Chapter 4: Rage and Magic
21 BBY, Maridun
Pain suddenly lanced through Anakin’s skull, and he knelt on the ground, his hands moving to his head, screaming. He barely heard Rex yell out, “General! General! Anakin!” Before the world was swallowed by a haze of red.
Anakin Skywalker opened his eyes and took a deep breath, relishing in the intoxicating feeling of channelling the Dark Side through him. He looked around the Rakatan ruin, a civilisation that he knew very little of, though he admitted that their power over the Dark Side was beautiful indeed, given what he could feel in the very foundation of the stone.
He slowly raised his hand, though he did not know why, moving his fingers, even those of his prosthetic, before making a fist, taking command of the Force. His lips moved upwards in a smile at the renewed sense of power, and he felt his lips move, “Finally, after so many years… And with rage, such fear, such… power, I return.”
It was then that Anakin realised that he had not meant to speak these words. He had not even meant to move his hand or even use the Dark Side. What was happening to him? He remembered entering the temple, one saturated with the Dark Side. He remembered speaking to a droid, who spoke of the Star Forge. He remembered the Sith Holocron’s crimson light flying towards him… There was something in the Sith Holocron, something… alive.
He could not finish his train of thought as his body released his power, generating cracks all around the temple, and with a pull, crushed it. Giant slabs of stone began to fall from the ceiling as the structure collapsed, crushing Potter, Rex, and the droid. He had no use for them, not anymore.
Anakin’s mouth was laughing in triumph, in cruelty at the sight, especially as there was very little left of the structure aside from a few walls that had remained upright either through pure chance or by being reinforced somehow.
Still, that did not mean that he was not mourning the loss of Rex. He had gotten to consider him a friend after so many battles. But then, why did he do it? Why did his body kill a comrade in battle?
The answer came very clearly, after all, “I am not Anakin Skywalker.”
If Anakin could do it, he would have stiffened, but unfortunately, his body did not follow his commands. He tried to push, to do… anything, yet he did not move.
Anakin felt his body’s lips curl into a smile, cruel and mocking, “It is of no use, Jedi. Though I can hardly call you a Jedi, can I? What Jedi would have such rage in their hearts, rage at the world, rage at your enemies, even rage at the Jedi order? I must say that I am surprised that they did not kill you for the threat of someone of your power falling to the Dark Side.”
Anakin rebelled at the thought. After all, he was a Jedi. He had trained for years to be a Jedi and had served the Republic faithfully during the Clone Wars. Just as he thought so, he felt a great pain in his head, and he felt his mouth release a smug smirk, “Pathetic… To think that such power would belong to one so… weak. Then again, it is my power now. Do not worry, Anakin Skywalker, I promise that I will misuse it… much.”
Anakin felt the Force warn him of danger and felt himself summon one of the Lightsabers that had survived the destruction of the Rakatan temple, and activated it with a crimson blade, and he used it to casually bat away an incoming blaster bolt.
He felt his body turn towards its source, specifically, the droid that had been attacking him earlier. He couldn’t help but wonder how the little thing had survived the temple collapsing on it, as the Darksider that occupied his body felt raised his hand, and sent a Force Blast at the irritant.
To his surprise, the droid managed to somehow redirect the attack, or at least, dodge it in a way to not be crushed by it, especially as the blast continued forward, destroying the earth with its sheer strength. Instead, the creature opened a hidden compartment and released a violent sonic weapon.
Anakin’s body recoiled at the attack, as he felt its pain. He felt his mouth morph into a growl as he resisted the onslaught. He took the pain, the hatred, the rage that he had felt in this moment, and gathered it in a single point. Anakin then felt his body yell as he grasped the droid using the Force, lifted it up in the air, and released everything that he had bottled with a great yell.
Lightning erupted from his hands in a blinding blast and hit the droid. It continued to do so until it destroyed every single circuit within the droid, melting even its shell, before he closed his fist and crushed it into nothing. His mouth morphed into a sneer, “Pathetic pest.”
He casually threw the piece of scrap with the Force, and it soared into the sky far away from the ruins of the temple. With this came the confirmation of what he dreaded, that his body was piloted by a Sith. He remembered feeling the brunt of Dooku’s lightning during the battle of Geonosis, and to see it made with his own hands was a terrible sight indeed.
A voice spoke up then, casually, “I was really growing to like that little robot, you know. It’s also very bad manners to collapse a building on someone.”
Anakin felt his body stiffen as he turned towards the source of the voice, realising that it was Harry Potter. The man stood there, completely and utterly untouched by the destruction of the temple, and many things ran through his mind.
First was the betrayal that he felt. Had this been his plan all along? He could see Dooku’s scheming all over it. Potter would come to Anakin while he was at his lowest with a piece of a dangerous artefact, knowing that as a Jedi, he would not let him keep it. Then, when he went to seek out the other half of the Sith Holocron for safekeeping, he would be possessed by an ancient Sith. He hadn’t even known that Sith could do this in the first place. But the deception, the cunning, it all pointed to some kind of Sith scheme, making Potter complicit, nonetheless.
Anakin felt his anger stir, enough that the sneer that his body gave Potter could have been his own, or belonging to the Sith that possessed him, “You should have run, vermin.”
Potter waved his hand dismissively, “Meh, that’s not really my style. Though I’m curious. Who is it exactly that I’m speaking to?”
“You stand in the presence of Darth Ikoral, Dark Lord of the Sith, member of the Order of Ragnos, and scion of Adas.”
Potter nodded his head, as if impressed by the titles, before speaking up, “Yeah, I didn’t understand a word you just said. Still, it all sounds very impressive, far too impressive for a coward.”
Anakin felt his body still completely.
It was obvious that the Sith was insulted, very much so, and that he wanted to take it out on Potter very violently. He likely would have, were it not for the fact that the man still radiated danger in the Force. He wasn’t sure why that was the case, but he was sure that this was the only reason that the Sith inhabiting his body seemed to hesitate.
Potter must have known of it as he casually walked forward, “I know you’re probably thinking of hundreds of ways to show your outrage at the insult, but come on, what else would you call a man that is so frightened of Death that he anchored himself to a device for thousands of years instead of facing Death, as one should? Normally, I wouldn’t exactly care… I try not to intervene too much in the affairs of others, but I do feel responsible for what happened. I was the one who picked up your little trinket out of boredom, and it is my bad for thinking Skywalker knew what it could do, let alone handle it.”
To Anakin’s surprise and perhaps slight incredulity, the man raised his hand blaster and casually continued, “I’m terribly sorry, Ikoral, but unfortunately, I can’t let you continue. It’s a matter of principle, you see.”
That was certainly a way to speak with a Sith Lord. While he was glad to know that Potter had not meant for this to happen to him, there was a certain mortification at the fact that this happened because the man assumed that Anakin would know how to handle the Holocron and stop the Sith from taking over his body in the first place. How the Kriff was he supposed to know that a Sith Holocron could possess you? He didn’t think that it was even possible to do it.
Still, facing a Sith Lord with a blaster and running one’s mouth was not something one did and survived for too long. As was proof from the fact that Darth Ikoral raised his hand, and sparks began to form.
Anakin felt the memories; the rage being used. He remembered his rage at the Tusken Raiders after they killed his mother, anger at the Jedi Council dismissing him, treating him like a problem to be managed instead of one of them.
He felt his body command the Force to bring as much pain to the human before him, one who had defied him, and a giant blast of lightning left his hands, brimming with all of Anakin’s hate.
Anakin’s hate…
He mentally repeated that sentence in his mind many times, and with it came a crucial conclusion: that the Sith’s use of the Force was built on Anakin’s emotions, on his anger, rage, and fear. He would easily admit that he had a harder time controlling his emotions than most Jedi, and the Sith was taking the cracks in his control and was using it to his own will.
Before he could finish his thoughts, Anakin’s eyes widened as he saw the Force Lightning reach Potter, only for the man to raise the blaster like some kind of shield. He mentally winced as the weapon would likely melt into slag and do very little to save the man from his own foolishness, only for the man to spin just as the lightning reached his weapon.
Impossibly, the Force Lightning followed him in the spin, as if being dragged by Potter’s blaster, before it was released after he had made a full turn, and the Sith’s lightning came back at Anakin’s body.
Anakin knew that the Sith could have probably done something to stop the attack, but he had no doubt that the Darksider was just as baffled as he was at what had just happened.
After all, the man had just redirected Force Lightning with a Kriffing blaster.
Still, that meant that Anakin’s body was hit with the full brunt of the attack, and he was sent flying back. The pain was briefer than when he was hit by Dooku’s, but far more intense than that, yet the Sith used that pain to channel the Dark Side, and quickly got up, growling, “How?”
Potter waved his hand dismissively, “You know, you just keep the elbows up, the blaster ready, and the shoulders loose.”
Anakin’s mouth turned into a sneer, “Then I will flay your secrets from your mind after I sever your limbs, melt your eyes, and cut off your annoying tongue, pest.”
“Wow, that was certainly graphic. I have been threatened many, many times in my life, and I have to applaud your originality.”
Anakin did not know why Potter continued to run his mouth instead of trying to use the opening that his trick gave him, but that was explained as something jumped out of the rubble violently. His armour was scuffed in places, and he wasn’t wearing his helmet, showing his regretful face, as well as his anger, as he fired his rifle at Anakin.
He couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t feel his presence in the Force until this moment. And if he ever got his body back, he promised that he would reassure Rex that he was doing the right thing by attacking him.
To his surprise, one of the blaster bolts hit Anakin in the shoulder, and then, after hissing in pain, the Sith controlling his body raised his hand and channelled the Dark Side once more.
As he had before, the Sith empowered himself using Anakin’s rage, one that he could not deny anymore. After all, if his rage was enough that he could be used by a Sith, then perhaps the Jedi Council were right to be wary of him, of what lay beneath him…
Just as he came to this realisation, the Sith who controlled Anakin’s body had used the Dark Side to stop the bolts in mid-air, as well as freezing Rex. He knew what would come next, that his rage would kill a man that he considered a friend, and he found that he could not let that happen.
He would not let his rage kill a friend. He would not let his emotions dictate his actions, make him hurt anyone. And in that moment, something simply felt… right.
Anakin had no words to describe it, only that everything simply became clearer with every moment. He looked back at his interactions, at the rage that had always festered beneath his skin, one that he constantly kept a lid on, and how much that had influenced him over the years, even if it was far less pronounced than it was currently.
And with that realisation, he simply… let it all go.
He had never been good at this, at releasing his emotion in the Force. It was not an easy thing to do, not at all, for all the ways the galaxy had failed him, from his life as a slave, from his mother's death... It almost felt insulting to release his rage, but looking at the outcome of his anger objectively made him realise the necessity of it, as he was not the one channelling it, but the Sith possessing him.
He felt a small tear grow in his eyes despite the fact that the Sith still controlled his body, and yet, for it was likely the hardest act in his life, a necessary one, at the very least.
He let go of his anger, and the more he had, the less powerful the Sith became. His grip on Rex seemed to slacken, and he could feel him growl as he pushed him back, far weaker than Anakin could have.
He could feel the Sith prepare to resist, to fight against Anakin in some way, or perhaps fester even more rage for him to use, but he did not have the time as Potter moved forward towards him, with his blaster ready to fire.
Anakin felt his mouth turn into a snarl, and his hand activated the Lightsaber in his hand, and swipe it at the man before him. For some inane reason, Potter raised his arm to block the blow, as if something like this could stop a Lightsaber.
To his surprise, as well as the Sith’s, it had done just that. Potter’s reptilian leather jacket impossibly stopped the Lightsaber. Anakin could feel his eye widen in shock as the man’s sleeve continued to resist the Lightsaber, and saw his mouth move into a smirk, as his other hand fired his blaster.
It was too close for the Sith to do anything about the bolt, and it did hit Anakin’s body in the chest, though the pain did not follow. Instead, the Jedi felt himself in control of his body once more. He turned around and saw a spectre of a man with crimson skin, golden eyes, and some strange tentacles that looked vaguely like a beard.
The ghost was sent flying back by the impact into the strange symbol that Potter had looked at before, a circle bisected by a line and surrounded by a triangle. It had been on the least damaged wall of the temple, and the symbols quickly lit up.
As if it were some kind of vacuum, the symbol’s light seemed to almost absorb the Sith’s ghost, as it yelled in pain, fear, and rage, before disappearing completely, alongside the strange symbol as well.
Potter gave the section of the wall where the symbol used to be a complicated look, before putting a smirk on his face, “I really love that gun.”
Anakin looked at the man, the weapon in question, which he was sure was Rex’s and could not stop possession from taking place, with complete and utter incredulity. A part of him still didn’t believe what he had just seen, and despite this, he shook his head and simply released a chuckle.
Rex then came towards them, his hands ready to fire his rifle, and asked, “Is that you, General?”
“Yes, it is. I’m sorry, my friend.”
The clone trooper waved his hand dismissively, “It wasn’t you, sir. I know that you wouldn’t hurt me.”
Anakin suppressed the guilt he felt at that statement. What he had just experienced showed him that he could do just that, but he would do his best to make sure that this would never happen, that his rage would not control him ever again.
Out of instinct, Anakin reached out over the Force and felt his sense expanding further than they ever had before. It was as if his connection with the Force was different, unburdened. He smiled at the sensation, at least until he felt a disturbance far away on the surface of the planet, which stopped him. He opened his eyes and looked towards it, uttering a single word, “Ahsoka!”
AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you all will like it. I’m still getting the hang of writing a Star Wars story, so bear with me if anything feels off.
It was a bit daunting to write the fight scene, to be completely honest. I didn’t want it to be a contest of power, really. There’s a bit about the possession that I didn’t mention because I couldn’t see if it fit or not. Anyway, Darth Ikoral wasn’t planning on this kind of possession. He was planning on making it slower, corrupting Anakin with his quest for the Star Forge and more power, until he takes over completely. However, since Anakin realised that something was up, he got more forceful, which limited him. He had to use Anakin’s power in the Force, and with it, channel his emotions.
I thought that this would be good for Anakin to get a perspective on the extent of his rage, and let go with that realisation (to Palpatine's future inconvenience). Anyway, I went this route, both as Harry is trying to mesh with the Star Wars universe, and didn’t feel a reason to go out, and chose to be subtle (which isn’t exactly his strong suit). Darth Ikoral also isn't particularly powerful as far as Siths go, so I felt that a quick defeat made sense, all things considered, but I feel I rushed things a bit, so I'm asking your opinion for that.
For those of you who don't know, Darth Ikoral is Malgus's master's master, a pretty obscure Sith, to be honest. He was pretty proud of his lineage as a Pureblood Sith and experimented on his kind to increase his power, which I felt made him suitable for this chapter.
Also, feel free to let me know if you have any things you'd like to see in that story. SW lore is pretty expansive, especially Legends stuff, and there's a lot that I'll probably miss, so I'm counting on you guys :)
As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.