Beyond - Legends The Battle for Ascendance (Anakin Skywalker's Ultimate Quest Beyond Death) - UPDATED April 22/11

"You want to play it safe, and stay in your Forms. To be under your elders again and pretend that none of it happened. That you did not betray them and that you were not broken. You were once trained under dogma. Now you willingly embrace it for comfort, as most older people do towards the end of their lives."


Rather interesting observation.

Excellent update.

 

XXIV: Threshold

"You have been training for a long time now."

Pelagius sat under an old tree. Falling leaves shone with a faded gold in the light of the autumn sky, leaving the tree's branches naked, smooth and reaching. The veteran Jedi sighed and eased himself down beside the dark robed man.

"And I have the aches to prove it," Anakin breathed out, "Once, Obi-Wan and I went days and all I had was an ache in one shoulder. Now that shoulder's all over my body."

The veteran Jedi reached into the Force and let it flow into his older body. The twilight aura of this place tinged the life energies of the Force with a degree of melancholy but, despite that, the aches and cramps eased. Anakin thought that, as they did so, he could hear a sound -- like a crooning of an old, lost lullaby. He shook his grizzled head slowly. Most likely, it was just something he made in his mind.

"It sings to you too."

Pelagius was still in the same position that Anakin left him, looking out at the small hut and at the forest.

"You heard that?"

Pelagius nodded, "It is really hard not to hear the songs of this place sometimes. Though, I must admit, I would have been sorely surprised if you of all people never heard them."

Neither man said anything. But, after a while, Anakin decided now was as best a time as any, "Just, what is this place?"

"This place ..."

"The realm we're in right now."

"I know you're referring to."

Anakin sighed, "Yes, I know. As much as anything is a place here, this plane."

The dark man laughed, "You seem to understand this a little more."

"No, not really. I was never what you would call gifted with 'abstract-thinking,' as Obi-Wan called it. My son though ..." Anakin smiled ruefully, "I'm sure he's still open-minded enough to deal with these subtleties. He'll have to be if he's going to rebuild ..."

"... what you destroyed, yes," Pelagius inclined his cowled head slightly to Anakin, "it will be easier for him in some ways. Many of the more ossified forms have been cleared away. With destruction often comes space for new creation."

"Try telling that to all the men, women and children I murdered," Anakin looked down at the ground.

"... you can't change that," Pelagius said after a time, "All you can do is remember it, and know that they always speak with you. That you can learn from them, those you can never really destroy."

Anakin looked up, "So this place ..."

"This place is ... what you would conceptually view as neutral territory, bordering the realms of the Ashla and those of the Bogan. Think of it as ... the Outer Rim when compared to territories held by the Republic, and those by perhaps the late Sith Empire."

"... I don't understand, Master Pelagius."

"But you do understand, Anakin."

Anakin scratched his grey-haired head, "I'm afraid I ... the songs ... the ... dead voices?"

"Not everyone can achieve ascension. But there is the age-old adage: energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So they come here. Yes. They come here to this place. You can't see them. They can't even see themselves. Many of them are Force-sensitives that never achieved their full potential, or never even knew that the Force sang through them. But many more ... many more are people who were never Force-sensitive to begin with."

"You mean ..." Anakin's felt a slow dawning shock fill his chest.

"You mean with regards to your mother and wife. Well, if not for you," Pelagius shrugged, "This is what you would call the Netherworld of the Force proper. They dwell here, these essences, and they wait."

"But that's ... that's just not fair."

"And what isn't fair about it, Anakin Skywalker?"

"That ... that we can achieve ..." Anakin looked down at a hand that was suddenly clenched into a fist.

"Yes?"

"We can achieve this and they ... ordinary people can't?"

"And what isn't fair about that? As I said, not many Force-sensitives can even achieve the Ascension of the Whills. It has to be earned."

"Wait a nanosecond. Who are you to say how somethi

 

"Thought is action in this realm. You would do well to remember that."

In the realm of the Soul. Well to remember indeed.

Treyvah, this is just awesome.

Pelagius, Watcher of the Dark. I just love that. He walks the Line.

So glad you are continuing with this unique and wonderfully conceived story.

-rat

 

WOW! New posts - I had no hope

 

I've tried to keep up Lady Z. I just keep making things more complex for myself.

So, tell me, what did you like.

And, the next chapter will be entitled:

XXV: The Cages We Build Around Ourselves

 

I've just now finished reading what has been posted and I must say it is a moving and attention keeping epic. Trials and inner battles of Anakin excellent and I can see them in my mind as I read. Brilliantly done.

Please include me on the PM's.

 

OMG! This is the greatest,most awe inspireing piece of work I have ever read. WoW just does not cover it. Please add me to your pm list.

 

That was great, darth_treyvah. That was really amazingly written. Can't wait for more!

 

I left Pelagius watching the darkness for a really long time, didn't I.

I started this story approximately seven years ago. I was 23 at the time, still in Undergrad and only the next year would I get my first paying job. A lot has happened to me over the years and I have changed a lot. My first girlfriend and I broke up, I came into and am still in Grad school, I'm living on my own now and I have written many things for myself that are not Star Wars Fanfiction. In many ways, I have come a long way in terms of my writing skill.

The fact is, I haven't written a fanfic in a really long time but I always regretted never finishing this one. This was a truly epic quest I planned. There are even some details I've forgotten about from that time and I know the EU has added many more new details that I didn't know of before. Back when I started this, I was very interested in philosophy and in particular philosophy and Force lore. Now seven years on, I am not sure if I am as rigorously philosophical anymore and I started something really ambitious here. To be honest, I know if I continue this it won't be the same as it would have been years ago if I had done so then.

But just as these years have honed my writing, the fanfiction I did here really honed me then and I am so proud to have done this. I can't even believe I wrote it, to be honest. Now I am debating what I should do now. It is my hope that others will give me some input: maybe even see what they think of this ancient thing with a word in its title that apparently isn't recognized by spell-check. Would you like to see this continued?

I am really toying with the idea.

 

XXV: The Cages We Build Around Ourselves

Anakin already knew where the Count was. Sure enough, Count Dooku stood in the dark forest clearing as he did before. The former Sith Apprentice did not look the worse for wear considering where Anakin knew he banished him back to. The two men regarded each other silently for a few moments.

Dooku turned away and regarded the trees with his hands clasped behind his back; his dark purple cloak fluttering slightly in the chill breeze between them.

"It would be autumn on Serenno now," the Count intoned solemnly, almost regretfully, "I always loved the leaves."

The Count moved to the side and caught a falling leaf with outstretched hand. He regarded the leaf in his palm.

"I always loved the leaves in the orchards: each one of them a different colour," he closed his dark eyes, "as they fell."

Anakin already knew that any apology he offered, should he have even felt like offering it to the Dark Side shade, would have been elegantly but contemptuously dismissed. Instead, the veteran Jedi ignited his lightsaber in an open Makashi salute. He was only faintly aware of the arid smell of ozone adding to the scent of crisp fall leaves around them.

"I am ready now, Dooku."

The Count did not move for a few moments. If Anakin hadn't known any better, he would have thought that the former Sith hadn't heard him.

"So," Dooku said, "He told you what's precisely at stake then."

Anakin let himself be calm, easing his emotions into a cold centre in the apex of his chest, "I know that we can't waste any more time."

"We?" the Count turned to face him directly, the crisp leaf still in his hand, "Are you considering me an ally now, Skywalker? Do you really think that you have the same things at stake as I do?"

"No," Anakin felt himself sigh, "But I do know you have something more at stake than just being Master Pelagius' pet wraith," the veteran Jedi shook his head, "No, I know there's something you want from all this. I don't blame you for not wanting to go back to the Bogan. I --"

Dooku crumpled the leaf in his hand and let the pieces scatter to the wind.

"Do not presume to understand my motivations," the Count shrugged his cloak off and retrieved his curved lightsaber handle from his belt, "So, you are going to be serious about our lesson this time?"

Anakin's blue eyes narrowed on his lined face, "Yes."

Dooku stared the younger man down, "How serious?"

Anakin felt something pressing in the air around them. He knew that the decision he made now would be important. Yet was it really different from any other chain of decisions -- good and bad -- that Anakin made in the years when he was just flesh and blood and less than that, "What do you want, Dooku?"

"Your will," Dooku said, "Your complete and utterly undivided attention and will. Nothing more and nothing less than that."

The former Sith held his lightsaber away from him in an opening Makashi stance to Anakin's own. It was then that Anakin finally understood what the Count wanted. This wasn't a lesson anymore. No, that wasn't entirely correct. It was still a lesson, but one of the few lessons Anakin had truly ever understood in his material existence. It was one of the lessons that both readily understood and often mete out in his own time. This was going to be one of the hard lessons.

"If I do that, you could kill me. You could kill me utterly."

"Trust me, Skywalker," for a few moments, a haunted light came into Dooku's dark eyes, "There are things far worse than death here. Far worse than even non-existence. Besides," Dooku ignited his deep red blade with a slow snap-hiss through the charged air, "You know this is the only way."

Anakin knew, but still he had to know more, "How so?"

"Makashi, as you may already know, is also called the Contention Form. We are in contention. The very natures of what we are, Bogan and Ashla are in contention. Even now, the impulse to kill is so strong ..." the Count shook his head, as though more in personal distaste than despair, "Pelagius told you to know your enemy. You've

 

I just finished reading the first post and wow. I love your descriptions. And what a great idea using all the colors.

I especially liked how Darth Vader turned back to Anakin.

Brilliantly done.



And now on to reading the rest.

 

Ceillean - Thank you, Ceillean. Like I said, I almost gave up on this fic but something called me back to it. I really wanted to make Darth Vader's return to Anakin Skywalker special. I almost forgot what you meant by colours until I remembered the transitions I made in his flashbacks in the first post of this fanfic. I always just saw that going through his mind in that last scene in ROTJ. I hope that you like the rest of this too.

 

XXVI: Legacies of the Force

Anakin stood in Pelagius' polished and sparsely decorated wooded cottage. The red of the perpetually late evening sky had finally given way to a deep blue darkness. The veteran Jedi felt strangely rested considering where he was about to go next. Instead of sleep, or whatever passed as sleep, he had actually managed to meditate in the crisp and sedate air of Pelagius' refuge: feeling a serenity flowing through him like cool water. Somehow, he felt calmer and healthier than he'd been in a long time.

He looked out at the sky and could see the whorls and eddies that made up its existence. The Force was singing to him clearly after all this time. Somehow, he could even see himself through it as well. His hands were still calloused but smoother. The rest of his body was now well-toned and strong. His deep blue eyes were surrounded by a smaller web of crow's feet and his mouth had laugh lines around it. He somehow even knew that his hair was thicker and a little longer. It was now a faded brown with grey at its edges and his temples. Padme would have most likely said that he looked "distinguished." Certainly, Anakin didn't feel like the image of the soft old man he thought he'd retire into one day: before he made all the mistakes he did in his life.

But Anakin also understood that the soft old man would never have really happened in the material realm. It's true: he would have enjoyed being old and crotchety and somewhat absent-minded with his wife, a doting grandfather, and an attentive father that played with his own children. His regret for not being there for Luke and Leia -- for hurting them -- stabbed keenly into his heart everyday even here. It was as though he'd become one of those dead-beat abusive fathers more devoted their addictions than their families : a mere contributor of biological material only far, far worse. It hadn't been drugs or drink he'd been addicted to: but power. He had thrown all of it away for that. Even after all the forgiveness he found in the Netherworld, a part of him would never forgive himself for what he left behind in the material realm.

Anakin began to do what he usually did when the restlessness began. He paced. The veteran Jedi continued pacing as he looked around the cottage. Strangely, he couldn't find any sign of Dooku or Pelagius inside the modest dwelling. A part of him still wondered what would be waiting for him. Even though he was the Chosen One, how exactly could it be expected of him to defeat the Bogan. Even if what the Ashla said was true about him conquering his inner darkness, how could he deal with its penultimate manifestation in the Netherworld? All Anakin could think about was his family and his children. He may be ascended now, but he was still just a man and any good in the legacy he left behind him seemed more incidental than purposeful on his own part. But he owed this to them. In this way, perhaps he could leave a far better legacy.

It was then that he noticed something: there was a light coming from the floor.

The veteran Jedi squinted his eyes. It was a small sliver of light: a line on the dark floor. It seemed to pulsate out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes it changed colour. Even as Anakin watched, the thin light shimmered green, then blue, green and blue ... He shook his head.

Anakin knelt down in front of the line and passed his hands over it. He felt something. The veteran Jedi reached into the Force and slowly the line began to reveal itself for the crack that it was and started to widen. Eventually, Anakin realized that he was lifting a door up: a trap door. The blue and green lights began to distinguish themselves in the deep darkness below. They were exchanges. The Force called to Anakin and urged him downwards. And when the Force urged this clearly, Anakin didn't dare ignore its summons.

He wasn't particularly surprised as he moved one leg into the entranceway that he found a ladder down. It was still dark as he climbed down except for the clashes of the azure and emerald lights below. Anakin recogni

 

XXVII: Aggressive Negotiations

Anakin met Ahsoka's emerald strike even as he dodged Galen's blue forward slash. He noticed -- very distantly -- that his body groaned less as he ducked and back-stepped out of the way of the lightsaber blades coming to get him. Then Anakin disengaged Ahsoka as Galen attempted to jab him from the side. The blue blade whirred in empty air as Anakin moved backwards and let Ahsoka's forward falling blade slash into its path.

The veteran Jedi leaped backwards: away from his former Apprentices. They had already righted themselves and came towards him slowly as though they had all the time in the world. And in the end, didn't they all? Ahsoka still had the confident smirk on her lips that Anakin recalled all too well. They used to spar all the time whenever there was a lull in the many conflicts they were sent into during the Clone Wars. She was his first, and only, Jedi Padawan. Anakin felt a smile come to his lips even as the bittersweetness of the memories tore at his chest. Somehow, the Jedi Council managed to find a Jedi initiate more brazen and foolhardy than he had even been -- a considerable achievement all things considered -- and in their ever-infinite wisdom made him her Master. Obi-Wan once had a saying: who is more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?

That was the relationship between him and Ahsoka: the fool that was the so-called Hero Without Fear, and the young bratty Padawan who had more infantile quips and smart remarks than he ever did ... following him.

And he had missed her ... so much.

Ashoka pointed her green lightsaber blade horziontally over her shoulder in a Soresu pose and charged him. Anakin met the clashes of her unorthodox attack, moving his own azure blade in front of him in minute movements to counter her while being mindful of Galen's presence to the sides. He turned around with his back temporarily to the Togruta as he countered another slash from his former human Apprentice and then somersaulted away from them to face Ahsoka again.

Ahsoka Tano. She maneuvered her body to the side and held her lightsaber on an angle in the traditional Shien style. Anakin felt his heart both well up and immediately break. After all those years trying to break her of her reverse-grip habit, she had learned. Even as she pressed her assault against him and pummeled him with lightsaber Djem So strike after strike Anakin couldn't help but smile at the joy and pain he felt in seeing her again: in remembering his and applying his lessons even after all this time ...

For all the good it did her in the end.

But if Ahsoka had been the victim of his failed but otherwise benign Jedi intentions, there was Galen Marek.

Right now, the former Sith Apprentice was lunging from the sides at any opening in Anakin's flanks with a wolfish velocity. He was calculatingly looking for any weakness in his former Master's defenses as Ahsoka was driving him back.

Starkiller. A deep guilt and horrid regret filled the veteran Jedi's throat. He saw a solemn young boy watch his own Jedi father get telekinetically throttled by a cold black gauntleted hand. He remembered the vicious training regimens and cruel taunts that he hurled on the vulnerable creature -- the child in his care -- marring that soft child's skin with bruises and scars. Anakin remembered how he broke the boy's soul, ripped it apart and left fear and hatred in its place: to make him stronger. He recalled making the droid that constantly tried to murder him and sent him -- now as a young man -- to kill former Jedi. Anakin saw himself betraying Galen's loyalty over and again. But he turned on him in return and to the Light. Anakin could see the blue nimbus around Galen now.

The veteran Jedi remembered the young man defeating him brutally -- which in retrospect was no less than he deserved -- and still through that anger having pity for him. Then he died and died with a nobility that he remembered greatly. He had resented that final dignity from his living weapon, this boy ... this man ... and had also greatly envi

 

Wow! This is epic. I started this last night and just caught up. Normally, I'm not one for the "so-and-so questions their life decisions after death for whatever reason" type of fic, but this is really good.

"I can't go back to them," the old man whispered quietly, "not after everything I've done. Not after I betrayed myself."

"If I could do it," Anakin said, "so can you."

The Jedi held out his hand. Dooku hesitated for a fraction of a second before taking it and pulling himself to his feet. Then Pelagius seemed to materialize from the shadows.

DUDE. You had me rooting for Count Dooku.

Peace,
Bea

 

lost_lauries_grapes - Thank you. Yeah. You know, I was never really thinking about the whole "questioning one's life after death" idea. I just thought -- at the time that I began writing this -- that Anakin Skywalker was such a dynamic and elemental character that his life would continue after joining the Force. At the time, we just had the few Clone Wars cartoons and the prequels to work with, and I saw so much potential in his character that I wanted to expand on it. I wanted him to reach his fullest potential: as all beings do when becoming Force spirits and see what happens.

I also really like the character of Count Dooku. There is something very grandiose about him as a fallen figure. There are also many parallels between him and Anakin and in the past I often wondered if Dooku had been given a chance if he would have tried to redeem himself. Nowadays with the new Clone Wars cartoons, probably not, but Darth Vader committed many atrocities as well -- quite a few of them ones of very personal horror -- and he sought redemption anyway because of the love of his son. But I am really glad you like this. I hope that you stay around to see some more.

 

XXVIII: Forever Will It Dominate Your Destiny

Then Ahsoka ran at Anakin and wrapped her arms around his waist into a large hug. Anakin bent down and held her. Tears flowed down into the lines of his face, his greying hair and the Togruta woman's montrals. They held each other for what seemed like ages. The two separated and Anakin saw Ahsoka as the young girl he started to train again. She looked up at him with respect but also a resonance of the love and mischievousness she had all those years ago. Anakin realized that Ahsoka's eyes had never changed even after everything that happened.

"There you are Skyguy," Ahsoka said, as she looked up at him with a smile, "tired, but still there."

"It's been a very tiring ... day or something," Anakin could hear that his voice was younger and somehow he knew he was the Anakin Skywalker from the Clone Wars: his hair was shorter, dark and sandy. He could feel the dark armor plates on his shoulders and chest over his darker Jedi uniform.

The two of them looked at each other and then in an eye blink as they moved away they were a young woman and older man, "I am never going to get used to this form-changing," Anakin sighed, his voice deeper and gravely again.

Ahsoka laughed. It was the same laughter she made as a child but richer somehow, "And you always said that Master Obi-Wan was the dogmatic one set in his ways."

"What are you two doing down here?" Anakin looked up and addressed both of his erstwhile Apprentices.

"We were sent here to help you on your mission," Galen replied, his tone neutral.

"But ..." Anakin was at a loss for words, "Why weren't you ..." He looked at the two of them, particularly Galen Marek, and his thought trailed off with some trepidation: knowing that perhaps he shouldn't ask this question.

"Why we weren't with the Victory Parade in this realm's version of Tatooine you mean?" Ahsoka jabbed her former Master in the rib with her elbow, though it was a gentle movement, "I thought you never wanted to go back to Tatooine, Master."

Anakin thought of his wife, mother and friends waiting for him, "Well, things have changed a bit since then."

"More than a little," Galen said.

"To answer your question," Ahsoka sighed with an amused wink, "We were sent here, wherever the kriff here is," she laughed, "No Master, I'm still not watching my language, though I know you swore worse in Huttese with Obi-Wan."

"You can use whatever the kriff kind of language you want," Anakin looked around the chamber, "we're all adults here ... now."

Ahsoka beamed, "Maybe Galen and I are the adults anyway. You're just a baby."

Anakin raised his eyebrows, "Baby?"

"Spiritually speaking of course," Ahsoka rolled her eyes, "You have a lot to learn. That's why the Ashla sent us here. We both learned from you back in the material realm. Think of it like how Master Yoda taught Qui-Gon and then Qui-Gon taught Master Yoda when he died. It's a little something like that."

"Wait ... wait a moment. Are you telling me that Qui-Gon taught Yoda the Ascension of the Whills while Yoda was alive?" Anakin shook his head, "Oh my Force, now I can really sympathize with the old troll if half of what Obi-Wan told me about Qui-Gon is true."

"Oh they're worse than we are," the Togruta Jedi said, "You've only seen Master Yoda's authoritarian side back in the material plane. But here, you've probably seen something else entirely. Other Council members did, from what they told me anyway. I know your son definitely did."

Anakin blinked, "You know about Luke?"

"And Leia," Ahsoka nodded, "We've seen them. I know if they were here now, they'd be the ones to help guide you to the next part of your journey. But I think they have their own challenges ahead of them right now."

The veteran Jedi nodded. He didn't have the heart to say that while his son would gladly be here for him if he could -- which was more than he deserved -- his daughter would probably drop him face first into Chaos to let the Bogan devour his soul. He also didn't blame her. Not after what he did to her foster fa

 

"It's been a very tiring ... day or something," Anakin could hear that his voice was younger and somehow he knew he was the Anakin Skywalker from the Clone Wars: his hair was shorter, dark and sandy. He could feel the dark armor plates on his shoulders and chest over his darker Jedi uniform.

The two of them looked at each other before they moved away from each other and reverted back to their previous selves -- from girl to young man to young woman and older man, "I am never going to get used to this form-changing," Anakin sighed, his voice deeper and gravely again.

You know what, Anakin? I don't know if I'll get used to it either!

Peace,
Bea

 

lost_lauries_grapes - *chuckles* He is still getting used to not being "this crude matter." But I will say one thing for him: he is learning. I think he is even changing too.

 

I found the story on 3/4/11 and completed reading it.

I like it very much. Great imagery. Powerful universal themes. Still the Chosen One, Anakin is confronting his personal demons and preparing for combat in the afterlife. He still has to bring balance to the afterlife. His new master is having him learn through confrontations with Windu, Dooku, Ashoka and Starkiller. He has to get past the issues he had with these individuals in order to learn the essence of new Forms. Really liked the one with Dooku.

With the overall concept of this story, I can see why it is taking so long to write. You pull off a complex story in a very compelling fashion.

I look forward to more.

 

Darth_Malevolent7 - Thank you. Anakin is definitely confronting a lot of his personal demons and it's certainly not an easy process to get through. His new teacher right now is more subtly guiding him through certain lessons. His encounter with Mace Windu happened before Pelagius, but the ones with Dooku and his former Apprentices came after. I think that he is starting to understand Pelagius' lessons but he has some way to go and the only way he will fully understand them is through actual experience. Pelagius' lessons I think are not at all about the Faces of the Force, though they do play a part in them, but rather something else entirely. Anakin has to transcend a lot of his own personal boundaries and limitations before all is said and done. I'm glad you like this and I hope that you will continue reading as well.

 

The next chapter to this fanfic will be called: XXIX: Never Alone

 

XXIX: Never Alone

Anakin stood at the edge of the trees and waited. There was still a lot on his mind from whatever passed as the previous night. It had taken years of mistakes and selfishness and only the afterlife really made him see exactly what he used to be like when he was alive. Obi-Wan would have probably smirked at that thought: that it took Death itself to completely defeat the incredible stubbornness that was Anakin Skywalker.

But the key words in this reverie were what he used to be like. Anakin knew that something inside him was shifting. Something was changing. It both scared and exhilarated him. Aside from his moments with Padme and that one moment with his son at the end of his life, he felt more alive than he had ever been.

The irony of this thought and feeling caused a slight smirk to appear on the veteran Jedi's lips. Even after facing the horrors and responsibility of his actions, even after knowing that the quest he was to embark on was most likely the spiritual equivalent of a suicide mission, he in fact welcomed the sensation. He embraced it. He felt more like Anakin Skywalker now that he had been since he first came to this realm.

This was what he needed to be doing. Right now.

The Force flowed into the back of his mind: into his conception of mind. A glimpse of its totality whispered into him and he felt more than saw some of what needed to be done. It was a few seconds, or a few eternities before Anakin nodded his head and the rustling of the Force became a comfortable hum in the pit of his being again.

"See, he's getting cocky again already. What did I tell you?"

Anakin opened his eyes and turned around, "You are definitely one to talk, Snips."

The veteran Jedi regarded his company. Ahsoka rolled her eyes slightly at her former Master's return jibe, but the soft expression around her mouth was a very pleased one. She looked -- she felt -- happy for him. Galen Marek also grinned at her side.

"Does this ribbing usually come along with the calm before the storm?" the younger former Sith asked.

"Oh, you should have seen us back in the day along with Rex," Ahsoka chuckled, "But he and Master Obi-Wan really knew how to exchange quips."

"Yes," an old, dignified and weary voice enjoined, "I recall that Kenobi and Skywalker made the act of bickering into a veritable art-form."

Count Dooku and Master Pelagius stepped up from behind Anakin's former Apprentices. Anakin noticed that although the Count was still dressed in his dark tunic and cloak, his skin tone looked much more substantial. Even his body occasionally glittered with a blue light. Dooku caught Anakin's gaze.

"It is positively ridiculous just how a little night's sleep and meditation can accomplish so much in such a small amount of time," the old man granted cordially, "this and some assisted meditation from our esteemed host."

"You achieved this far more quickly than I did," Anakin admitted.

Dooku's dark eyes were sad, yet they managed to remain severe, "I have had far more leisure to contemplate my errors. It is time that I actually live up to my lofty goals and ideals again, don't you agree?"

"Oh yeah?" Ahsoka asked, "And what were those again?"

"Helping to achieve a healthy medium, young lady," the Count replied, "a greater sense of balance," he looked back at Pelagius.

Anakin also looked at Pelagius, "So you said that we would be going to the Bogan."

Pelagius inclined his cowled head slightly.

"As the Jedi Order once taught us," Dooku said, "it is incredibly unwise to fight the Dark Side on one's own."

"I would never have escaped its grasp without my friends. Without Juno," Galen Marek stepped back to stand near Dooku.

"Master Yoda would've told you that the Force unites everything and no one is ever alone," Ahsoka said, stepping back to stand close to Galen, "and he'd also say, and I say too, that it's always more effective to have numbers -- to act as a team -- against the Dark."

Anakin would have opened his mouth, but he knew better by now to know that his former Padawan was not fi