The Perspective of A Dark Lord Sith
Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to George Lucas. Based on the Radio Drama and Movie Canon.
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"Now young Skywalker, you will die…"
Electric bolts of dark force lightening spilled from Lord Sidious' fingertips, with an intensity so fraught with power, he felt Lord Vader tense with surprise at his side. His lips widened as a wave of grim satisfaction flittered through his mind. Not even Lord Vader had known the full extent of his power; it had increased significantly since last he'd seen it issued at full strength.
But the thought passed as quickly as it had come; his concentration reverted to the task at hand. He allowed the anger that was buried deep within his soul consume him. This boy writhing on the ground before him was the last of the Jedi left tarnishing the Empire with his filthy presence. Unfortunately not as wise as his father had been; with Luke Skywalker at his side, they would have been tremendously powerful. But Lord Vader was no weakling and he would certainly suffice.
Lord Sidious anger grew as he stared down at the Jedi. In the end it was he who would conqueror the last of the Jedi, that hateful breed of weak-minded, pitiful, hypocritical beings who had inexplicably ruled for 1000 years. They had put so much faith in the living force and look where it had gotten them. The only pity was that his final battle with them was against this Padawan in Jedi robes – it was laughable! Their greatest masters had been no match for him…Yoda, Mace…all of them hopelessly and helplessly grasping at the living force in their lamentable attempt to defeat him.
Lord Sidious jerked his hands; his anger bright white and furious, coursing through his veins and fueling the deep hatred he felt for the lad before him and all he represented. His focus was so great; Luke became almost a blur along with the rest of the room. The Dark Lord's vision filled with the glory of the Sith; it lay before him dark and gold, like an unspoken dream. Nothing could stop him now; he would rule for eternity; he could feel his supremacy rising as the last remnant of the Jedi weakened.
He could sense Luke's life force draining, but oddly…the living force seemed to be peaking within the boy for some reason – he could feel it growing. Lord Sidious jerked his hands again; his fury increasing at the stubbornness of the scrap of a Jedi before him who refused to die without a fierce struggle. But he would die in the end…yes he would die.
Suddenly Lord Sidious felt the living force rush up to meet him and surround him with such a whipping gust, his mind reeled. But he had only the briefest moment to wonder what the young, nearly beaten Jedi had done before he realized that the surge had not come from the boy at all. He was being lifted from the ground! Electric dark force lightening still flew wildly from his fingertips – toward the ceiling now. Almost reflexively, Lord Sidious used a portion of his dark power to slow the events of time to almost a standstill.
Momentary shock gave way to livid rage as he realized from where the grand surge of the living force had come. Lord Vader!
Lord Vader?
"Vader!" Lord Sidious roared, "Release me, Vader!"
Without waiting for Vader to comply, Lord Sidious immediately used his dark force power to direct the electric bolts downward toward the body of the treacherous Sith Lord who was attempting to pull him away from his prey.
Sith Lord?
But…the force he used…it was not the dark force, it was the living force and with a degree of power he'd never before encountered. Not from Mace, not from Yoda and even his memory of Anakin didn't speak to such immense power in the living force. His mind turned from the impossible thought that Vader had turned to his own survival.
The electric dark force lightening should have short circuited Vader's suit immediately! It should have vanquished this new enemy! But if the treacherous minion of the Sith thought that he would defeat his master so readily, he was sadly mistaken, no matter what force he was calling upon!
Gathering all of the raw and unbridled power he could possibly muster, through anger, livid rage and the hot fury of hatred, he touched Lord Vader's mind with his power.
'Vader, I command you, put me down!' He could feel the waves of power and strength pulsing through him – not enough to free himself, but surely enough to empower Vader's weaker mind.
"I will," Lord Vader retorted, "down the core shaft! Down to your death!"
Lord Sidious could not believe his ears…or his senses. What was happening here? His faithful slave, Darth Vader was defying him? Well that was expected; it was the Sith way. But with this powerful living force? Where had this power come from? It was not possible! No man had ever traveled the Sith path as far as Vader had and then returned to using the living force! Had Vader been fooling him all of these years? Impossible!
And yet…Lord Sidious could not sense a smidgeon of anger, hatred or even fear emanating from his slave Vader – he sensed only purpose and…determination. Something very much akin to fear began snaking its way about his heart.
With a last grand effort, Lord Sidious called on the dark force and all of his comrade in-Sith-arms. The electric dark bolts intensified proportionately with his hatred and anger, causing his skin to shrivel even more from the sheer power he called upon. He would have control!
"Vader," he bellowed; his voice a combination of roar and growl, "I am your master!" But even as he shouted he could feel the living force pulsing around him like a brilliant beacon of light. It was vivid and radiant, ripping through the dark force and leaving him naked and weak.
"Lord Vader's master," came the proud, booming response, "but not Anakin Skywalker's!"
It had only been seconds since he'd been lifted from the ground. But in the force slowed time it took Vader, no, not Vader…Anakin Skywalker…to carry him to the edge of the core shaft, it seemed as if he had decades to grapple with his disbelief.
He knew then. It was not the Jedi, but the Sith that would be destroyed this night – one already had been; Vader was no more. Worse, the Sith would be betrayed and destroyed by the man he'd saved from the fires of Mustafar; the man he'd fashioned into a brilliant Sith; the man who had wiped out nearly all of the Jedi and moved beyond any redemption and ability to return to the living force…a man who was far less powerful than he!
But the last thought he had caused him to roar with anger, frustration, and unbridled hate as he felt his body flung down into the blue void of the shaft: the terrible, terrible truth and all of its implications; the Sith would not be destroyed by just any man…but by a Jedi Knight…and not just by any Jedi Knight…but by Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one, fulfilling the Jedi prophecy. Luke Skywalker had not been the last of the Jedi in the Empire, and that thought blackened his soul like no other could.
Hell was not nearly spacious enough to contain the fury that was Lord Sidious as he whirled into the black, vast emptiness and was consumed by eternal death.
