Chapter Text
Please read the notes below as they explain important changes that this AU has compared to Canon.
Author’s Pre Notes:
Important to read
The first 5 chapters of this fic is like a big introduction to the world and the major characters. All throughout these first 5 chapters I have notes at the beginning and end which either explain something or just exist cuz why not.
The most important story line starts to really roll in the 6th when a time skip occurs, but it is already in motion before the concurrent events of the first chapter.
Important to read
The force is not in any way actually sentient in my fictions, the force is literally just an energy field which can be used to manipulate the world. It has no will of its own AND CANNOT influence a person's decision in a supernatural way, every single character in my fictions have a free will, their choices are theirs for their own reasons. Although some things are “unexplainably” just meant to happen. Like Anakin’s and Padmé’s relationship.
Somewhat Important to read
I heavily rely on the Star Wars galaxy maps made by Henry Bernberg on Carto.com although you can just search for star wars galaxy map on google and you should be able to find them. There is a V1 and V2 of these maps, not much difference between them although I prefer the first one since it is essentially in darkmode. Any mentioned planet can be found on these maps along with sector names and hyperspace lanes.
Important to read
Anakin and Padmé are the same age 22, Anakin was picked up by Qui Gon 5 years before the invasion of Naboo when he was 9, meaning he was 14 when the Naboo crisis occurred just like Padmé who was also 14.
Important to read
List of Major Characters that are different to their canon counterpart in a major aspect.
Anakin (Not much personality wise, more that he’s like… smart more often.)
Padmé (She’s a roughly lawful evil Sith, more on her changes at the end of the chapter.)
Dooku (Sidious isn't in the picture, so he isn’t utterly evil, roughly lawful evil)
Plagueis (Lives, no Sidious, Neutral evil, progressive in regards to Sith practices.)
Grievous (Not fully droid, not entirely one sided evil. Gets explored in chapter four)
Obi Wan (Won’t spoil this one, the change clearly appears in this chapter.)
Yoda (More wise and understanding, not a super dogmatic Jedi with no understanding of feelings, the change shows up in the first chapter and especially the fifth.
The Clones , yes I count them (Hinted in the first chapter, shown in the second.)
These are all characters that are talked about or show up in the first 5 chapters of this fic.
Sorry for the long introduction thingy, more notes at the end of the chapter.
Hope you enjoy what I’ve written :)
Prologue/Introduction 1/5
The Sith Admiral
A Dark Lord or Lady of the Sith has two true names, the name they are born with and the name that they earn.
Darth Imperia, dark lady of the Sith, apprentice to Darth Plagueis and Tyranus, her two teachers. She is also Padmé Amidala or depending on who you ask Padmé Serenno, the former Queen of Naboo.
She’s 22 years old now and she has dedicated the last 14 years of her life to the great plan and Plagueis’ and Tyranus’ teachings. By Tyranus she’d been taught the art of lightsaber combat and the basics of the force, by Count Dooku she had been taught the intricacies of politics and the social life of the upper class. He had also taken on the role of her adopted father. By Plagueis she’d been taught the deeper depths of the force and how to hide her status as a Sith from those around her, by Hego Damask she’d been taught economics and how to ‘negotiate” with the corporate world.
At the age of 8 her family had been murdered by a rival aristocratic family, but by which was still a mystery, one which she often spent her free time on trying to figure out. The day when it happened they had been visited by a friend of the family, Count Dooku of Serenno; he and Padmé’s father had met and gotten on quite well with each other. They’d met when Padmé’s father Ruwee had been on a relief mission in the outer rim, where he met the Jedi master Dooku. In the years since their first meeting Dooku had left the order and reclaimed his rightful position as Count of Serenno.
Dooku had noticed how Padmé was force sensitive after she’d been born and implored Ruwee and Jobal not to give her to the Jedi. Ruwee didn’t need much convincing on the matter, being completely against the idea of giving her away to the Jedi, it also helped that Dooku had been very open about his disdain of how the order worked. So when the Jedi had come asking to train Padmé as one of them, Ruwee and Jobal outright refused without as much as a discussion with the two jedi that had come to their house.
Padmé had by age four already shown off her remarkable powers on several occasions so whenever Dooku had been visiting Ruwee had asked if he could help teach Padmé how to control her powers. Dooku had had no objections to the idea and did so, giving Padmé her first lessons about the force, being a very young child it was a test of Dooku’s patience but it did eventually pay off.
The night 14 years ago was when Padmé’s world turned upside down, awoken from her sleep by an explosion; the events that followed still haunt her sleep to the present day. It was a blurry and chaotic mess, blaster bolts and screams, the only real clear memories she had from that night was how Dooku had narrowly saved her from some assassin about to kill her. What followed was Dooku expertly dispatching the assassins with his crimson blade; she remembered how she’d cried uncontrollably after finding her parents dead, killed by the first explosion. Everything after that was also a mess in her mind, the only concrete thing she remembered was how she’d refused to let go of Dooku until she collapsed from exhaustion. When she woke up the day afterwards she was on Serenno, the beginning of her new life.
6 years later she got elected Queen of Naboo, half a year after she’d been elected was when the Trade Federation invaded, another part in the great plan.
During that time she met a very special boy the same age as her, Anakin Sywalker, padawan learner under Qui Gon Jinn. With their help as well as another Jedi Knight by the name of Obi Wan Kenobi she was able to free her planet and deliver a punch to the republic at the same time, the invasion of Naboo was orchestrated to highlight the inefficiency and corruption in the senate for the entire galaxy to see, which it did marvelously. She even managed to depose the supreme chancellor while she was at it, which always made her crack a smile. Qui Gon Jinn died during the assault on Theed, he was separated from Obi Wan and surrounded by battle droids who killed him. Anakin had been participating in the space battle and had been unable to prevent his master’s demise.
Padmé and Anakin got along very well from the start and she couldn’t help but see him in a different way during that time as well. Maybe it was something about his sapphire blue eyes, or that cheeky grin he always had plastered on his face. Whatever it was it both infuriated her and made her feel warm. The thought of what she’d done the last time they’d seen each other still made Padmé blush and want to curl up into a ball out of embarrassment.
8 Years ago, Theed Palace
Padmé was sitting in the throne room in the late evening trying to get as much paperwork done as possible before the day was over, because frankly this whole ordeal couldn’t be over fast enough, mostly because of the convenience of her sleep schedule. She could feel her eyelids wanting to shut themselves tight and not reopen, but she willed them to stay open just for 5 more minutes at least.
A guard came up beside her and told her that Jedi Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker were asking to speak with her. Nodding to the guard to signal her permission, she used the force to make herself more alert, it was a technique she’d only just recently learnt and was still trying to get her head around so she couldn’t use it constantly.
“Knight Kenobi, Padawan Skywalker, what a pleasure. What brings you here at such a late hour?” Keeping her regal presence as monarch she opened the conversation with the usual pleasantries.
“We apologize for the late hour, your highness, we thought it rude not to give you our farewells in person.” Kenobi, formal and well spoken as ever, that much hadn’t changed since they’d met. What was more interesting though was the fact that they were leaving and so late as well.
“You’re leaving? I wasn’t aware of this.” She stated, they hadn’t told her of this earlier which was curious, It did not fit Kenobi’s personality and she definitely wouldn’t expect Anakin to not inform her if they would be departing.
“Yes, we were just made aware of it ourselves, the Jedi Council has asked us to return to Coruscant with all due haste. We were not given further explanation pertaining to their reasoning. Therefore we have come to say our goodbyes and thank you for your incredible hospitality these past days.” Curious… why would the Jedi want them to return with such speed… they couldn’t be aware of how the Sith had orchestrated the entire invasion that was almost impossible, so why? Was it due to Qui Gon’s death? Or something else? A thought then struck her, maybe it was because of Anakin? His presence in the force was immense, far greater than anyone Padmé had ever met so maybe it was about him.
“Is that so… well think nothing of it, it was my pleasure. If I treated the heroes of Naboo badly then what would that say about me to the people and the galaxy.” Hiding her contemplation with more pleasantries, easy enough, she relaxed a bit feeling that there wasn’t much point to acting like the regal monarch with the two jedi after all they’d been through. Her words had been an offhand comment in her mind but seemingly not to Skywalker.
“Anyone who would dare make the claim that your highness is an ungracious and unkind person is one who I pity for their foolishness.” Anakin had cut in before Obi Wan was able, Padmé was incredibly thankful for the fact that she was wearing her traditional and very heavy amount of makeup, if not then they would’ve clearly seen her blushing. She’d been taken very off guard by his words, why though she couldn’t really understand…
There was something about Anakin that Padmé hadn’t been able to place ever since the moment they met little more than two weeks ago, something that affected her in weird ways. It was like that time on the ship when he gave her his necklace, he said that it was a good luck charm and that he thought it would be better for her to have it. It was just a little piece of wood with carvings on it, nothing special… yet, it made her feel that weird feeling. She in fact had it on right now when they were talking.
Obi Wan spoke just before she was able “Yes…” he coughed, she could feel through the force that he was a bit flustered trying to come up with a response or more accurately cover Anakin’s words so that they were forgotten. “We thank you for your hospitality again, but I fear we cannot stay much longer since we have to get back to the Council.”
When she remembered this specific moment she could never keep a straight face, it just made her want to crawl into a corner and forget about everything around her.
Before they turned to leave, something just came over her.
“Yes, of course… I was just about to retire for the day actually, I had some questions for Skywalker actually. So while you Kenobi get your ship ready, Padawan Skywalker here could escort me, I promise I won’t keep him long.” She couldn’t for the life of her understand why she had said that or what made her say it, but it was a miracle that she didn't collapse into a cringing mess right then and there.
Before poor Obi Wan could respond he was once again beaten to the punch by Anakin.
“Of course, your highness, that shouldn’t be a problem.” He made a small bow probably trying to hide that cheeky grin he always had. Thankfully for them all Obi Wan gave up even trying and simply gave Anakin a soul piercing look before he bowed and made his way out of the throne room with a simple “Your highness.”
They duo was now making their way down the long corridors of the palace towards what Padmé had come to refer to as her apartment since it was so big, although the actual term for it was “The Queen's Chambers”. She had waved off the guards that had followed them from the throne room so it was just the two of them, in an attempt to get out of her flustered state of embarrassment which she to her credit expertly hid she asked him about random things really.
It wasn’t until they were at the end of their journey that the conversation they were having actually took the turn that seemingly was what Padmé wanted. She didn’t understand what she was feeling or why it was just now that she was feeling it.
“Well this is the end of our little talk it seems, thank you again for all that you’ve done…” At this point she was completely certain that not even her makeup would cover how much she was blushing.
“It has been my pleasure, your highness, it is our duty to serve the people.” She gave him a nod and opened the door halfway before her emotions took over completely and made her do the thing that always made her want to curl up into a ball.
Before she knew what had happened her lips were firmly against his and just as quickly as the kiss she made her way inside her “apartment” and closed the door. After which she just stood there frozen, she could feel the confusion emanate from Anakin through the door and then it hit her what she’d just done. Containing a small squeal she ran to her bed and threw herself on it burying her head in the pillow… she had a crush on him… why did this have to happen? Anakin is a Jedi, Padmé is a Sith, Shiraya’s word she just wanted to forget everything that had just happened.
Every single time when she remembered the events of that night, without fail she would cringe and she would start blushing even 8 years later when she was 22 years old… even when she became Imperia, A Dark Lady of the Sith , named for her imperiousness and commanding presence during her time as Queen.
She was brought out of her thoughts when a large flash erupted outside the window, she was reminded of where she was and of what was going on. She was in her quarters on her flagship, The Imperious. It was a providence class dreadnought which was heavily modified and upgraded compared to her counterparts in the Confederate navy. Her quarters were more like a suite in truth, she had taken the observation deck in the dreadnoughts tower as her own personal quarters and remodeled it extensively.
The great flash had been the explosion of a republic cruiser, normally she would be on the bridge during a battle but she hadn’t felt the need to attend to this battle herself. Her super tactical droid Kalani could deal with this battle just fine, there was also Admiral Trench and he was among the Confederacy's better naval officers. This space battle was really just a pushover, the republic ships were outnumbered 5 to 1, the third fleet under Trench had caught 3 republic venators over Ryloth. Imperia had only brought the Imperious and Invader from the 2nd fleet to make sure that this victory would be a total one.
Ryloth itself wasn’t particularly important, it was an arid dustball with very little to offer, its importance was based on the fact that it was the last system that branched onto other hyperspace lanes on the Corellian Run’s southern end. Trench had secured the Arkanis system earlier in the month and had managed to trap a sizable contingent of republic ships. The ships here over Ryloth were what was left, the ones who hadn’t managed to slip out before Trench was able to crush them all. Trench’s failure to actually defeat the majority of the republic ships in these sectors were inconsequential compared to how he had managed to secure the Triellus Trade route with the capture of Arkanis. With its capture a new phase of the conflict in the galactic south would ensue as the confederacy was effectively unified in this part of the galaxy now.
She felt sorry for Grievous who was dealing with the galactic north where the Republic was currently putting the squeeze on his forces. Luckily for him the Republic would be forced now to relocate forces to the south after the loss of Arkanis. A large smile crept up in the corners of her mouth, the newest offensive in the south had been a massive success and as if on queue her commlink began beeping.
She put on her mask that she was always seen in, she kept her face hidden for many reasons but mostly because she liked being able to just take it off and no one knowing who she was. She might’ve been Queen of Naboo and quite famous during her reign, but that was several years ago and now she looked quite different.
Due to her favoring force lightning her hair had lost its colour, it was no longer that chestnut brown which she had been born with, now it was a pale white. Her smooth snow white curls were something she had come to quite like, it matched well with her skin which had also become paler but not remotely as much as her hair. It still looked normal and no one could claim that it was a sickly pale.
Then there were her eyes, she no longer hid her sith eyes and had them on full display, the only part of her face one could see when she had the mask on was her eyes. She had the inverse of the normal Sith eyes, they were bloodred with a smaller amount of gold mixed in. whether people thought they looked sickly or not she didn’t know for sure but she liked the colouration as it contrasted so well with her hair and skin, not to mention how she could make them look with a bit of eyeshadow and eyeliner.
When she had fastened the mask she rerouted the comm signal to her holotable where the image of Kalani appeared.
“My lady, I wish to inform you that the victory is ours, the remaining republic vessels have been put out of commision.”
“Very good Kalani, could you inform Admiral Trench that I wish to speak with him.”
“Your wish is my command, My Lady.”
There was only a small delay before the image of the arachnid Trench appeared before her.
“My Lady, it is a pleasure as always.” His distinctive clicking with his teeth was always something she found amusing, it was always a breath of fresh air to be surrounded by different species from around the galaxy. Trench was a Harch from Secundos Ando in the mid rim and even among the multispecies officer corps of the Confederacy he always stood out.
“No need for the flattery Trench, it is I who should be flattering you after this successful offensive. With the removal of republic forces at this crucial juncture in the south you’ve managed to bring us a crucial victory.”
“I thank you for your generous words, but I must still extend my gratitude and give credit where it is due. Without your offensive up the Hydian towards Malastare managing to occupy the majority of the republic's vessels I think this victory here would’ve been extremely hard fought and much more costly.”
“Yes, we managed to give them quite the scare.” She said with a little laugh. “Well, when you’ve regrouped your fleet at Arkanis and recouped, continue up the Run towards Christophsis.”
“Of course, is there anything else?” Trench asked.
“No, nothing in particular, be careful though, the Republic is undoubtedly going to send more forces your way and we pushing our luck is most likely not the best course of action right now.”
“Naturally, then I bid you farewell, My Lady.” She nodded in response and watched his hologram disappear.
“Kalani, signal the Invader, Mando’a Sea .”
“It will be done, setting a course, anything else?”
“No that will be all, inform me when we arrive.”
“Of course, My Lady.”
His hologram disappeared and she was left alone to look out the windows towards the destroyed republic cruisers. She unfastened her mask and placed it on its pedestal beside her bed, letting her flowy white curls drape themselves over her back once more. She grabbed her hairbrush and started rhythmically brushing her hair, it was a ritual she had performed many times. Looking out of the large window she felt the slight inertia which always heralded the jump to hyperspace. The blue and black swirls was a sight which had grown more common these past two years, the war had started a year ago and before that she had been zipping across the galaxy garnering support for the separatist movement. These moments weren’t exactly rare but it was among the few times when she could simply breathe out and truly relax.
She hadn’t imagined that she would’ve become the brilliant tactician that she was now. Second only to Dooku and on the same level as Grievous in her authority over the Confederate military. She had come so far, she was no longer that heartbroken girl on Serenno, now she was Darth Imperia, feared and respected across the galaxy for her power and authority.
She had become an icon for the Confederacy, women in commanding positions in the military were rare enough but to have one which held so much sway as she in the military was unheard of. “The Black Valkyrie”, she had been given many nicknames by propaganda outlets but that one was her favorite and the most widely used. The people hailed her as a liberator and savior, of course it wasn’t like that during the start of the conflict but slowly people began to see her as a hero. That always made her think of the old Sith and how utterly different she was from them.
Plagueis had taken Dooku as his apprentice before Dooku had left the order, this had come after Dooku had been on an extended mission in the outer rim where he had interacted with the sith lord. She wasn’t entirely sure on the details but after this was when Dooku became Tyranus, one of the qualities that Plagueis praised in both Tyranus and Imperia was that they were not power hungry maniacs. Plagueis had seen what those before him hadn’t, that together, they could achieve their goals. The constant backstabbing among the Sith was over.
Her becoming a Sith hadn’t actually been a part of the grand plan but she had become an instrumental part of it. When Dooku had adopted her he also began training her in earnest, not like those sporadic visits when she was still a small child. No, he had made it serious and she couldn’t have been happier with that if she was able.
Now she was a master duelist and an incredibly powerful force user, Plagueis had even admitted that she was among the three of them the strongest in the force. Of course that didn’t take into account that she had comparatively little experience than her older masters. The only field where Plagueis had made it absolutely clear that she was dominant in was force lightning, in his own words “Your affinity and prowess with force lightning is both awe inspiring and terrifying”. That was where she truly shone, her lightsaber skills were impressive having been trained by Dooku himself the greatest duelist the Jedi had seen in generations, but force lightning was where she thrived.
Many republic soldiers had the misfortune to be at the end of her lightning, those who got it the worst would be left as a pile of ash on the battlefield. Not even vehicles were safe from her as she fried their circuitry and cooked the unfortunate soldiers inside of them alive. She wasn’t one who would loudly claim her superiority and brag about it constantly, she was better than that, more dignified. Although she couldn’t deny that her pride would always swell a bit when her prowess with force lightning was talked about.
Being lost in an endless spiral of thoughts about her life and the galaxy was something she was prone to do in these relaxed moments, but eventually when she felt the pull of sleep she would be drawn out of it. She made her way over to her bed and changed out of her clothes to a simple black nightgown and climbed into the bed. It would be some time before they arrived at their destination, one of the Sith’s most closely guarded secrets, Kamino.
The Jedi General
“A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst, than in the beginning of danger.”
Philip Sydney
22 year old Anakin Skywalker was walking through the corridors of the Jedi temple, he was begrudgingly answering a summons from Master Windu to report to the strategy room. A day earlier the council had called him and Ahsoka back from the frontline, something which hadn’t sat well with either himself or his padawan. Ever since this war started he’d been out there on the frontlines leading soldiers in battle, he’d spent exceedingly small amounts of the previous year in the temple. He could honestly say that it felt weird to be in a place where it was serenely quiet and not filled with the hum of engines or the sounds of blaster bolts whizzing past him.
He met up with his best friend Obi Wan and talked about how things had been going on the front, but when they entered an elevator and were alone was when the conversation took a different turn.
“Anyway, how are they? You and Satine still going on about your political differences?” He liked the conversations that they were able to have in private, Obi Wan might be a very strict Jedi normally. But when it was just the two of them he was able to see a different side of the perfect Jedi. Obi Wan understood, he had once been a headstrong youth like Anakin, he’d experienced life. He’d told Anakin his secret as a way to connect with him after Qui Gon’s death; Obi Wan had also been unorthodox and rebellious in his younger days. Case in point his secret relation with Satine Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore and their son Korkie Kryze. It was always a comfort for Anakin to know that he could go to Obi Wan when he was troubled with his feelings and more things he didn’t want others to know about… for example how he had unexplainable feelings about Padmé Amidala… even after all these years.
He’d never really understood why Obi Wan’s and Satine’s relationship was the way it was and whenever he had asked Obi Wan had said it was pretty complicated and riddled with irrationality from both of them. But either way they still loved one another and their son, in their own weird familial way; every single break Obi Wan got he went to Mandalore without fail. It was a complicated scenario to say the least, he in reality did very little to actually hide it all, but his unscrupulous conduct and dedication as a Jedi Knight always made it questionable that he would break the Jedi code in such a way. Most other Jedi just thought of it like Mandalore being Obi Wan’s peaceful retreat where he “recharged” in some way, frankly it was just a positive so no one questioned it, if they knew the entire truth however things would be difficult. “Hiding in the open” is what Obi Wan always said.
“Satine is good, as good as one can be trying to rule an entire planet in her pacifist ways. Korkie started at the Ducal Academy two months ago, taking special majors in political science and rhetoric… taking after his mother in that way, being the heir to the throne does require him to understand such things.” He paused, a feeling of pride emanated from him, then the lift door opened and they walked out like they hadn't just been talking about Obi Wan’s blatant disregard for the Jedi Code. “Anyway, you and Ahsoka playing nice?”
“Yeah, she’s coming along quite well, she’s doing something with master Sinube right now in case you were wondering why she wasn’t here.”
“I wonder what they could be up to.” Obi Wan said in an intrigued tone. The conversation then started to trail back onto how the war was progressing, both Obi Wan and Anakin had been assigned to the northern theater around Ord Mantell so they had mostly only been keeping up with that part of the front. Here or there they would hear rumors circulating through the ranks about some planet or sector being taken or lost but they never really had much time to confirm these rumors since they were fighting tooth and nail to keep the Separatists from gaining more territory.
The war had started to stabilize now after a year, but things still didn’t look good for the Republic. The army of volunteers that the senate had decided to form was still figuring everything out, the Jedi had taken the role of Generals and assisted as much as they could but it wasn’t always enough. Separatist commanders like Grievous really had an effect on morale amongst the Republic's soldiers, although he wasn’t really the biggest threat they faced. Grievous had a very raider style of warfare, fast lightning strikes and smaller skirmishes over minor planets and systems to deplete the republic's forces and spread them thin over the northern front.
The south however was more of a slog, slow moving and not as much happening at once like in the north. But it was still the front which accosted the republic with the most casualties. The overall commander for the separatist forces in the south was Darth Imperia, hero of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and more importantly to the Jedi, she was a dark lady of the Sith. She was a brilliant naval commander and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield; she had also claimed the lives of several of Anakin’s fellow Jedi throughout the war. He’d seen holovids of her during Confederate parades, he couldn’t deny that even through a holovid she commanded respect.
Paradoxically to the Order’s beliefs about the Sith, the one causing the most unnecessary damage on the separatist side was General Grievous and not the Sith Admiral. The galactic south had actually been pretty well off so far in the war, civilians weren't targeted as much as in the north and most of the fighting was done in space with only the occasional planetary invasion. Imperia’s flagship “Imperious” had the highest confirmed vessels destroyed and in a close second was “Invader” that never left the side of its sister ship. The duo of Providence class dreadnoughts were a formidable foe to say the least.
Anakin hadn’t had the pleasure of either fighting or meeting this Sith Admiral, the two of them had through some weird propaganda campaigns from both sides of the conflict come to be seen as rivals. Even though they had never even been in the same theater of the war. The two heroes, one for the Republic, Anakin Skywalker “The Hero Without Fear” and one for the Confederacy, Darth Imperia “The Black Valkyrie”.
It wasn’t long before they got to the strategy room and even before they entered they felt the tension through the force, they had clearly been summoned about something serious.
As they walked down the small flight of stairs Master Windu spoke up.
“Skywalker, Kenobi now that you’re here we can begin the briefing in earnest.” Anakin looked around the room and saw Masters Plo, Piell, Secura and Rancisis.
“As some of you know we have suffered a critical setback on the southern front, Admiral Trench has managed to capture Arkanis the Triellus and Corellian Run juncture. The seventh and twelfth fleets lost around three squadrons combined, this has opened up a link between the Confederacy’s northern and southern territories along the Triellus route.” He paused and took a breath before continuing.
“With the southern front in such a state it has been decided that we will be sending more forces there to bolster and secure the front. Masters Rancisis, Plo, Secura and Piell will be sent there, I’ve already given you your destinations on the data chips, may the force be with you.” With that a confused duo of Obi Wan and Anakin was left alone with Mace, they were prone to get in trouble but this was seemingly not going to be a scolding.
Mace turned towards the holotable and motioned for the two to come closer, he typed something into the console and the projection changed to a view of the southeastern sectors of the galaxy, which included planets like Tatooine, Arkanis and Ryloth.
“The two of you have been assigned to an important mission, to find the Imperious and the Invader.” Mace said tersely.
“Aren’t they with the confederate second fleet at Darknell?” Anakin asked, it was pretty common knowledge that the second fleet was under Imperia’s personal command and therefore the logical conclusion was that her flagship and its sister ship would be there.
“No, this is what we believed as well until they were spotted over Ryloth where they, alongside a sizable contingent of the confederate third fleet, destroyed the twelfth fleet's third squadron. Yet they haven’t been spotted at Arkanis where the confederate third fleet is currently amassing.”
“Do we know if they were at Arkanis or was it only over Ryloth?” Obi Wan asked curiously.
“They were not at Arkanis and this is what is troubling, Imperia is a competent commander and it’s a known fact that she trusts Trench’s tactical and strategic prowess. It isn’t logical that she would go just to Ryloth to destroy a single squadron when even without her Trench would’ve outnumbered us by nearly 5 to 1, it doesn’t make any sense. Due to this we have discovered something.. rather troubling.”
Anakin and Obi Wan shared a look and questioned Mace in unison. “What?”
“When we were going over the star charts of the wider area we discovered that one entry had been deleted by Dooku some years before he left the order and turned to the darkside. We suspect that is where the Imperious and Invader are located right now. We are sending the two of you and Padawan Tano to investigate this missing system and find out why Dooku had it deleted.”
Later that day, Hyperspace
“So we are going to investigate the possible location of two separatist dreadnoughts and a planet which the Sith themselves have kept hidden, and we get one T-6 Shuttle to do that with?” Ahsoka asked incredulously. Obi Wan and Anakin had expected this reaction.
“Yes, the republic doesn’t have the means to send an entire fleet large enough to take on that duo right now. For all we know this might have just been a technical error in the temple, but we have to investigate it all the same. Because if there is something that the Sith are hiding here then we need to know about it.”
Anakin cut in. “Luckily for us however is that this is not a T-6, this is the newer T-7S model, one which has a new stealth drive so we should be able to do our investigation completely undetected… hopefully .”
“Yeah… let’s hope this thing works like you say it will, or we are going to be facing two capital ships and their entire complement of fighter squadrons in it.” She said in a tone which indicated her clear mistrust of things actually going to plan… they couldn’t fault her, their missions never went to plan after all.
It was a while before they would reach the coordinates Windu had given them of this mystery system, they used this time to sleep. Anakin however couldn’t sleep more than an hour or two, there was this aching feeling in the back of his mind that whatever they were flying into would not be what they expect. Not that they really had any idea of what they might find there except two separatist capital ships.
After the briefing with Mace, Anakin had been going over the information which he’d given them about the southern theater along with the latest report since he wasn’t able to get any sleep on the journey.
Trench's success at Arkanis had been enabled by a massive assault along the Hydian Way led by the 2nd confederate fleet accompanied by the 9th and 14th. They’d very nearly lost Malastare but the seps had retreated to Chryya before disaster had struck for the Republic. It had been hailed as a massive victory to the public with how they had beaten back Imperia’s personal fleet, but to those who had the casualty reports it didn’t look like a victory. They’d suffered 3 times the amount of ships lost than their adversaries along with staggering casualty numbers among the rank and file.
Even after all that, the losses they’d suffered trying to defend Malastare were unjustifiable. Compared to the northern theater the frequency of fighting wasn’t as large but when it happened it hurt like hell. Reading through all the reports he couldn’t help but start to gain a grim respect for Imperia’s tactics. She understood the strength of the Confederacy’s army and navy and utilized them expertly.
Terror was her M.O, putting fear into the Republic. Between her devastating republic fleets in space and vaporizing soldiers on the ground it wasn’t hard to understand why she was so feared. The south is where Anakin should’ve been fighting, he thought angrily, making that propaganda rivalry between them into reality is what he should’ve been doing.
Anakin’s mind began spinning away into thoughts of what he would do if he encountered the infamous Lady Imperia. The Jedi code said that he should apprehend and arrest her but his instincts said that she was too dangerous to be allowed the chance to escape. Killing wasn’t something that he enjoyed and it tore at him that he seemingly had no qualms of doing it when he was faced with it.
The pull of the dark had always been strong, especially for Anakin… fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering. Master Yoda’s words had been a great help for him through the years along with the training which Qui Gon instilled in him when he was still alive…
Qui Gon’s death had been extremely hard for him, he’d been the closest thing to a father figure Anakin has had. After Qui Gon’s death Yoda decided to take Anakin on as his padawan, he had also utilized Obi Wan a lot to help Anakin hence their close relationship. Yoda had taught him some incredibly important lessons, even if their relationship as master and Padawan was nothing like the one he had had with Qui Gon it was still a good one. Yoda had devoted a lot of time and on occasion even forsaken his duties as grandmaster to help him.
One night would always stick with him though and the words Yoda had said to him.
“Know, what the force intends for you, I do not. The prophecy of the Chosen One, believe in, I do not. Know, if you are destined for the darkness inside you, I do not… But know, in your heart, that good you are, I do. Whatever path the force intends for you to take, I know that it, for a good reason, will be.”
His words had frightened him, if he was good at heart but destined for the darkness then what would that mean? He’d been trying to figure it out for nearly 7 years now but had still not come any closer to finding an answer. But it was still a comfort for him that even if he were to fall to the dark that somebody knows that it would be for a good reason.
A beeping from the cockpit announced that they would be arriving at their destination. Well here we go, right into the jaws of the beast.
Author’s After Notes:
I’m simultaneously working on Sorrow and Hope alongside this fic, I try to make at least one chapter per ten days. Most of my chapters average out to about 5000 words so hopefully I can average out 1000 words per day to be able to post a chapter for both stories at the same time.
The galactic map in this AU is more or less the outer rim (Confederacy) against the core to expansion (Republic) and the mid rim is what is being fought in mostly. There are still exclaves here and there of neutral worlds and separatist/republic worlds but they aren’t as many as there are in canon. For example Mon Calamari, Mandalore, Hutt space and as I’ve written, places like the end of the Corellian Run, Ryloth, Arkanis and Savareen which are in the outer rim.
Sith Padmé, I’m basing most of her personal characteristics on the movies but naturally being a sith and essentially raised by Dooku has made her a bit more Imperious hence “Darth Imperia”. Alignment chart wise she’s gone from lawful good to lawful evil roughly , trying to make her “the ideal aristocrat” hence the fic’s name “Sith Blue Blood”. Wants what is best for people but believes that they can’t find that themselves and must therefore be guided, will use her power as she sees fit, the people of the galaxy are sheep in need of a shepherd is essentially what she thinks. (She doesn’t think badly of normal people, she’s a nice person, it’s just the politics, if she was a dictator she’d be the good kind)
Anakin and Padmé/Imperia being the same age and a bit younger than what she would canonically be by this point. Anakin being trained by Yoda was a retroactive choice after I had begun writing this, it gave me a really interesting scenario to dive into and explore.
Obi and Satine plus Korkie (will always be on the side that says he is Obi’s son)...
No Sidious and instead Dooku/Tyranus and Plagueis this dynamic will be explored further…
Yeah… I don't know how many people are actually interested in seeing this fic but, at least I am one of those people.