Star Wars: Ghosts of the Force
A FanFic by Sean Nedimyer
Dramatis Personae
Ben Skywalker, Jedi Knight, human male from Coruscant
Luke Skywalker, Jedi Grand Master, human male from Tatooine
Vestara Khai, former Sith apprentice, human female from Kesh
Leia Organa Solo, Jedi Knight, human female from Alderaan
Han Solo, captain of the Millenium Falcon, human male from Corellia
Jaina Solo-Fel, Imperial Knight-Captain, human female from Coruscant
Jagged Fel, Emperor of the Imperial Remnant, human male from Niruaun
Tahiri Veila, former Jedi Knight, human female from Tatooine
Anakin Solo, former Jedi Knight, Ghostwalker male
Darth Caedus, former Dark Lord of the Sith, Ghostwalker male
Corran Horn, Jedi Master, human male from Corellia
Mirax Terrik Horn, captain of the Errant Venture, human female from Corellia
Boba Fett, Mandalore, human male from Kamino
Prologue: Dark Tides
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Few things are constant in a universe torn asunder by war, revolution, slavery, and corruption. Certainly not happiness, nor love, nor the feeling of security. Rather, it is pain; it is suffering; it is the black desire of revenge. It is these and many more lost emotions that drive most beings throughout the galaxy. Above all, however, it is fear that moves the galaxy. And as a very powerful being once said, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side."
In this time of war, of impatience and ignorance, of pain, it is the Dark Side of the Force that rules many an individual. How can he or she help it, being maimed, murdered, and thieved by every other ruling power in the galaxy? And it is these individuals that gather together, their terrified presences fueling something old and dark and strong. And its powers grow with each new recruit to the Dark Side.
In the shadows, it waits, watching for the crack in the galaxy that will finally allow it to break through, and once more claim dominance over all parts of the universe, known and unknown.
Chapter 1: Dark Descent
Ben raised his lightsaber blade above his head, catching his opponent's attack just in time. Still, the sheer power of the attack, bolster by a surge from the Dark Side, threatened to overpower him. He threw the attack-a long, thick tentacle-back with his blade, then somersaulted out of her range.
Abeloth's range.
He, his father, and Vestara Khai, a Sith of the Lost Tribe, had tracked Abeloth across the galaxy, stumbling across more than one of her nests. She had a fondness for Force-users, drawing them to her and then dominating their minds with her Dark Side witchery. There were more casualties than either of the Skywalkers would have liked, including some of his father's long-time companions.
Another swing of Abeloth's tentacles broke Ben out of this thoughts as it caught him across the chest and lifted him high into the air. He wrestled himself away from the arm, but it was too late-as he pulled away, he slammed into a rock and heard something crack. A low moan of pain escaped him, followed by a more desperate moan as he realised he could no longer feel his legs.
"Young Skywalker," the multi-layered voice of Abeloth called to him. "It seems you've broken yourself. Rather pathetic for such a gallant Knight. However will you protect your lady?"
She gestured over her shoulder-or rather, the part of her body that could most closely be described as a shoulder-to where Vestara lay, crumbled and bleeding. She had attacked first, and had been the first to fall. Ben could still feel her presence in the Force, but it was fading.
And he could now do nothing to help her. Shame overwhelmed him, and she fed off of it.
"Yes, yes, little 'Walker. You've fallen and you can't get up. What a useless little toy you are. However will your father use you now, after-?"
A high hiss cut her off as a green lightsaber blade cut through her abdomen. A thousand-voiced scream pierced the cavern into which she had lured them, a scream that shook Ben to the core and made him sick in ways he never knew he could be.
"After what? Bruised him a bit? Really, you thing of evil, worthless filth."
Luke Skywalker drove the blade further in, then cut across, gouging a portion of her chest out.
"He's been tortured at the hands of a Dark Lord of the Sith. He's suffered through the loss of his mother, cousin, and many friends. He's fought in more wars and battles then you can list in a hundred years. And you think a little break is enough to break my son? It's no wonder you went into hiding all of those years ago."
He kicked her away from him, then whipped his blade around, severing a tentacle and causing another, weaker scream to echo across the cavern.
"You're the one who should be ashamed, beaten by two children and a weak, old man."
His blade cut across her throat, turning her screams into gurgles. And still she didn't fall. Still she remained there, solid, dangerous, deadly.
"I am not beaten, Jedi!"
Luke had not felt the Force blow coming, and was thrown off balance long enough for Abeloth to move into his range. She kicked, bit, and cut him however she could. Luke knew that this was it, this was his chance. She was close, and she was lost in her Dark Side blood rage. He angled his blade in and-
She slammed his head hard with a Force blow so powerful that Luke temporarily lost his vision. She followed through with a Force punch that threw him into the same cavern wall under which Ben had collapsed.
He looked over at his son, once again truly seeing the powerful and intelligent man that Ben had grown into. His only regret was that he wouldn't be able to see any further along Ben's future. This was it for him.
"Love you, son," Luke said before gathering his strength. He pulled the Force to him, calling the true powers of the Light Side to aid him one final time, to rid the universe of one final evil. Abeloth saw the determination and sheer ferocity in his eyes. She pulled on the Force to boost her movement as she sprinted to him. She wasn't going to make it, not unless...
Luke threw the full power of the Light Side of the Force at the aberration called Abeloth and watched its pure strength wash out her outline, disintegrating her very form where she stood.
Ben watched in awe. He had never seen such a powerful show of the Force, and he had seen his father do a great many things with the Force. But this, this was something more.
And it hadn't worked.
Abeloth stood, smoke pouring off of her now-ruined body, but she was very much still alive. What remained was little more than a living skeleton of some long-extinct race, but within it burned a dark and everlasting fire. Abeloth couldn't help but laugh. The greatest of the great had thrown his very existence at her, and it wasn't enough to stop her. She truly was the god she claimed she was. She laughed harder, revelling at what this realisation meant to her.
"And now to finish this," Abeloth said as she crawl-walked over to the body of Luke Skywalker, still clinging to the very verge of life. "Oh, and how I will enjoy it, Master Skywalker."
She wrapped her stubby fingers around the Jedi Grand Master's throat and began to squeeze. She wanted to watch as fear began to take its place in his mind, as he realised that he was doomed, along with his son and their Sith pet.
Ben watched, helpless, as the thing that was Abeloth stood over the limp body of his father and choked him to death. He couldn't-wouldn't-allow another of his parents to be murder, not while he still had blood in his veins. Slowly, painfully he drug himself towards them.
I'll never make it. Not at this pace, he thought to himself. I need power.
And power came to him. He drew, as his father had, from every essence of his being, pulling the true potential of the Light Side into him. But still, it wasn't enough.
More, he thought. I need more!
More came. He opened his body, mind, and spirit to the Force, more than he ever had before, and it flooded through him. He could feel it everywhere-in his mind, in behind his eyes, in his very cells, repairing the damage Abeloth had done.
Without thinking, only by feeling, Ben drew his father's lightsaber to him and in one swift movement stabbed the green blade through Abeloth's heart-the one weak point in her being that the Force showed to him. There was no scream, no death throes. Instead, in their place was a black wave thrown through the Force. It surrounded and drowned Ben, and soon enough, he lost consciousness. But as light faded from his vision, he had one final thought:
At last, it's done.
A quiet moan slipped through her lips as Vestara Khai tried to sit up. Every inch of her body was covered in fiery pain, as if she had fallen asleep on a nest of Endorian fire beetles. In the back of her mind, the voice of her father reminded her that a part of her Sith training was to harness the pain and use it to fuel her emotions, to fuel her use of the Force, which she could in turn use to quiet the pain.
So instead, she chose to let it run its course throughout her body. She took in each ounce of pain, felt herself in the Force, and called on the other half of the Force to calm her emotions, and let the pain bleed out through her feet. She had only just begun to embrace the Light Side, and felt no remorse at leaving her Sith training behind. Even so, failing to embrace her pain felt almost alien to her. Regardless, she had other things to worry about. Priorities.
First priority: Ben, she thought, surprising herself. She had come to care greatly for Ben, but she'd been raised to look out for herself first and foremost. Again, that uncomfortable, alien feeling. And yet, thinking about Ben brought another emotion to her core, one just as alien, and yet oddly comforting.
She found Ben collapsed on top of what appeared to be the skeleton of some ancient, many-limbed being.
Abeloth, she realised. They did it. He did it, she thought, looking at Ben.
At first, a quiet worry filled her heart. He couldn't have fought that creature without sustaining serious injury to himself. As she pulled him away, however, she found his pulse, and found no injuries on him. His clothing bore the marks of battles, including a tremendous gash across his lower spine. It was the sort of gash that should have revealed an injury that would include a severed spine. Instead, she found only his skin, pink and healthy, emanating a very light glow.
Vestara reached out to Ben in the Force. She almost wished she hadn't. Ben was a glowing beacon in the Force, the very image of a Jedi Knight, and yet the light was bleeding away. It was painful, like standing too close to a very hot fire. Somehow, she knew.
This is how he beat her. This power pouring out of him. He truly is a great warrior.
After realising Ben was in no great danger,she moved to the course to make sure that Abeloth was in fact dead, though she had little doubt of this. A quick glance told her everything she needed to know.
Finally, she looked for her new master. She found Luke slumped over against a wall, bleeding from many wounds. In the Force, there was nothing there. She was shocked. Luke Sywalker had always had a strong presence in the Force, so powerful that many times even non-Force sensitives reacted to it without realising what they were reacting to. Vestara began to shake, fearing what she might find. A tear slipped into her eyes.
She tried to wipe it away quickly.
"A Sith...crying?" Luke asked, his voice hollow and tired, but still somehow with that iron core he always seemed to have. "How...ironic."
"Master Skywalker! You're alive!"
She ran to help him up but he waved her off.
"Barely. I think I have several broken ribs and a possible contusion. I need you to get into Ben's bag and use his emergency comm to signal Jaina's squadron to pick us up. Tell her we'll be needed immediate medical care."
Vestara nodded and found Ben's pack, and did as Luke had commanded. When the three of them had tracked Abeloth to this remote rock on the border of the Unknown Regions, Luke had planned for every possible escape. He had ordered Jaina and a squadron of Jedi Stealth-Xs to stand guard in orbit and destroy anything coming off of the moon that didn't give the proper clearance codes. Part of that squad included an emergency health tech.
Jaina said she and her crew would be there soon, though to Vestara she had sounded somehow off. Less with it. Vestara shrugged it off and returned to Luke.
"Vestara?" he asked as she came back.
"Yes, Master Skywalker?"
"Please be honest with me. What are your intentions with my son?"
She was taken aback. She hadn't expected that. She took a deep breath and thought about if for a moment. Honesty was another new, alien concept to her. But, like much of these new emotions, she found it addicting and refreshing.
"I-I...I honestly don't know. I know that I care a great deal for him, and he for me, but that's about it. I need to think about it."
Luke chuckled. She looked at him, confused. She had more or less just told Luke Skywalker that she was romantically interested in his only son, and he had chuckled. From her understanding, he had never trussted her, nor truly liked her. Not that she blamed him. She had been a Sith, a master of lies and deception.
"That's fine, Vestara. And you don't need to be worried about me. After today, you've more than proven yourself to me. The next chance I get, you'll join my new Jedi Order. Assuming, that is, that you're interested."
She could only nod and grin. Needing something to do, she moved over to pick Ben and their gear up. Jaina and the rest of the squadron would be here soon.
"Oh, and Vestara?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Well done today. I doubt many other Force users, Sith or Jedi, could have stood to Abeloth the way that you and Ben did today."