperials were known to enjoy the devices a bit more than was good for them.

A muttered curse on the other side of the door, then a scrambling sound at the lock-pad to the side. The door rose. A brown-robed figure ducked inside, then closed the door again, jamming the lock mechanism with a piece of tan cloth.

Obi-Wan Kenobi turned to her. "Good to know it's one of us in here. There's a guard at the end of the hall. Hope you don't mind a moment's company before we get out of here."

Leia shrugged. "Not at all."

Kenobi gave her a grin, a rather dashing one, and she found herself returning it. She tried to call to mind the brief glimpse she'd caught of him as an old man, with white hair and a beard, falling beneath Vader's assault...

His eyes widened. "I die like that?"

She blinked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to send that to you at all. I didn't realize you'd see it. That's the only time we met before. And we didn't exactly meet."

"Hmm," he said, and said no more.

He pressed his ear to the cell door, and closed his eyes. Leia could see his brow furrow in concentration. Then he moved decisively, opening door, and stepping out into the corridor. He signaled for Leia to follow him.
*************************
Vader flipped out of Maul's reach, and hooked his old saber onto his belt, drawing the new one in the same motion. It would not have been effective as a throwing weapon, but as a duelling weapon, it would outmatch Maul easily.

The X-shape of the red beams lit the air in front of him, and he saw Maul ignite the other half of his double-bladed lightsaber. He attacked first.

Maul met his offense with graceful fury, using his weapon in smooth, precise arcs that met the pulsed energy of the crossed beams and used it as a repulsor. Vader was forced back a step.

"You always fought well," he said. "But your time is over, and has been for many years. You must return to your own era."

Maul didn't answer. He twisted his saber in a cartwheel, catching the edge of Vader's blade and sending it down. The old apprentice used the opportunity to somersault over Vader's head, putting himself closer to Sanctuary, further down the road. "I am ordered to retrieve the queen. The era in which I find myself doing so is of no concern."

Vader engaged him in a parry, trying to reverse their positions. "Whether or not your capture Amidala, your Master's vision will be fulfilled. She is incidental to him and to you."

"Then why protect her now?"

Vader tried to formulate an answer -- in fact, his protection of Amidala was as pointless as Maul's aggressive stance toward her. Whether or not Maul captured her, she would set Palpatine on the road to Empire. And whether or not Vader protected her now, she would die later.

But not until after Luke was born. He could not allow the despair ove

 

Okay, just so you guys know I'm working on a longer post, that I'll try and get up tomorrow...
Up!

 

Man, Kit doesn't know about the timeline, so if Amidala grills him on Vader/Anakin she may find out more than she needs to...

 

Anakin had gotten tired of trying to break his lock subtly. So, he had just broken the kitchen droid and started smashing the door open. Five minutes later, he was done.

I should have done this in the beginning. Much easier!

After exiting the nice prison cell (And if that wasn't at opposites, he wasn't sure what was), he starting running. He never got why people on holodramas and stuff would just walk when they were escaping. That just made it much easier for them to get caught. Maybe that was the point.

Slowing down as he passed a corner, he saw a small room with a partially closed door. Peering in, he saw a gnarled old human holo talking to that Captain.

The Captain was kneeling and kept his eyes on the ground, something that Anakin knew meant the old guy was important. Whenever Watto was especially mad when he wrecked a pod or something, he just keep his eyes on the ground and called him Master. Worked every time.

Straining his eyes, he overheard Old Man saying, "I will be on Tatooine soon... Two days at the most. Just break in the prisoners. No food and no sleep should work for now."

"Of course, Emporer. And young Skywalker?"

Emporer? Luke and his friends are in it bad if there's an Emporer after them...[/i] With a small flinch the boy realized, And now I'm in it too!

Walking away, he resolved to find the Jedi and friends if he had to look through the whole compound.
************
Obi-Wan left the room, feeling a little depressed. I die struck down, not willing to fight... How fun for me.

After a few more minutes on this train of thought, he found a hand waving in front of his face. Catching it didn't require Jedi reflexes but holding in his blush when he figured out it was Leia's did.

Leia spoke calmly, a trait of a diplomat. "What about Qui-Gon and Luke?"

Obi-Wan could have told she really was concerned about Luke without the Force. Her voice tensed a little and her hands clenched. Irrelevant, but he had gotten good at noticing little things after Qui-Gon's focus on the Living Force.

"They have better locks then you." Obi-Wan gave a quick sardonic grin and turned out of the hallway.

"Should I be happy or insulted that I got a bad lock?" Obi-Wan glanced at her expression and had to put on his stoic-Jedi face to keep from laughing.

"If I were you, I'd be happy." As an afterthought he added, , she could imagine very well."Besides... People are always paranoid about what Jedi can do. Some holodrama I had to watch in the Jedi temple had Jedi teleporting and fighting entire armies without even trying to get peace! Can you imagine?"

From the blush on Leia's face, she had believed the movie's portrayal of Jedi to. When I get back, I'll ask Master Yoda what he can do about Jedi PR.

"So, instead of getting to breto ak them out the easy way, we need to find a computer accessable to the keycodes so we can break them out that way." Obi-Wan paused and took a quick glance to make sure the corrider was empty.

"It'd be easier to just find the code to open all prisoner doors at once, Obi-Wan." The statement was punctuated with a stare one expected from a Gamorean wrestler, not a petite young woman from Alderaan.

"Or we could do that."
******
Okay, i had a Darth Vader scene here but I really didn't like how it turned out... So, I'll edit and try to put it up later

 

There's another possibility with Kit -- he'll recognize a teenage Amidala and be able to figure out a thing or two... but he might not have any particular interest in preserving the timeline. After all, his job is looking after all the poor kids who've been left alone after the war.

Good post, Abigail. I think Qui-Gon really must discuss this break-and-smash philosophy with Anakin now. (I'll do a post in a few to get them out, though Lando, Sabe, and company still need something to do.)

[This message has been edited by JediGaladriel (edited 05-02-2000).]

 

This is too far from the top.
Movin' on up.

 

Let's keep this going! I don't want to see it die! Please, write more!!