Warning:  The following piece is very dark.  It forms part of something much larger, a saga which potentially explains Anakin's fall to the Dark side.  This first part makes reference to Earth 2 -  I needed an opening situation and G889 fit perfectly.

Disclaimer:  The characters contained within are not mine.  They belong to Universal/Amblin Entertainment, and George Lucas (may his name be hailed forever!).

Prologue
 

The doors exploded inwards and the small band of renegades glanced up, suddenly frightened.  Two black-cloaked figures stood tall, silhouetted by brilliant sunlight from beyond, from outside where the world was still a safe place to be.

In here, though, things were much different.  This institution had already seen much chaos and violence; today, there would be more carnage and destruction.  A small moan was heard.

The figures strode forward, lifting their weapons as the leader of the renegades held up his hands in a gesture of peace.  "Wait," he said softly.  There was no response.  "I'm sure we can resolve this peacefully," he tried again.  "Please listen - we did not wish to take this compound, only it was necessary...."

Not a word was heard from the potential attackers.  Nothing changed; the sense of menace emanating from the pair was extraordinary. They advanced.

"We have to get out of here!" burst out one of the band, panicking at the threat.  The man raced from the dais where he had been working and scrambled desperately for the only bare patch of ground in the large room.  He threw back his head and began to descend quickly into the dirt.

He almost made it.  Almost.  Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the chaos had begun.  One of the dark figures seemed to fly across the room in a maelstrom of vengeance; the other attacked the group huddled around their leader.  "Wait!" he tried again, this time desperately.  "You don't understand what's going on here!"

One of the renegades trilled, it was an eerie, alien sound to which the attackers paid no attention.  Another renegade lifted up an evil looking weapon and fired desperately.  Every shot was easily deflected away.

"Ulysses, you have to do something!" screamed a young woman, her blonde hair flying.  Her comrades were rushing towards the door, or towards the patch of earth, but each was easily dispatched.  More weapons were produced but it seemed impossible to hit the attackers, who moved with a grace and agility unseen by anyone upon this world.

The stench of burning, of blood, began to fill the room.  The screaming didn't stop as a few brave renegades from other levels of the building descended to help their comrades, only to discover an unstoppable force.  They swarmed around the attackers yet were quickly murdered with almost a careless twist of a blade.

Finally, only the leader and his companion were left.

"Please," Ulysses tried again, interspersing his words with soft trilling.  One of the attackers dashed around the room, too quickly for Ulysses to make out what he was doing.  Above were the sounds of those too terrified to come down, but if they couldn't reach the earth, they could not escape.  There were no exits from the compound, this being one of the more secure installations of the planetary government, which had recently been overtaken.  Prisoners of war were also incarcerated above.  "You are killing innocent people!  Take me, I'm the one you want, I'm responsible for this all."

It seemed that finally, Ulysses was getting through.  The menacing figure paused while his companion joined him.  Neither spoke but everyone had the impression of communication between the pair.  Their earlier moves had been as one.

One hooded attacker lifted a hand and the young woman found herself compelled to move forward, from where she had been protected.  "Don't blame Ulysses," she said bravely.  "It was my idea as well.  Can't you understand why we did this?  The Terrians are being destroyed, we had to do something!"

Her arm was gently taken and she shivered.  She tried to see the face of her captor, wondering if she was getting through.  "My name is True, I'm a human being, just like you are!" she tried desperately, knowing that the war so far had been Humans versus Terrians and the attackers were most definitely on the Human side.

~True~ - she heard an echo of her name and wondered if it was them or if it was Ulysses.  She smiled bravely.  "We will go with you now, just please, no more death."

The two aggressors exchanged hooded glances.  One reached out to gently stroke her cheek, and the other...the other sliced her neatly in half.

"NO!" screamed Ulysses, as the love of his life died.  He flew at the attackers, pulling a weapon from his pocket and blasting furiously.  The shots were easily deflected as Ulysses desperately fired, he then lunged at them with his bare hands when the weapon was emptied.  The two danced around him, not fighting back, almost as if they were waiting for something....

And as fast as they had entered, they were gone.  Ulysses had only one moment to look at the carnage around him, to sink to his knees in grief, to realise that his cause to free the Terrians was lost, before the world exploded.

From the roaring flames the two figures burst outside, laughing, whooping, dancing away from the smoke.  "What a rush!" the taller one shouted.  In unison, they lifted their hoods, revealing two blonde heads.  To the onlookers huddled in the corners of the streets, they seemed a pair of avenging angels.

The two men high-fived each other.  Together they glanced at the ruined institution and laughed loudly.  "You're lucky your countdown wasn't off," said the taller.  His shorter companion gave him a hard look.  "When have you ever known me to be wrong?"

"Yousa bombad Jedi!" came a voice familiar to both of them and the slightest of groans could be heard as they turned to face their companion.  "Yousa saved all dese people!"  Jar Jar gestured broadly to the streets about them, where the city's original inhabitants were once again free to roam.

Anakin Skywalker chuckled, still on a high.  There was something so satisfying about seeing justice restored.  And a battle like that, where they pushed their limits to the edge, knowing that if they were caught in the bomb blast they would be seriously hurt, gave him a huge burst of exhilaration and adrenaline.  He wasn't in the mood to report to Chancellor Taggart, who had requested their assistance when the situation with the renegades turned nasty.  He still wanted to...play.

A quick thought to his companion revealed the other man felt the same way.  Anakin glanced at Jar Jar.  "You like what we did?"

"Yeah, Ani!"

"Would you like to learn?" he offered, knowing that Jar Jar either wouldn't pick up on the taunt on his voice, or would ignore it.

Jar Jar nodded most enthusiastically and suddenly Anakin's fiery lightsaber was hurtling through the air towards him.  He squeaked, ducking out of the way of the deadly blade and somehow managing to catch the handle, juggling it from one hand to another.

Anakin's companion, Jar Jar's adversary, advanced.  A menacing gleam was in his eyes.  Jar Jar warily held up the lightsaber, feeling a little uncomfortable.  He hated it when his friends "played" with him.  What made it worse was how much his friends enjoyed it.  Still, he would never say anything, because if they abandoned him then he would truly have no one.

For a while, Jar Jar defended himself quite easily - a series of quick defensive motions seemmed to work.  Then the attack became more aggressive.  Jar Jar did his best but all too soon he was lying flat on his back in the dirt (which worried him - what if one of those creatures which travelled through the earth grabbed him?).  The lightsaber was at his throat and Anakin was laughing.

"I give up," Jar Jar managed to squeak.

"Did you hear something, Anakin?"

"Not a word," came the nasty reply.

"It seems I have won this battle.  What do you think I should do to the prisoner?"

Anakin surveyed Jar Jar, a wicked smile on his face.  "Since he won't surrender..."  He looked at his companion as Jar Jar once again desperately verbalised his submission.

"We could crush him,"

"Grind him into tiny pieces..."

The pair laughed at Jar Jar's expression; it was obviously an ongoing joke between them.  Reluctantly, the lightsaber was withdrawn and hidden away.  It was time to get serious.

A little girl with an arm full of flowers crept up to the two Jedi, a nervous smile on her face.  "These are for you," she said, thrusting the flowers forward.  "I want to say thank you for helping us."

Kind smiles appeared on the faces of the men and they bent down to the girl's level.  They were used to this adoration, as Jedi, and exceptionally fine looking Jedi at that, it was no surprise that people often praised them.  Blonde-haired, blue-eyed avenging angels they were.

"Thank you, young lady.  And what is your name?"

"Ariel Martin, sir," she replied shyly.  "My father is on the Committee."

"Ah, the Committee," repeated Anakin, laughing inside at the importance the girl attached to the world.  These backwater planets were always full of inhabitants with delusions of grandeur.  "We shall remember your kindness always, Ariel."

The little girl managed one more smile before she scurried back to join her friends.  The Jedi arose.  The mission to planet Gateneighn had been a complete success and now it was time to return to the Jedi Council and report.

"Coming, Ani?" asked his master.

"Yes, Obi-Wan," he replied.

They looked forward to their next mission.
 

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END Prologue.

This story is a work in progress.  Feedback is most welcome to stardestiny@bigfoot.com