A New Player in the Force

The swirling energies of hyperspace peeled back, placing us in a minor system that was known only by a simple code. According to Hondo’s contact, the only habitable world in the system, which had been turned into a scrap world several centuries ago, was used by a handful of Trandoshan groups for blooding their younglings.

As the hum of the hyperdrive faded into silence and Raven’s course shifted toward the system’s radiant star, I closed my eyes and extended my senses into the ethereal currents of the Force. Even as I trod carefully, mindful of the awe-inspiring web that wove together every mote of stardust and celestial fire, I sought the truth of Anakin's presence.

A moment later, I opened my eyes and spoke softly, “He’s here.” Though the precise location eluded me, for I was not yet ready to plunge fully into the Force’s boundless depths before achieving my own balance, I felt with certainty that we were in the right system.

Simvyl grunted, surprised that Hondo’s contact had come through. Said Weequay was in his cabin with HK outside to ensure the pirate didn’t try anything stupid. When we’d met the contact, Hondo had suggested that it would be wiser if he remained with the contact – a Quarren who was missing some of its facial tentacles – but hadn’t complained too loudly when I’d made clear that wasn’t happening as I didn’t trust him.

HK would deploy with us when we located the Trandoshan vessel, while R2 remained behind, guarding Hondo in his cabin. Thanks to an upgrade Anakin had installed before his abduction, the astromech was equipped with a device akin to a cattle prod, with orders to render the Weequay a quivering mess should he dare to step outside his room while we were away. I had considered leaving a more intimidating presence behind, but I wanted to bring the full force of my command to bear on this mission.

Though originally designed as an assassin droid, HK’s new frame had transformed him into a formidable war droid. Fenrir, perhaps sensing the disturbance in our pack caused by Anakin’s capture and the absence of a vital member, had been restless since the event. I could sense his longing to tear into Trandoshan flesh, though I hoped he avoided any ill effects from whatever unsavoury locations those beasts might have frequented.

Simvyl would also accompany us. Despite my initial thoughts of leaving him behind, his unyielding resolve since Anakin’s capture, combined with his blunt insistence on joining us, left no room for doubt. He had a personal vendetta against the Trandoshans, and I was not about to deny him the chance for retribution. His belief that Anakin’s capture was his failure—a sentiment confirmed by Observe even after I absolved him of guilt—fuelled his desire for atonement. Furthermore, his presence would ensure we fought as a cohesive unit, something we hadn’t done since HK’s reassembly.

How the battle on the scrap world would go, I didn’t yet know, but one order of battle had been made clear. I wanted as many lizards as possible taken alive. Researching their beliefs had revealed that if they were captured, then all the points they’d earned with the Scorekeeper were wiped clean. To be killed without any points, and thus face their god a failure as a hunter, was the single greatest fear the species had, and, depending on how and when the lizard lost their points, their entire clutch could be outcast from the culture.

Before each of those filthy beasts met their end, I wanted them to grasp the full weight of their transgression. They would understand the depth of their error in taking my son, in daring to challenge my family. I wanted them to be consumed by fear, to tremble before the wrath of their so-called god—however hollow that deity might be—before they drew their last breath. The only uncertainty gnawing at me was whether I would deliver their final judgement myself or bestow that honour upon HK or Simvyl.

I knew many, including the Jedi, would condemn my resolve to execute prisoners, but I cared little for their opinions. This was not merely an act of vengeance; it was a necessity. Keeping the lizards alive would burden governments with managing them, resources that could be better spent elsewhere. And if their punishment were lenient—which I had little doubt it would be—then we would be allowing a potential threat to re-emerge. I had no fear of these reptiles, not unless their entire race united against me, but letting a potential danger fester was a grave mistake, especially with far greater threats looming on the horizon.

The Banite Sith already had, without the Jedi even realising it, taken control of the Republic. All that remained, at least in the minds of Sidious and Plagueis, was bringing about the destruction of the Jedi, the shattering of the Republic, and the rise of the Empire Darth Bane had begun the planning for nearly a millennium ago.

Perhaps the Jedi could change enough to see the threat, perhaps, if I’d fully committed to their ways, they’d stand a chance. However, I’d known for a long time my path wasn’t with the Order, and with Anakin as my Padawan, neither was his. All I could hope was that, when the time came for the truth of Sidious and Plagueis to be revealed, the Order as a whole would be able to at least help Anakin and me defeat the threat the Banite Sith posed.

Raven was surging toward the only habitable planet in the system, hope rising from her as she understood Anakin was close. Beneath that, merging with my desires, was a need to find those who’d taken Anakin from us and make them pay. I couldn’t help but smile at sensing that. Raven was changing in ways I’d never considered possible, and if I’d not taken Natural Selection, inadvertently strengthening our bond, she might not have done so.

She wasn’t sentient, not even as Fenrir was, nor was she growing bigger or stronger, but the spark of natural intelligence, of evolution, was there. My thinking had always influenced her, but since the change in my connection to the Force, that influence had grown, though not in a way that might destroy what made her unique.

My thoughts drifted to the seething tempest that resided within me. As I grappled with my meditation, seeking to embrace the shadows of the power I harboured and the path it might carve, I could discern a glimmer of progress. The voices that once roared for the annihilation of every Trandoshan in the galaxy for Anakin’s suffering were no longer as deafening. Nor did the whispers urging me to seize whatever I desired echo with the same intensity. They lingered still, a chorus of temptation, but I had learned to subdue them, to impose my will upon their discord. This, I hoped, signified that Adas’ teachings were beginning to take root, offering the hope that Raven might remain untainted by the demons within.

Yet, the true measure of my meditation’s efficacy would reveal itself in a few hours, when the first walking lizard steak crossed my vision.

… …

… …

(Anakin’s POV)

He smiled as an explosion reached his ears. Those with him panicked, caught unprepared for the sound, but when Anakin waved them to stay low they did so, and a moment later the shockwave of the explosion rushed past them. Where they were, about three mounds of debris away from where the make-shift bomb had ignited and below the crest of the mound, meant they barely felt the ripples in the air, but they still had to be cautious of the dust that was ripped upward by the shockwave.

As the concussive wave passed, and the dust began to settle, he sensed the excitement of the others. “Shh!” He hissed while keeping his voice low before any of them could shout in celebration that his trap had worked. While it was unlikely that the sound would reach the Trandoshans, any beasts that remained with them, or whatever tech they were using to hunt Anakin and his friends, he wasn’t willing to make things easier on them by allowing the other kids to give away their location, not after the first time a trap of his had worked.

Before he could still the rising clamour, Plirs had called out in delight, and Anakin's sharp reprimand followed swiftly. However, their tension was abruptly cut short by the distant growl of approaching hounds. In a frantic scramble, they attempted to flee, but Eshie had slipped down a mound, becoming ensnared beneath shifting debris. Anakin rushed to her aid, his mind already reaching out with the Force to free her from the rubble. Yet just as he prepared to act, the first lizard came into sight.

It was only through the rigorous training with Cam, Master Dooku, and Instructor Kefe that Anakin managed to evade the incoming bolts. His hasty retreat led him and the others to the far side of the mound. Amidst the chaos, Eshie’s desperate cries pierced the air, calling for his help. But Anakin understood the harsh truth—rescuing her would endanger everyone else. The others, displeased with the decision to leave her behind, blamed him for failing to uphold his vow of protection. Despite their discontent, they followed him still, their trust wavering but unbroken.

The pain of experiencing Eshie’s death through the Force, and his fury at himself for failing her, and the lizards for hunting them had dominated his thoughts ever since, and he’d struggled to get a good rest whenever they stopped. Knowing that he’d see her panicked face, and relive her final screams if he closed his eyes, Anakin had thrown himself into creating more traps, with the one that had just detonated being the fifth trap since that first one, around three days ago. While not all of the traps had gone off, they had slowed the Trandoshans, and those that had gone off had wounded or killed several of the creatures hunting them.

The first trap had been a lucky find as Snaxiu, a Rodian, had spotted a downed fighter. There had been a moment of hope that they could get it flying, but once Anakin examined the Cloakshape fighter, he knew it was unsalvageable. Still, whoever had sent it to this junk world hadn’t stripped it for everything of value, as the reactor core still contained some fuel.

Anakin had started the engines and disabled the overrides, knowing it would lead to the fighter exploding, and they’d scrambled away, leaving it for the Trandoshans to find. While Anakin didn’t think it had killed any of them, the number of beasts had decreased ever since, and that had helped as not only were the lizards more cautious from then on, but they kept their beast on leashes. Anakin had discovered that when, as they moved through one particularly large mound of debris, he’d seen a pair of beasts all but dragging their lizard handlers forward.

The second and third traps were less flashy, and more a case of him and the other kids moving debris around to create pits and unstable piles. The first of those simple traps hadn’t seemingly done anything, but the second one had. Or at least the unstable powercell Lena, a human girl, had discovered and given to Anakin, had detonated.

The fourth trap had been something slightly more complicated, using a tripwire and makeshift grenade. It had detonated but Anakin hadn’t sensed anyone in pain or suffering from the explosion, so he assumed it had failed. The fifth, having just detonated, had been successful, and Anakin smiled as he sensed the life of at least one Trandoshan fade into the Force.

Anakin had felt the pain of the Trandoshans whenever a trap had worked, even felt some passing away through the Force, and while he knew he shouldn’t – as it was not the Jedi way – he had enjoyed causing those hunting him and his remaining friend’s pain. To let them experience some of the suffering he and the other kids were enduring because of the lizards. Anakin knew Cam wouldn’t scold him for taking pleasure in the Trandoshan’s pain. Cam, while he tried to keep the feelings hidden from him, hated the race with a passion. Until recently Anakin hadn’t understood why Cam had despised the race, but after nearly two weeks under their care – on their ship and now being hunted on this junkworld – he was beginning to agree that Trandoshans were nothing but trouble. Even more so than he’d believed before they’d captured him.

The other side to it was that Anakin, through Cam, was a Mandalorian, and as he had said, no warrior should go down without a fight. While he knew that he couldn’t win, that eventually he and those with him would run out of time, tricks, and space, Anakin intended to make sure that the lizards paid in blood. And then, when Cam arrived – as Anakin knew he would – those that remained would understand the mistake they had of capturing and hunting children. Just as Decca would one day die at Anakin’s hands for killing his mother.

Anakin closed his eyes for a moment, bringing forth the last happy memory he had of her, drawing hope from it. He missed her dearly, but even if he didn’t like that she was gone, he’d accepted her death. It was the natural state of the galaxy. Something Cam, Bo, and Master Dooku had explained, though each used vastly different words to say that. His mother lived on through him and Lia, and Anakin had sworn on his first night on this world that he’d see his sister again.

“Come on,” he said sharply to the other kids with him, knowing they couldn’t linger here, nor could he let himself be distracted by thinking too long on his mother, Lia, or Cam. That, as Cam and Bo had preached, only led to you missing something important in the here and now, leaving you exposed to danger, and Anakin had enough of that already.

As the trio of kids still with him started moving as well, Anakin paused, sensing a shift in the Force. Looking upward, he smiled as a familiar presence reached out to him. Cam was near, perhaps even in the system. Anakin wished he knew how to communicate with Cam through the Force, but that wasn’t something he’d yet displayed the ability to do. Instead, he closed his eyes and, as best he could, broadcast into the Force. Cam should be able to sense it and focus on his location.

Once his eyes opened, Anakin felt himself fill with renewed hope. Soon, very soon, he’d be reunited with his father, and then the Trandoshans would pay for their mistakes. All Anakin had to do until then was ensure that he, and his new friends, remained alive and free.

The latest trap had only been maybe an hour behind them, so they didn’t have much distance between themselves and the lizards, but Anakin knew that he’d do everything he could to ensure those beasts couldn’t capture them.

… …

… …

(Cam’s POV)

I watched carefully, tracking the movements of the Trandoshans outside their vessel. The vessel was the same one that had taken Anakin from me, as the damaged sublight engine and scorch marks along the hull were easily visible to the HUD. Through the Battlenet I was receiving feed from HK and Simvyl who were approaching the vessel from the other side so that we’d catch those outside, and any exiting the ramp, in a crossfire. That said, I didn’t plan on gunning them all down from a distance.

As the HUD traced the movements of the Trandoshans outside, a deep well of fury began to churn within me. Though the ease I was able to do so was recent, I wrestled it down, channelling that primal rage into purpose rather than succumbing to the baser demands of the Force. I harboured no illusions; the Trandoshans were destined to suffer, to die, but their demise would come only after they grasped the depth of their transgression and surrendered every fragment of knowledge they possessed.

Anakin’s presence was a distant echo, lingering hundreds of kilometres to the southwest, but his armour was here, or at least most of it. The moment we breached the atmosphere, my Battlenet had linked to his, and I would not leave it to the whims of these wretched beings.

"Steady," I commanded, placing a firm hand on Fenrir’s head as he approached with a low growl. His yearning for combat, for the taste of enemy flesh, was palpable, and though I would not deny him his desire, I ensured he remained still until the moment was right.

Time was scarce. I sensed a dozen souls near Anakin, most of whom were little more than targets eagerly awaited to be erased from existence. Yet, some were not. I could not afford to let this vessel or its occupants linger as a threat or offer any chance of escape before I reunited with my ad. Such risks were intolerable.

The idea to simply attack them from Raven, letting her missiles obliterate the vessel and remaining crew had been considered but discarded. That wasn’t guaranteed to take the ship out instantly, and it was probable that any who survived the first volley of missiles would alert the others, and that was if they didn’t have some open channel to the vessel in place as I would do in their situation.

Using the Force to Teleport closer, or even from orbit as I’d done on Mandalore at the start of the civil war was also discarded. I hadn’t even started remastering that ability, though it was one I would regain before the time came to leave the Jedi. It might have limitations for combat use, but the ability to traverse vast distances – or at least what I could see or sense nearby – in an instant wasn’t something to cast aside and forget. Something, I had to admit, I’d done far too often in the years leading up to taking Natural Selection and freeing my connection to the Force from the Interface.

A growl, one worthy of the tuk’ata at my side, slipped from my lips, though none heard it because of my sealed armour. A new lizard had emerged from the ship, and moved to place a head – that of a young Togruta with purple skin – on a pike, placing it beside ten others. Those were their trophies, the victims of the lizard’s deranged and unworthy beliefs. The children had died horribly and painfully – the expressions on each head made that clear – and while they deserved a proper burial, which they would get, those who had inflicted such terror on them before killing them deserved death.

A signal in the Battlenet told me HK and Simvyl had their targets, the pair knowing that they weren’t to go for outright kill shots. I wanted the Trandoshans alive and in chains before they died. I wanted them to understand their folly before I ripped what I needed from them and their ship.

The moment the vessel was secure, Raven would arrive. While we raced to Anakin, R2 and Hondo would remain behind, the droid to access the vessel’s core, and the Weequay because I wasn’t leaving him alone on Raven.

That came after though, now it was time to hunt those who deserved a painful death.

“Oya!” The command echoed through the Battlenet, a primal cry that shattered the silence of impending conflict. I summoned the fury that roared within me, channelling it into a relentless force that surged forth like a storm unleashed. My will carved through the chaos, casting a shadow over the battlefield, imbuing the very universe with a stark, unyielding claim: this world was mine.

… …

… …

(Anakin’s POV)

He halted abruptly, the Force twisting and churning around them. It wasn’t just a disturbance near them but a shadow sweeping across the very planet.

“What’s wrong?” Plirs’s voice was a sharp whisper, betraying his alarm as Anakin fixed his gaze eastward, toward where the Trandoshan ship lay hidden. Anakin’s response was silence, his focus turned inward, reaching into the depths of the Force.

The shift in the Force was unmistakable—it was Cam’s presence, but it pulsed with a weight and gravity unlike anything Anakin had felt before. The familiar essence of his father was there, but now it radiated an oppressive power, a storm so fierce it threatened to overwhelm everything in its proximity. Beneath this tempest, there was an eerie silence, a void that swallowed all else.

When Cam had tried to save him on the station, Anakin had felt the raw might of his father’s power—unleashed like a sandstorm, ruthless and all-consuming, a force capable of eradicating everything it touched.

Now, however, this power was different. It was immense, its presence nearly all-encompassing, yet it was concentrated, almost refined. At the eye of this relentless storm, there was an unsettling emptiness, as if Cam’s connection to the Force had been devour-

“Wh-what’s happening?!”

Anakin pulled his thoughts back to his surroundings and looked down at Lena. She’d been the one to speak and was now looking pale, as were Plirs and Snaxiu or at least as pale as they could for their species.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, wondering if they could sense whatever it was Cam was doing within the Force. He’d not felt any of them had a strong connection to the Force, but perhaps Cam’s actions were affecting more than just those who could touch the Force.

“I…” she paused, shivering as if they were on some frozen wasteland instead of in the middle of a temperature junk field. “I don’t know. I feel cold.”

“Me too,” Plirs added to which Snaxiu nodded.

“It’s C… my father,” Anakin said, changing his answer mid-sentence into something the others might understand. “He can use the Force though he’s far better at it than I am.”

“H-he’s here?” Snaxiu asked, surprised that help was coming in his voice.

“Yes. We just have to keep moving,” Anakin replied, wishing they’d start moving again. Yes, He’d been the one who’d stopped first, but that had been a mistake. The Trandoshans were close behind, but at least they didn’t have the last two beasts to help them track him and his friends.

Turning, not wanting them to remain still any longer, he resumed moving, his mind turning back to how he’d taken out the beasts. It’d happened earlier today, and the lizards controlling the hounds had flanked them, cutting them off from a way they wanted to go by climbing over a large mound of debris. Knowing they couldn’t escape the beasts before they rushed down at them, not with the lizards readying their blasters, Anakin had panicked, which was when the Force had responded.

The voices deep inside him had made clear that he wasn’t meant to die here; that he was destined for greater things alongside Cam. They told him to act, to keep himself safe. Not fully understanding how he knew what to do, or that it would work, He’d thrust out his arms, willing the Force to help him.

It had done so as the mound the beasts and lizards had been standing on shuddered. The group had stumbled, unsure of their footing and then fell back, going over the crest of the mount; back to where they’d come from. Anakin hadn’t stopped there though, and remembering the lessons on using the Force to push objects, and put every ounce of desire he could into ensuring the Trandoshans didn’t get up quickly, or that the beasts they’d brought with them didn’t rush after them in the chaos that was unfolding.

The Force had responded, and the mound those hunting him and his friends had been one shifted. He’d not seen what had happened on the other side to cause it, but one moment the mound had been there, and the next it moved backwards, flattening out and burying those on the other side.

He’d managed to get the others moving, not wanting them to remain where they were and be attacked by the main group of Trandoshans hunting them. Though as they’d scrambled away, the trio had asked what had happened. Wanting the matter handled, or at least them to stop talking so loudly while they were being tracked, he’d told them he could use the Force. That he was both Mandalorian and Jedi.

They’d struggled to believe him, but as he’d kept moving quickly to stay ahead of the lizards, and they’d not wanted to fall behind it had quietened any questions they might have.

“Is he a Jedi?” Lena asked as they moved around one mound, not going over the peak and thus exposing themselves to fire if any Trandoshan saw them break the skyline.

“Yes,” Anakin replied, feeling a smile come to his face. “He’s a really powerful Jedi and a respected warrior.”

“You’re just saying that because he’s your dad.”

Anakin ignored Plirs. The Weequay was right that Anakin was going over the top, but Cam was powerful. And one day, he’d be just as powerful, if not more so. That day wouldn’t come if he died before Cam could reach them, which meant focusing, as Master Dooku would put it, on the present and what was, and not on the future and what might be.

After ensuring his friends were behind him, Anakin cast a final glance back to where he knew Cam was. The change in Cam was incredible, and Anakin would be lying if it didn’t frighten him a little, but he understood that he, by being kidnapped by the Trandoshans, was the source of that change. Because of that, he found renewed courage to keep pushing forward. It would only be a few hours at most until Cam reached them, and then they’d finally be free of this Hutt-spawn of a world.

… …