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Anakin Skywalker is on the path to become one of the greatest figures on the galactic scene. If you want to read an original story of greatness, you can check my story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.
—
Tatooine
Fort Freedom
"Master Jedi, what brings you here once more?" Anakin asked, sitting on his chair. The Jedi had requested another meeting once the scare over the battle had calmed down. He, of course, had to work, along with most of the Freedom First, while the citizens celebrated.
Plo Koon laid his right hand over his heart as he bowed. "Our apologies, you must be busy. We were wondering if you were Force-sensitive in addition to your powers."
Anakin coughed lightly. He hadn't expected the blunt tone or for the Jedi to suspect he might be Force sensitive. He didn't care if it was revealed or not. He just didn't understand why the Jedi suspected it in the first place.
"I am Force sensitive, but as I proved, the Mystic Arts aren't a product of the Force."
Quinlan and Plo Koon shared a quick glance. "There is a quick medical test meant to detect the strength of an individual's connection to the Force. Would you be willing to humor us?"
He was beginning to like this Jedi's humble tone.
"Certainly, if you answer a couple of questions for me first," he offered in return. This would be a good opportunity for him to have some answers.
"As long as they don't compromise the secrets of the Jedi Order, I accept."
"Great, give me a second," he said, opening a small portal and pulling something out.
"A holocron? How?" Quinlan asked, eyes locked on the cube. He had never seen one outside the temple before.
"I found it buried beneath the sands in a ship along with the remains of what I believe to be a Sith warrior. What exactly is a holocron?" He understood it was important enough. Why, though, was beyond him.
Plo Koon was silent. His respirator and the goggles made it impossible to read the Kel Dor. "It is a storage device for information. This one appears to be a Jedi holocron. If you are certain it was a Sith warrior, then it must have been stolen," he explained after a moment.
It couldn't have been the Zabrak Sith warrior who had attacked Obi-Wan or his master.
"I assume it opens with the Force?"
"Yes."
"All known holocrons are under the ownership of the Jedi Order. Would you consider returning it?" If it was on Republic territory, the holocron could be returned through the official channels. On Tatooine, he had no choice but to simply request it and hope for the best.
"If you open it and share the contents with me, sure, why not?" he asked. If not, he would eventually figure it out.
"We will have to request permission for it."
"Alright." He shrugged, opening another portal and tossing the holocron back.
"How do we do this medical test of yours?"
"A small blood sample will more than suffice," Plo Koon said, holding a finger-sized device.
"Yeah," he said, dragging the word out, "I am going to have to destroy that device after the test is done." While the Jedi did not have access to the mystic arts that could make use of blood, it didn't mean the Force couldn't do something similar.
"Understandable."
Anakin took his glove off and walked to the Jedi Master, holding his left hand out. Plo Koon brought a small scanner. A small needle pricked Anakin's skin, drawing a drop of blood.
"Obi-Wan, I am sending the scans to you now. Please check the midichlorian count," the Kel Dor said to his comlink. The scan would only take seconds.
Which is why he was concerned as Obi-Wan fell silent for more than a minute.
"Obi-Wan?" he asked. Had something gone wrong with the scans?
The knight's voice was breathless as he answered. "It's over twenty thousand per cell. Even Master Yoda's count isn't that high."
"I don't believe anyone ever had such a high number," Quinlan said, glancing at the Sorcerer.
Anakin shrugged, taking his seat again. "Don't look at me. I have no idea how that happened."
He said it so flippantly, Plo Koon didn't know what to say.
"Master Plo Koon, the Council wants to speak to you immediately." Obi-Wan's voice brought him out of his state.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Plo Koon bowed, diplomatic as ever, and handed the device to the Sorcerer.
He watched the retreating Jedis. There was something they realized but didn't tell him. That slight widening of Quinlan's eyes told him as much. Fortunately, he had the tool for perfect stealth.
—
Wayfarer
"Over twenty thousand? That's…," Mace Windu said, trying to remember anyone that could have had a higher number of midichlorians per cell. A Jedi's worth was not decided by the biological factor. However, the m-count showed the potential of an individual's connection to the Force.
"The highest ever recorded? Correct," Master Oppo said. He couldn't think of a single name, in living memory or history, that boasted such numbers.
"Could he be the Chosen One?" Master Piel asked, voicing what everyone else was thinking.
Yoda glanced at him but kept quiet.
"It is possible. Such unprecedented connection to the Force, in addition to his abilities, certainly makes him a strong candidate," Ki-Adi-Mundi said. His analysis was correct. Which made it all the more difficult to agree.
The fate of the balance of the Force would be left in the hands of a complete unknown if the prophecy were true.
Adi crossed her arms. "First, the re-emergence of the Sith. Then a boy with incredible potential. A coincidence? I think not."
"He also had a holocron in his possession. He claims to have found it beneath the sands of Tatooine on a derelict ship along with the remains of a Sith," Plo Koon added. It was almost trivial compared to the main subject.
"A holocron?" Windu asked, sighing. He was getting tired of these constant revelations.
"Yes, possibly taken during the Sacking of Coruscant."
"Requested it back, did you?" Yoda spoke, breaking his silence.
"Indeed. He was open to the idea, as long as we unlocked the holocron and shared the knowledge inside with him."
"We should do it," Windu suggested. "It won't take him long to figure out how to unlock the holocron. If it is something dangerous, we might be able to make use of it first. If it's not relevant anymore, then we lose nothing."
The rest of the Council agreed with his assessment.
"What is it, Obi-Wan?" Quinlan asked, seeing the Jedi Knight inspect the interior of the ship as if he were searching for something.
He frowned again. "I feel like we are being watched."
Anakin raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the left. It was the first time ever someone had detected his presence. Plo Koon and Quinlan Vos seemed clueless. Either Obi-Wan was stronger than them or simply more aware.
He floated closer to the knight, moving left and right. Kenobi's eyes followed his movements, even if he could not see him.
Obi-Wan frowned, his senses tingling, but saw nothing. It was as if there was something or someone in front of him, one that only appeared to him faintly through the Force.
"Could the Sorcerer be monitoring us?" Quinlan asked, reaching into the Force. He felt the barest touch of something. Either the Force was blind or they were being evaded.
"With his abilities, anything might be possible. We should end this conversation here," Windu said. If the Sorcerer was monitoring them, he must have heard everything.
"Very well, may the Force be with you."
"You as well."
Anakin returned to his body, having learned all he could.
—
Fort Freedom
"Sir, sir, are you alright?" Corlen shook his shoulder.
His hand snapped up on instinct, almost forming a sword. "Yes, I am. What is it?"
"We found Fett," Corlen said, gesturing to the door. Six men were escorting Jango inside. The best bounty hunter in the galaxy was in a sorry state. His left arm was gone at the shoulder, which covered the left side of his chest and leg with blood. He was pale and sweating. His gaze was wavering as well.
He looked half dead on his feet.
"What happened to his arm?" he asked, chuckling. It was most likely the rancor. The idea had struck him while he was considering what to do with the beasts. Sending it to the cruiser's bridge proved to be an excellent solution.
One of the soldiers, a purple Twi'lek, smirked. "The rancor ate it, sir."
"And he survived? Not bad, Fett, not bad at all," he praised the Mandalorian. Not that Jango was in a state to take it.
"Take him to a med droid. Make sure he lives so we can parade him around."
"Yes sir."
"He isn't the only one we found," Corlen said, handing him a datapad. "Aurra Sing was in that Z-95 you shot down. Bossk got eaten by the rancor; Zam Wesell, Fett's second in command, is stranded along with the fleet. No one saw Cad Bane."
He went through the images of each one. Every big name except Wesell and Bane was either dead or captured.
Anakin's eyes snapped wide open. "Oh shit. Forgot about him," he said. The space before him broke before spitting Cad Bane out, or rather, his rotting corpse.
"Uhhh, you guys just write him as dead too," he said while holding his nose. One of the soldiers took Bane's commlink, gagging as he did. A portal opened beneath the corpse, sending it to the desert, far away from them.
"Yes sir."
"Bossk's father is the leader of the Bounty Hunter's Guild. He'll likely come after you," Corlen informed. He wasn't worried, not when the Sorcerer could kill a thousand Bossks without breaking a sweat.
"To avenge his son? He'll end up like him."
Corlen shook his head. "Not really. Everyone knows they don't get along. But since you killed Bossk, even if indirectly, his Jagannath points are yours. Cradossk will want to reclaim them."
Anakin raised his hands to his sides, his lips pursed. "Yeah, I have no idea what that means. Enlighten me," he said with a light tone.
"Basically, the Trandoshans worship a god called the Scorekeeper. Each honorable and difficult kill grants a Jagannath point to honor the scorekeeper. Trandoshans don't like it when an outsider takes those points."
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll just have to kill them all, it seems." He would burn their planet if necessary. While he tried not to be racist, the likes of Weequays, Trandoshans, and especially the Hutts made it impossible.
"There is something else."
"Isn't there always?"
"Do you know the Kaleesh-Yam'rii war?" The Sorcerer's knowledge of the important events of the last several years was lacking, to say the least.
"No."
"Yam'rii are slavers. They invaded Kalee, but the Kaleesh turned the tables on them. The Yam'rii cried to the Republic, who pushed the Kalee back to their homeworld and blockaded them. They are facing a massive, planetary starvation now." What the Kaleesh had won on the battlefield, they had lost tenfold on the table.
Without even being there.
"We don't have the food to spare, do we?" If anything grew on this desolate rock, he would have sent all they could spare through portals.
"No. I just thought you might want to know because we are going to need allies. Kaleesh can be it if we can help them."
He rubbed his temples. A solution always existed. It was simply a matter of finding it. "Bring me a map. I need to know where we can find food and how to convince them to part with it first."
—
Naboo
Theed Royal Palace
Padme's smile widened with each line she read. "That's unexpected but welcome."
Not only had the freedom fighters of Tatooine defeated the Hutt fleet, they had done it with a crushing victory.
Vaelia bowed, waiting. "What should we do, my queen?"
"Contact the Sorcerer. Tell him we can offer weapons, fighters, and corvettes at cost for Tatooine's cause," she said. Their surplus weapons had to be somehow removed to open space for the more advanced versions. Sending the equipment to fight slavery would be a more than acceptable reason.
"As you wish."
Lise appeared from the shadows, bowing. "Rendering a hyperlane useless gives too much power to the ones who can do it."
"Unless he uses that power to oppress and terrorize, we will not treat him like an enemy. Not when he can be a possible ally." An ally who could do the impossible. Padme was not a great strategist. She didn't need to be one to see how the ability to block hyperlanes was a game changer.
—
Serenno
"What is thy bidding, my master?" A silver-haired, silver-bearded figure in dark robes knelt, one hand over his knee.
The hidden figure on the hologram didn't speak immediately. "This sorcerer is quickly becoming a threat. What have you discovered about him?"
"Nothing more than what is known. The portals make it difficult to track him," he said.
"Disappointing," the hidden figure said with a flat tone.
"Find out more, Lord Tyrannus. The Jedi are already on the move. If they convince the boy for an alliance, our plans will be in jeopardy." With those orders, the holographic image flickered out.
"Yes, my master."
—
The reactions to the events at Tatooine across the galaxy were similar. Once the blockade inside the Triellus Trade Route was confirmed, it worried every planet capable of space flight. Trade depended on hyperspace lanes. The idea that a human boy, not even an adult, could come out of nowhere and block a route because he was displeased was terrifying.
The Republic was against slavery. It did not stop certain planets from trading with the Hutts on their more legal enterprises. The Sorcerer had crushed Jabba the Hutt until he burst like a rotten vegetable. Furthermore, Freedom First made it clear that they would not stop until every single member of the Hutt Cartels was dead or behind bars.
As far as they were concerned, anyone doing business with the Hutts was a legitimate target.
Most had expected the Hutts to quickly regain control of Tatooine. When their fleet was crushed, with the majority of their heavy strike force stuck in the intergalactic void with no way to return home, the Sorcerer had quickly grown in fame. He went from a bloodthirsty rebel to a mysterious individual who could bend the laws of physics in never-before-seen ways.
The Hutts, on the other hand, were in full panic mode. With the loss of so many assets, they were weakened. Not enough to fall apart but enough that some grumbled. They had more ships and soldiers to call on. They were afraid, however, of sharing the same fate as the first force.
The rates of the pirates, mercenaries, and slavers suddenly went up severalfold. It was within the Hutt Council's means to pay easily.
But it would show that they were desperate.
In a once-in-a-century unanimous vote, the Hutt Council agreed to spend more to create an even greater force. The thorn that was Tatooine had to be neutralized before it spread to the rest of their empire.
—
In the next chapter:
"Actually," Anakin closed another book, dissatisfied with his research so far. "I've been meaning to ask. Is there anything that could restore the biosphere of a planet?"
Strange closed his eyes, a soft, amused smile on his face. It explained all the tomes on restoration spells. "There is the Book of Vishanti. It has the power to do that but only if you prove worthy," he said.
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