V.1-C.64│The First Mission IX│

When Qui-Gon had split off from Anakin, and Anakin had also split off from Grievous he had made his way to a secret entrance leading to the constructed underground.

This project was responsible for the uncompleted state of the reconstruction process.

Entering the underground mechanic tunnelways, Anakin is able to reach underneath the Skywalker palace before Qui-Gon and was already in place for when his mother inevitably needs some rescuing.

The underground is a large mechanic, engineering marvel of technology meant to act as a main computer and network, so to speak.

It was as if it was a living machine itself. The artificial intelligence that his mother used and those within the palace relied on was just another part of the system.

In fact Anakin had done just that, he had created a living machine underneath but it isn't one with a soul or anything like that, what he means by living is that it is imbued with the Force. Non-organic midi-chlorians have been infused into this underground machine.

The purpose, the spiritual matrix.

The Force technique Anakin was trying to complete was still not finished but that didn't mean he was unable to make a substitute and it may be flawed but its better than nothing, in case any of the living droids died.

He was connected to it and could see inside its virtual space that is capable of holding the souls and consciousness of all the droids. A matrix.

For now this scuffed version of it would have to do.

Getting closer and closer to the entrance that his mother would come through he waited for the right time and with nothing much better to do started to look through his connections to all of the droids.

Seeing through their eyes what was going on.

They were being destroyed and were doing some destruction of their own but that didn't matter much considering that the living droids usually were not within the palace and were doing other things for him.

The only versions of living droids here on Tatooine were just research and medical based.

'Seems like Skywalker palace will have to go through some maintenance and repair.' He thought to himself as he felt the time was near.

'There.'

"Go on, your highness. Now is not the time to marvel at the mechanics." The voice of a young female calls to his mother, he assumed.

"Ok." His mother had jumped down but she did not see him.

He was waiting within the shadows of the room and using the invisibility feature of the Nanosuit to hide himself away. The others jump down after her, looking surprised.

Jira ordered. "Close the top. We dont want anyone following us down here."

Ann replied. "I am on it." Ann's sister Tann went with her to cover her back.

"Your highness, I believe it is this way." Trella motioned for Shmi to follow her while Jira was already in position to take off once again.

A blast is heard from above and before the twin sisters Ann and Tann were able to seal the hole a force of power stopped it in its place.

"Stop right there." A dark and hate filled voice spoke to the group within the underground tunnels.

The hate filled male voice then continued. "I cant be letting you guys get away now." Using the dark side energy of the Force, the Force user was able to use telekinesis to stop the entrance from closing and jumped downwards.

Stealthily, Anakin was protecting the five woman that were within the tunnel using the Force to create a bounded field around each of them, so the man would unable to use the Force on them.

This bounded field was easily covered because the machine tunnel helped provide him with the necessary functions to hide his usage of the Force. Within the tunnel it is practically filled with Force based energy making it harder for anyone who is Force-sensitive , other than Anakin to maneuver the area.

He could also make it easier on others and guide them, but this would only happen later on, for now he will listen in on the conversation about to happen.

Shmi being brave talked out and questioned their intruder. "Why are you here." She said in a neutral but controlled tone as if everything was within her control.

As if the man quirked his eyebrows, he responded. "Oh? Your royal highness. Your majesty, of course I will willingly answer any and all question truthfully." The man replied with some snark as if he was in control of the situation.

Shmi continued. "Why are you attacking us."

"That is for me to know and for you to find out." The cloaked man replied and then dashed towards the girls in an attempt to grab them but was repelled. "What is this!?" He shouted in a surprised tone.

The girls quickly turn and ran in the direction they needed to go towards not bothering to answer the man.

Even if Anakin were not here to protect the five, the living machine underneath would and could recognize who was deemed as an ally and who was deemed as an enemy. It could fully protect them even without Anakin there using its advanced defense system built into it.

How would it do this? It could deploy various inbuilt turrets or energy shields to block the mans way, but it was best not to expose the secrets beneath to someone or to anyone else really.

Only those who can be trusted should be in the know. The five girls underneath knew alot of the functions underneath but they did not know the full story or the full capacity of its abilities.

Getting up the man tries to run after them but is continually stopped in place, as if someone is holding him. "Show yourself!" He called out but was unable to find the being impeding him.

In a fit of madness the person begins to lash out, using the Force to try and damage his surroundings.

He is successful in doing so but at a cost as he could feel himself being drained, slowly but surely as if a monster was draining his lifeforce. Anakin could see the man was starting to go a little insane so decided to leave this matter until Qui-Gon got here.

Only continuously interrupting the man in his attempts to chase after his mother.

After a while the man was still going at it in a mad attempt to push through and Anakin finally lets up because his mother and the others have gotten to safety.

Anakin could also sense that Qui-Gon was nearing this place. 'Right now to wait to see what else this guy does.'

[]

The battle between Qui-Gon and the man was intense but it would seem his Master still had the upper hand, looking at most of the cloaked mans movements, he was flawed.

Qui-Gon could tell this as well and capitalized on his weakness, forcing him into a retreat which finally allowed Anakin to move on and tell the underground system to help Qui-Gon find his way towards the five whom had escaped.

The cloaked man that Qui-Gon had started to call a Sith dashed back towards the entrance he had entered from. 'Lets follow and see where he goes.'

"Damnit! Damn it all!" The man seemed frustrated but instead of going into madness once again he just continued on his way.

Leaving the entrance, the man and Anakin following silently behind starts to leave the palace and head in another direction.

Anakin tries to read the mans thoughts trying to ascertain where he would be going but the man reveals it readily himself headed in one direction.

The makeshift prison created to hold some of the prisoners of war from the rebellion.

Anakin makes sure that the man doesn't try to harm any of the citizens of his planet while following as they would not be considered acceptable casualties. At least to him, they weren't.

What Anakin does think of as acceptable however is the droids. Even his living droids are deemed as acceptable given that they have a way to store their beings, their consciousness and souls so they could be resurrected at a later date if they so desire.

They would do so either way, but Anakin believed that giving them a choice was important.

How could he fight for freedom and enslave another entirely complete race of beings that he would consider as living.

The man was annoyed and every now and then while trying to move silently would send a small pulse of the Force to harm an innocent bystander, where they would be none the wiser but were silently protected by Anakin.

The slowly calming down man didn't notice any of this and was still single-mindedly focusing on his task at hand.

"Here it is." Coming across the makeshift prison, it was not that great but was good enough for now to house the scum and villainy.

Walking in unhindered he destroyed the droids stationed there and was quick about his work. His saber blaring to life to eliminate the unliving and going further into the various rooms and cells that one could see.

'I at least gave a humanitarian effort.' Anakin thought to himself following after the man and looking at the dastardly souls that looked lifeless.

Of course not everyone here was treated badly, the living medical droids kept them so that they could experiment on them. 'In the name of the Emperor, of course.'

"What is this place." The man spoke in disgust the further in he went seeing that those further in were in worse shape than the ones previous. There was no pity within his voice and no care, further telling Anakin the absolute corruption the man has been delving into.

'Even I question my methods sometimes.' Anakin constantly tried to evaluate his state of mind and being. One cannot be in balance twenty four seven after all.

Practicing with the Force, in fact practicing and training with anything takes time and effort. Talent matters as well but effort is the most important part and to stop looking back on oneself and not improving will lead to stagnation.

It could even lead to devolution and the regression of ones progress.

Something the Jedi were currently experiencing themselves.

The man continued until he came to a stop within the most heavily guarded areas of the cells. He easily dispatched of the droids given his abilities within the Force and opened the sealed doors leading into the room.

It is Jabba the Hutt.

The state he is in was quite disgusting as well, and the man had to not look to long at the state the large grotesque alien was in. "Crime Lord Jabba the Hutt, I am here to save your life."

'How the hell is this guy gonna move this fat slob out of here?' Anakin was thinking to himself then continued. 'Wait, this is a good opportunity to allow this waste of resources go free.'

There were multiple reasons to allow Jabba's freedom, the Hutt had become a cripple and would incapable of really doing anything within the future other then to stay and become waste. If anything, the Hutt's back at his home may just put an end to his life.

Another reason was that Anakin had taken any and all useful information out of the Hutt already, had his medical droids do a living autopsy on the species because he was interested and many other things.

Probably the most important however is the response that if Jabba is subsequently not let go or is not confirmed to be dead and is still within Tatooine's custody would be to go to war. Letting Jabba go would benefit Anakin and Tatooine more than forcefully keeping him here.

Using a transmission device the man communicates to someone on the other side. "Bring over the ship, we are ready." He then continues as if he forgot something. "And remember! Be as quick but as stealthy as possible."

"Make sure to bring in that thing, we need to transport the poor sod. He has been left to rot and is not in the best of conditions."

A few minutes go by and a few droids walk in using a specialized device to carry the Hutt out while Anakin is watching all of this go down from the shadows.

"Good, the Master would be proud of me." The man seemed quite happy as of this moment but for some reason feels sleepy. 'Wait what is happening to me.'

The droids that had come from the mans ship continued their work and were basically already leaving without the man. 'Wait! Where are you stupid droids going! I am right here!' The man was mentally screaming, easily allowing Anakin to read his projected thoughts.

It was Anakin holding the man down with enough force to shut him up and using a myriad of Force techniques to make sure everything was going unnoticed.

Telepathically Anakin calls out into the mans mind. 'You will be a worthy replacement for Jabba.'

Growing scared the man tries to retaliate but is unsuccessful and can only watch as the droids leave Tatooine with the disabled Jabba while he is left here to deal with the devil. 'Let me go!'

Anakin keeps practicing his usage of the Force ability that allows him to feed off of the emotions of those around him on the man to strengthen himself. Even though this ability is meant to only give a temporary boost in power it was always better to practice as much as he could.

Especially on other Force-sensitive people making and giving him a much greater challenge and experience. 'Now, I will have to look into your mind. It may hurt, I have not had much practice into trying to develop my memory reading abilities.'

'Things are quite complicated and you will be a great learning experience.' Anakin continued to mentally torture the man getting him to break and make it easier for him to intrude.

Not able to say a word the man is swallowed into the darkness that emanates from Anakin, taken to who knows where.