Darth Vader: Shattered Galaxy

Chapter 1

A woman stood before a pool, cloaked in darkness.

"Five years," she chanted as the waters rippled at her very voice, showing many images and shifting scenes.

Vader laying siege to the Jedi Temple and ending the Force Storm.

"Five years since the March and the Storm."

Vader speaking before the Jedi Council, Sidious dueling with Plagueis and killed by Maul.

"Five years since the Dark and the Light turned from one another, and onto themselves."

Vader giving Anakin the detonator to destroy.

"Five years since The One became The Two Who Are One."

It dissolved into an impossible kaleidoscope of scenes. From the pool echoed a chorus of screams and laughter, of joy and horror. And through it all, the faint whispers of marching feet, of explosions, or destruction.

Of War.

"Ripple on to ripple. Time carries on carelessly, and the Force eagerly follows and guides the Two Who Are One."

The pool stilled and showed nothing.

"But where are you going, you who are both Child and Father of the Force? To what shared end can your twin paths reach?"

She chuckled as she crouched down and touched the surface, not a single disturbance formed by her hand.

"And are you prepared for the cost of what you have been given and what you have taken?"

She smiled, gazing at the stars within the pool.

"I doubt it."

Meanwhile

He arrived as the rumors said he did; without warning, without fanfare, and without an entourage.

The soldiers, patriots dedicated against the corruption and tyranny of the failing Republic, were willing to give their lives to this cause. But his arrival, his very breath chilled them in ways he had never seen.

*Kuuuuuuh Kerrr*

But Khorda would be lying if he said he didn't understand.

Into their humble base walked Vader, and none dared question just how he knew where to go, how he knew exactly where he, the General of these forces, would be.

"Ashaar Khorda," Vader addresed as he entered the small meeting room, empty save them both and the round hologram table.

"General, if you would, Lord Vader," Khorda requested, his four eyes tracking Vader, one predator sizing up another.

"You wished to speak with me," Vader said, his words impatient without changing the tone at all. "Speak."

"I've heard many tales of you, Lord of the Sith," Khorda remarked with a praising smirk. "You laid low the Trade Federation, humbled the Jedi themselves, and your battle left Coruscant scarred."

Vader tilted his helm forward ever so slightly, a signal that he did not care for the platitudes.

"There are rumors all over the galaxy these days," Khorda continued, with a wave of his two right arms. "After Naboo, people started looking into their own defenses. They don't say armies, but we all know that is what they are building. And the greatest rumors are about you. I dare not imagine which rumors are true and which are fantasy. But I do know that many are joining you. Preparing for the day the Republic falls apart."

"As I recall, your cause is to save the Republic, in your own manner," Vader stated knowingly.

Khorda nodded as his scaled visage rose. He stood above Vader in height but had no imagination that meant anything. "The Republic must either be saved or it must fall," Khorda answered firmly. "And if I had the means to see this through, I would...even if it meant my death. But Coruscant security has increased greatly since your...visit."