STAR WARS: EPISODE III: RESET

Prologue

Star Wars: Crosscurrent

Chapter 1

Reset

Super Star Destroyer -Executor- 2ABY

Darth Vader sat alone in his hyberbaric chamber. He finally had enough of the past events. What broke him primarily was the death of his wife, Padme. Even though it occured just over 20 years ago, the wound to his heart was almost as fresh as if it happened yesterday. He was absolutely furious for several reasons. The guilt over his hand in his wife's death for one. He realized now that there was something wrong with what Palpatine said, when he stated that Vader killed her. How could she have died, if Luke Skywalker was alive. He was angry, no, furious, at Palpatine's machinations. But his anger was nowhere near as strong as the guilt he felt. He had cut off Luke's hand. Luke was his only link to his beloved angel, Padme. He realized that turning to the dark side in the first place did not help save his wife, but rather it had killed her. He wanted things to change. To be different. His guilt was so intense, that the space in front of him became distorted, and then faded all together.

0o0o

Vader woke up with a start. What had just happened. It felt like a dream, but it didn't. He felt like he had moved forward through something, but didn't know what it was. He pulled off the covers and got to his feet. Wait a minute, thought Vader. Covers? A bed? What happened to the hyberbaric chamber? Vader pulled out his comlink. To his surprise, he wasn't wearing the life support suit. It was an ungloved, flesh and blood hand. Vader stared for a minute at his hand, dropping the comlink. Come to think of it, he surveyed his surroundings. He was in a bedroom of some sort. He needed to know what was going on! A million klicks worth of emotions were swirling through his head. Elation at having an unscarred body. Confusion as to why this was even happening. Anakin ran to the refresher. He looked in the mirror. He saw not a black mask in the shape of a sunken skull, but the face of Anakin Skywalkwer. No suit, no chest panel, just his own body, a full head of hair, and that one thin scar going down his right eyebrow. This couldn't be right.
He was wearing the same Jedi uniform he wore in the clone wars era! He needed to find a holo-cafe, get information, he needed to know. That was when he noticed that he was not sleeping alone.

No! It couldn't be...

It was. The sleeping form on the bed was none other than Padme Amidala. Vader's eyes widened considerably. He dropped to his knees, and everything went blurry. He went unconscious.

Ani! Ani! Wake up! Ani, are you okay?

Where was that voice coming from? He knew he heard it somewhere. Last time he heard it was almost 10 years ago. It must be a dream. But the voice persisted as though to prove otherwise.

Ani! Wake up!

Vader slowly opened his eyes. That's when it hit him. How was he sleeping without special conditions, like the chamber. Vader bolted upright. "Padme.", he whispered. Padme cupped Vader's face in her hands.

"Anakin are you okay?", she asked again.

Vader looked around. It was a coruscant apartment building. The same one he lived in before the purges...

"Angel, who is the chancellor?"

"Well Ani, Palpatine of course, are you-", Padme was interrupted by Vader's sudden intake of breath.

"This can't be. It just can't.", Vader couldn't belive it, but all the clues were there. Somehow he was transported back about 20 years into the past. Anakin knew about time travel in holovid movies, but real life? It was preposterous. Yet, he couldn't deny the facts.

Vader turned to face Padme. "Angel, I-I'm fine. Just stayed up late was all. I need to get to the temple. I'll see you soon."

Vader could see from Padme's face, that she didn't quite believe him. He gently held her shoulders. "Just trust me. I'm just confused right now is all. I'll be fine." With that, he left to the Jedi temple, knowing it must still be here. He needed answers.

0o0o

Vader, no, Anakin entered into the temple. He no longer wanted anything to do with the sith name. As he walked, he went straight for the jedi archives. He needed to know where Obi-Wan was. He realized now that on the fateful day on Mustafar, Obi-Wan was trying to help him. He needed to find him. If he was where he thought he was, then he didn't have much time. At the computer terminal, the screen showed Obi-Wan's current mission status.

"Utapau."

Utapau System-Space

As Anakin flew in his Jedi Starfighter towards Utapau, he was realizing something. This is my chance. My chance to set everything right. Palpatine hasn't issued order 66. There's still time. As his starfighter switched to sublight drives to land, Anakin activated his comlink, and contacted Obi-Wan's frequency. He needed to act quickly.

"Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan come in. Do you copy?"

Anakin was about to check the place for himself when a response came in on the other side. He could hear blaster fire on the other end, and the shouts of clone troopers and droids. Finally, Obi-Wan's voice reponded.

"Anakin? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on coruscant?"

"Obi-Wan there's something you have to know, you need to get out of there, once the last of the droids are destroyed. Meet me at the Hangar bay on the East side. Hurry!"

Moments later, he could see Obi-Wan jogging in through the side door to the hangar.

"This better be good Anakin, I have troopers to lead."

Anakin swallowed and prepared to tell his former friend the information.

"Obi-Wan, Palpatine is a Sith Lord." Anakin searched Obi-Wan's face for any hint of what he was thinking.

Obi-Wan eyed him for a long moment. "Are you sure?", he asked.

"Yes. Come with me to Coruscant, I have something to show you."