Anakin Skywalker groaned as he pushed himself up off the floor, blinking away the heavy tiredness that weighed him down. He stared around him at the room in a confused daze, not recognizing the dull grey room he was being kept in.

The only thing he could remember before waking up was Obi-Wan's distinct voice shouting at him to stop as he reached forward to grab something, but he couldn't quite remember what he was reaching for.

"Obi-Wan?" he called out, his voice hoarse. When he got no reply, he gently reached out into the Force but soon found that he could not locate his Master anywhere. He growled in annoyance at the prospect of not being able to find Kenobi, especially while being held prisoner.

He slowly rose from the makeshift cot that he had been laying on and tried to contact his Master once again. And once again he came up completely empty.

He felt a sudden flash of fear as he felt only emptiness where he should've felt his Master. There was nothing but an empty void where the presence of the older Jedi should have been, and it left Anakin feeling cold. It was almost as if-

Anakin huffed in annoyance as he ran a hand through his short blond hair and fiddled with his Padawan braid, a habit he often did when he was nervous. He didn't know why he was unable to contact his Master and he was starting to get irritated at the prospect of being by himself without any connection to the older man.

Stay calm. There had to be a logical explanation as to why Kenobi was currently unreachable, he thought to himself as he looked around the room he was being held in once more.

Anakin was about to try again when he sensed a presence coming towards him. He instinctively reached over for his lightsaber but found that it was no longer hooked on his utility belt as it always was. Whoever his captors were, they must've confiscated his weapon when they had taken him into custody.

Obi-Wan was going to kill him.

The door to his cell opened and a rather tall man in a dark gray uniform stepped into his room with armored guards, their white armor vaguely reminiscent of Mandalorian styled armor, but different at the same time. The design was all wrong and it made him uncomfortable.

Something was very, very wrong.

"I see you are awake," said the man stiffly as he pulled his hands behind his back and puffed out his chest indignantly.

"Where am I?" demanded Anakin as he inspected the man's uniform, which was a deep grey with red and blue rank insignia as well as pants that flared out dramatically before disappearing into black leather boots.

Anakin could not recognize the perfectly coiffed uniform and he knew that it was not Republic in origin, but it was intimidating nonetheless.

The man gave Anakin a pointed look as he raised his eyebrow indignantly in obvious disdain and distrust that would've made Master Windu jealous.

"I am Commander Alric of the Vigilant, and what I would like to know is how you got here, Jedi."

The man practically spit the word out as if it was acid in his mouth, which caused Anakin to tilt his head in curiosity as he carefully observed the uniformed Officer in front of him. He didn't have to be a Force Sensitive to tell that there was an unmistakable level of hostility in his voice at the mention of the word Jedi.

"I was hoping you could tell me that," quipped Anakin as he tried his best to the diplomatic, something that did not come naturally to him.

He was curious as to what sort of explanation he would get.

Anakin honestly had no idea what he was doing here or where here even was. The last thing he remembered was being on a mission with Obi-Wan on the Outer Rim planet of Setauri V to investigate alleged reports of an ancient Sith shrine located deep in the planet's natural volcanic caves.

He remembered being in the caves and then he had woken up here as a prisoner and without his Master and he would be damned if he didn't get an explanation as to what was going on.

He knew that something was off just by observing that which was around him. The only logical conclusion was that he had somehow been captured, but he had no idea who his captors were and he was certain that they were not apart of the Republic.

Why would they hold a Jedi Padawan against his will? Neither he or Obi-Wan had done anything to warrant an arrest and even while the Jedi had sworn to protect the Republic, they still did retain autonomy and were not under the jurisdiction of the Republic. To arrest a Jedi illegally was political suicide, which was why Anakin doubted that the Republic were the ones behind this gross act of negligence.

No, there was no way that the Republic would jeopardize their stable relationship with the Jedi in such a way.

The man ignored Anakin's remark as he pulled out his lightsaber from the folds of his military jacket and began to carefully inspect it under the light. Anakin eyed the weapon that was his life and was contemplating just taking it back by force when the Commander addressed him once again.

"Possession of such a weapon is illegal," said Commander Alric, "only those whom the Emperor has designated may use one."

"The Emperor?" asked Anakin slowly, not quite comprehending what he was hearing.

The Commander ignored him as he held the hilt up to the light to further inspect the weapon before he turned his gaze back to the young Jedi, his mouth twisting into a cruel smile.

"He will be most pleased when he hears that another Jedi has been found and apprehended," he said as he handed the lightsaber off to one of his guards.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Anakin with a tilt of his head.

"Oh don't play coy with me," replied the Commander haughtily. "You know exactly who I am referring to, so you can stop with this charade of innocence. It won't do you any good in the end anyway."

Anakin ignored his strange statement, "you still haven't told me how I got here."

"You appeared on my bridge," he said as he placed his hands behind his back once again, "from where I do not know but I intend on opening a full investigation on the matter. I have already informed Lord Vader of your mysterious appearance as well as your status as a Jedi. As of right now, he is on the way here to deal with you personally."

"Lord Vader?" asked Anakin slowly as his stomach churned uncomfortably at the name, which was undoubtedly a Sith name.

Alric paused at the blatant confusion on Anakin's face, "you really don't know who I am talking about, do you? Surely someone of your status has heard of him before-" he paused before adding, "you must've hit your head harder than I thought."

Anakin shook his head truthfully. He did not know who Lord Vader was and this seemed to genuinely confuse the Commander.

"Sorry to disappoint," said Anakin as he shook his head, "but I've never heard that name before in my entire life."

The Commander quickly hid his confusion behind a stony scowl, "it matters not. You are a Jedi and therefore a criminal and Lord Vader will deal with you and your kind accordingly."

"I didn't know being a Jedi was a crime," said Anakin humorlessly as he did his best to remain calm. According to the Commander, he had just appeared on the bridge of this ship out of nowhere and apparently being a Jedi was enough to have him thrown into the brig and threatened without explanation.

"Oh, I assure you it is. One punishable by death as a matter of fact."

Anakin shook his head, his patience already long gone at that point. He had no idea what was going on here, but he was certain it was time for him to leave. He was done playing whatever sick game this was and he sure as heck didn't want to meet this Darth Vader.

They had failed to put a Force inhibitor on him and his lightsaber was within reach. It was time for him to leave.

"That's alright, Commander. I won't be sticking around long enough for that to happen," said Anakin as he used the Force to push the guards back before he kicked the Commander square in the chest, causing the flimsy man to fall back on his rear with a shout of surprise as Anakin wasted no time in calling his lightsaber into his waiting hands. He ignited the cerulean blue blade just in time to block the guard's rapid blaster fire.

"Get him! Don't let him escape!" shrieked the Commander as he rose to his feet, his face flushed with anger and embarrassment as the Jedi escaped out of the room and down the corridor. "Sound the alarm you fools!"

Anakin tuned out the frantic yelling as he ran down the corridor before he finding a small alcove tucked away in the wall, the perfect place to hide from the fast-approaching and heavily armed guards. He turned his lightsaber off as he held his breath, waiting for all of the armed guards to pass by his hiding place and silently praying to the Force that he would not be detected. The sound of their feet clamoring against the metal floor was enough to drown out the sound of the blaring red sirens.

None of the white guards stopped to look in the tiny compartment where Anakin had decided to hide as they all disappeared down the corridor, their clanking boots drowning out the sirens until they were gone, leaving Anakin in their wake.

He silently weighed his options as he reached out with the Force and felt he nearby presences, not sure if he could successfully escape without them noticing.

This would be the hard part.

He knew that he was on board a ship and he knew that he needed to get off said ship before he was caught, or worse. But he was unsure of the layout of the vessel and he knew that he would have to go off blind instinct if he was to ever find the hangar. There, he would need to commandeer a ship and somehow find his way back to Setauri V.

Commandeering a ship would be easy, getting to the hangar would be a whole other story.

Anakin took a deep breath as he poked his head out from the alcove to check if the coast was clear before making his way down the winding corridor. He stayed alert for any people he might run into and dodged certain hallways where a confrontation would be inevitable. He could've just used a lightsaber to force himself through, but that would only leave a trail for his captors to follow.

He would need to be both quick and stealthy if he was going to make it off this ship in one piece and back to Obi-Wan, who was probably wrought with worry by then. He could only hope that his Master had notified the Council on Coruscant by then and that a rescue mission was well underway. The Council would surely be interested in knowing that there was some rogue military faction out there rounding up Jedi and holding them illegally against their will.

The hangar was a refreshing sight until Anakin actually saw what sort of ships were in it.

He had always prided himself on his piloting abilities as well as his knowledge of all the different types of ships in the galaxy as well as how to pilot them. It was something that he had excelled in his classes at the Temple and his talent was widely known amongst the other Jedi.

But the ships he saw in the hangar were totally and completely unrecognizable to him and it made his confusion grow even more.

Surely these ships were not in commercial use seeing as Anakin had never seen them on any recognized Republic hyper lane or trade route. They must've been from some small, relatively unimportant planet in the far reaches of the Outer Rim, but even then one would think the design for these ships would be archived in the Temple Library.

He would have to ask Obi-Wan if he had ever seen such a design and where it had originated from, but for now, he had much bigger problems to worry about.

"Hey, you!" cried an armed guard from the far end of the hangar, bringing Anakin out his stupor.

A small group of guards began to fire at him and Anakin took immediate defensive actions. He ignited his lightsaber and blocked the blaster shots that were headed his way with precision and agility as he ran for the nearest ship.

The vessel was nothing more than a spherical cockpit with two strange flat panels on each side of it. It was a bizarre design and Anakin could only hope that the ship's control systems were more familiar to him than the outside was.

Anakin continued to fend off the shots as he used his other hand to yank the hatch up before he jumped down into the cockpit and turned his lightsaber off. He inspected the controls and was more than thankful to find that the system in front of him was familiar enough to navigate on his own.

The joystick was not what he was used too, but he would have to make due.

Anakin started up the engine and was about to leave the hangar when the ship rocked dangerously to the side. He could see and hear the blaster shots that were being aimed at him and he knew that his ships had been hit from the group of guards that had amassed in the hangar, and there was nothing he could do about that.

As soon as Anakin cleared the hangar, the ship had turned its blaster cannons on him and started firing, which forced Anakin to swerve and dodge the oncoming attack. It would've been more difficult if he didn't have the Force to rely on, which allowed him to sense where the shots were coming from before they hit him, providing him ample time to maneuver the vessel out of the way.

He also noticed that the ship he had just escaped from was currently in orbit around an orange, dusty-looking planet and he knew that he had no choice but to land there. The strange little ship he had commandeered did not have hyperdrive or a sustainable life support system and he had already sustained heavy damage from the blaster shots, which meant he would have to take his chances on the ground.

He could only hope that it was a planet capable of sustaining human life.

Anakin huffed out in annoyance as he dodged yet another shot and got a glimpse of the ship that he had just escaped from was undoubtedly a heavily armored battle cruiser with full hyperdrive capabilities. The design looked extremely similar to earlier Republic warships, but there was no way that could be. There was no need for the Republic to use battlecruisers and those specific designs had not been in commission for centuries.

Anakin had been so certain that it was not the Republic that had taken him prisoner, but he was starting to have serious doubts as he eyed the ships in front of him and racked his brain for an explanation.

But while Anakin was distracted, a single blaster shot hit his starboard side and the ship spiraled out of the control and plummeted towards the planet in front of him.

He was coming in hot and Anakin could only trust in the Force as the planet drew closer and closer.