Lady Eclipse—better known to the galaxy as Vader's Shadow and his faithful apprentice—did not particularly like the position she had found herself in as she silently stood guard in the Emperor's throne room as they waited for Vader to inform the Sith Lord of Luke Skywalker's capture. It seemed to be a simple thing, but neither Eclipse nor Vader liked it when Palpatine himself ordered them seperate ways.
Especially, when it included Eclipse staying by the Emperor's side. On more than one occasion he had used her life as a way to remind her Master who he was and there was never a time Vader's Shadow would like to be left alone in a room with him.
"Come here, my dear," Palpaine's voice said in a near murmur, bringing the Sith apprentice's attention from her thoughts and to the present. He was seated in his throne, facing away from her and looking out the window at the moon of Endor.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Eclipse responded, venturing up the steps and closer to the chair. "Is there something you require?"
"....Do you know what Lord Vader wishes to do with young Skywalker?" the Emperor asked instead. Eclipse was silent for a moment, carefully considering her response.
"He wishes to turn him and further the Empire's glory. Train him to give you another powerful agent to do your bidding," Vader's Shadow answered, knowing that only part of the answer was true.
Oh yes, Vader wished to turn Skywalker, that could not be denied.
What Palpatine didn't know was that once Skywalker had fallen, the three of them would kill the elder Sith and take control.
"Yes. He wishes to turn him and train him," Palpatine's voice agreed. "Come closer, my dear."
The Sith apprentice did as asked, coming to stand beside the throne though she couldn't help but begin to feel cautious. The Force assured her nothing was the matter.
"Do you know what that means?" the Emperor asked. "Vader's wish to train Skywalker?"
"....He will have a new apprentice, one that can learn the Force's teachings far better than I ever could," Eclipse said slowly. It was a lie. She was Force sensitive and had been learning all of the Sith teachings her Master had given to her for the past seven years.
But Palpatine didn't know that. He thought she was mindly sensitive, not even worth the attention of a Jedi.
"But you still see yourself continuing down your....current path," Palpatine said.
"Of course. I may not be sensitive, but my abilities have their uses to serve the Empire."
"Yes.... It truly is such a pity then...." he muttered, dropping off. Waiting for her to ask what was such a pity. Again Eclipse checked to make sure things were alright; again the Force reassured her.
"What is a pity?" the Sith apprentice finally asked.
"That your loyalty lies with your Master alone," the Emperor growled. Less than a quarter second later, lightning shot from Palptine's fingers, hitting her right in the chest. Eclipse screamed in shock, collapsing to the duristeel floor as the energy bolts continued to hit her in unending pain. It hurt. Great Force, it hurt.
The pain was eating at Eclipse's insides, forcing her to scream yet again. Vader had punished her before—pain brought power—but this was different. She hadn't even known Sith could create lightning, her Master had never taught her that, but great Force it was agonizing.
Eclipse wanted to fight back, try to absorb the energy, but she couldn't. She knew that she was not expected to and if she somehow succeeded in doing so, Vader would be in trouble. He couldn't get in trouble, not with Skywalker so close to being in his clutches. Her Master needed the boy more than he needed her. It was the truth, and it hurt more than the Force lightning digging into her flesh.
But if Vader's Shadow was anything, she was loyal to her Master. So she gave Palpatine the show he wanted, screaming in pain all the while being sure to not let Vader know what was happening to her—he may need Skywalker more, but she knew if he learned what was happening to her....
He was still her Master.
But despite her determination, she slipped for half a second, and that was all her Master needed to feel her pain. Vader flooded her mind from where he was currently stationed on Endor. She could feel his anger followed by faint fear—faint only because Eclipse's senses were beginning to fade, otherwise it would have hit her broadside. She felt him wrap his Force presence around her, creating an almost skin tight shield, trying to take the brunt of Palpatine's attack for her, but the Emperor's attack was far too powerful and Eclipse was already far too weak.
Don't....bother, Master, Eclipse whispered in her mind, knowing he'd hear regardless of whether or not she was trying to speak with him, even as the world around her began to fade. I am....weak.
Don't be ridiculous! Vader spat.
You....you need Skywalker more than me. You can't....have more than one....apprentice. You don't need me.... Don't risk....everything.
Vader growled at her words, though she could just barely sense his reaction. Distantly she felt something odd happen in the Force around her—a rip in reality. Had she been able to pay better attention, she would have sensed Palpatine's anger.
She would have sensed Vader shove her in before sealing it behind her, even as he said, Then you will go to where you are needed.
But all Eclipse sensed was black.
}*{
Vader's Shadow came too on a metal floor that shook under an outside bombardment. Voices weaved in and out of her consciousness.
"What....what trick is this, Dooku?" someone asked, voice fading in and out of awareness. Eclipse barely managed to lock onto the words or any identifying features of the voice, such as a Coruscanti accent.
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same," another voice responded, the sounds becoming louder by the second and far more understandable and easy for her mind to focus on—he had the tone of a senator. Aristocracy.
Eclipse peeled her eyes open to find herself no longer in the throne room of the Second Death Star but in an alien place. It was a ship, she knew from instinct—Vader's Shadow had been practically raised on them by her Master's side and she could tell without looking at the viewport that they were in a battle that the ship was trying desperately to withstand. The tremors told her it was unlikely to succeed.
She had felt many a ship die beneath her feet and could too recognize the coming signs of death.
As to her companions, she was stunned to note three of the four held lightsabers—two wielded blue, and the last, the aristocrat, she didn't need to see him speak to know who the voice belonged to, had Sith red.
Dooku. Darth Tyranus's other name, Eclipse recalled, easily recognizing the man from a holo that had been present in one of the many, many lessons Vader had taught her about the Sith's history and legacy—one she would one day inherit and guide to her will as she created a new chapter.
But Darth Tyranus was dead. Dead before Eclipse had been born for all she knew. He.... She would have sworn Vader mentioned killing him with his own blade, taking his place as Palpatine's apprentice.
Something until the Emperor shot Eclipse with Force lightning that had been destined to eventually happen to her and Skywalker no doubt. There could only be one true apprentice.
Speaking of the Emperor, Vader's Shadow was less than pleased to notice that he was sitting cuffed to a chair and watching the proceedings—most notably her—with great interest. He looked younger than usual, and his eyes weren't their normal yellow, face hidden behind a Sith mask.
Her eyes flicked back to the blue bladers. The two men woar Jedi garb—a death sentence in itself.
Yet as she painfully pushed herself into a sitting position, she couldn't help but get the feeling that wherever she was right now, it wasn't that much of a death sentence.
"Who the hell are you?!" the nearest blue blader asked. He had a scar over one of his blue eyes, one from a lightsaber considering how it had healed, along with a prosthetic limb—she assumed another combat related injury.
"Who are you?" Eclipse snapped back, bristiling at the tone even as she ignored the lightsaber pointed her way—she answered to no one but her Master, and that wasn't about to change.
Speaking of Vader though....she.... She couldn't seem to find him. Palpatine was here, so where was Vader? Where was her Master?
"Well, who's side are you on?" Dooku asked, glaring at the girl. Eclipse's eyes narrowed into slits.
"I'm most certainly not on your's," Vader's Shadow growled. She may not remember everything her Master had told her about the Sith, but she knew Vader and Tyranus had never fought on the same side. The blue bladers shared a look.
"Stay down," the one with a scar ordered after a moment, his voice mistrusting but apparently having decided that she wasn't much of a danger at the moment. Eclipse would have argued had she felt as though she could do anything but stay down. She was going to need a minute or two to recover enough from the Sith lightning for any sort of action, regardless of her preference on the matter. All in all, she was technically grounded and at their mercy.
But who's mercy precisely? She figured she'd soon find out considering it looked like she had interrupted what was leading to a contest between blades.
Vader's Shadow silently wondered if it would have been smarter to make it obvious she was alined with Sith and let Dooku assume she was on his side for a moment.
"Your weapons, please, gentlemen. Let's not make a mess of this in front of the Chancellor," Tyranus stated, before giving Eclipse a look. "You too girl, if you have any."
"You won't escape us this time, Dooku," the other blue blader said—he had a beard and was wearing light robes, scar guy wore dark brown, near black.
"Escape you? Please. Do you think I orchestrated this entire operation with the intent of escape? I could have taken the Chancellor outsystem hours ago. But I have better things to do with my life than to babysit him while I wait for the pair of you to attempt a rescue."
"This is a little more than an attempt," the scarred blue blade stated, even as Eclipse slowly and cautiously reached deeper into the Force—she hadn't done anything more than reach for Vader, something that by now was as instinctive as breathing when it came to hiding herself while she did it. She continued to hide considering she was in the presence of two unfriendly Sith, one obviously was ready to kill whoever went against him and the one cuffed in the chair had just tried to kill her. Upon touching the Force, it was surprisingly easy to find the beacons of light that belonged to the blue bladers.... They were Jedi. Actual Jedi.
"And a little less than a rescue," Tyranus added. Eclipse found herself forgotten as she watched the continuing exchange. So she had somehow crashed into the middle of a rescue—an odd one at that considering the Jedi were rescuing a Sith from said Sith's apprentice. Eclipse didn't doubt there was some greater play involved—again, Vader had drilled the history of the Sith into her mind and she knew that Palpatine had spent years fooling the entire Jedi Order before he and Vader had struck them down. She wouldn't have put it past him to have orchestrated the entire battle that was currently underway, nor the duel taking place in front of her.
As deep in her thoughts as she was while reviewing her history lessons, Vader's Shadow was still listening and easily snipped one of the Jedi's names from the conversation. Kenobi, that was the bearded one's name. And now that she bothered to look and silently compare to the one Jedi she'd ever actually seen, he shared more than a passing resemblance to the Obi-Wan Kenobi her Master had killed four years ago.
And that meant, if they were continuing with this theme of everyone save Palpatine supposedly being dead, the scarred one was most likely his partner Anakin Skywalker—Luke Skywalker's father. The father of the boy her Master was so obsessed with finding to train.
Regardless of what was happening, as the three Force wielders sprang into motion, Vader's Shadow noticed things, cataloged them to better learn of her new "allies" and current "enemy" since it seemed the Jedi considered her on there side and Eclipse wasn't going to alter that impression until she figured out what the hell was going on or being identified as a Sith would be considered helpful—she had never fought a Jedi before, and she wasn't about to test her luck against two in her current state of weakness.
But she was Vader's apprentice after all, she knew the Sith Lord better than anyone else.
And when she felt one of the Jedi instinctively use his anger to give him strength as he launched a table—Tyranus had previously launched it at him and had pinned him against the wall much to said Jedi's understandable annoyance—before rushing head long without so much as a blade in his hand, Eclipse recognized him. Her mouth gaped open behind her mask even as she mouthed the word:
"Master?"
No one heard her, she was too quiet and the blades of the blue lightsabers clashing against red far too loud.
But now, now all her attention was focused on Skywalker—and indirectly his current partner who Eclipse was more than annoyed to be forced to note was not herself.
And it was in this way she found herself slowly smiling in amusement. Yes, she'd know him anywhere, though the bright blinding spot that was his Force presence—it was like trying to look a supernova head on—had taken her off the trail for a moment or two, as had his absent suit. Skywalker and Vader were one in the same, it explained so many things and ment that, while Eclipse still hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on or where—or, perhaps the better question would be when, the Sith Shadow mused to herself—she was, she had found her Master, and that was more than enough to calm her for the time being.
It also allowed her to read the battle like an open book. Tyranus thought he had complete control of the duel, you could see it in his eyes, but the two Jedi—Vader's Shadow couldn't believe she was using that word to describe her Master—were actually the ones in control. The Jedi were faking the total and complete dismal display of combat that made Tyranus look like a master swordsman in comparison—she would have been worried for her Master's safety if she hadn't known.
Oh, Master, how you love your tricks, Eclipse thought to herself. Vader had on more than one occasion taken great pleasure in tricking Rebel forces to their demise, it was always so entertaining to watch the blood drain from their faces as they realized they were doomed from the start.
Of course, eventually the Jedi stopped playing around, and Tyranus's expression did not fail to please when they did so. And what was better was that even if Eclipse had slight doubts about Skywalker's true identity, moment by moment she sensed the darkside growing in him to accompany the light and it became more and more obvious that he and Vader were the same as the chilling darkness began to dull the supernova of his presence.
At the same time, she came to the realization of something. She had a lightsaber. A red bladed lightsaber.
Her Master was currently wielding a blue lightsaber, and if what she was starting to think was happening—as impossible as it was—was actually happening, then she had traveled back in time to the Clone Wars before her Master had become Palpatine's apprentice.
And considering how he was currently treating Tyranus—not that she doubted the Sith deserved it—it would most likely be better for her to not be labeled as a Sith apprentice at the moment, at least not if she wanted to stick by his side.
But she wasn't about to put away her lightsaber—no, she knew she was going to need it. Besides, if Vader ever saw her hide her lightsaber and pretend it didn't exist when she needed a weapon....oh, displeased would be an understatement.
Eclipse needed to change crystals. She had her own crystal, had for many years, but had only used the bleeding one her Master had made for her. She'd never had a reason to switch them out.
Now she just hoped that her true crystal wasn't red. And that she could quickly dismantle and rebuild the weapon without drawing attention—she already had more than enough, though no one was watching her at that precise moment being the blade wielders were rather occupied and Palpatine was understandably enjoying the show—and a lightsaber would only add to it.
Eclipse sat up straighter, moving her aching body to better hide her already hovering lightsaber as she pictured the blade in her mind and dismantled it while simultaneously shifting the string holding her crystal in place around her neck to let it drop before the Force guided it to her back, keeping half an eye on what her battling companions were up to. She went only far enough to leave the crystal chamber open while having the power pack disconnected to switch out the red crystal for her own before quickly rebuilding the saber.
Eclipse let out a shaky breath when it was done and the red crystal was resting safe in her enclosed palm. There. She could say she bought it off the black market and pretend she wasn't Force sensitive—she wasn't about to step into the Jedi Order's heart, Master or not, without a very good reason, and obviously knowing how to use the Force would probably make that happen.
Turning her attention back to the battle at hand, she found that in her distraction with her saber Kenobi had been taken out of commission, the battle droids—there had been battle droids originally at the door to prevent escape—dismantled, and Skywalker was taking on Tyranus rather well on his own, darkness surging through both of them.
"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker," Tyranus said as they locked blades. He wasn't wrong, Eclipse could sense it as well—even better most likely. It was what had been holding back her Master's full potential the entire duel, she had easily recognized it awhile ago. "You have hate; you have anger, but you don't use them."
It was fear of what would happen should he lose completely. If he fought as she'd always witnessed Vader fighting. She'd seen him fight the way he was currently fighting before, but only when they were sparring and she'd been recovering from something serious, never in a true battle like this.
It was odd to witness.
And what was worse was that taunt—that stupid taunt—made Skywalker aware of it. And just like that the edge he'd had against Tyranus was gone. He attacked furiously, but everything was back under the Sith Lord's control.
And one too close swipe at Skywalker's head had Eclipse forgetting that she was going to let whatever was happening in front of her play out. Instinct honed from years of fighting alongside her Master on the battlefield kicked in and before she even knew it, the Sith was soaring through the air, blade springing to life before clashing against red—she was relieved to note her lightsaber was not the color of blood.
"Oh look, the wittle dark lord forgot about the Shadow," Eclipse taunted, her voice lathered in sticky sweetness, even with the distortion her mask provided. Tyranus's eyes widdened in shock and suprise. "How utterly pathetic," she drawled, pulling on the pain in her body to give her strength and speed—she'd recovered enough now to ignore and draw on it. "Truly. And you call yourself a Sith."
Tyranus swiped at her, but instinct was already sending her away to a defensive stance by her Master's side.