NEAR MISSES
The blade tore through his cloak and gashed the flesh beneath, scarring a deep line across his thigh and staining the Hessian robes he wore. His vision blurred, watery blue eyes struggling to keep track of the dark figure before him. A blaster bolt scorched the perfect metal just above the Dark Lord's head and his former pupil turned, glowering beneath the semblance of the Noghri's features he wore over his own scarred face.
"Come on, old man, what are you waiting?" Called out the gambler, Han Solo, from the ramp of his dilapidated craft.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, former general and Jedi Knight, staggered backwards and, then with all of his strength, launched himself into the air, flailing away from the fearsome visage of his once-student.
He landed awkwardly on the ramp, the Dark Lord's own son seizing hold of his frail body and hauling him inside as the ramp rose beneath his feet. His body fell backwards, his heart pounding and his breath ragged; eyes that had seen so much horror now staring up at the wires and access panels that decorated the roof above him. He had expected to die in his duel with Anakin Skywalker; he had been prepared to die...and yet at the last, Anakin's blade had faltered. The old man's mind worked frantically, replaying the scene in his head and taking it apart, moment-by-moment as he tried to come to some understanding of exactly what had taken place.
If Anakin had failed in his task then there was still a chance...
"Turn back!" He cried out, hauling himself up onto his elbows. "Turn back, we have to go back"
The Millennium Falcon's Wookie co-pilot howled in distress.
"Are you crazy, old man?" Shouted Solo from the cockpit of the craft. "Do you want to get us all killed?"
"Ben..." The young boy at his side whispered with concern but the former general brushed him angrily away.
There came thesound of shouts and curses from the Falcon's cockpit and Solo rushed abruptly past them, glancing at Luke as he passed.
"Don't get too comfortable, kid, we've got company!" He shouted over his shoulder.
Luke Skywalker stood up and eagerly followed after the older man.
Silently Obi-Wan Kenobi rested his head against the hard metal of the floor and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to rush into his exhausted body.
"Anakin..." he whispered, his lips dry and cracked. "I still believe you can be saved."
"Search your feelings; you know it to be true!" The Dark Lord cried victoriously.
His former mentor shook his head sadly, standing upon the furthest point above the vast exhaust shaft that carried air up from the atmosphere around the sky station of Cloud City. His robes were stained with blood once more but he still held the vibrant blue lightsabre in his hands, its eerie glow casting shadows about them in the dim luminance of the dying city.
"I still believe you can be saved." Kenobi whispered, repeating the words he had first spoken alone upon the Millennium Falcon months ago.
The universe had changed so much since then; with Alderaan lost and the battle station that had burnt it from the skies reduced to a similar fate, the balance of the universe was now even more fragile than at any time since Palpatine had ascended from shadows to the throne of the Galactic Republic, crushing any who rested him.
Amongst the fallen had been every single person General Kenobi had cared for, every friend, every relative, gone within an instant...everyone but one man, standing now before him clad in black armour, the horrors of the Dark Side howling at his shoulders.
Anakin's original plan had been to lure Kenobi to the facility and ensnare the older man's body in Carbonite, thus finally scourging the universe of the Jedi without his having to strike the other down. The plan had failed, partly in thanks to Kenobi's intuition...and partly because of Anakin's weakness.
"You're a fool, Kenobi!" Raged the Dark Lord. "I can never be saved."
Kenobi opened his stark blue eyes again and took a step backwards closer to the edge.
"Search your feelings," he retorted, mirroring Anakin's earlier words. "You know it to be true."
"It's impossible!" The Dark Lord cried with anguish.
Kenobi shook his head sadly and stepped backwards, disappearing from sight in the undertow of wind that pulled him away and down towards the vast network of waste tunnels that laced the underside of the floating city.
Behind his masque, Anakin Skywalker roared with rage and regret.
He felt the whip of the Dark Lord's cloak at his back and saw the glint of his sabre as it tore through the air, slicing and burning aside warriors clad in armour of a similar hue to the powerful blade. Kenobi's own blade lashed out, felling another of the former Emperor's elite warriors.
Behind them, the shaft that led down to the heart of the Death Star roiled and burned with unleashed energy, the throne that watched over it empty and the windows beyond filled with fleets of Rebel craft throwing themselves like waves against the rocks upon Imperial Star Destroyers.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Murmured the former student, flashing his red blade out more and striking down another warrior.
"Stay focused!" Kenobi commanded, his voice full of a youthful vigour and cunning that he thought had been lost to him in old age. "We haven't come this far just to die now!"
Beneath the shape of his grotesque masque, Anakin Skywalker felt his lips crack into a grin.
"Like old times?" He questioned, his voice still hauntingly distorted by the artificial mechanism through which he spoke.
"Just like old times." Kenobi nodded, his words firm and his lips drawn into a tight smile.
Together they leapt forwards and into the oncoming tide of soldiers.