Luke Vader 25

Luke Vader Series: From slave to Dark Lord of the Sith
Part 25: Sacrifice
By SJ 12-12-00/26-12-00 (skyjade@globetrotter.net)

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Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.
See my homepage for more details.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702

Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving me some of your precious time, my friend :)

WARNING: THIS PART DEALS WITH THE DEATH OF A FEW, MAJOR CHARACTERS. YOU ARE WARNED; IT IS AN EMOTIONAL PART.

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Hours later, Leia was pacing in her newly chosen rooms. Less than a week ago, shortly after her brother's return, she had been allowed to choose other apartments if she wanted to. She had moved away from her brother's, but not that far either. She was still on the same floor than he was.

When she had made her decision, it had been to not look suspicious, but
after tonight, and knowing that Han was coming, hence that she would soon be leaving her family for good, she was aware that it was because she didn't really want to be separated from her twin.

He was filling a part of her life that had always been missing; before now, she had never been close to complete happiness, but now she was... She hadn't known that he had been the 'hole' in her heart then, but now that she knew, and that she knew how... at home she felt with him in her life, she reluctantly admitted, she was moot to run away.

Even though she was different from them, she was fitting in her family. She never felt pressured to change her personality, nor did she feel unwelcome
because of who she was.

On the other hand, their uncanny bond was frightening her when it came to her
new life. She didn't want to become like her family and she was afraid that it
would happen no matter what she did if she stayed with them.

She looked around her room one last time.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she whispered sorrowfully. "I hope you will understand," she
finished in the same tone.

The door silently slid shut behind her. No matter what would happen, she would never see this place again.

******

Luke's warning senses suddenly went off, jarring him awake. His eyes snapped open and fell on Mara's jaded ones. She had also felt something.

He reflexively reached out to check the whole palace for danger while she rolled
out of bed, put her shirt back on, then called her weapons to her hands.

"Intruders are coming out of the turbolifs, on our level and Father's," he
informed her as he also jumped to his feet.

"Solo?" she queried although she probably knew the answer already.

"Yes," he confirmed grimly as he lugged his boots back on.

"What's your plan?" she asked him seriously.

"You and Father will take care of his accomplices," he told her grimly as he picked his weapon from the nearby bed table. "I'm going to block Solo's exit route," he finished, clipping his lightsaber to his belt. "I have a score
to settle with him," he stated darkly.

Mara nodded, then left their room to prepare her ambush. Luke also left and headed for the bank of turbolifts that was at the other end of the adjoining corridors.

In the nearby corridor, Leia was silently padding toward the turbolifts when the lift's door opened. Han immediately spotted her and ran toward her.

Their lips met together as he engulfed her in his arms; Chewie watched their
backs while they took a moment to reassure each other.

"I didn't expect you to be free," he whispered to her.

"It looks like they've begun to trust me," she told him, her words making her
feel bad yet again about her decision.

"Good, then that should make it easier for us to leave," he commented while he
took hold of her hand and steered her toward the other end of her corridor.

"What is the rest of the plan?" she asked him.

"We're leaving via the other bank of turbolifts while they're being dealt with,"
Han whispered seriously.

"You're not going to kill them, are you?" she asked him, reminding him that they
had agreed on that part of the plan when she had called him once again.

Chewie growled something which made her hair stand on ends.

"You did what?!" she asked as she followed her lover, running as fast as she
could.

"You told me that they are vulnerable to quick fire, remember?" Solo told her
as he rounded the corner. "I figured that they wouldn't be able to resist this
kind of attack," he commented seriously.
"But---" she gaped.

No, he hadn't been supposed to kill them anymore, she wanted to argue. He had been supposed to only make sure that she was leaving them behind. She quickly reached out to check on her family. Her father was easily dispatching his attackers, apparently unfazed by Solo's strategy.

She felt both heartened and discouraged by that discovery.

Before she could consider it further though, she ran smack dab against Han's
back, effectively coming to a stop in her wild run.

"Going somewhere?" Luke's voice asked dangerously.

Uh-oh...

******

On the floor above them, the rebel troops discovered that even if he had looked unaware, the dark lord of the Sith was not defenseless; he was in fact a much more dangerous threat than they had first evaluated.

They fired repeatedly at him, trying to not give him any time off to shift his
lightsaber, but that was pointless since the dark lord could just as easily
shrug off the blaster bolts with a shield of some kind.

Since he had already been primed for action, Vader didn't try to shorten the attack by crushing the rebels' blasters. Instead, he toyed with them.

He first hit them with judiciously placed, unexplainable Force-blows, then he
slowly walked closer to them until he could use his blade to either incapacitate
them or their weapons, then, when it became too easy, changed strategy and
attacked them with his fists and feet.

The last thing they saw was his fluttering cape as it billowed in his wake.

******

On the other level, Mara patiently waited for her attackers to show up.
Their bedroom's door was keyed open.

"Looking for someone?" she suavely asked from her position in the now open door.

All Hell instantly broke loose, on the Rebels' side at least. She shot two of her enemies while she pushed the six others away from herself with a violent Force shove, then, she quickly dealt with two others while she passed by them.

Next, she drew her lightsaber, whirled around and began to shift her blade from
high right to low left and back again in a variation of her first block, slapping away all the bolts that came her way. While she did so, she slowly closed on her targets until she was close enough to end it.

She jumped and flipped above the remaining four rebels, landed behind them and
Dispatched them before they had realized what had happened. She then left her position to rejoin her boyfriend... and the final face-off that was about to happen.

******

Leia courageously looked around Han's taller body; her brother was blocking
their path to the lift, standing in front of the lift with his arms crossed across his chest.

Han and Chewie instantly prepared to fire at him. Their weapons were pulled from their grasps and to Luke's feet.

"Please, Solo, spare me the childish defiance," Luke sneered sarcastically. "You know that you're beaten," he coldly stated.

"Well, if it ain't the Kid," Solo sneered back although Leia felt his effort to recover from the unexplainable loss of his weapon.

She then cringed as she saw her brother's feature darken minutely. This wouldn't be pretty, she decided. However, she had to admit that he was far from being a kid at the moment; he was a full-fledged dark Jedi--- and he was after Han's blood.

"Leia," Luke addressed her more gently. "Please stand aside, don't make me hurt
you."

Before she could answer, Han spoke for her.

"She ain't going nowhere with you, bastard!"

"Nor with you," Luke commented seriously. "What would you give her anyway? A
life on the run? A pitiful scrap you call a starship as a home?" he suggested.
"A constant fight against her family?" he asked wisely, locking his eyes with hers once again. "Don't be foolish, sister... Please stay here where it is safe and well."

"Don't listen to him, Leia," Han instantly intervened, as if feeling Luke's
spell on her. "He might be your brother, but he is also a darksider, a monster
who wouldn't hesitate to kill you if he had to. He's only trying to lure you to
his side," he reminded her even as he stepped between her and the Jedi, effectively interrupting their meaningful gaze.

"Leia," Luke said, taking a step forward. "please. I don't want to loose you
again, and neither do you and you know it."

The worst thing was that he was right, she dimly reflected through the buzz of
her mind. Behind her, the lanky Wookiee growled something too low for her to understand him.

Han did though.

When Luke took another step forward, he pounced on him.

"Han, no!" she exclaimed.

Chewie kept her from interfering.

Luke had expected Solo to loose his temper sooner or later. He had in fact been
taunting him to do so by stepping closer. He easily blocked his first fist, then avoided his uppercut, tried one of his own attacks, thus diverting him from the roundhouse kick that connected hard with his head.

"That was for calling me 'Kid'," he snarled with hatred at the dazed rebel.

He hit him again and again with a knee in the throat and another kick to the head, showing the other, and his sister, what kind of fighter he was.

"That was for causing me more pain than relief with your so-called first-aid."
he sneered before chaining up even more hits with both his feet and fists this time--- then he drew his lightsaber, as if to end it.

"And that is for turning my sister against her family."

True to form, Leia shoved his weapon from his hand with the Force even as she freed herself from the Wookiee.

"No! Luke, don't!" she begged him desperately.

Luke feigned being surprised by that outburst and took a step toward her--- thus putting himself closer to the dangerous Wookiee who was going to unknowingly help him 'break' his sister.

Before he had answered her, Solo was back to his feet and attacking him again.

Luke turned back toward him and easily shoved him back on his back with the
Force--- and the Wookiee hit him with all his strength, sending him reeling down
for good.

Now that hurt, he conceded as his head rang from the impact with the steel
floor. It was worth it though since Leia interposed herself between himself and his enemies, effectively keeping them away from him.

"Don't kill him!" she warned them.

"Leia," Solo argued as he recovered his weapon, "you will never be free as long
as he lives and you know it."

The Wookiee agreed with him.

"He is my brother, Han. I won't let you kill him even if I will leave with
you."

------She slowly walked closer to him while never leaving the Wookiee out of her
sight.

"Come on, let's go now," she warmly encouraged her lover.

Luke was proud to realize that she had cast a slight spell to convince him.
Han however was more difficult to convince.

"I love you, Leia," Solo began, then leveled his blaster back at him who still
looked as if he were too dazed to be aware of what was going on. "And that's why I'm doing this."

A split second before the smuggler fired, the turbolift behind them opened; his
father threw his activated lightsaber at the rebel leader.

"No!!!!!" Leia screamed, then skillfully jumped, flipped---- and landed right behind her chosen man.

Too late, Luke understood what she meant to do.

"Leia!" he, his father and Mara exclaimed in horror.

Luke reached out with the Force to stop the lightsaber.

He was too late...

Meanwhile, Mara took dealt with the furious, suddenly sole-surviving rebel.

Luke barely took a second to thank her before rushing to his sister's side.

"Leia, hang on, you'll be okay," he assured her, already focusing on the Force
to keep her alive until they could put her in a bacta tank.

His father was also at his side to help him.

To his surprise though, she didn't let them help her. Instead, she weakly
rested her hand over his.

"Leia..." he pleaded sadly.

"Luke..." she barely whispered, "please... let... me go," she begged him, then
sought her father with her eyes.

"No, no, I barely found you, I'm not---" he said, his eyes filled with desperate tears now.

He barely noticed them, just like he almost didn't see what else was going on around them. The only thing he was aware of what his sister's mind which was slowly drifting away from his.

"Leia, no, please!" he begged again.

"I... could never... live as a... a... ssssslave....... F---ff---forgive...
me..." she asked them as her last request.

"I love you, Leia. No matter what, please don't leave me. Don't leave us," he
pleaded with her, knowing that her waning presence could still hear him.

Beside him, his father was quiet, simply resting his hand over his and hers.

"I... loved..... you.... too..."

"We will miss you, beloved daughter," his father finally told her sadly. "Go now... before he finds out," he encouraged her.

Leia's eyes drifted close as a smile slightly creased her lips.

*Thank you, Father,* she sent them through the Force, then she was gone and her
body disappeared.

For a long moment, Luke held his sister's clothes in his hands, his sobs now out
of control.

Why? he wanted to scream. Why couldn't it be like he had foreseen? What had he
done wrong this time?

Around him, his father withdrew his hand from his own and stood up while Mara
slowly pulled his sister's clothes from his hands.

"It's better that way, Luke. She is happier, much happier than we could ever
make her," she tried to soothe him.

"Leia would never have accepted her destiny," his father agreed sorrowfully.

Their words and reasoning made sense of course, Luke admitted glumly, but that didn't help him to deal with the sudden emptiness that was inhabiting his heart.

"It's your fault!" he raged impotently at the dead pilot who now laid in front of him, then hit the floor with his two fists and buried his head in his arms; he cried for all his worth.

Mara's hands appeared on his shoulders, delicately trying to draw him out of the walled enclosing he was slowly drawing around himself.

*Don't let me out, Luke. I'm here, just let it go,* she sent him through the
Force.

Luke didn't resist her pull; he let her draw him back to his knees than into
her embrace where he could cry on his shoulder. In the distance, he heard his father slash a few gouges in a wall, venting his own impotent anger in his way.

He would destroy the Rebels again, he promised himself as his sobs diminished in
intensity; he would avenge his sister's death... make it worthwhile...

He and Mara eventually retired to their room to mourn their lost companion while droids cleaned up the castle after the battle.

******

The next day, Luke awoke to the sensation that his life was empty, a cold
emptiness that just wouldn't go away.

His sister was gone.

The laughter and warmth that she had been in his heart and mind would never be
there anymore.

He clutched his blankets to himself, fighting against a fresh surge of tears.
Behind him, his lover slowly rolled onto her side until she could comfort him
with her close presence. He closed his eyes in sorrow when her slender fingers
brushed in his hair.

"Give yourself time to get used to it, Luke," she whispered soothingly.
"Mourning is normal, even for us."

"What isn't normal," he almost sobbed, "is that I wasn't able to save her,
even with my powers."

It was, he realized, exactly like what had happened to his father with his
mother. He hadn't been able to save her, no matter how powerful he had been...
And now it was repeating itself---

Luke jumped to his feet, startling Mara in the process, grabbed his shirt and
hurriedly put it on.

"What are you doing?" she asked him in bemusement. "Is something wrong?"

"I've got to talk with Father," he answered shortly.

As if putting two and two together, his lover also jumped out of bed and put on
her clothes.

"I'm going with you," she informed him.

One minute later, the two of them were riding the lift to reach the floor where
Lord Vader had found refuge after the events of last night.

Vader was sitting on the roof of his castle, not a balcony but the real roof of
his castle.

The winds were strong, buffeting here, but he didn't care. If they pushed him
off his perch, then so be it.

If they didn't, then it wasn't his time yet.

He still had some things to do in this life, even if he hadn't been able to save
his daughter...

Why did every woman who was dear to his heart die in his arms?, he wondered angrily. Why couldn't he save them? Why did he let them go? Hadn't he promised that he would some day even beat Death?..

He heard a slight scrapping sound; his son and lover had just found him.
They silently sat in front of him, cross-legged.

For a long moment, they remained silent, as if contemplating what they were
going to say.

Vader noticed how his son seemed greatly affected by his sister's death. The
two of them had truly developed a bond, he understood, something which had now been ripped away from him, leaving him with an open wound.

"Leia didn't do it to hurt you, Luke," he tried to comfort him.

His son sighed heavily.

"I know, Father, and I forgive her, but I wish... I wish..."

"You wish that you had saved her from this end," he supplied for him.

"Yes..."

"Things happened awfully fast, yesterday," he tried to reassure his son. "If I
had known that she would make this sacrifice, I would never have thrown my
weapon."

"I didn't know that she was able to do those acrobatics," Mara reflected
thoughtfully.

"Me either..."

"Love is a most powerful force..." Vader commented seriously. "It makes us do
even impossible feats."

"Is this why you let her go?" his son asked him with just the slightest edge
of animosity in his voice.

"Yes, and no," Vader answered wistfully. "After witnessing her self-sacrifice, I knew that no matter how we would have tried, Leia would never have been happy here," he admitted sadly. "She was a free spirit... Like your mother, she needed to be free of chains to be happy."

"Her fight is over now," Mara warmly agreed with him.

Since they were all warriors, they knew how wonderful it felt when they could
rest for a while.

For Leia, Vader admitted, it had to be bliss.

"She deserved her respite," his son finally conceded. "I just never thought
that she'd need to die to find it."

"In time, Luke," he commented, "the pain of her death will fade away, but her
presence will always remain in our hearts."

"I know..." his son whispered as he lowered his head, then he raised it once
again, his eyes harder, more determinate. "I will make her death worthwhile,
Father, I swear it."

"How?" Mara asked him.

"By making sure that no other family ever has to be split up like ours was. If I can, I will spare this trauma to all the children of the galaxy. No parent should have to fight against their own, stolen children. I will destroy the Rebellion, and make everyone 'accept' the Imperial peace."

"Do you realize what it means for you?" his father pointed out.

"I don't care, I will do whatever I have to do to insure peace and unity in the
galaxy. I give you my word that nobody else will ever feel the pain I am
dealing with at the moment," he told them most seriously.

Mara took his hand in hers. "If the master allows me, Luke, I'm with you," she
informed him.

"What about you, Father?" his son asked him.

For a moment, the older Vader studied his son. A new, dangerous fire was slowly
burning up in his eyes, denoting a maturity and drive he had never displayed
before.

With his sister's unfortunate death, he realized that Luke had completed his mental transition from mere agent to full-fledged Dark Lord of the Sith.

He knew that his son would reach his end.

"We need to talk to the Emperor," he told the two younger adults as he slowly
stood up.

The three of them reported to their master and knelt in respect at his feet.

"I heard about last night," he told them without preamble.

"Leia is dead, Master, and so are the rebels who were trying to rescue her,"
Vader said stoically.

"Rebels?" the Emperor asked in unpleasant surprise.

"Thanks to her, Master," Luke explained. "we have found out that the Rebels are
reorganizing and I ask for your permission to resume the chase," Luke asked him
seriously.

"It is not a permission, young Vader, but an order," he told him darkly. "I
don't want that pestilence to reappear in my galaxy!" he spat.

"You won't, Master. I guarantee it," Luke answered darkly, his eyes flashing
dangerously as he rose from his respectful bow.

No one would resist him, he thought once again in grim determination.

"I would like to help him, Master, and avenge Leia's death," Mara spoke up.

"Granted," the Emperor nodded. "Lord Vader, you will work with them to destroy the Rebellion once and for all."

"With pleasure, Master," the dark lord bowed in acceptance.

"Inform me of your strategy once you will have one, young Vader," the ruler instructed him seriously.

"I already have an idea, Master," the youth admitted, then began to explain what he had in mind.

Both his lover and father turned toward him, impressed by his cunning intelligence, then agreed to follow his lead as they prepared to set up their different strategies to vanquish the rebellious galaxy once and for all.

With that, the Emperor dismissed them for the moment; the three darksiders walked down the stairs, side by side, letting their steps guiding them toward their new missions and destinies.

The fire of the Dark Side was crackling in their core and flashing in their
eyes; the galaxy had better braced himself for they were on the prowl this time,
and no one would stop them from reaching their end.

No one would ever defy the Empire ever again. Everybody would be content to be
under their master's protection.

TBC in Redemption part 1: Darkest Hours

Copyright 2000, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Well, liked it? (Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff won't even be
read.)