A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
STAR WARS
- VADER -
by
Doug Mac Donald
His breathing came in great rasps as he thread his way through the scores of white armored bodies. Stormtroopers parted before his awesome power and stood at rigid attention as the black shape strode by. Within their armor, they quaked, muscles tense to the point of aching. The corridor, dull and lifeless, was only one of thousands in this metal world controlled by men with hearts equally harsh as the metal below their feet. A red tube of light wavered back and forth in front of the man, the lightsaber hummed, but the Dark Lord of the Sith took no notice. The corridor lights gleamed off of his helmet, flowing across the contours of his mask. His pace quickened as he neared his private chambers, thinking back to the battle he had just won. The master would be pleased.
After long years and impatient waiting, Darth Vader had finally extinguished the last of the Jedi Knights, just as his master had 'disbanded' the Imperial Senate.
His teacher and long time friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead, by his saber.
With a flick of a switch, the crimson saber disappeared into the silver stud with a quiet hiss. As he picked his way through various corridors, Darth Vader noticed that his breathing had gone from irregular to painful rasps. The Dark Side of the Force thickened around his body, electrifying the air surrounding him, stirred like a hungry beast that can not be abated. The man in the armor had never felt such raw power at his fingertips; he sipped the black juices, but recoiled in horror. He was not yet strong enough to control such titanic power.
The Dark Lord clutched an old tattered robe, brown but for an ebony slash that his saber had burned into it. The tunic dragged behind him along the dustless floors, billowing with each great stride. Hooked to his belt was Kenobi's lightsaber, bouncing against his leg as he walked. Indeed it had been a very long time since he had faced such an evenly matched battle, and loath to admit it, the old man fought well. Under different circumstance, Kenobi would have won, but as he told Tarkin, escape was not his plan.
As the black shadow passed through the last few corridors his breathing came through his mask filter in quick irregular gasps. There were very few Imperial agents in this section of the Death Star, and none were allowed to pass but for a handful of the Emperor's Royal Guard, Grand Moff Tarkin and of course, the Emperor himself. With a wave of his black-gloved hand, the door mechanism hissed a release of gas, and the gray doors to the Sith Lord's chamber opened.
Darth Vader strode into his private chambers, the thumb of his right hand was hooked on is belt. But for the flashing lights of his respirator nothing else could be seen of him in his dark chamber. The brown cloak fell from his grip and fluttered to the floor. Standing before his mediation chamber, Vader unlocked the opening mechanism with a wave of his hand. A soft click could be heard beneath his filtered breathing. Before him, the meditation chamber made a deep bass-like sound as it lifted into the ceiling; slowly it raised like a black maw awaiting its next meal. Like a single rotten tooth, sitting in the middle of the chamber, a large chair sat and a gullet-like darkened viewscreen filled the rear of the chamber revealing a dark infinity.
Unlatching his cape, Vader let it fall to the floor next to Kenobi's tunic, the Sith Lord stepped and sat upon his throne. Weariness hit him of a kind he had never felt before. The physical punishment of the fight bore heavy on all his mighty limbs, but a greater weight was that of the Dark Side. Easy was it to use and manipulate, but more difficult to bear the consequences. The power was wild about him, so much so that he began to see images on the viewscreen, images that weren't really there. The future. Vader opened a comlink and spoke, his voice rushed and excited.
"Yes?" Tarkin's curt voice answered.
"Allow the Millenium Falcon to leave, send no ships to pursue other than the sentry ships."
With no other word he switched the communicator off.
The meditation chair hummed with power of its own as it rotated, stopping only when the Dark Lord faced the empty viewscreen. From hidden recesses in the concave walls, two metal appendages snaked out, clamping down on his evil mask.
At that same moment light was injected into the darkness of the chamber, painfully bright until all of the shadows were pushed back to where the light could not reach. The roof of the chamber came down with a loud clang, sending a grim echo throughout the still silence, trapping the light within its black teeth.
His breathing could still be heard through the mask, mechanical, bestial. With a soft hiss, the top portion of the helmet was removed and lifted into the air, held there like a naked newborn. Vader waited patiently, listening to the mechanical hissing of his breath while the front of is mask was removed. He breathed the chemically treated air in through his nose. In the viewscreen he could see his reflection, the large white bald cranium, covered with a network of scars. The raised scar running along the left side of his head looked like a mountain across the white landscape of his head. His skin was pale, from never seeing the light of day, hidden beneath that death mask. His own eyes stared back at him through the viewscreen.
His thinking was no longer cloudy now, and there was a certain clarity that startled even him. Instead of relishing further the demise of the Jedi Knights, Vader let his head fall like a mighty weight into his hands.
'I warned you old man, you should not have come back. Why did you not heed my warning?'
Indeed the circle was complete, but it was an empty one.
Anakin Skywalker slowly raised his head and met his gaze in the reflection of the viewscreen. Without the mask he felt almost human, even if most of his body was not. He had been trapped in that dark armor for too long now, and he longed to step out of it, to throw down the claim it had on his life, but the darkness clung to his robes like heavy chains.
Despairing from his own weakness, Anakin activated the viewscreen, replacing the image of his face with that of a small task force of sentry ships. He could still feel Obi-wan's presence around him, even in death the Jedi would not give up.
'What purpose did your death serve?'
Obi-Wan's voice floated to him from the past: 'If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.'
'Forever speaking in riddles were you Obi-wan.'
The viewscreen showed an old stock freighter trying to maneuver around the sentry T.I.E. fighters. Princess Leia had escaped, for the moment. The hatred suddenly resurfaced like a quick violent storm. She was so smug and insolent.
And yet, that feeling subsided, the princess was of little concern at this moment. He had faced Obi-wan as he was destined too. Something wrenched his thoughts away from his exhilaration of winning the battle, returning his attention to the princess again. Even still he felt something in the Force, and an image of the future quickly slipped his grasp. There was a vague power beneath Leia Organa. But the image was gone, leaving him with not even a memory of it.
Vader felt tiny suddenly within the black armor as he watched in fascination as the Millennium Falcon raced away from his Death Star. It reminded him of his own days as a pilot. Images of his friendship with Obi-wan swirled within his mind, though there were very few images remaining in his scarred memory, for the Emperor had burned away or twisted his thoughts like wrought iron. And the Emperor was getting worse. His patience of late slipped into frightening bursts of darkness and many times did Vader feel the bolts of pure energy further scarring his body. Like an obedient dog, Anakin suffered his master's punishments.
"It appears I was right." A soft voice called from the darkness.
"Obi-wan?"
"There is good still left in you."
Vader suddenly stood up reaching out with the Force. "Obi-wan, why have you come here? Heed my warning this time and leave."
"Fight the Emperor Anakin, as you did me."
The dark Jedi fell into his seat and fell silent.
Another battle was taking place, this time in Vader's mind, of which he was completely unaware. The Emperor appeared for a moment and then the bright light that had filled Vader's heart vanished along with Kenobi.
"I have felt your disturbance Lord Vader," another voice spoke, cutting through the gloom as efficiently as a knife. "What troubles you my friend?" It was the voice of the Emperor. The evil, hooded face appeared on the viewscreen.
Anakin came from his stupor, shifting in his chair under the naked gaze of that skull. His feelings were free about his mind, unguarded and unchecked, open like a book for the Emperor to read. Never had the conflict been so severe in his life. "I have returned from a difficult battle, my master."
"Difficult?" Palpatine asked with obvious doubt. "And what could be so difficult, a 'Jedi" could not handle?" The contempt in his voice was unmistakable.
"Obi-wan arrived to rescue the princess. He failed, my master."
The Emperor's skeletal grin appeared. His eyes fluttered shut, as he felt the Dark side brush past like a soft wind. He breathed in its energies like a man starved for days. "Good, good." He said quietly. "The old way has finally passed. You have done well, Lord Vader." Anakin stirred, for he knew compliments that came from that foul mouth always guarded some venomous attack. "And yet I fell you are not entirely happy with the outcome. Perhaps you feel saddened by the loss of your old teacher?" The Emperor held Anakin's gaze within his, and the Dark Lord trembled.
"No, my master. This is a day that will be long remembered, seeing the end of Kenobi, it shall also see the end of the Rebellion." The words died before the gaze of his master.
The Emperor chuckled, eyes gleaming with utter delight. "Ah yes, the Rebellion," he said with his usual contempt. "Now it is time, we focused our energies on finding and destroying these pitiful dissidents. Perhaps Senator Organa will be more willing to cooperate when she reaches Coruscant."
Anakin averted his eyes, for something deep inside of him did not wish for his master to touch the princess. "The princess has been allowed to escape, my master. I have secured about her ship a beacon which will lead us to the rebel base."
The Emperor's grin faltered and disappeared into the gloom of his hooded face. He stared for several seconds at the Dark Lord, probing. "And Tarkin allowed this?"
"He was not given a choice, my master."
"He is still responsible for this station." His eyes glazed over as he peered into the future.
While the Emperor turned his thoughts to the future, Anakin felt something tug at his subconscious. "Hurry," it was saying.
Anakin seized that moment to lock his own thoughts away, away even from his master. He constructed walls of darkness around the light of his heart and locked it tight so that even to his own Dark side it was hidden. The Dark Jedi waved his hand at the nearby console and heard the metal appendages return to refit his faceplate. Several inches away from his face, the black mask stopped, suspended in the air by the two metal arms.
The Emperor came out of his stupor and gazed upon his unmasked servant, his own power keeping Vader's mask away. A wicked smile stretched across Palpatine's face. "Your thoughts are open to me, Lord Vader." The Emperor sat forward in his chair, peering though Vader's eyes. A frown creased his old withering face. "You have betrayed yourself, my friend, your own thoughts are your own undoing."
Darth Vader remained silent. There were no words he could say to sway his master. He had awakened the Emperor's wraith and it would not be spent easily. Palpatine's yellow eyes flickered shut, he drew in a deep breath and held it; the smile disappeared. He slumped back into his chair. "Did you really think you could hide from me?" He spoke to the light that had entered Vader's mind.
A deep black force crept across the lighted chamber, seeping in from the cosmos. The air was thick and dank with its power as it enclosed around the black knight. "This way will forever be closed to you now, ghost! And remember, that it was you who caused all of this pain."
And then, the Emperor's blank face turned evil, he grit his teeth and let loose a terrible storm of darkness. Darth Vader threw his head back, but did not scream. Purple lightning leapt across the chamber seemingly appearing from the air, through Vader's body and deep into his mind. When the Emperor had finished everything was silent again. A thin mist of smoke rose from Vader's body as he tried desperately to regain control of his erratic breathing.
When the pain disappeared, he could see clearly once more. As it always was after speaking with his master. He saw things with more clarity than ever before. The Emperor released his hold on the metal appendages, and the black mask moved forward and covered his smoking and blistering skin. The mask was cold against his dead skin as the rest of the helmet came over his head, locking itself into position with a hard click. His breathing, now controlled, came out electronically. He stared at his master through red synthetic eyes.
The maw of the mediation chamber opened with a boom. The smoke from the Emperor's attack rolled over its bottom teeth and across the dark floor. From within the swirling mists, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith came forth, a new and greater confidence had entered his stride as he stepped away from his old self. The meditation chamber came down behind Darth Vader with an echoing boom, trapping Anakin Skywalker within its walls of darkness.
Vader left his chamber and went immediately to Grand Moff Tarkin who was meditating himself.
"Are they away?" Tarkin asked.
"They've just made the jump to hyperspace."
Tarkin did not turn to look at the Dark Lord, but instead mentally chewed on the information before him. If the Emperor had learned of the Princess' escape, Tarkin would be punished severely. Feeling as though a man at the brink of the abyss, of losing his career and his favor with the Emperor, took a deep breath and said: "Are you sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? I'm taking an awful risk Vader, this had better work."
Silence was the Dark Lord's answer.
Even as the Imperial scouts tracked the Millennium Falcon and finally uncovered the location of the Rebel base on Yavin, Vader knew for good or evil, that this day would show him many things. By the end of this day he would have a task set before him and finally he would meet his destiny. Today would be the catalyst for this event. Standing behind Grand Moff Tarkin Vader spoke the words he had said to his master, in that by repeating them he could convince himself it was the truth.
"This is a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi, it will soon see the end of the Rebellion." The voice, this time filtered by the mask, came out like a foul breath, full of power. To Tarkin's ears the words were chilling, and even the Grand Moff could sense the change that had come over the Dark Lord.