Chapter One

The Vortex

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan's apparently lifeless form before meeting Count Dooku's steady gaze, pushing the fear he felt for his former master out of his mind. He had to rescue the Chancellor, and to do that he would have to finish his duel with Count Dooku. He clenched and unclenched his mechanical hand, remembering the day he had received it; recalling his failure in that duel and how Obi-Wan had been taken out of that duel as well. He would not fail today, he could not fail. Obi-Wan and Chancellor Palpatine were counting on him, so he would succeed.

"You'll pay if anything happens to him, Dooku," he stated darkly.

"Yes, I do believe you mean that, Skywalker," Count Dooku said raising his lightsaber to defend himself from Anakin. "You have hate, you have anger but you don't use them," Count Dooku taunted retreating as Anakin gained ground, keeping his anger locked away tightly. "How is your arm healing boy?" Anakin didn't reply as he felt his power growing, focusing itself; he knew that Dooku was struggling just to defend himself. "How is the good Senator?" Count Dooku asked hoping to distract him.

"Don't speak of her," Anakin said through clenched teeth. "You don't have that right." He knew he had Dooku, he saw him retreating toward Palpatine, who Dooku had terrorized. He had never seen the Chancellor look so terrified. Then, it happened he reached out and sliced through Dooku's hands, using the force he caught Dooku's red lightsaber in his hand. Dooku was now defenseless. Anakin had dreamed of this moment ever since Genoisis. To have his enemies helpless before him. To be the one in power, in control of his own destiny, to prove to himself and others that he was no longer just a mere slave but worthy as a Jedi and a military Commander. He would prove his greatness, his power. He would prove once and for all how far he had come from that slave from Tattooine.

"Kill him, Anakin," The Chancellor barked in the form of an order.

"I shouldn't," Anakin replied as he was enveloped in a pure white light. When the light dimmed he found himself on Tattooine.

He looked to his right and found Artoo with him. "What in blazes are we doing on Tattooine?" Anakin asked the droid, who had no answer for him.

Anakin's black Jedi robes only attracted the suns of Tattooine and Anakin kicked a pile of sand out of his way. "I hate sand," he mumbled. He wondered where Obi-Wan was. "Let's go find out what kind of trouble Obi-Wan has gotten himself into now," Anakin said to his friend, who responded with a series of beeps and whirls, that made Anakin chuckle. Obi-Wan, in Anakin's opinion, was the greatest Jedi Master in the whole order and yet he could get himself into more predictaments than all the other masters combined. Perhaps, it was because he was always cleaning up behind Anakin, but Anakin usually came back just in time to save Obi-Wan's hide. Anakin wasn't sure what he would do without his master constantly needing saving. It was a cause of amusement for him. He couldn't conceive of any other reason for being on Tattooine, although he had no idea how that had happened, he knew he had to find his old master.

Anakin sure hoped that the blow that the Count had given him hadn't had any lasting damage on him. Everything felt strange and though he reached out through there old bond, he could feel like he was being blocked and that worried the young Jedi.

Anakin stopped outside the cantina, "Wait here, Artoo." Artoo beeped his disagreement. "You don't know this place. They won't like your kind in here. Droids," Anakin explained before Artoo could beep his disapproval. Anakin swung open the door and ordered a drink. He knew from his adventures as Kenobi and Skywalker that this was the best place to find information and right now he needed to find Obi-Wan, he would know what to do, and what was going on. He reached into the force and felt that his lightsaber was still intact, just in case. The force felt so dark, he reached out feeling for other Jedi, but it felt as if several life forces had been snuffed out a long time ago. The great Jedi masters were missing. Anakin was confused, where was he? What had happened to the great Jedi masters? Everyone was staring at him with open hostility, except for a man accompaied by a Wookie who sat down beside him.

"Are you a Jedi?"

"Of course," he said with a smile. Everyone knew him. He was the Jedi's posterman, though he hated politics, mostly because they kept Padme from him but there were other reasons, he hated politics because they kept him from saving people when he wanted to; they had to put it to a vast majority vote just like the Jedi council. He knew that someday he would be a Master and earn his spot on the Jedi Council, not that he cared much about the Council, he just wanted to be there because Obi-Wan was. He wanted to be reconized as someone other than the slave he had once been. It still haunted him sometimes, having his wife and Obi-Wan usually held those feelings at bay so they didn't surface as much as they once had.

"I suggest you hide that thing, Jedi," came the word of warning. Anakin used the force to bring it into his hand. Then he tucked it away more securely. "Name's Han Solo and this is..."

"Chewbacca?" Anakin questioned remembering a resent mission on Kashyyk. Chewie growled his hello. "What happened?" he asked speaking in Wookie.

"Anakin Skywalker, I heard that you died during the Jedi purges," Chewie questioned.

"The Jedi purges what are you talking about?" Anakin questioned.

Chewie was silent. "I thought you looked awfully young for a human of your years."

Anakin chuckled as Han interrupted, "Looks like you two know each other...Any friend of Chewie's is a friend of mine. Like I said, I'm Han Solo the greatest pilot on the side of the galaxy, among other things."

"What all do you do?"

"This and that, just trying to make my way in the universe."

"Aren't we all? My name is Anakin Skywalker."

"Skywalker, huh? Seems I remember hearing stories of you a long time ago. Well, I've got to be going or Jabba will have my head, I may owe him some money, smuggling you know," Han confessed without a bit of shame.

"See you. Be careful, I knew Jabba, he's not anyone I would try to double-cross, the Hutts have their own sense of justice. And Han, do you know where I might find an Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"Obi-Wan? Nope, sorry. But I do know an old hermit around here. Some say he's a wizard. He's a real loner. He arrived here short after the birth of the Empire. Ben Kenobi. The other side of Mos Eisley."

"Thanks," Anakin said wondering what he meant by the Empire. Didn't he mean the Republic? An Empire...wasn't that a...what had Padme called it? Dictatorship. They were a Republic where Senators like Padme and Bail made the laws and put them to a vote through a bill, he vaguelly recalled, that was her domain, his was to ….keep the peace through aggressive negotiations.

"There's no place like Tattooine," the pilot replied.

"Tell me about it."

"Been here before, Skywalker?"

"Nine years too long," Anakin replied as the pilot nodded and left. "Is there any way to get in touch with Coruscant? I need to get in touch with the Jedi Council," Anakin asked the bartender as he left.

"Shhh," replied Saaks. "The Jedi Council doesn't exist. If you contact Coruscant all you are going to get is a whole lot of trouble from the Emperor and his right hand, Darth Vader."

"Who's Darth Vader?"

"Don't even mention the Jedi a round him. Actually, try not to be around him. The Jedi were wiped out. They tried to assassinate the Emperor."

"The Jedi would never..."

"You are the first Jedi I have seen in about twenty years. Darth Vader is a machine they say, humanoid. You ask too many questions but for your own safety I'll answer. He's known throughout the galaxy as the Executioner. No one knows who he is or what. He has no face; he wears a mask and lot of body armor, Skywalker. They say he can kill you with a thought. I would be careful if I was you." Anakin thanked him and headed off to find Ben Kenobi. It was a long shot since no Jedi was allowed a family but it was worth a try. He had to figure out what had happened, and Obi-Wan usually had all the answers. Sometimes, he still felt like a padawan even after having one to train. Hadn't Obi-Wan once used the name Ben as a cover? This Ben Kenobi had to be Obi-Wan or he had to at least know where to find Obi-Wan. What worried him the most was that their bond was gone. Most padawan/master bonds were broken at their knighting ceremony, but Anakin and Obi-Wan had held onto their bond, it had only strengthened throughout the war. It was how he had known that Obi-Wan hadn't died when he went undercover. The only way a bond was broken was if one of them died, turned to the dark side, or had attacked the other one... He knew there was no way in Sith's Hell Obi-Wan would turn to the dark side, and he hoped he wasn't dead, so that only left one option, perhaps he had forcefully broke it when he was captured...being tortured he wouldn't want Anakin to know. Anakin still frowned, hoping that that was all it had been. He saw the hut in the distance. It was quaint, and small. If Obi-Wan was out here, it would be the kind of place he would choose. He could feel the Force swirling around here, meaning the person had access to the Force. As he stood at the door he went into a meditive trance and he felt like he was being blocked from something or someone. It didn't make any sense, but Anakin was always immeresed in the Force, so much so that he rarely had to meditate as Obi-Wan did. Anakin found that fixing things was the same for him as meditating was for other Jedi. He opened his eyes and shook his head, a slight smile, a slight glint of amusement shining though his eyes as he went to meet this Ben Kenobi.