Orion’s eyes widened as he stared out into the vast expanse of Coruscant, the city planet, his heart racing with a mix of fear and adrenaline. He had been sent to investigate a distress signal in the temple after returning from a quick trip for some parts, but what he found was something far more sinister.
He heard footsteps and voices in a classroom. No, that can’t be right. The students were all studying the Jedi texts. Like he had instructed them to. He ran there at once, fingers hovering over the gray cylinder on his belt, to find…
“Anakin?” Orion called out, his voice shaking slightly as he gazed at the cloaked figure before him. “What’s going on? Why are you…?”
The figure turned, revealing the chilling gaze of Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker was no more — and to think, the one who deceived him was moments away from becoming his father-in-law. The mere thought was sickening.
Orion’s breath caught in his throat as Vader’s lightsaber crackled to life. Anakin’s — or rather, Vader’s face was visibly expressing his anger, a scar running over his eyelid. A black cloak covered the rest of his body, only revealing his face.
“Orion, old friend,” Vader rasped, his voice like a dark echo. “I’ve been expecting you. You’re just in time to witness the beginning of the Empire’s reign.”
With a swift motion, Vader charged towards Orion, his lightsaber flashing through the darkness. Orion raised his own lightsaber, the blade shimmering with a faint blue glow as he prepared to face his former friend.
The duel began, their lightsabers clashing in a shower of sparks as they danced through the void, their movements a blur of speed and fury. Orion’s fear of space seemed to fade away, replaced by a fierce determination to stop Vader and restore balance to the Force.
“What is this, Ani… very bad.” he said loudly, trying to mask his anger in childish teasing, as the two always did while they were yet Padawan learners, younglings.
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Orion
Anakin and I sat together for every general session, where Master Yoda, Mace Windu, or any other Jedi Council member would address us everyday. Most people, us included, paid close attention — this would be important later on.
But one fine day, when we were 13, Mace Windu was blabbering endlessly about lightsaber ethics. The target audience was the 7-year-old beginners, but we had to hear it again anyway. So Anakin and I just decided to talk to each other. I don’t remember what it was, but we had a good time.
“Okay — how old do you think Master Yoda is?” he asked, before receiving a death glare from Anakin’s master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was shaking his head.
“Very bad, Ani… talking in the middle of a lecture.” I tutted, shaking my head playfully. I nudged his shoulder, and he returned the gesture.
Master Kenobi shrugged it off, and mouthed ‘eight hundred-ish’ casually.
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Third Person
“Now is not the time for jokes. It is time for you to get your priorities straight.”
“No, not me.” Orion managed in between grunts, voice joining the cacophony of lightsabers humming and slashing against each other. “You need to do that. You’re focusing on the wrong thing.”
“What, you should know how it feels! You loved Andromeda, remember?”
“Well… at least I quit the whole thing when I found out. You… you have the chance!” His own anger was close to rivaling his old friend’s. “But… you’re going to blow it, land up in some more fights, and lose it all!”
Orion’s lightsaber clashed with Vader’s in a final, desperate attempt to reach the friend he once knew. The blue and red blades illuminated their faces, casting eerie shadows in the darkened chamber.
“Anakin, please,” Orion pleaded, his voice strained with effort and emotion. “This isn’t you. Remember who you are!”
Vader’s eyes flickered with a moment of hesitation, but the darkness quickly reclaimed them. “Anakin Skywalker is dead,” he growled, pushing Orion back with a powerful strike. “I am Darth Vader.”
Orion stumbled, his strength waning. He knew he couldn’t win this fight, but he had to try. “You don’t have to do this,” he said, his voice breaking. “You can still turn back.”
Vader’s expression hardened. “It’s too late for that,” he said, raising his lightsaber for the final blow.
As the red blade descended, Orion whispered, “You’ll end up with a bucket on your head if you don’t stop now.”
Vader paused, confusion flickering across his face. “What are you talking about?”
But it was too late. The lightsaber struck, and Orion fell to the ground, his life slipping away. He was one with the Force. His last thoughts were of the friend he had lost and the hope that, somehow, Anakin might still be saved.
But his last words, “You’ll end up with a bucket on your head if you don’t stop now,” were more random. Besides, it wasn’t like he would later go on to fight a master, surrounded by lava and have his body be almost irreparably damaged. What are the odds of that?
Vader stood over Orion’s lifeless body, the words echoing in his mind. “A bucket on my head?” he muttered, shaking his head. “What nonsense.”
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Vader opened the door to the classroom, his mind set on his next grim task. The younglings, sensing the disturbance in the Force, looked up as he entered the training room.
“Master Skywalker, there are too many of them,” one of the younglings said, his voice trembling. “What are we going to do?”
Vader ignited his lightsaber, the red blade casting a sinister glow. “You will all be part of the new order,” he said coldly, advancing on the terrified children.
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