.

.

That was what the imposter had, a cargo pod full of voxyn tissue, enough to clone a million. Anakin's aura flashed and dimmed, flashed again and dimmed more, his cells rupturing in chain reactions, the cycles coming faster and faster as less of him remained to contain the energy. He felt himself not exactly departing, but melting back into the Force. He pulled his last thermal detonator off his harnass and thumbed the timer three clicks.

Go now.

"Anakin, I can't!" Jaina commed. Thirty seconds. He released the trigger. Take her, Jacen. Kiss Tahiri for me.

Anakin raised the detonator so his brother and sister could see.

With the charging warriors almost on him again, Anakin threw the detonator across the grashal. He wasn't conscious of using the Force to guide it, but he must have, because it hit the imposter in the head...

– Star by Star, p. 478

The Noble Dead

.

Anakin Skywalker has never given much consideration to limitations, from his podracing days on Tatooine to his time as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars. Even when he was trapped in the hell that was Darth Vader's armor, he refused to be bound by its technology. Here, in the netherworld of the Force, there is no real deck to stand on, no real viewport to peer through; but that does not stop Anakin from acting as though he is back in command of his own starship. He stands with his feet firmly planted in a wide stance, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he watches his grandson vomit up blood.

It's like looking through the wrong end of a pair of faulty binocs. The scene is out of focus, and Anakin longs to go to the boy, to help him fend off his foes. The Force shimmers around the dead Jedi as he attempts to make his presence manifest alongside the strike team. It has been many years since he's tried this, and it's still taking far too long. As he struggles to transport himself to the physical realm, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He doesn't have to look to know who it is, but he does anyway.

"Let me go to him, Master."

Obi-Wan Kenobi has taken on his middle-aged body, but the sadness in his eyes is still that of a weary, old man. "There's nothing you can do, Anakin."

"There has to be something!"

He feels a surge as his grandson stands up and fires his blaster at the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. The boy is dying, but before he does he's going to make those blasted aliens regret ever hunting down the Jedi.

"I'm going, Obi-Wan. He won't see me, but I am going to help him."

He pulls away from his old friend and runs toward the hazy void that separates the living from the dead. At first he loses sight of the battle; the space around him goes black, and he can hear the other Masters whispering in disbelief. None of them ever thought things could turn out this way. He is thankful that they aren't trying to stop him.

The air grows hot and oppressive as the sounds of combat come rushing back to his ears. The sudden explosion of color and noise and smell is disorienting, but Anakin absorbs it all into his being, becoming invisible to the world. He finds himself much closer to his grandson, and he feels the boy drawing on his love and his faith to fuel his connection to the Force. That love isn't directed at the Skywalker patriarch, but it fills him nonetheless.

The Force pours into the youngest Solo, merging with him in a way that the elder Anakin had to die to experience. Despite his grief, Anakin is overwhelmed by an intense sense of pride. He reaches out to touch his grandson, to lend him all of the strength and power of the Chosen One. As he moves, he feels another presence brush against his.

Thought you might want some help, old friend. Obi-Wan's spirit flows through the Force, entering Anakin's grandson and radiating outward as an aura of light. Your wife suggested that my skills might be needed.

As Anakin's essence swirls around the dying Jedi, imbuing him with the strength to press on, other spirits begin to fuel the Force. Anakin recognizes the presence of Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn, as well as the presence of several newly dead members of the Myrkr strike team. The last spirit to join is Mace Windu; there is no mistaking his approval as he adds his power to the rest.

As the Jedi Knights, both old and new, dissolve into the Force, Anakin still retains enough consciousness to hear voices crying out. He recognizes his granddaughter's voice, and he strains to listen.

"Anakin!" The girl's scream rips through him like a vibroblade, and though he can't feel physical pain, the turmoil in the Force is enough to bring back the memory of it.

"Anakin, help me!" Her anguish filling his soul, killing him slowly, over and over again until he wakes up and realizes that it's only a dream. But the fear still eats away at his heart, clawing frantically for purchase, telling him that no matter what he does, no matter how strong he becomes, she will die.

And then later, he fights desperately to breathe, to move, to touch the Force and feel her presence… the world seems to be bathed in blood, everything filtered through red lenses. He remembers where the power was, but he can't reach it. The words, uttered so plainly, without any real remorse: "You killed her."

Anakin, he hears Obi-Wan whisper across their bond, stay with us. Your grandson needs you. It's almost time.

Fresh groups of Yuuzhan Vong attack the boy with a relentless barrage of razor and thud bugs. As the alien warriors pull out their amphistaffs, Anakin's grandson drops his blaster and thumbs his lightsaber to life, vaulting through the air. The enemy falls dead around him as he continues to slash left and right, ignoring the new wounds they are inflicting on him.

Anakin senses some commotion across the grashal; Jaina is firing a longblaster while Jacen tries to pull her away. The boy warns them off, his violet blade flashing as he somersaults in the air and slices through the necks of several warriors. Anakin experiences another powerful surge of pride as he and the other Jedi spirits continue to channel their power into the battered young Knight.

The boy calls through the Force, Go now.

"Anakin, I can't!" Jaina's plea blasts through her brother's comlink.

The cells in his grandson's body are breaking down, bursting with energy as the Force rushes through him like a raging river. The boy holds up a thermal detonator, and through the Force he tells Jacen to take Jaina and run.

Kiss Tahiri for me.

The Yuuzhan Vong warriors are almost upon the boy. As his grandson throws the detonator, Anakin reaches out to guide the device toward its target. It cracks a fleeing man in the head, and Anakin feels his grandson straining for control over the weapon.

The other spirits are pulling back, ready to welcome the boy into their ranks. With his last breath, the young Jedi Knight moves the detonator toward a cargo pod, and then he releases himself to the netherworld of the Force. Anakin separates himself from the rushing current and catches his grandson in his arms.

The Force ghosts pull away from the world of the living, some of them watching the explosion that is consuming the pod full of voxyn tissue, others gazing at the boy in Anakin's arms. Across the vastness of space, Anakin feels Leia react to her son's death, and he longs to go to her, to be the father he should always have been. But he has to usher her child safely through the void, to give him the chance to retain his identity so that some day she might see him again. At the same moment, he feels Luke's sudden shock, then his efforts to pull the grief inside himself. Anakin tries to reach out to his son, but the distance is already growing too great.

The spirits pass through the darkness, returning to their own world.

.

.

The last thing Anakin Solo remembers is reaching out to nudge the thermal detonator with the Force, knowing that he is about to die. As he struggles to move, he realizes he is being carried in someone's arms. He cracks his eyelids open and looks up into the face of a young man who is staring down at him with a pair of intense blue eyes. Recognition slowly dawns on him, and without meaning to, Anakin's mouth forms a word that is both alien and familiar.

"Grandfather?"

A sob rips from the man's throat as he crushes Anakin to his chest. "Yes, Anakin," he cries softly. "It's me."

"I think… I think I felt you."

His grandfather pulls back so that he can look into Anakin's eyes. His lips part in a half-exhausted, half-sheepish grin. "Well, I had a little help." He brings Anakin to his feet and turns to indicate several figures floating in the void.

Anakin's mouth falls open as he looks upon two rows of old and new Jedi Knights. One of them, a middle-aged man with graying hair, steps forward and bows his head. "Welcome, Anakin Solo," Obi-Wan Kenobi says gently. "Welcome home."

Anakin looks up at his grandfather, a strange mixture of gratitude and sadness filling him. "The others are still in danger," he says, wishing he could see what had happened to Jacen and Jaina.

His grandfather's eyebrows furrow deeply, and he squeezes Anakin's shoulder. "There is a great evil stirring out there, an ancient and more sinister force than the Yuuzhan Vong. Even now I feel something shifting, something that will shape the future of the galaxy. I fear the dark times will return again."

"How can we stop it?"

His grandfather smiles sadly. "We can't. We can only hope that those who remain will learn from your example and resist the darkness. I promise you, Anakin, that the galaxy will see the light again."

They are interrupted by a gentle tapping sound, and when Anakin looks for the source of the noise he realizes it is coming from a small, pale green alien.

"Learn, you must, how to maintain your identity, young Solo," Master Yoda begins without preamble. "Go with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, you will."

A tall man with noble, leonine features joins Master Kenobi, and they both extend their arms, indicating that he should follow. Anakin looks to his grandfather for approval.

"Go. I'll be along shortly."

Anakin nods and turns to follow the Jedi Masters into the shimmering blue mist.

.

.

Anakin Skywalker watches as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan lead the boy further into the mist, toward the realm where all of the noble dead reside. After they have disappeared from sight, Anakin draws closer to the physical world to see what has befallen his other grandchildren.

It is as I feared.

Jacen is now in the hands of the enemy. In the hands of Vergere.

I'm not omniscient; I can't see into Vergere's heart. But I feel the dark side closing in.

You must stand firm, Jacen. And when you're ready to face your destiny, I'll be there with you.

The End