Grinning Goku
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Gender: Male Location: J. Edgar Hoover Building |
Star Wars: History within a Mystery
Chapter I
“It’s been a long time, Skywalker.”
These words slid from the mouth of Giraard. His nerves tingled with anticipation. He couldn’t wait to wrap his large, craggy hands around the armored neck of the erstwhile Jedi Knight. He stood at an imposing 7 foot 8 inches, with huge, disproportionate hands and feet, a large muscular frame and a rock-hard layer of skin.
“I can see the years haven’t been kind to you.”
Anakin seethed under his expressionless visage. “Who dares address me by that name?” He slowly and stiffly turned around. The years had been unkind to him indeed.
“Have you forgotten this voice already? I guess I was just one of your many conquests over the course of your distinguished career. Tell me, do have holograms of yourself that you watch in loops? Do you yearn for the handsomeness you’ve lost?”
Darth Vader placed his gloved hand on the hilt of his light-saber. It was ice cold. He could barely recall how it felt against his flesh. Under his mask, which served as both a prison and citadel of sorts, his eyes winced while attempting to focus his vision.
“Yes. I recognize you. I needn’t ask you how you got past my troopers, but tell me why you’ve come here,” he said as coolly as he could.
“I’m here to kill you, Skywalker. Years ago, I simply wanted your ruptured skull under my boot because of what you did to me, but now that I’ve seen what you’ve become, that death would be too good for the likes of you” Giraard answered bitterly.
“I’ve warned you once about addressing me by that laughable moniker. Do it again and I’ll detach your damned head from your body.”
He was incensed and as a result, tightened his grip on his light-saber.
“Try it, o-slaughterer-of-children. When you were younger you earned my vengeance, now you’ve earned my eternal hatred.”
There was now a tinge of anger, perhaps even rage in his voice.
The fallen Jedi drew the ancient weapon from his side and quickly ignited it. He was poised to strike his target, but before he could, memories flooded his weary mind. If not for the Force, this inundation of pictures from the past would have rendered him comatose. They continued to overwhelm him, until they finally succeeded in lugging him back to a time not so long ago in and to a galaxy not too far away….
Anakin’s mind drifted as he instinctively piloted his starfighter. He didn’t know exactly where he was or how long he was flying through space. The only thing he was sure of was that he was being drawn to a remote part of the galaxy by an almost irresistible force. He had so much on his plate and he had no business indulging in some random adventure. It wasn’t his place, but he continued on, embracing this unexpected and mysterious respite. He had just killed Dooku and his conscience had been tugging at every fiber of his being. R2 beeped and bleeped at Anakin for reassurance, but Anakin simply answered the confused droid with an incoherent mumble.
It was then that the Jedi Knight saw the uncharted planetoid. It was slightly bigger than Pluto.
As he drew closer to it, he said to himself,
“Mmm... That’s odd. Looks like there’s a small Jedi temple down there. Yes…It’s almost dead-on in architecturally. This is incredible. How can there be a temple all the way in the Outer Rim?”
R2 indicated his mutual surprise through a serious of loud bleeps.Anakin’s fighter landed on the rough terrain, a few yards from the temple.
“Stay put R2, I’m going to see what’s up with this place. If I take too long to come back, contact Obi Wan.”
Anakin moved slowly towards the temple’s entrance. He felt as if he was losing his grip on reality. There’s a war being waged and here you are the great hero, off on some foolish errand. They need me and here I am putting my life at risk because of some irrational inclination. By the Force, when am I going to grow up?
Despite the conflict and ambivalence raging within him, he continued on, and was determined to discover the temple’s secrets. It resembled the temple on Coruscant, but at a much smaller scale. Its spire’s were blood red and its ziggurat was pitch black. He was compelled to draw his weapon, but he could not find it. He turned around to go back to his fighter, but it had ostensibly blended in with the horizon and the planet’s grayish terrain.
He entered the temple cautiously. It was dimly lit and there was a ubiquitous mustiness that smelled as old as time. It looked nearly as big as the Jedi Temple on Coruscant on the inside and Anakin continued taking Yoda-like steps as if he was expecting the floor before to crumble into nothingness. This expectation, as he was about to find out, was not at all far-fetched. He suddenly felt himself falling. He instinctively used the Force to impede his swift descent. He had fallen nearly 80 feet into a wide, poorly lit pit.
He looked around with squinted eyes. His face was covered in dust and his heart was now full of regret.
“No lightsaber. No way to contact anyone. Seems I haven’t gotten past the old Skywalker luck,” the young Knight said to himself.
After a few seconds, he heard movement.
“Hello? Who’s there? And if anyone’s there, why are you here?”
His voice echoed and shuffling continued.
“Listen, I’m not here to hurt you. Well, don’t know exactly why I’m here, but it’s not to hurt you.”
“Jedi” whispered a gruff voice.
“Jedi” said the same voice again from a different direction.
All of sudden, Anakin’s ears were bombarded with whispers from all directions.
“Jedi, Jedi, Jedi, Jedi, Jedi, Jedi.”
“SHOW YOURSELF!!! SHOW YOURSELF OR DIE AT MY HANDS!” shouted Anakin in half-hearted rage.
A large figure emerged from a dark end of the pit.
“You’re trespassing here. You’ve earned yourself an automatic death sentence, Jedi” the figure said menacingly.
“How did you know I’m a Jedi?” inquired Anakin.
“It’s in the eyes” the figure responded.
After saying this, his eyes glowed light blue and he cracked his gigantic knuckles as if he was about to knock a planet of its orbit. He stepped into the light, revealing his jagged features and gargantuan physique. He towered over the young Jedi and was poised to strike.
“I’ve done you no wrong. I was drawn to this place by some force. Before you attempt to kill me, tell me, what is this place?”
“Attempt!” bellowed the creature in disbelief. “I assure that it will be more than an attempt.”
Anakin was slightly annoyed by his response of a number of reasons.
“Who are you anyway? What’s your name?
“My name is Giraard, and this place is my domain. You’re not welcome here and you’ll die at my hands for trespassing. The Titarnians are very territorial, Jedi, or did you know that already?”
“I had no idea. Did you guide me here? Did you manipulate my mind or something?! I’ll kill you if you did. You have no idea how many innocents may have died due to my absence!”
“Mmm….Sounds like you’re an important person. Are you?”
“I’m a general in the Clone Wars. So…yes. Yes I am,” Anakin said with child-like pride.
“I see. Let’s see how far your status will get you now.”
By this time, Anakin thought he would have unraveled this tapestry of a mystery, but his confusion only grew. He felt like he was thrust into battle naked and straight out of bed.
“Perhaps this is a dream,” he thought to himself.
“No it can’t be a dream. I’ve never had one so vivid or confusing” he whispered while looking down at the pit’s dirt floor.
Giraard grew tired of waiting and charged toward the bewildered hero. Anakin reacted nimbly and leaped a few feet into the air. He placed his hands on his attacker’s large shoulders and propelled himself over his head. He marveled at how hard his skin felt. For a moment anxiety got a hold of him and he wondered if he would have an easier time even if he had his prized blade.
He landed gently behind the giant and quickly performed a series of dizzying somersaults to distance himself from his hulking foe.
“The regret I’ll feel after killing you is shrinking quickly, my grotesque friend. I don’t need my lightsaber to make you look like a youngling”
“Keep telling yourself that Jedi. By the way, you didn’t give me your name.”
“I’m Anakin Skywalker. It’s a name you’ll soon come to respect and revere.”
“You speak such nonsense. You’re scarcely larger than a Jawa,” said Giraard.
“Don’t underestimate me.! You’ll be sorry!” spat Anakin viciously.
Anakin took the offense, and ran towards the giant with fantastic speed. Giraard braced himself as Anakin delivered a flying kick to his abdomen.
“Ahhh! Damnit! That hurt!” Anakin whispered softly.
“Wouldn’t recommend doing that again, Skywalker. This won’t be much of fight if both your ankles are broken. Heh, heh, heh, heh.”
Anakin was beginning to get frustrated. He tried to remember his master’s advice. “Empty your body and mind of those emotions that would seek to tear you asunder. You are a Jedi; rage is your enemy and peace is your guide. Remember the code, my young apprentice. Now repeat after me: There is no emotion, there is peace there is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, There is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.”
“How could I be so foolish. I should not attack. I must read his movements or risk dying in the decrepit temple. I must defend myself, not attack. Don’t attack, Anakin…control your anger.”
Giraard looked at the Jedi intriguingly. He’d never seen a creature so at odds with itself. He decided he would use this to his advantage, if possible.
“You want me, Titarnian? Come and take your prize!” Anakin said with a confident smirk plastered across his face.
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PSN handle: B_B_Kang
Last edited by Grinning Goku on Apr 16th, 2009 at 05:17 PM
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