The Tragic Jedi | Anakin Skywalker

𝓢𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓮 𝟗𝟔

❈✱❉✤❈✱❉

With fidgeting fingers, Astrid tugged at her black cloak to ensure the gold Imperial insignia pinned to the front of her black tunic was still fixed in plain sight. It wasn't the most perfect disguise, but it was the best her and Obi-Wan had managed to do with the available clothes on Tatooine and at his home. 

Hopefully, anyone passing the three of them in the winding hallways of the Death Star would be too distracted by Anakin-- who was to play the part of Darth Vader for the final time-- to pay attention to her sketchy outfit. Astrid eyed Anakin's-- or rather, Darth Vader's-- black helmet where it sat resting behind the pilot's seat in which Anakin sat. The helmet seemed to ooze malice and torment from the Dark Side of the Force, and Astrid suppressed a shudder.

She felt Obi-Wan's attention on her from where he sat behind the co-pilot and pilot's seat as if noticing her recoil from the helmet. Obi-Wan was to play the part of a prisoner, a captured Jedi, so he wore his usual beige clothing. That was also why he was sitting in the back of the cockpit instead of in the pilot or co-pilot's seat.

A prisoner wouldn't be sitting in such seats.

Beside Astrid in the pilot's seat, Anakin was decked out in his black clothes, cape and all. His face was solemn with focus as their starship neared to where the Death Star loomed in the distance. From where they were, the Death Star was but the size of a marble. 

But beside the massive Imperial ship was a beige colored planet, and the sight of the two bodies close together instantly made Astrid apprehensive. Whenever the Death Star was near a planet, it usually didn't signal good news for the inhabitants of the planet.  

Anakin reached forward towards the ship console with a hand and pressed a button to connect to Ahsoka's starship roughly a mile or so behind them. "Fulcrum, do you copy?"

There was a beat of silence before Ahsoka's voice came in through their ship's embedded comlink, and she sounded as if she was laughing. "Wait you know my code name is Fulcrum?"

Anakin's mouth tugged upwards as he replied, "I figured it out."

There was another beat of silence, and Astrid smiled as she imagined Ahsoka trying not to laugh on the other end of the connection. Then, Ahsoka spoke, "I copy, uh, SkyGuy. What do you need? Over."

Now it was Anakin's turn to huff a laugh, and he replied, "Stay back away from the Death Star. I'll let you know when to show yourself to the Death Star through the comlink. We don't want you to get attacked or blown up by the TIE fighters who will undoubtedly pursue you if you get too close and they spot you. Over."

"Understood. Over."

As their starship drew closer, the atmosphere in their ship grew thick with nervous tension. Astrid saw Anakin take a deep breath out of the corner of her eye before he picked up his helmet. He regarded it for a moment before taking another deep breath and tugging it over his head.

Mechanical breathing filled the space of the cockpit.

Astrid felt the self-hatred oozing from Anakin through the Force, and she spoke gently, "It's just a disguise, Anakin. You're not Darth Vader anymore. You're Anakin Skywalker."

Astrid wished she could see his facial expression as he nodded in acknowledgement to her words, but she thought she felt himself ease on his own self-deprecation and hatred for at least a moment.

The Death Star loomed closer and closer as they flew towards it. Suddenly, their ship jolted violently as it was caught in the Death Star's tractor beam. Anakin relinquished his grip from the controls as the Death Star pulled their ship towards its hangar on a phantom force that was pointless to fight against-- not that they wanted to fight against it. After all, they were trying to infiltrate the massive ship.