Star Wars: Second Chance

1: I Got Blasted to the Past!

A/N: There are many fanfics on this topic. I was inspired by some of my favorites to write this. These are my ideas but forgive me if there are some similarities to others you've read. Enjoy!

1: I Got Blasted to the Past!

Luke exited his X-wing and stared in wonder at the newly liberated glory of Coruscant. He stood in front of the Jedi Temple for the first time and looked on in awe at the majesty and might of the towering spires. He took a breath and ascended the steps and walked through the door. There were blaster burns on the walls and other kinds of damage to the building. Luke walked around, letting the Force guide him to where it willed.
He found himself in the Archive and stepped up to a terminal. He closed his eyes, took a breath then keyed a search for Anakin Skywalker. He read report after report, learning about his father's exploits during the Clone Wars. He learned about Geonosis and Christophsis, glorious space attacks and daring ground invasions, and his father's incredible Force Abilities. He clicked on a file and a holo of his father and someone that had to be a younger Ben-no Obi-Wan- Kenobi laughing. Luke stared in longing at his father.
Almost absentmindedly, Luke started talking to the holo. He sighed. "I wish I could have known the real you, Father. Not Vader, the man behind the mask. I never really got to know you. I wish... I wish you had never fallen."
Suddenly, as if it was waiting for the command, the Force surged and reality seemed to fold in on itself. When his vision cleared, Luke was no longer in the Temple, he was somewhere he didn't recognize. Standing only a few feet away was the man he had been looking at in a holo. Anakin Skywalker in the flesh.
-SW-
The elevator door opened and Anakin and Obi-Wan carefully made their way into the main room of the General's Quarters. At the far end sits Chancellor Palpatine and they moved towards him.
As they get closer to Palpatine, they saw a very distressed look on the Chancellor's face. "Chancellor." Obi-Wan acknowledged. "Are you all right?" Asked Anakin
Palpatine pointed behind them and asked "Where did he come from?!"
Anakin and Obi-Wan spun on their heels and looked at Luke. Luke looked around in bewilderment, confused by his new surroundings and the people long dead that were there.
"Who are you?" Asked Obi-Wan.
"My name is Luke... Starstrider. Luke Starstrider. Where am I, exactly?" He asked.
"You are aboard the Separatist ship Invisible Hand. How did you get here?" Asked Anakin suspiciously.
Suddenly, Chancellor Palpatine whispered a name unfamiliar to Luke with horror. "Count Dooku!"
"Who?!" Luke asked.
"You don't know who Dooku is? Where have you been these past years?" Asked Anakin in return.
"Ask questions later!" Obi-Wan said tightly as Dooku entered front the turbolifts.
"This time we will do it together." Obi-Wan said to Anakin.
"I was about to say that. Stay back, Luke, protect the Chancellor and let us handle this."
Before Luke could protest, Dooku jumped down to the main level.
"Get help! You're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord." Palpatine said.
"Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty." Obi-Wan said cockily as he and Anakin shed their heavy robes and ignited their brilliant blue blades.
"Your swords, please, Master Jedi. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor." Said Dooku, beckoning with his hand.
Anakin and Obi-Wan stalked forwards. "You won't get away this time, Dooku."
They charged and Luke watched in shocked amazement at the supreme skill exhibited by all the fighters.
"I've been looking forward to this." Dooku purred.
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count." Anakin said with suppressed rage in his voice. He flexed his gloved hand almost imperceptibly.
"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall." Dooku scoffed, then he lunged and stuck and the Jedi retreated. "Your moves are clumsy, Kenobi . . . too predictable. You'll have to do better."
The fighting grew fiercer, and Obi-Wan and Dooku began to slow. Luke could feel the rising rage in Anakin fueling his power in the Force.
Taking advantage of a quick weakness, Dooku Force-Shoved Obi-Wan back. Anakin and Dooku duel up the stairs, and when they reached the landing, Anakin flips over Dooku and Obi-Wan rushed put he stairs, destroyed two droids then was grabbed in a Force Choke by Dooku as the older man kicked Anakin into an archway with casual ease.
Dooku flung Obi-Wan back and the unconscious Jedi fell to the lower level. Dooku then dropped a section of platform onto Obi-Wan. Filled with rage and fear for his friend, Anakin doubled his attack. Anakin kicked Dooku over the railing and jumped down after him. They continued to fight ferociously.
"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don't use them." Taunted Dooku.
Anakin regained his composure and attacked Dooku as the Dark Lord continued his spin to meet him head on. Their fighting became even more intense, which Luke could hardly believe.
Finally, in one last energized charge, Anakin cut off Dooku's hands, effectively disarming him. The Jedi caught the lightsaber as it drops from the severed Sith Lord's hand and Dooku fell to his knees as Anakin put the two lightsabers to his neck. Palpatine grinned fiendishly and Luke realized with a rush of revulsion that this man was the Emperor! This was the man who had corrupted his father and he was sitting here watching the downfall of Dooku and the rise of Vader.
"Good, Anakin, good. I knew you could do it. Kill him. Kill him now!"
"Don't, Anakin, it's not the Jedi way! He should stand trial!" Luke pleaded. Palpatine-no Sidious- looked at him with hatred and tried to breach Luke's mental shields. Luke bolstered them to the best of his ability and shut the corrosive darkness out.
"I shouldn't . . ." Anakin agreed.
"Do it!!" Palpatine ordered.
Anakin deactivated the blades but held them ready in his hands. Dooku sighed in relief and said "Never before have I been grateful for the Jedi Code. Thank the Force!"
Anakin and Luke stumbled when an explosion rattled deep in the ship
"He is too dangerous to be kept alive!" Palpatine argued, unaffected by the explosion.
Anakin looked at Luke but Luke just shook his head.
"Perhaps... but it is not the Jedi way to kill an unarmed prisoner and he should stand trial for his crimes against the Republic."
Anakin waved his hand and unlocked Palpatine's restraints and Palpatine stood.
"Very well, but remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive." Palpatine warned.
The ship began to list to one side. With a look at the Chancellor, Anakin and Luke rushed over to Obi-Wan and lifted the console off of him with the Force and pulled him free. Anakin knelt and checked his friend. Luke could feel pain in the Jedi's ribs but nothing serious.
"Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it's too late." Palpatine said from in front of the turbolift.
"He seems to be alright. No broken bones, breathing's all right." Anakin said defensively.
"Leave him, or we'll never make it." Sidious stated.
"His fate will be the same as ours." Anakin said. "Luke can you get him while I get Dooku?"

Well, they do all die on the Death Star... Luke pondered. Then, he answered his father's question. "Sure."

Luke could feel Sidious's displeasure ripple through he Force, but Anakin seemed oblivious.

Luke picked up the larger man and slung him over his shoulder. He winced at the newly reawakened pain from lugging Vader off the Death Star not that long ago. Anakin ushered a cuffed Dooku in front of him to the lifts.
"The elevator's not working! Artoo?" Anakin said into his commlink.
A beep came from the commlink.
"Activate Elevator 3224." Anakin continued.
Suddenly, the ship shifted to its side as the elevator doors opened. Palpatine fell and Anakin jumped to the door frame of the elevator and looked into the shaft.
"Artoo ... do you copy? Artoo, come in!" Anakin questioned
As the elevator shaft rotated, it became a long hallway. Anakin clung to the doorframe with Luke next to him, trying to keep his grip on Obi-Wan, Dooku slid a way down before rapping his stumps around Anakin's legs. The Chancellor struggled to join Anakin.
Anakin shook Dooku off and leapt into the horizontal shaft. Luke followed with Obi-Wan. Anakin said "We can't wait. Come on, we have to be fast.
Palpatine climbed into the elevator shaft also, followed by Dooku. They started running. The ship began to roll again, and the Jedi, Sith Lord, and the Chancellor are forced to jump from one side of the elevator to the other. They ran down the elevator shaft as it started to move upright.
Anakin cuts a control box on one of the doors, but before the doors could open, the ship moved to an angle, causing all of them to start sliding down the shaft. Anakin desperately grabbed some wires in the control box with one hand. Palpatine grabbed onto the Jedi's leg. Luke caught a ledge further down and Dooku grabbed the young man's foot, wrenching Luke's ankle painfully and causing Obi-Wan to slip dangerously. Luke cried out in pain before he could stifle the scream.
"You alright, Luke?" Anakin asked him.
"Yeah," Luke managed through gritted teeth. As the ship righted itself, they were left hanging in the bottomless elevator shaft.
As they hung precariously on the side of the bottomless shaft, Obi-Wan regained consciousness and tried to look around.
"Easy. . . . We're in a bit of a situation." Luke said.
"Did I miss something?" He looked down, saw handless Dooku clutching Luke's legs. "Apparently, I did!" He said dryly.
They heard Artoo beeping on Obi-Wan's comlink. The ship began to roll, causing the vertical shaft to move into a forty-five-degree angle. They heard the elevator brakes release and looked up to see the elevator heading right towards them.
Anakin screamed into his commlink. "Artoo, Artoo, shut down the elevator!"
"Too late! Jump!" Obi Wan.
They all fell about three hundred feet before the tilt of the ship caught up with them, and they hit the side of the shaft. They slid at great speed just ahead of the elevator. The shaft continued to rotate until it was completely horizontal.
Anakin and Obi-Wan took out and threw grappling hooks. The hooks caught and they continued to fall, supporting more people then the ropes were meant for. All the doors in the elevator shaft opened up, and the group swung through the open door into a hallway. The elevator roared by. All of them flew through the open elevator door and landed. The impact of the multiple falls had broken Luke's already wrenched ankle. He would've fallen had Obi-Wan not caught him. "Here, let me return the favor." Obi-Wan quipped.
Supporting Luke, Obi-Wan said "Let's see if we can find something in the hangar bay that's still flyable. Come on!"

*1916 words