Ring of Fire - The Final Story in Anakin's Saga - Author's final replies and goodbyes 2/23

Good to see this one again. Have I mentioned I like your Sabé?

And Anakin is focused on Padmé as always?

Looking forward to more.

Stupid DRL made me miss 2 posts... Ok here's my semi-sporadic responses:

?My compassion is worthless unless I am allowed to act on it!?

And that, in a nutshell, describes the problem with the Jedi Counsel.

I just love your charecterization of everything, geo3, and your unflinching way of showing the cruelty that Kenobi has to inflict in war.

Ooh, this last post look familiar. I love how you integrated them.

Thinking was done. It was time to act.

Another great line, a perfect snapshot of Anakin's impatience.

Padmé didn?t know whether to be sorry for Dellia, or furious with her, so she decided to be both. Just for good measure, she added in a little irritation at herself and her incautious haste.

Haha, that's a nice difference than how you had her react last time. So... Padme ish!

The juxtaposition of Padme's boredom w/ Anakin's excitment is eerie!

Darth_Lex Good to see this one again. Have I mentioned I like your Sabé?

Thanks! And yes, once or twice

bobilll ?My compassion is worthless unless I am allowed to act on it!? ?And that, in a nutshell, describes the problem with the Jedi Counsel.

Well I certainly think so. By committing themselves to fight this war, they have lost a great deal of their autonomy and ability to act according to their creed.

I just love your characterization of everything, geo3, and your unflinching way of showing the cruelty that Kenobi has to inflict in war.

Thank you!

Ooh, this last post look familiar. I love how you integrated them.

There are a few more of these familiar bits to come. Bear with me.

Thinking was done. It was time to act?Another great line, a perfect snapshot of Anakin's impatience.

*sigh* Sometimes I wish he would just get a grip...

Haha, that's a nice difference than how you had her react last time. So... Padme ish!

Thanks! This time around, she?s the one who was responsible for hiring Dellia back on at the last minute?

The juxtaposition of Padmé?s boredom w/ Anakin's excitement is eerie!

Well, really, it?s Sabé who?s bored. Padmé has got her head down and is working hard.

Thanks for checking in!

This week?s post is up below.

As most of my regular readers know, as a courtesy I generally PM everyone who has shown interest in my story by replying to the last post or two. But I don't want to badger anyone. So, if you wish to continue receiving PM's, please let me know. If I don't hear from you, I'll take you off my list and you need never be bothered again...

Here is this week's post. Once again, we have something old and something new...



Chapter 5. Secrets and Surprises (Part II)


The hyperspace jump to a point just beyond the Breva system, one of the Corellia system?s many secretive ?Outlier? systems, was a relatively short one. Anakin spent the entire time down inside the Nav pit of the Victorious while the Star Destroyer?s Captain stalked the walkways overhead.

Together with the Victorious? chief Nav officer Anakin poured over layers and layers system charts for Corellia and the areas immediately adjacent to its borders. Nothing was too small or too routine to engage his interest; he absorbed everything he could about trade routes, industrial clusters, transportation hubs, communications relay stations and the overlapping nets they cast. Every layer of detail, whether small and incomplete or large and comprehensively documented, was of interest to him.

When Anakin looked at the charts over the Nav officer?s shoulder, he probably was seeing quite different things than the soldier was. Where the officer saw political boundaries Anakin saw only directionless space with an infinite number of possibilities for traversing it. Where the Nav officer saw charted jump trajectories and trade routes, Anakin speculated about the secret jump lanes that had been used for centuries by those who didn?t want to be found. Where the Nav officer saw overlapping coverage from the beams and pulses of a huge range of defense and communications networks, Anakin saw the gaps between the signals and their weak points.

The flame meditation that he had concluded so recently had revealed to him ? reminded him, really ? of something very important: there were no boundaries in space. Not really. Anything that called itself a boundary or a border was a conceit of those who thought that a vacuum, an empty abyss, could be owned or controlled. To the person who wanted to get somewhere badly enough, there was always going to be a way over, under, around or through. So while the Nav officer looked at the data and charts before him seeing the lines and links and substance of the known universe, Anakin was much more interested in judging the spaces in between.

Absorbed as he was in the information before him, Anakin was startled when another ship-wide klaxon marked the near-end of the Victorious? hyperspace jump.

Almost there.

Anakin gave some final instructions to the Nav officer and, bypassing the short ladder provided for the purpose, lightly hoisted himself onto the walkway above the Nav pit. Very lightly. The officer he?d been working with glanced up at him with a startled look on his face, but then quickly turned back to his console.

Without bothering to update the Victorious? Captain on his activities, Anakin hurried back to his sleeping cabin in a kind of controlled sprint. Stopping in front of the mute holo-projector, he composed a very brief word-only message that contained specific set of coordinates and a two-word text, and programmed the machine to transmit the message at the earliest possible moment after the Victorious everted to realspace.

Meet me. The words held their form in his heart even as the machine disassembled them into a signal that it sent out into the aether.

That done, Anakin threw himself onto his bunk face up with his hands clasped behind his head, and struggled with the most difficult task of all: waiting. It was something he never had mastered properly in the best of circumstances. Waiting to see Padmé was enough to make him feel like jumping out of his own skin.

Fortunately it wouldn?t be long now.

*

Padmé ushered Dellia into th

He paused at the top of the ramp, looked the Senator from the Naboo system over openly and appreciatively, and smiled a very crooked, very pleased smile.

Captain Typho groaned.

Padmé put her hands on her hips. ?Anakin Skywalker,? she began, but before she could get out another word he had reached her with two last long strides and greeted her with a kiss that made everyone else in the hatch bay look away uncomfortably.

Awww! Lovely mush and post! I like how Anakin planned his entrance!

Of course I'd love to recieve PMs!

JS

Amazingly enough, I have control of my PC for the moment...


Lovely wonderful chapter as always my freind, and I demand PM updates!!!


Please???

Oh yes!!! Loved it .. just loved it again and again.. I would die without PMs for this fanfic. This made my Sunday afternoon so 'right'. He is such a cutie and I do recall this and loved it the first time.. what a devil he is getting folks all worked up. Now I can expect a chapter that has a different meaning to the 'all worked up' phrase

Found this a few days ago and got caught up just in time for this post. A wonderfully crafted story you have going here.

I love the little 'surprise' entrance by Anakin. Well thought out. You do his character well.

Great post. I like Anakin?s reflections at the beginning on the fact that there are no boundaries in space. I keep thinking of the ROTJ novelization in which he talks about the ?freedom of deep space?.

Hmmm?Dellia seems ungrateful considering what she has been offered. I wonder what she?s up to.


Then Anakin's conversation with Palpatine:

It was remarkable how quickly the heat in his veins turned cold when the crystal-clear holo-image of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic appeared before him.

[Qui-Gon]Anakin?trust your instincts.[/Qui-Gon]

So Palpatine seems to suspect that Anakin is on to his misdeeds. This can?t be a good thing.


I remember the scene in which Anakin boards Padmé?s ship?it?s one of my favorites of everything you?ve written, especially this line:

Padmé put her hands on her hips. ?Anakin Skywalker,? she began, but before she could get out another word he had reached her with two last long strides and greeted her with a kiss that made everyone else in the hatch bay look away uncomfortably.



What a relief for Padmé to get that kind of surprise when she thought something was wrong.


Yes, I definitely want the PM updates.

Wow, that was a long post!

Well, if we needed any more evidence that ?ends justifies means? Vader is on the ascendance in Anakin?s personality, we?ve got it. He?ll do all this just to see Padmé again? That said, his interdiction of the Naboo delegation was totally worth it, if only to imagine the look on Typho?s face.

Dellia? I have a bad feeling about this.

I also remember this post from A Singular Touch, and I remember someone saying that this boarding reminded them of Vader's boarding of Leia's ship in ANH.

That makes me wonder: at this point, Anakin is so far from trusting Palpy that it's not even funny (good Ani!); he's very suspicious of his intentions and thinks of him when things go awry. Soooo...how are you going to make this Ani become Palpatine's servant? I always thought of Ani as the chief receiver of Palpy's deception, probably having had his head messed with since he landed on the platform in Coruscant in TPM. This makes me think that Ani would be completely blinded to Palpatine's intentions and nature, and would go along with him and trust him until it's too late and he's total Vader-y. But here, in this (fabulous) AU of yours, we have a slightly more with-it Ani, an Ani who doesn't trust him...how is that going to work? How is Palpatine going to keep messing with his head? And most importantly, does what I'm saying make any sense or am I just babbling?

Anyway, you certainly don't have to answer these questions; actually you probably shouldn't. I'm just pondering...oh, and yes to the PMs!!!

- PS

Please do keep me on your PM list!

Nice reading Anakin's big entrance again .

--MissPadme

Standing at the foot of the gangway was a single, tall figure draped in a dark cloak. Even before the gangway was fully lowered, and ignoring any requirements of protocol, he jumped lightly onto the ramp and strode up to meet them. He paused at the top of the ramp, looked the Senator from the Naboo system over openly and appreciatively, and smiled a very crooked, very pleased smile.

Captain Typho groaned.

Padmé put her hands on her hips. ?Anakin Skywalker,? she began, but before she could get out another word he had reached her with two last long strides and greeted her with a kiss that made everyone else in the hatch bay look away uncomfortably.

Awwwww.....that was definitely a surprise that Padme wasn't expecting....but probably needed! And yes, I want the PM chapters too!!!!

PM updates are happy but either way I'll find your thread

Two quotes I liked:

Meet me.

Of course, he doesnt' describe where or when which causes lots of problems... but it's still quite Anakin-ish... passionate and veiled.

This was a personnel issue, not a personal one

I had to read that twice before I got it... loved how you messed with the spellings of those two words; makes the juxtaposition so much better.

More unorganized comments:

Oy, Delia disturbs me... why so ungratified? Maybe she's onto Anakin's prank... or she doesn't like what Padme did and thinks Padme has to make it up to her? hum...

Love how Anakin's so wary of Palpatine... It always bothered me when Anakin is portrayed as turning to the Dark Side just because Palpatine was nice to him... this shows that he sees past that.

Humbug, I take it Palpy still hates Anakin and PAdme being together... it's strange cuz he's the one who set them up in the first place! hum...

Oy, Anakin's boarding thing was very... either very calculated or very tactless... Strangely reminiscent of Han getting boarded right before Ep 4

Well, I'm definently understanding Sabe when she says taht Anakin's a bad influence on Padme...

Yes, please send me PMs!

Oh, Anakin, you have some wicked sense of humor !!

I loved the post! Both the Anakin and Padme scenes were great!

Ah...Anakin's little 'invasion' of the Naboo ship was one of my favourite parts of the old fanfic. It was nice reading both the old and the new again.

?Thank you, My Lady,? Dellia said, taking Padmé?s generous offer as though it were her right. There seemed to be more triumph than gratitude in her eyes.
Bad vibes here!

?You?re the Commander of this Battle Group??
I could just imagine Typho's tone!

-I don't mind PM's, but you don't need to send me. With the movie right around the corner I'm on the boards regularly.

After a post like this you better you bippy that I want to stay on the PM list.

I remember much of this from the its previous incarnation, and just like before ,the meeting between Padme and Dellia made my blood run cold. I just don't trust her and what could be going on behind her eyes.

At the same time, the reunion of Anakin and Padme made me giddy as a school girl. He's such a scamp when it comes to his wife sometimes. The back and forth between how he has to act to try and stay ahead of Palpatine and his more relaxed state with his wife is dizzying. This small moment between them was a welcome respite to what we know is to come.

I can certainly understand the ship's officers' resentment of Anakin - no formal place in the chain-of-command, moving the group and not telling the captain why - not things that make one popular among the officer corps.

We can definitely see Anakin's "the ends justifies the means" attitude here - except that he has his own personal goals here, not the what he perceives to be a greater good. Despite his overall good intentions and generous heart, Anakin can be incredibly selfish and self-centered at times, and Palpatine, as we see in this scene, has no problems taking advantage of that.

It was remarkable how quickly the heat in his veins turned cold when the crystal-clear holo-image of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic appeared before him.

He wasn't the only one. Goodness, geo3 - the way you write Palpatine makes my skin crawl just reading him. Which, in case you can't tell, is a compliment.

His fighting instincts kicked in. The best way to deal with a feint was with an on-point counterattack.

Anakin tried to imitate the bland tone that Palpatine often used to such good effect. ?As it happens, Your Excellency, the Naboo Delegation is on its way to Coruscant as we speak. I?m certain that from my position here I could arrange to rendezvous with my wife?s ship.?

The fighter till the last! Vintage Skywalker Lovely chapter.

I love how Anakin will come up with new military strategies just in order to see Padmé. Your characterization of him, as always, is absolutely flawless. It's a bit disconcerting that he's opening himself up to Palpatine's council, even though he seems to be getting the hint about what the Chancellor really is. He can't help it, though--he's accessing powers he never knew were possible before, and he likes the taste of it. *Sigh* Anakin, just go home to your wife.

The tension with Padmé and Dellia was certainly thick. They are both in a similar predicament, of course, but for the moment Padmé has her husband.

Of course, my favorite part is the reunion of our ill-fated lovers. I can just see Padmé trying so hard to seem exasperated with him when all she really wants to do is jump into his arms. Even though their moments together are all too brief, you make them so very worthwhile.

BTW, I would like to continue receiving PM notification when this fic is updated.

Fabulous update. I am a bit suspicious of Delia and her lofty attitute toward her situation. She seems like the type who puts on a strong exterior, but is really splintered and frail. Loved the reunion of Anakin and Padme. I always chuckle when I read it.

Oh, and of course I want to stay on the PM list

Outlier

Prospective candidate for short-term favorite word? You bet your sweet bippy. Outlier. It just...it rolls off the tongue. Nice.

Nothing was too small or too routine to engage his interest

Curiosity becomes obsession. Desire becomes compulsion. It's strange, but the way Anakin is starting to compartmentalize the episodes in his life reminds me of addictive behavior. He's becoming addicted to control.


there were no boundaries in space.

Are any boundaries real? To me, they are just manufactured behaviorial constructs. Walls can be smashed, laws can be broken. Pants can split. Even so, it's a nice metaphor for a setting that's becoming more and more chaotic.

Waiting to see Padmé was enough to make him feel like jumping out of his own skin.

Because he misses her and loves her? Sure. But consider this; Anakin recognizes, consciously or not, that Padme is in very real danger of death every second he is away from her.
What he doesn't realize is that this threat of doom is magnified, not minimized by his presence at her side. Really, if he wanted her to survive, he'd essentially have to ignore her. Of course, that's a two way street. I doubt Padme--especially in this universe--could ignore Anakin. He is her Reason. She's his too, but in this G3 canon, Padme, interestingly, seems more intrinsically desperate to be with Anakin. Yes, Anakin is desperate. No doubt of that. But Padme's desperation seems...deeper than Anakin's somehow. Moreso than the typical young love trappings of love notes and gazing reminisciently at the ceiling of your room. I think Padme understands on some level that she's living on borrowed time. And that time is running out. Hence, her desperation.

the crystal-clear holo-image of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic appeared before him.

Talk about a buzz kill.

Breathe, Anakin reminded himself while his mind raced. Now talk.

Note to self: Print Anakin a set of cue cards.

?What??

Ha. You don't know everything. Feel the burn of human limitation.

?I see?

OR

You did know, but you were just testing Anakin to see whether he'd own up or not. If he'd make the mistake of lying.

Holy ambiguous Batman!

?I?m very glad that you saw fit to follow my advice. What have you found??

Interesting that Anakin could indulge in the dark side and not even be aware of it. Maybe he is aware, and he just doesn't give a hoot about the moral scruples anymore? No. I don't think we're there yet. We're on the road though.
This says a lot about the nature of the dark side, as well. Specifically relating to power, and how the darkness exhibits its hold not through domination but through seduction. And perhaps ignorance on the part of Anakin.

There's an emergent dichotomy in Anakin that reveals itself in his dealings with Palpatine. Of course, it offers a picture of what (not who) he will become, but the change in his vocabulary and diction, as well as his presentation and demeanor also reveal that had he not had the vulnerability of his connection to Padme--which, paradoxically and by proxy becomes his salvation at the end of the OT--he could've bested Palpatine on his own. If his focus wasn't calculatedly diverted. It's nice to see that he's catching on, albeit too little too late. He could've been his own master. Instead, he's on the way to becoming a lapdog.

Good chapter. I enjoyed it very much. The cut-and-paste segments from ASToG are a little irksome, but the story wouldn't work without them. Still, I adore the new material, and it's refreshing to see some of my favorite segments from the progenitor story.

Oh, and keep the PMs coming if you wouldn't mind. Things're getting a little hectic down here and sometimes a little prodding is in order.

first things first:
Put me on that PM list (if I only had a nickle for everytime I'vewritten that this week!)

Secondly:

Amazing post. You have an amazing ability to capture A&P's voices and describe the anxiety and tension they are feeling. That was an Uber post! Long, chuck ful of great feeling and emotion and and and...I jsut don't even know what else to say now.

Darth Toddler and Sith Sister are oh so patiently waiting for dinner so I'll have to reply more later.

Please put me on your PM list, please please!

What can I say, this is one of my favorite A/P fictions. More soon?

Thanks, everyone! I now have a good solid list of people who I KNOW would like to receive a PM notification when I update, so I can do it with a clear conscience knowing that I?m not annoying anyone. If you?d like to be added to the list, just tell me.

Thanks also for your willingness to re-read previously read scenes! I applaud your patience and I am grateful for your attention.

jazz_skywalker Awww! Lovely mush and post! I like how Anakin planned his entrance!

Thanks, I?m glad you enjoyed it!

DarthBreezy Lovely wonderful chapter as always my friend?

Thank you!

qinguak Oh yes!!! Loved it? just loved it again and again.. I would die without PMs for this fanfic. This made my Sunday afternoon so 'right'. He is such a cutie and I do recall this and loved it the first time? what a devil he is getting folks all worked up.

I get the same kick out of writing these bits?

Now I can expect a chapter that has a different meaning to the 'all worked up' phrase ?

Hmmm? I?ll see what I can do...

Jedi_BMK Found this a few days ago and got caught up just in time for this post. A wonderfully crafted story you have going here.

Thank you, and welcome!

I love the little 'surprise' entrance by Anakin. Well thought out. You do his character well.

Thanks!

anakin_girl Great post. I like Anakin?s reflections at the beginning on the fact that there are no boundaries in space. I keep thinking of the ROTJ novelization in which he talks about the ?freedom of deep space.?

Anakin gives me the impression that he doesn't like boundaries and strictures...

Hmmm?Dellia seems ungrateful considering what she has been offered. I wonder what she?s up to.

She does, doesn?t she?

[Qui-Gon]Anakin?trust your instincts.[/Qui-Gon]

In a way he is? he?s being very, very careful. But of course that?s not how we would like to see him act on those instincts.

So Palpatine seems to suspect that Anakin is on to his misdeeds. This can?t be a good thing.

Nothing to do with Palpatine is a good thing!

I remember the scene in which Anakin boards Padmé?s ship?it?s one of my favorites of everything you?ve written?

Thanks! Mine, too. That?s why I risked boring you by repeating it here.

What a relief for Padmé to get that kind of surprise when she thought something was wrong.

She deserves some nice suprises.

Darth_Lex Wow, that was a long post!

I suppose it was

Well, if we needed any more evidence that ?ends justifies means? Vader is on the ascendance in Anakin?s personality, we?ve got it. He?ll do all this just to see Padmé again? That said, his interdiction of the Naboo delegation was totally worth it, if only to imagine the look on Typho?s face.

I know! I wish I had that look on film?

Dellia? I have a bad feeling about this.

Really? I can?t imagine why?

PeriwinklSummer I also remember this post from A Singular Touch, and I remember someone saying that this boarding reminded them of Vader's boarding of Leia's ship in ANH.

He certainly has his own style, our Anakin.

That makes me wonder: at this point, Anakin is so far from trusting Palpy that it's not even funny (good Ani!); he's very suspicious of his intentions and thinks of him when things go awry. Soooo...how are you going to make this Ani become Palpatine's servant? I always thought of Ani as the chief receiver of Palpy's deception, probably having had his head messed with since he landed on the platform in Coruscant in TPM. This makes me think that Ani would be completely blinded to Palpatine's intentions and nature, and would go along with him and trust him until it's too late and he's total Vader-y. But here, in this (fabulous) AU of yours, we have a slightly more with-it Ani, an Ani who doesn't trust him...how is that going to work? How is Palpatine going to keep messing with his head?