Chapter Text
The Red Lotus were meeting in the North Pole a few nights before the full moon. They were discussing how to assassinate Avatar Aang when they saw a bright light in the sky. Going to investigate, they were stunned by the sight: a lizard creature stumbled out what looked like a strange aircraft and dropped dead from the burns on his back. Unalaq and Zaheer were the first to go inside, with Ming-Hua and P'Li following close behind. P'Li saw something glowing and picked it up. It was a strange crystal, and all the sudden, it sent a beam of lightning through the roof, and into the sky.
In another time and place...
Darth Vader was on his shuttle, having just killed Jedi Master Zylix, and taken his lightsaber as a trophy. Despite the small army of Rebels Zylix was with, the Sith had triumphed without much difficulty, and was now about to return to his star destroyer. But, just as the star destroyer came into view, he and his crew were surprised by a surge in the ship's movement.
"My Lord, there is an anomaly ahead," the main pilot said over the intercom. "We are being pulled in." Vader rushed to the cockpit in time to see a green wormhole in front of them. He was aware of what it was through his dark side studies: a portal created by Dathomirian magic. After passing through the portal, they were in the atmosphere of some unknown planet.
"Checking our position, now," the copilot said. Vader, however, was far more interested in where they had gone. He could tell this planet was strong in the Force, and looking down at a small town they were flying over, he sensed far more Force-Sensitives in one small area than he would ever have expected.
"Take us into orbit," he commanded. As the pilots obeyed his command, they flew above the atmosphere, and could now clearly see the stars. The navigator looked out to try and determine where they were. After a moment, he turned around utterly confused and afraid of his master's reaction.
"We are in Wild Space, close to the Trailing Sectors," he reported. "But from the position of the stars, I would say that we are eight years behind."
"You mean that we have been AWOL for eight years?" asked Oniye Namada, Vader's ISB liaison.
"No ma'am, we are eight years in the past," the pilot answered. "That portal sent us back in time." Vader was surprised but quickly regained his composure. This wasn't the first time he'd encountered unexpected Force distortions. Perhaps someone had found Force-imbued artifacts and used them accidentally. After a moment, he gave his crew new orders.
"Begin observation of all settlements, Lieutenant," he told the main pilot. He then turned to Appo, his trusted Stormtrooper commander and Namada's husband. "General, inventory our supplies and check all weapons we have. Agent Namada, monitor what communications you can, and then send the cloaked probes down to the planet to observe directly. I will discern what brought us here." He went back to his meditation chamber to reach out with the Force to determine what had caused their unexpected detour. After three hours, he felt a presence he hadn't sensed since he was last on Dathomir. It didn't feel like Nightsisters, however, but rather one of their trinkets. They spent the next week quietly observing the planet with their sensors, sending out stealth probe units to observe the planet directly, while Vader attempted to discern what he could about the world through the Force. After a week of that, Vader was ready to meet with his officers to discuss what to do. Before the meeting, he sensed that Appo was worried. He and Namada had a son, and they weren't sure how traveling back in time would affect him. Still, they did their duty, knowing all they could do was their jobs.
"My lord, we have one month worth of supplies, up to three with proper rationing," Appo reported. "Though, given how the Clone Wars are just two years away from breaking out, I don't believe we can count on any rescue, even if we did manage to send a distress signal."
"I have completed my survey of the planet below, my lord," Namada added. "It has one major continent, a gargantuan archipelago, and three smaller island chains. Politically, it is divided between four, technically five nations: The Water Tribes live in the North and South Poles, the Earth Kingdom occupies most of the continent, the Fire Nation comprises the main archipelago, the Air Nomads live in the smaller island chains, and the United Republic of Nations comprises the western seaboard of the continent. But in truth, the Air Nomads amount to a single family which is half Water Tribal, and they live in the URN's capital, with some caretakers of the rest of their territory."
"What are the relations between the peoples of this planet?" Vader asked.
"Over fifty years ago, a war that lasted a hundred years ended," she continued. "The Air Nomads had been rendered extinct at the start of the war, and the Fire Nation almost conquered the entire planet. But the last Air Nomad had been frozen in an iceberg for most of the conflict and managed to force a peace at the last possible moment."
"How could he have done that?" asked one of the pilots.
"Force Sensitivity, or Bending as it's called here, is extremely common," Namada answered. "Each of the nations is named after the element their people can control. But this Air Nomad was more than just an Airbender. The people here call him the Avatar, master of all four elements, the chosen one to bring balance to the world."
"Chosen ones are myths invented by people hoping something will come about and solve their own problems," Darth Vader intruded. After a moment of surprise at their master's bitterness, the briefing continued.
"Whatever the case, the Avatar, named Aang has the power of all four elements, and the power to deprive others of their bending," the ISB agent continued. "There is no question all his power is real. After ending the war, he decided not to restore the pre-war borders of the four nations, and the Fire Nation's colonies in the Earth Kingdom became their own enclave where each of the four would have a say over it's governance."
"Then it is not a Republic," Appo noted. "It's just a colony ruled by every nation. Rather unsurprising these people would also delude themselves, just like the Republic the Empire has replaced." After hearing the clone general's thoughts on the matter, Vader turned to the pilot, Lieutenant Shaef Corsin, and asked what he had determined.
"These people are humans but rather primitive ones," Corsin explained. "They generally prefer their magic to scientific advancement. As of now, the enclave known as Republic City is the most advanced area on this planet. It has entered an industrial revolution and has begun using fossil fuels. The cars in question seem incapable of more than twenty-five miles an hour, though there is an inventor who is trying to improve that. Most ships still use coal, and the only flying machines they have are airships that can move fifty miles an hour."
"In other words, they worship tradition and fear progress, just like the majority of our enemies," Vader concluded. "I know where the energy that brought us here came from, this world's north pole. I will take a day of preparation before I go there and claim what is necessary to return home. Send me everything you know and all that you learn as well to my meditation chamber so that I will be prepared."
"As you command, my lord," Appo confirmed. After a day of preparation, the shuttle dropped Vader off close to where he had sensed the disturbance and withdrew until he summoned them.
After the crystal had done its magic, Unalaq had gone to his father, Chieftain Arlaq, lord of both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, while the Red Lotus went back to the underground shelter he had built to accommodate the fugitives.
"Unalaq, shouldn't you be with Malina, Eska, and Desna?" his father asked.
"My wife can handle two one-years-olds on her own," the prince told his father before pulling out the crystal in his satchel, showing it to his father. "This is far more important."
"You are more concerned with a trinket than your own children?" Arlaq asked in a surprised tone.
"This is far more than a trinket, father," Unalaq continued. "This is infused with spiritual energy to an even greater degree than the enchanted forest. It must be studied by everyone possible." After a moment, the Chieftain looked at it.
"I do not see anything strange, but you have always been better at this sort of thing than myself, or your brother," he relented, sounding somewhat sad about mentioning Unalaq's brother Tonraq. "Very well, we shall send it to Republic City where you can study it alongside the Avatar." Unalaq wanted to say he wished to study it in the North Pole, but he knew his father's mind had been made up, and relented. And as the 55th anniversary of the great war coming to an end approached, he couldn't even ask for the Avatar to come to the North Pole. The day after the Avatar's favorite son, Tenzin, had retrieved it and flown back to Republic City atop his sky bison, Unalaq met with his father during a full moon.
"You look troubled, father," Unalaq said to him.
"Whatever happened to 'Dad'?" his father asked him. "This isn't court, we can be more relaxed here."
"As you wish, Dad," Unalaq relented. "I am just wondering what troubles you."
"As I get older, I regret how things went with your brother," he explained. "Tonraq was rash and endangered all of us five years ago, but he is still family. I heard from the Southern Tribe that he will soon be a father, and yet I barely know my own daughter in law."
"You knew enough to forbid their relationship, Dad," Unalaq replied.
"I thought I did but the war is long over," Arlaq noted. "I'm getting up there in years. I don't want his banishment to be our last conversation." Unalaq kept quiet but on the inside, he was on the verge of panicking. Tonraq had destroyed a forest to defeat an army of barbarian raiders, unaware that it was sacred and would therefore anger the spirits, unleashing them upon the Northern Water Tribe for their sacrilege. It had fallen to Unalaq to calm the spirits down, and because of the damage his ignorance had caused, Tonraq was banished from the North until their father forgave him.
Unalaq had never expected Arlaq to live long enough to even consider it but if he was now, that was a threat to his younger son's plans. Unalaq, as a twin, had as much claim to the throne as his meathead brother, despite how he had supposedly come out second. He had been forced to trick Tonraq into causing the spirit rampage to gain his rightful throne, allowing him to continue with his plans.
But before Unalaq could say anything to his father, they both heard a strange sound. It sounded like breathing but not natural breathing. Accompanying it were the sounds of heavy footfalls on the stone floors of the room. While stone was a rare luxury for any Water Tribal's home, as the royal family, they deserved the best. Looking over, they saw the figure making the sound. He was the biggest person either of them had ever seen, clad entirely in black, with a helmet atop his head, complete with a mask akin to what someone working around smoke or airborne gasses would wear. Wrapped around his back was a black cape, and on his belt was a short metal tube. The sound of his mechanical breathing emanated from the mouth of it, with the lenses where his eyes would be colored dark red.
"You have something that belongs to me," he stated in a menacingly deep voice. "I need it back."
"What is it you need?" Arlaq replied, in a rather cautious tone as he entered his waterbending stance. At that moment, Unalaq seized his chance, formed an icicle in his palm, and stabbed his father in the throat from the front, quickly bending his weapon back into water before sounding the alarm.
"Guards, an intruder has just murdered my father!" he yelled. "Avenge our king!" At that moment, the guards, Waterbenders or not, charged into the room. Many would be downright shocked and horrified at the thought of killing their own father, but Unalaq was different. He didn't know when he realized this, but he had always been this way. The closest to come to realizing this was his brother Tonraq right before he left, who said, "you don't know what brotherhood means" and he didn't. His father had always assumed that Unalaq was simply pious to such an extent he forgot to be patient with others who didn't share his faith. But that too was a mistake. Other people just didn't interest him.
For Unalaq, everyone else, human or spirit, fit on one of two lists. The first was resources to be used for his various goals. This included the Water Tribes, his wife and children, spirits like Wan Shi Tong who considered him their friend, and the anarchists of the Red Lotus. His father had also been on this list for much of his life, but his latest actions had moved him to the second group: pests. He included everyone he didn't consider a part of the first group on this list, such as his brother Tonraq, the Avatar, and many others. There was no third list, and, if Unalaq had his way, someday there wouldn't be a second, as to be a pest to Unalaq was to die. He readied his waterbending stance as the guards charged into the room.
Vader didn't know why the prince had killed his father but all he knew as that he would soon be in a fight, as the guards would listen to their prince as opposed to a stranger. He had learned that Waterbenders were at their strongest at night, especially during a full moon but from what he had heard of Arlaq, he concluded the water king would rather negotiate than start a fight. Drawing his lightsaber, he sent forth a massive blast of force energy, sending the treacherous prince flying out the balcony and the guards charged in. Vader, with surprising speed, charged forth and slashed his lightsaber through three guards, bifurcating them. Others tossed icicles at him while more used water whips. The ice broke harmlessly against Vader's armor, and he sliced through the waterborne tendrils. Sending another force push, he smashed two of the Waterbenders together, before dropping a chandelier atop them. Dodging a spear thrown by one of the non benders, he ripped the spear out of the man's hands and used it to pin another guard to the wall through the stomach.
After smashing his way through the palace, he was met outside by a small army of Waterbenders. They tried to fight back but his strength in the Force couldn't be overcome, deflecting as many of their attacks as possible. The ones that got through barely scratched his armor. Seeing a large gas tank nearby, as many Water Tribals had gained gas stoves, Vader jumped out of reach of the Water army and ripped the tank out of the ground. As everyone was stunned by what they had just witnessed, Vader smashed it down into the heart of the Water army, creating a spectacular explosion that many Water benders were unable to shield themselves against. He then reached out with the force, and realized the crystal he wanted wasn't in the North Pole. Right after signaling his shuttle for pickup, he was pinned in place by a feeling inside his body.
"I promised myself I would never bloodbend, but I never thought I would meet an adversary equal to the Avatar," a Waterbending master said as he held Vader in place. "You will-" he was interrupted alongside the other remaining Water Tribals when Vader started choking them back.
"Your magic is nothing compared to me," Vader spoke. He then quickly snapped the necks of the master's two friends before choking the master much more slowly, as everyone heard cartilage snapping. The Waterbender fell to his knees, releasing Vader from his own grip, as he gasped for air but there was none to be found, and he collapsed dead. Satisfied that everyone was too terrified to fight him, he walked through the flames, making a path for himself with the Force and returned to the ship awaiting him.
I based Unalaq's internal reflection off of the ROTS novelization chapter told from Dooku's perspective. Given all the things Unalaq does, I can totally see him thinking this way. Any story reviews will be appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed. I will try to have the next out as soon as I can.