The Sith and the Senator

Time assaults us with towering waves
I answer to the fading voices trolling the night roads

I will never forget about you
On this road of unfulfillment, I still stand alone

Like a wounded bird, I endure the rain with grace

Awash in the blood of the wounded earth, we sleep
Oh stars, grandly recount the events of this night!

I will never forget about you
I simply exist alone in this freezing night

O unfading voices, revive now to your full strength!

Hai Yai Forces Hai Yai Forces

Listen, o soaring tower of darkness, at which even the wind cries
Shed light on you, wounded and trolling the night roads

I will never forget about you
On this road of unfulfillment, I still walk alone

Go forth! O loquacious shadows, come and guide me!

Hai Yai Forces Hai Yai Forces

"Forces" by Susumu Hirasawa, a translation of the image song from the "Berserk" anime. The Godhand Mix is amazing!

Author's Note: in which Palpy and Anakin meet face to face for the first time, and Chosen One PWNage ensues, on a mental level. More insight into Anakin's life as a gladiator. Also, Berserk, Trigun and Gladiator references. Also, Anakin's scars are Vash the Stampede's from the anime Trigun. Enjoy this while I try to figure out how to get Cylo-V's giant space whale fish ship from Star Wars: Darth Vader from Marvel Comics into this story. I've already written this story out way after you're seeing it, and I have no intention of changing anything about it. All the feedback is blowing my mind, did not expect such a nice turnout in the review department.

It was hot dry and dusty. He barely heard the crowd roaring their approval. Anakin was surrounded by a large host of enemies, they had him cornered, he had to get away. He was the favored gladiator in the Tatooine arena. It wasn't his choice, but he would be able to buy his mother's freedom faster by fighting. The crowd came for a show, so he'd give them a spectacular one.

Gardulla decided that these games should be fought with primitive weapons. Anakin had a Vibrosword, his opponents were armed with spears, knives and axes.

Anakin recognized his opponent, he'd fought him before. But this time it was different, this was a fight to the death, there would be no mercy for the loser.

"Looks like I found you, Skywalker!" Bazuzo shouted.

"Yeah, long time now see! How are things?" Anakin taunted him.

"It doesn't mean I won't spare you a slow death."

He gazed at his opponents. "Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back."

Anakin felt an arrow hit him in his upper arm below the shoulder, he ripped it out with his teeth.

Anakin buried his enormous vibrowsword into the first man in front of him, ripping open his stomach.

He had dubbed his Vibrosword the Dragon Slayer, after he'd used it to kill a Krayt Dragon on his first day in the arena.

Charging forward, Anakin leapt up, slamming his sword into another being's skull.

He parried another blow and sliced open a neck.

He cut two men down at their knees and watched them fall.

Anakin rested his sword on his shoulders and grinned wickedly at them.

His rival, Bazuzo snarled at him.

"So who wants to feel my legendary axe come on!" Bazuzo taunted.

"No Response? Have your balls shrunk so hard they're caught in your throat?!"

"Gouge out his eyes! Pull out his innards! We'll feed him to the pigs later!"

Anakin ran through them, hacking them down with ease, he had to keep moving.

Anakin saw an arrow go through his left hand as archers fired on him. His rival sneered at him.

"Take a look at his left hand! Let's see him try to swing around that big vibrosword now!"

Anakin chuckled, "You just made things more fun for me!"

He leapt headlong into a group of them.

He felt an arrow penetrate his right shoulder and the tip of a spear cut his left thigh, he retaliated by stabbing his vibrosword through his attacker's head.

Anakin was panting hard.

An opponent stood before him, he blocked the blow with his vibrosword and Anakin bashed his skull in with the pommel of his weapon. Another swing and he sliced another man's throat. He was tiring, he'd been fighting for hours, he whirled around to parry a blow and ripped the man in front of him apart slicing him from his chest to his groin.

What the hell am I doing here? In this miserable place? He thought.

Anakin rammed the blade through the chest of an archer, kicking him away. He finally noticed the pain in his left knee.

"Yes! We have him!" Bazuzo shouted.

He lurched forward, leaning on his vibrosword, embedding it in the sand to steady himself.

I'm risking my life, for what exactly? His mind wondered. He steadied himself, ripping the arrow out of his thigh and managing to cut down an arrow aimed at his head.

He ran forward, slicing left and right, cutting down anything that moved. He hacked a opponent's midsection and took out the man beside him.

He rested his vibrosword on his shoulders, calming himself, keeping his wits sharp. He walked towards his foes with determination in his eyes; he wasn't going to die here. They were.

Anakin shut his eyes for a moment, suddenly, they snapped open. He brought his vibrosword down, dismembering a man, watching his blood spray out onto the ground. Anakin let out an animal roar of rage and pain. He cut a man in two, from groin to shoulder, his strength doubled beyond that of any normal human.

"Look at him; he's just another animal, a MONSTER!" Bazuzo taunted.

"KRIFF YOU!" Anakin snarled, "I'm human, the real deal, right down to the kriffin' marrow of my bones. Don't lump me together with you sleemo-ass monsters."

He sliced a man's head clean off at the neck and tore another man's torso in half with his blade. He did so again and again, they would pay for trying to take his dream, the dream of freedom for his mother and himself, no one would keep him from attaining it.

"Stand and fight, you call yourselves gladiators of Tatooine?!" Bazuzo screamed in panic.

Now's not the time for thinking, Anakin mentally berated himself, I should focus on wielding my sword! Now I'll kill them, nothing more!

Heads, arms, body parts, everything flew into the air, he was beyond furious, and they were all going to die. He let out an inhuman roar as he charged forward…

Anakin was busy repairing a cleaning droid in Theed's university; he was in Ruwee Naberrie's classroom.

Padmé stopped by the university to see her father over her lunch break. She was about to enter the room when she was stopped by a conversation.

"I know you," one of Ruwee's students called to Anakin. "I saw you on Tatooine, on the Outer Rim. You were in the arena. You're Anakin Skywalker, aren't you? The Son of the Suns. The Hundred Man Slayer?"

"I don't speak of my "glory days" in the arena, boy. I have moved on from that life."

"Humor us, please; most of us have never seen such things."

"I'm humoring a room full of pacifists with gory tales of the arena," Anakin sighed. "Very well…"

"What's it like there?" came the question.

"Oh, you should see the arena, boy. 50,000 beings watching. Every movement of your sword, willing you to make that killer blow. The silence before you strike and the noise afterwards. It rises…rises up like—like, l-like a storm, as if you were the Thunder God himself."

"You won your freedom?" he asked.

"Long ago I was presented with a Rudius, a wooden sword. A symbol of my freedom."

"I wasn't the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. I won the crowd and I won my freedom."

"Win the crowd? Like a politician?" the students laughed. Ruwee glowered at them, how dare they insult his little girl by throwing her into the same boat as other politicians who only cared about their wealth and status.

"Politicians, much more difficult to be a politician, I'd rather fight in the arena, at least you know who's trying to kill you," Anakin grinned at them.

"None of you like me do you?" Padmé asked loud enough for them to notice her.

Many students jumped up in surprise, some of them let their mouths hang open a little. Many of them were stunned by her beauty.

"You are an exception to most politicians Senator Amidala," they told her.

"A diplomatic answer, flattery will do none of you any good."

They all laughed.

Padmé walked over and spoke to her father, Anakin ignored them, it wasn't his business what they spoke about. He finished his repairs and decided to wait for the Senator to leave.

He saw her walking out the door.

"Senator, mind if I accompany you back?" Anakin queried.

"No I don't mind, Anakin."

"You remember me, I'm flattered," he admitted.

"I remember the names of all my staff," Padmé replied. She didn't have to, but she wanted to, she always wanted to make sure that the people around her knew she considered them important to her.

They made small talk until they arrived back at the palace; he left to return to the hanger.

Anakin finished his work and was preparing to leave when he had a flash of a Force vision.

Senator Amidala was being attacked by a bounty hunter, she fought valiantly, but the man knocked her off her feet and prepared to shoot her down. She was alone and there was no one to help her.

Anakin took off running, searching in the Force to find her before it was too late.

Padmeé was deep in thought, she'd asked Captain Panaka to go through a list of the palace staff, searching for if anyone had ties to the Jedi Order. So far, he'd found nothing hidden or out of the ordinary, but the Revanchist was someone in her staff, and she only told Panaka. She'd trusted him for years and knew he would keep her secrets.

She sensed something behind her and it was bad. She threw herself to the ground as a blaster shot whizzed by her head.

She spotted him, a bounty hunter in Mandalorian armor. He had a helmet over his face.

She fired a few shots at him, she managed to wound him, but he shot a wire at her legs, yanking her off her feet.

Before she could react, he was on top of her, beating her face with his fist and he slammed her head into the permacrete, Padmé felt blood trickle down her forehead. She passed out and lay still.

Anakin rushed to Senator Amidala's side, it was the same as his vision.

Jango prepared to shoot her when he moved to avoid a broadsword. Anakin had managed to speed home and grab his old sword before coming after him.

Jango fired a few shots that Anakin avoided, Anakin managed to circle around and slash at Jango's jetpack. The bounty hunter avoided another swing and jumping up, he landed on Anakin's sword, pinning it to the ground as he stood on it, he pointed the gun at Anakin's face.

"What will you do now boy, you can't swing your sword unless I move. I think now would be a good time to submit. The Senator must die; no need for you to die with her!" Jango Fett sneered.

"You know you talk too much, now it's my turn to tell you something. In battle THIS is how you use your mouth!"

In a move so audacious it stunned the hardened bounty hunter, Anakin clamped down on the barrel of the blaster with is teeth, pushing back and knocking Jango off-balance. Anakin could have easily called on the Force, but felt that he must keep his powers a secret from her, no need to make her suspect that he was the Revanchist she was looking for

Anakin smashed his booted foot into Jango's face, he grabbed the his sword and stabbed Jango through the shoulder, using his immense strength to lift the bounty hunter off the ground and hold him up in the air on the end of the blade.

Jango couldn't move; he tried to activate his jetpack only to find that it was permanently damaged.

"Who hired you?" Anakin demanded.

"I'll never talk!" Jango sneered, spitting in his face.

"You're right," the young man smirked, "You'll never talk again!"

Anakin pulled out a dagger and shoved it into Jango's mouth.

"This is where you die, and you won't be getting into Heaven double-tongued."

"NO! Please no, don't—!" Blood burst from his mouth as Anakin twisted the knife, flicking it away from Jango's face, mutilating his tongue.

"Not to mention, your breath smells so Goddess-damned rancid, you're going straight to Hell."

"No, wait! Don't do this to me!" Jango begged with his mutilated tongue.

"Could you repeat that? I couldn't understand you!" Anakin snarled.

He held the bounty hunter out over a bottomless pit and let him drop off the end of his sword. He saw the man screaming as he died.

Anakin rushed back to Padmé, checking her over, she had some blood from a gash in her head where she'd hit the ground, and some bruises but she was fine otherwise.

"Senator! Senator Amidala! Are you all right?" he asked.

Her eyes flickered open. She blinked up at him. "What happened to the assassin?"

"He's dead because I killed him."

"If you spared him, he would have talked!" Padmé was horrified.

"He deserved to die, and I'm not like you. Justice is balance, he wanted you dead, he got what he deserved."

Padmé pushed him back a little; he nodded, giving her space.

"I'm fine," she gasped.

"Here, it'll help with the shock," he handed her some water.

"Take me home, Anakin," she got to her feet, he helped her into his speeder. She managed to put in the coordinates for her house. He drove her there.

He helped her up the stairs and she staggered inside.

"Padmé? Padmé!" her mother Jobal ran to her daughter. There had often been attempts on her daughter's life before, but never while she was at home.

"Padmé!" Ruwee her father rushed to her side. She had bruises and a gash on her head, but she seemed to be fine.

Ryoo and Pooja saw their aunt was hurt and rushed to her side, dropping their toys out of shock.

The entire family gathered around her, voicing their concern.

"I'm all right everyone, I promise."

"Who is he?" Ruwee asked.

"He works for me, Dad; he's the ship's mechanic, Anakin Skywalker."

"Thank you so much," Rewee whispered.

"Think nothing of it," Anakin replied.

The family was in awe of this man, most men would demand a reward for rescuing for such a high profile official, but he asked for nothing.

They couldn't find words to say to him.

Anakin spotted Ryoo and Pooja staring mournfully at their broken toys.

"Come here, let me see those," he beckoned to them.

"Ryoo, Pooja, that's Anakin, he works for me," Padmé introduced them to him.

"I can fix those," he took the toys and the unscrewed pieces, fitting them back together and screwing them in place. He handed them the toys as their faces lit up.

"Thank you!" they said in unison as they left to go play.

"Son, your shirt—" Rewee began.

"It's nothing, just a rip in the back."

"But the scars…" Jobal began.

"It happened a long time ago, don't worry about it."

"Darred, could you get Anakin one of your shirts," Sola asked him. The man went into a room and brought out a shirt.

Darrred handed it to him.

Anakin without any preamble removed his shirt and reached for the replacement.

There were gasps throughout the room.

"Anakin….are you all right?" Padmé asked.

"Shiraya!" Sola swore loudly. "I've never seen so many scars!"

"It's not something I like girls to see. They usually run away."

Darred gazed at him. "Are those screws? You're being held together by screws?"

Padmé saw the pattern of screws form a Y-shape up his belly. A huge chunk of his right side was a mass of scar tissue. And there was a line of screws right below his ribs.

On his right side of his chest was what looked like a claw mark. On the left side of his chest, there was a large patch of scar tissue covered by a cross stitching of metal. There was also another patchwork of metal and screws that went all the way around to the small of his back. He also had scars on his hand and shoulders.

He was missing his right arm at the elbow, replaced by a heavily modified cybernetic replacement.

"Yes I am," Anakin replied. "Thank you for the shirt."

He stepped outside to get some fresh air. Padmé followed him outside.

"Anakin, you don't have to stay," Padmé told him softly as she stood outside the backyard of her house.

"I'm staying because I want to. I'm worried about you," he gently put his hand on her shoulder.

Padmé felt very reassured by his touch and words.

"Thank you."

"I wanted to give you something Senator, it is your birthday." Anakin handed her the Japor pendant.

She took it gratefully. "It's beautiful!" She smiled appreciatively.

"I made this for you. I carved it out of a japor snippet. It'll bring you good fortune."

"Anakin," she gazed up at him.

"Yes Senator?" he asked intently.

"Please call me Padmé when we're not at work, and I want to say…thank you…"

She leaned over and kissed him.

He felt the soft brush of her lips against his and was stunned. This was unlike any kiss he'd ever received from a woman. It was warm and gentle, not demanding and rough like he was used to. She didn't shove her tongue in his mouth and rip his clothes off.

She was truly sweet and caring, he was surprised, she could have a relationship with anyone, some other politician or wealthy socialite but no, she was kissing him and embracing him.

The Revanchist was just an embodiment of an idea. Anakin Skwyalker was a nobody from Tatooine, unless you followed the arena or podracing he was well known, but not a common name in households across the galaxy.

In this moment, when their lips met, the universe was complete.

Anakin ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her against him, enjoying the kiss. He could kiss her for hours, forever…

He pulled away gently.

"Good night Padmé," Anakin smiled broadly.

"Good night Anakin, see you tomorrow."

He left feeling like he lived up to his name, walking the skies like he owned them.

Carnor Jax strode down the boarding ramp, a swagger in his step. Apparently, his Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had summoned him to help him put down this Dark Jedi insurrection, finally acknowledging his immense skills as a Jedi. He hadn't been knighted yet, but Chancellor Palpatine had told him he was the most powerful Jedi he'd ever met.

With him was Chancellor Palpatine himself. They continued making their way towards Theed Palace where they had asked the Revanchist to meet them to negotiate peace, hoping to avert his declaration of war on the Galactic Republic.

Carnor Jax was doing what he typically did, complain about Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"You don't need guidance, Carnor. In time, you will learn to trust your feelings. Then, you will be invincible. I have said it many times, you are the most gifted Jedi I have ever met."

"Thank you, Your Excellency," Carnor Jax replied, flattered by his compliments.

"I see you becoming the greatest of all the Jedi, Carnor. Even more powerful than Master Yoda."

Jax felt immensely important, and he hoped that his skills would bring this madman the Revanchist to heel and finally he would be respected by his Master.

Anakin Skywalker sat at a conference table, dressed in his Jedi robes with Revan's Mandalorian mask covering his face.

Across from him sat Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was still trying to get a read on him.

"Tell me Master Kenobi, have you ever heard of a Sith Lord named Darth Vectivus?"

"Never heard of him," Kenobi replied.

"That's because he did no evil. He didn't attempt to conquer the galaxy, try to wipe out the population of a star system, or start an all-out war with the Jedi. He just existed, learned. Died of old age, surrounded by family and friends."

Obi-Wan frowned, that was a surprise, this Darth Vectivus had not aspired to do damage to the Jedi, he just seemed like he enjoyed studying and learning. That he "did no evil" wasn't characteristic of a Sith Lord.

"But you are not like him, you want to take over the galaxy," Obi-Wan said warily.

"I'm sick of a galaxy that can't be changed," the Revanchist replied.

Anakin saw Carnor Jax walk into the room; his arrogant swagger screamed to him across the room, his self indulgent, petulant immaturity annoyed Anakin immensely. Jax was everything Anakin would have been if he had let his Chosen One status go to his head.

His arrogant pride had long since been broken on Tatooine. He didn't have the ego to boast about his gifts, he felt they brought him nothing but pain. But he buried that thought a long time ago. It wasn't time to be thinking about himself.

With Jax was Chancellor Palpatine himself, Anakin knew immediately what he was, because unlike the Jedi, his vision was unclouded by the Dark Side. He could see Darth Sidious for what he was, a disease in the Force.

Palpatine touches the Force, sizing up his opponent, this Revanchist. He mentally recoils. What he sees is not a man, but a metaphor of the Force. He could see all of them.

Obi-Wan, Kenobi was luminous, a transparent being, a window onto a sunlit meadow of the Force. Kenobi's apprentice, Jax was a storm cloud, flickering with dangerous lightning, building the rotation that threatens a tornado.

And then there was himself, of course: he was beyond power. He showed nothing of what might be within. Though seen with the eyes of the Dark Side itself, Palpatine was an event horizon. Beneath his entirely ordinary surface was absolute, perfect nothingness. Darkness beyond darkness.

A black hole of the Force.

Darth Sidious was stunned; this being is pure power, an anomaly in the Force itself. He could not even see a man, but a dragon, an enormous dead star dragon, with bright cunning eyes and a burning furnace heart, a heart that draws others to him, warms their hearts and ignites theirs to burn with his own, that speaks wisdom to his followers and guides them toward a path that Sidious cannot see.

I see you Sith, I see you, the dead star dragon whispers. You are nothing at all.

"Welcome Revanchist, I do hope we can come to a peaceful agreement regarding your views on the Republic," Palpatine smiled at him.

Anakin chuckled, "So let's talk, Chancellor Palpatine. Let's talk."

So all the players were here, the king made the first move. If the king didn't lead then his subordinates wouldn't follow.