Saga Knight Of Darkness-(V/P romance with a twist)AU(10/01) Rewrote the mush of the last post.

I'm so glad to see more of this story! I thought your characterization of Palpatine was very good, especially this line, "...if only he?d discovered him while he was younger then his apprentice would not have been diseased with these accursed sentiments." Though Palpatine seems to have Vader quite firmly under his thumb. I don't see a happy ending for our tragic lovers any time soon! I am looking forward to more of this story.

 

UP!!!!

 

excellent, keep up the good work.

 

Thanks guys. Very glad to see that folks are still reading this fic. I pormised the next post would come soon so here it is. From this point on I'll explore Vaders past, the events that drove a kind hearted little boy into the monster that he's becoming.


The flash back will last several posts but if for any reason you don't want to read all of it, skip the flash backs. A short summary of all the flashbacks will be posted at the end of the last flashback for those who don't want to read the full details of Vader's past.

******************************************************VVADER'S FLASHBACK #1

Post # 15-13


?Mom! Noooo!?

Vader woke up with the sound of his own screams. He looked around hurriedly to make sure no one had heard him and was relieved to find that he was the only occupant in the passenger cabin of the plush shauttle that was his official transport. He leaned back with a sigh. It had been so long since he?d had this horrible nightmare. To be honest, he told himself, he?d hardly thought about his mother since embarking on Palpatine?s sacred mission. A slight twinge of guilt pricked at his conciousness. He tried to brush it aside as he?d always done before. A Sith must not be encumbered by superflous emotions he told himself. But strangely this time it would not go.

?Would you want the same fate for your daughter or your wife that Shmi suffered!?

The Emperor?s words rang incessantly in Vaders head. He shuddered at the thought of Padmé-a slave, being abused, raped? The thought almost made him scream again. Never he thought. Never will I be weak again.

He turned his head and came face to face with his own reflection in the portside window. He stared back at the man, no it was a thirteen years old staring back at him. The young boy wore patched and dirty clothes. Half of his face, one eye and hand was wrapped in bloody bandages. But the boy seemed full of enthusiasm, full of promise for the future and full of revenge for the murder of his mother. All he wanted to do was kill the person responsible.

How long ago had that been To VAder it seemed like a life time ago and still it seemed only like yesterday. He shut his eyes tight, he wanted the images to go away. But they flowed into his memory like the flow of a broken dam, drowning him in the blood and tears of his past.
*******************

Tatooine, 10 years ago.


Before he opened his eyes, Anakin felt the damp coldness of the hard floor under him. His head felt like it had been bludgeoned with a tusken gaffi stick. Slowly he looked around the semi dark room. The sight that greeted him almost made him throw up. The room was littered with dead bodies. There were four at least, with either their windpipes torn out or their hearts ripped out. Some had their heads twisted into unnatural positions and hands that were twisted like knotted rope. He grimaced at the grotesque sight.

Then he heard a moan. Anakin jerked his head toward a limp form somewhere in the far corner of the room. Hurriedly he scooted over towards his mother, pushing away lifeless hands and feet that blocked his path.

Shmi Skywalker?s face and hands were covered in blood and so were her clothes, or what remained of the torn and tattered rags that were left on her. A large puddle of blood was forming where she lay.

?Mom! I?m sorry?I,? Anakin said in a hushed tone, tears streaming down his face.
?Run?Ani,? Shmi whispered in a hoarse voice.
?No! Mom,? He said as he gathered her in his arms. ?I can?t leave you here to these animals.?

Shmi tried to protest, ?Please Anakin they will kill you, run while you can, my son.?

Anakin ignored her pleas; pulling a cloak from one of the fallen men he wrapped his mother in it then lifted her gently. He was rather tall for his age, much taller than the average thirteen-year-old was. Though he did not seem very muscular, he was incredibly strong, owing in most part to his hard life as a junk scavenger. Besides Shmi didn?t weigh as much as she once did.

Holding his mother close to him h

 

It will be very interesting to see Vader's past and why he makes the choices he does.

 

POST #16


He stopped when he came to the last house. A wider street stood between the house he stood on and the one across. He knew he would not be able to clear the distance, not with his mother in his arms.

Anakin heard voices in the street below him. He had to keep low, already dusk was setting in and the sky was a riot of red and orange, soon it would be dark then he could sneak away. Looking around, he found a discarded machinery crate in one corner of the roof. It was too small for the two of them, but he managed somehow to squeeze in with his mother.

?Kill him on sight!? He heard a voice say, ?This is a dangerous murderer we have here, and he killed four of my men with his bare hands.?

Anakin peered out through a small chink in the wooden wall of the crate; the street was directly below him. The boy?s eyes slanted into narrow slits and his nostrils began to flare when he saw whom the voice belonged to. ?Rami Caisa,? his mother?s owner, the man responsible for the pain and humiliation that his mother had suffered.

The sight of the squat man infuriated him and made his blood boil. Anakin wished to spring upon him and kill him this very minute. But of coarse that was something he could not do now, at the moment he had to think of getting his mother somewhere safe.

He looked at Shmi, she was barely breathing as she rested her head against her son?s chest. Tears began to stream down his cheeks as he looked down at the broken form of his loving mother.

?Stay with me Mom,? He begged, ?Just a little longer. Once I get you to Old maci?s you?ll be just fine,? He whispered as he hugged her body gently caressing her shoulders.

It was almost dark but the search was not over. Anakin stiffened when he heard footsteps nearby, he learned forward and peered through the cracks in the wall opposite to him. He saw three men searching the roof with glowlamps. Anakin closed his eyes and prayed.

He kept himself alert and thought of what he would do if he were to be discovered, which was very little, since the men were armed.

After a while he heard the men speak among them selves.

?He?s not here, maybe he?s managed to sneak into the streets,?
?What about Shane?s place, did someone check there??
?What about Watto? junkyard? Bet you a thousand druggats he?s hiding there somewhere,?
?Yea! Your right lets try Watoo?s junkyard,?
?They can?t go too far from the city or they?ll go boom,?
?BTW what are we gonna do with the money that devil Rami has promised for the slave?s capture,?

They were still discussing that as they left the roof, their voices receding slowly till the roof was silent again.

Anakin let out a heavy breath but he did not move out until it was all quite below.

 

I'll be posting soon, just tell me if it gets boring, I'll cut the flashback.

 

Not sure how I missed the updates on this one. Glad I saw it listed on the Ani/Ami index! I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

 

VaderL-Can't blame ya! After the immense gaps in between posts.

 

Oooohhh, I didn't know you were updating again. I'm still here!

 

Glad to see that you're still around. Sarah. As you know this is a repost and I'm trying to transfer the rest of the fic here, though not as fast as I would like, but I've updated to the original thread too, with brand new posts check it out.(click the link in my sig)

 

POST NO# 17

Anakin peered out cautiously from the shadows of the dark alley. He was almost at the edge of town. So far, he had evaded the numerous one and two man search teams, spread out all across town looking for him.

The street before him was deserted. The citizens of Mos Espa had retired early to escape the cold wind that descended upon the town as soon as the two suns set.

A shrill whistle cut through the silence, the signal the search parties used to communicate with one another. Anakin cocked his head; it came from afar, which meant that it was safe to make it to the next alley. Silently he flitted across the wide street and promptly disappeared into the shadows of a side lane on the other side.

The young teenager ran on noiselessly, dodging over turned trashcans and open sewers. Sweat ran down his temple in spite of the cold, his burden becoming heavier by the minute.

One thought kept playing in his mind. He had to get his mother to Machi; he would know what to do. Machi was a tall heavily built human that Anakin had befriended in the local Cantina. He was a retired spacer who had decided to resign himself to the quite of the Mospic range-a rugged chain of mountains that veiled Mos Espa from the boiling sands of the Dune Sea. Machi was a good hunter and self-sufficient when it came to survival. However, it was mainly as a trapper that he made his living.

Anakin had learnt a lot from the man. He would drop by at his lonely hut at the foot of the mountains whenever he ventured into the Dune Sea, which was often, because of the nature of Anakin?s work. Sometimes the weather would turn foul or because of nightfall, then Anakin would stay at the hut until it was safe for him to travel again.


As an independent junk supplier, Anakin had to deal with Jawa?s who were found mostly this side of the mountains. He bought cheap scraped and broken items from them and after fixing or modifying it, he resold them to the junk dealers in town. He did not make much but it was better than working for nothing. Anakin saved each and every druggat in the hope of someday buying back his mother?s freedom.

Shmi, on her part always nagged him to leaving Tatooine and try his luck elsewhere. She knew her son was very gifted and his talents were being wasted here, but Anakin wouldn?t have it. The last time he had left his mother had been very traumatic for him. If he had to leave then it would be only with his mother.


A sharp whine jolted him out of his thoughts; he stepped back deeper into the shadows. Two, rather raucous, men atop a swoop bike made their way down the lane, the swoop passed leisurely past him. Anakin could see that the man driving was having a hard time controlling it. It was obvious that they were drunk.

They stopped at a door just a few paces from the fugitives. One of the men tottered down and went inside. Anakin heard an angry female voice scolding before the door closed, and then it was quite again in the dark alley. The boy waited for the other man to take off before he left the shadows, but the swoop just stood there. Curious Anakin laid his mother down then carefully sneaked towards the bike to have a closer look.

He was surprised to find the man slumped across the steering handle of the swoop, snoring away noisily. Anakin scratched the back of his neck as an idea struck him.

Moments later the drunkard lay in the shadows oblivious to the world minus his swoop bike and his cloak. ?This is fate,? Anakin decided as he helped his mother onto the swoop. Holding her in his arms he concealed her in the ample folds of the thick cloak then brought the hood down over his own face. A shrill whistle sounded somewhere near.

Anakin twisted the throttles to full, the swoop screamed sharply; but he kept the breaks jammed as he turned the swoop around slowly, his legs planted firmly on the ground.

?Stop!? A voice shouted, Anakin looked up and saw three men blocking his way out to the main road. This was his only way out; in a second he had decided his course. He released the br

 

Fanfiction post 18

Flattening his head against the rushing wind, Anakin knifed through the darkness. He could make out the faint dark shape of the jagged mountains in the dim glow of the waning moon. He could not afford to use the speeder lights, as it would definitely give away his position. He did not need the light anyway; instead he turned to his intuition and memory to guide him. Not only was this his familiar route to the Dune Sea, but it was also the route through which he had Pod raced so many times. Only this time he was flying in the opposite direction of the racetrack.

He could have gone faster but the load of two passengers was just too much for the battered old machine. The engine screamed in protested as he pushed the throttle forcing him to ease back. Anakin glanced back hurriedly. Far behind him, the dusky and barren flats were dotted with a number of pinpoints of light, which were growing larger by the seconds.

They are gaining, thought the boy as he twisted the throttle once more. He scanned the darkness for the narrow canyon that split the range in two, once inside the canyon he knew of countless gullies and crannies to hide in.

?He felt Shmi move against his chest, her hold tightening around his waist.

?Anakin! She whispered hoarsely against his ears, leave me and save you-self,?

?Hold on mom! He said screaming into the wind, ?We?ll be there soon.?

?The?transmitter,? She said haltingly.

?Mom! We?re still far from the Dune Sea, no need to worry,?

Anakin knew how far he could take her before the slave-tracking device would start buzzing to warn her that she was moving past the limit. Shmi had accompanied him many times as far as the edge of the Dune Sea.

Anakin was now almost inside the canyon, he glanced back one more time; his pursuers were, much closer now. However, he was confident he could shake them now that they were almost inside the Canyon.

?He?s reset it.?


Anakin thought he didn?t hear right. The wind whistling in his ears made Shmi?s voice distant and faint.

?What!? He shouted,

?The transmitter! Master Rami reset it,? Anakin jammed the brakes before she had finished the sentence.



?That slimy son of a rancour,? He hissed.




They were already inside the murky shadows of the Canyon. The tall jagged rocks, that a few minutes before had promised them sanctuary, now became their precursors of doom. Shmi held one hand to her head screaming with pain as a sharp buzzing cut through her brains.

The bike started to slow down. Anakin dragged his feet against the canyon floor in an attempt to bring it to a halt faster. His shoes skidded over the canyon floor with a loud scrapping sound, the bike veered out of control and they slammed sideways into the canyon wall.

The device had a three minutes warning buzz before it exploded.
Immediately he revved up the engine and turned the vehicle around back in the direction of Mos Espa.

He advanced only a few meters before he heard the collective roar of the speeder bikes that were on his tail. Anakin had enough time to turn into a narrow gully before the group turned the corner and came into view.

The posse sped past, showering them with dust and grit as they crouched in the shadows of a huge boulder. Anakin began to move even before the dust settled; suddenly Shmi?s hold slackened around his waist and her body went limp in his arms.

He froze; the sounds of the speeder bikes faded in the distance.

?Mom,? he said in a heavy whisper. ?Mom, are you alright. Please we can make it back to town, don?t give up.? He was met with a deathly silence.

?No God! No!? He thought as he dismounted the bike and hastily carried her to a lighted clearing further inside the gully. Quickly he uncovered her face. A faint light from the waning moon fell on a deathly white face, it shone on the thick dark liquid that streamed from Shmi?s nose, spilling down her cheek and neck.

?No!? Anakin said, shaking his head in disbelief.
?Mom!? you can?t leave me. Please mom,? he pleaded, his voi

 

Oh how sad! Good chapter! Obviously Ani must survive this encounter, but I am looking forward to reading how he gets out of this.

 

awsome , quick question though is Knight of Darkness Vader on fanfic.net ahead on updates than this one?

 

Yes, fanfiction.net is ahead in updates but the classic fanfiction thread is where it gets updated first.

I'll be updating soon.

 

POST # 19

Anakin lay motionless, his head resting against his mother?s lifeless body. His arm slung across her waist as he sobbed softly into her clothes. He stared up listlessly at the dark jagged edges of the canyon wall contrasting against the velvet sky; Dark sentinels that seem to look down upon his misery and helplessness with contempt and loathing.

He stiffened suddenly. His ears perked up, as he strained to hear above the soft whistling of the wind racing through the gully. He caught the sound of far off engines roaring in the distance.

He sat up, unsure, whether to run deeper into the gully or just stay put. It was possible, he thought, that the bounty hunters might have given up the search and decided to go back to town or? they might be coming back for him.

Then he realized that Rami would have an idea where the tracking device would explode. Terror stricken, he quickly gathered his mother in his arms and scurried away deeper into the shadows.

Anakin looked for an opening, possibly into an adjoining gully. The path ahead had tapered into a narrow lane. He feared that if he could not find an opening he would end up in a dead end.

He groaned when he hit a wall. Anakin put his burden down and with trembling fingers groped for an opening, only solid rock greeted him all around there was no escape. He looked upwards for a way out, but the sheer sides of the canyon stretched high up above him without a break.

The silence was broken by cacophony of compulsive voices. The young boy sat by his mother, whispering to himself to stay calm, Even if they were anywhere near, he thought to himself In the darkness the advantage was his .

He looked down at his mother; he could barely see her in the darkness. He imagined she was calmly asleep unblemished and untainted by the savagery of this life. He ran his fingers against the withered skin of her face. The voices were getting closer.

What if they catch me?[i/] he thought, a tremor of panic passing through him. What about my mother? He was certain they would leave her behind to be devoured by animals.



Falling to his knees, he began to frantically claw at the hard ground with his bare hands. He found a rock and used it to loosen the packed dirt. The scratching and scraping would surely give him away, suddenly that did not matter so much. All that mattered now was to give his mother a decent burial.

The search went well into the night. Anakin?s hands bled as his skin caught against unseen shards of rock and shale. But the urgency of his work made him oblivious to his pain and to the voices surrounding him.

There was a sudden clamor. He stopped, pricking his ears. ?Dang! They found the bike, that?ll lead them right to me,? He thought as he stood up, breathing heavily. He was sweating from the arduous labor. He looked at the shallow pit he had excavated, it was not deep enough but he didn?t have anymore time.

?Good-bye mom,? He whispered as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. Lovingly he covered her face with the folds of the borrowed cloak and then laid her into the pit. There was no time for grief or long good-byes. He got on his knees hurriedly collecting rocks and stones and piling them on top of his mother?s body. He did not look back; behind him a wavering spot of light hit the wall. Then it was full upon him.

?He?s here men!?

The air was suddenly filled with the shrill sound of whistles as they signaled the others to stop searching.

?Still got some fight left in you, pedunkle.? The first man sneered pointing the powerful glowlight right into his face. Suddenly the boy charged, kicking the light out of the man?s hands by the time they retrieved the light, Anakin was gone.

?The wall!? One of them shouted.
The light caught the boy, scrambling precariously up the sheer wall, and moving fast, his fear and instinct for survival driving him.

?I?ll get him,? The first man said, as he reached for his blaster. Aiming he shot. A heart-piercing scream split the ai

 

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Another good chapter.

 

Thanks dally.

 

VADER'S FLASHBACK

Post # 20

Anakin braced himself for the expected jolt and the accompanied pain. He saw the bike shoot off, watched with dread each coil of tumbled rope unfurl and run after the maniac. The rope grew taut; Anakin hugged himself tight and closed his eyes. He vowed that he would not scream this time. However, the gut-wrenching tug never came.

The rope must have broken Anakin thought, as he opened his eyes. The raucous crowd was silent as all eyes focused on a dark figure that stood tall over a low mound.

?Who are you?? Rami sneered, ?How dare you interfere in my affairs.?

?Let the boy go or else??? A thick gruff voice said.

?Or what? Old man,? Rami snorted.

?Or else I will kill you all,? The dark shadow said, his voice cold as the winds of Hoth.

Anakin?s head jerked back with sudden recognition. ?Machi!? He yelled.

Machi raised a hand to acknowledge him.

Rami began to laugh hysterically. ?What! Do you think you can scare me with this spectacle of yours? I really don?t think so. We outnumber you one to fifteen old man, you?ll be dead before you lift a finger.?

?Let the boy go!? Machi insisted.

?You asked for it, old timer,? Rami said reaching for his blaster, ?You?re in luck boys! The first man that riddles this freak will earn another bounty.? All the bounty hunters reached out for their blasters.

?Nooo! Machi run! They?ll kill you! Run!? Anakin screamed as he struggled to stand up but fell down head over heels because his feet were still tied up.

Suddenly the quite canyon was ablaze with dozens of blaster bolts, all of them shooting at the same spot. Anakin watched horrified, but the look of horror changed to astonishment and pleasant wonder when out came a familiar but unexpected weapon from under his friend?s robes.

The red blade flashed wildly cutting short the lines of mostly blue that screamed towards the big dark figure. Anakin stared in utter disbelief as his friend came closer. He was no longer afraid for him. The hunters too seemed surprised, some of them fell back, but the bold and foolish ones charged ahead. The old trapper cut them down like cream cake. Others who thought themselves more clever by taking cover in the ravines found out how useless their intelligence was against a Sith, when an avalanche of boulders bore down upon them entombing them in their safe havens.

Anakin watched, awed as the Sith danced with the lightsaber, his action fluid and smooth. He couldn?t believe a man as old as Machi could fight at all leave alone so effortlessly. He was distracted for an instant from the fight by a sudden movement to the right of him, Rami had backed away furtively and preparing to mount his bike just a few paces from where Anakin sat. The youngster sprang up and dived forward. He could not let this rancour evade punishment.

As Rami swung one leg over his bike, something caught his other foot, looking down he found the boy had clung to it. The fat slaver kicked viciously at the boy but Anakin would not let go. Rami knew a Sith when he saw one, fifteen not even fifty men with ordinary blasters were a match for a Sith. Desperate the slave-owner dug into his pocket then lashed out at the little menace that prevented his escape. Anakin screamed at he grabbed his face in both his hands.

The Sith came running to his aid. ?Get him, please don?t let him go!? Anakin yelled.

?You?re injured,? Machi replied as he pulled away Anakin?s hands from his bloodied face.

?Get him.? Anakin said trying to keep his head up. But Machi stayed put. ?Be patient son, Rami shall pay for his deeds in due time.?

Anakin heard the big man cursed as he shone the glow light onto his battered face. ?My? mother?? Anakin said haltingly, before oblivion claimed him.

 

UP!

 

POST NO 21


Anakin squinted in the sharp light coming from the one window in the room. For a moment, he thought he had been dreaming-that it had been a bad nightmare. But the sharp bolt of pain that seared through every inch of his being was an instant reminder of how real the unfortunate events of the past night were.

He recognized Machi?s hut. He had slept here many a nights while storms raged outside. He tried moving his head and was rewarded with another shot of pain, the intensity of it making him light headed. Machi came in with a tray; Anakin wondered how the old trapper knew he was awake.

?Did you kill him?? Anakin asked him, momentarily, forgetting the blistering pain that clung to him.

?No!? Machi said bluntly. Anakin sagged down into his pillow, disheartened. Machi could see the boys crumbling faith in the scheme of things, reflected in his one blue eye that peeped out from under the heavy bandages covering most of his face and head.

?I cannot?we cannot let him get away with it.? Anakin said in a soft piteous tone,?

Machi sat down, precariously balancing himself on the edge of the bed. ?No one can elude a Sith for long, I will find him no matter what, I promise you.? He placed a big but gentle hand on top of the mound of bandages that covered Anakin?s hand.

He saw the boy smile slowly, one side of his lips raised just a bit. A strange light lit up the boy?s eye as it lingered on the old man. It was filled with admiration, awe and trust. The Sith knew the boy was trying hard to overcome his emotions, to stop the tears.

Anakin swallowed hard as the tears stung his eyes. He closed his eye shut and let his body relax. How much had changed in one night, he thought, Suddenly nothing was as it should be, everything that he?d learnt all these years seemed false and insincere. All those walls and structures of what he was, what his mother had made him, all had crashed to the ground with one swing of that red saber.

Qui-Gon had explained to him that the Jedi were of the light side and they represented the good and the Sith were evil. Yet his experience told him other wise. The Jedi, he had found out, were blunt and arrogant. They saw the pain and misery that infested the wounds of this planet, but the moment they had what they wanted they went their way. Who else knew better than them that slavery was unlawful? That it was a crime against humanity. That it was a crime to not only buy and sell slaves but also to look the other way. He wished to take his mother?s mutilated body and lay it before those cold and heartless beings, who paraded themselves as guardians of justice.

He thought of Padmé. Thinking of her had always brought calm and contentment to his miserable existence. She had told him her caring for him would remain, all these years he had believed her but now his faith, even in her, was shattered. She could have helped if she had cared even a little. She was a handmaiden close to the Queen, if she had wanted, Anakin thought, she could get the Queen to help free his mother; buy her freedom from Watto. But he had not received even a letter or a message from her. He swallowed as he looked upon the world without colored shades. A dirty slave boy and a sophisticated lady of the court, in his mind more of those walls came crashing down.

This time the tears rolled down his grimy face. Loosing those dreams and fantasies really hurt. Padmé?s specter, her image that nestled in his heart and her promise, false, as it was, had been like treasures of light in his dark world; lighting his little corner when the gloom seemed to overpower him. But, now the light was gone-fading like the light of a withering sun as the night swallows it into its gloom, her mocking laughter echoing in the empty canyons.

No one had come for them, except an old, worn man, who did not have the resources of a whole order behind him nor the riches and armies of a Queen. He had, had the mettle to stand up for him, facing a whole band of gangsters and probably courting Jabba?s wrath as well. It was so unfor

 

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Oops! I missed more updates! Keep posting, we're reading!