Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, George Lucas does. I also don't own the characters, they are collected from both the movies and various EU sources.
Chapter I
The figure slowly walked through the metallic halls of the mimicry of a planet, his lightsaber in hand, each step bringing him closer to his destiny. Intense mental concentration altered the perceptions of every Imperial that saw him, making him appear to be a lowly officer to their eyes. Yet not even long-dead Nejaa Halcyon could disguise his appearance to the man he was about to face, the figure thought. The dark figure would not see the young officer, but would see an aged enemy ravaged by years of desert life. An enemy not seen for nearly twenty years. In his mind, the aged Jedi could faintly smell the sulfurous air of Mustafar and feel the heat rising off of the lava floes. There was no doubt that his opponent would remember their last encounter far too well.
Obi-Wan Kenobi rounded a corner as he moved towards the hangar containing the Corellian transport that he had hired only a few days ago. He could hear the faint hum of an ignited lightsaber, nearly masking the mechanical breathing he had heard in various HoloNet broadcasts. The lightsaber's red glow reflected off of the black armor of it's wielder, black gloves that covered metallic prosthetics, the dark durasteel covering his chest, and the monstrous helmet that rested upon the head of what once had been Anakin Skywalker.
Obi-Wan opened his mind up to the Force, scanning the area for any other potential threat. To him, Vader appeared to be a bubbling geyser of rage that was about to erupt any second. In the distance, he could sense two other familiar life signatures. So, he thought, they have found each other.
Darth Vader stood silently as he watched his former Master step into the empty hallway. His robe and tunic were well worn, he seemed to have aged horribly during the past twenty years. There was no doubt that this was going to be an easy victory, despite his own limitations of age and the suit.
The dark figure began walking towards his opponent, lightsaber at his side.
"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last," said Darth Vader as he drew upon his anger. He could feel the Dark Side move down into his body, filling the remnants of his limbs with unnatural power, fueling his desire to see Kenobi dead.
Obi-Wan pulled the hood of his robe off of his head, and then allowed the robe to fall to the ground. He assumed a defensive stance as the black-armored Sith slowly approached him. He could feel the rage inside Vader start to reach its peak, only a fraction of a centimeter remained on the thin line of controlling the rage or letting the rage control him. With the familiar snap-hiss, Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber blade sprang to life in front of him. Obi-Wan's mind began to wonder about the combat capabilities of Vader's new form would be. After their last duel, many prosthetics had to be a part of his new body, and Obi-Wan hoped that Vader had not been given the Grievous treatment. It had been sheer luck when he had defeated the Separatist general at the end of the Clone Wars, and he had no doubt that his aged body could not possibly stand a similar assault.
Holding his lightsaber in one hand, Vader took a swing towards his former Master, sacrificing accuracy for power. With a yellow flash that briefly brightened the room, Vader's red blade was met by Obi-Wan's. So, Vader thought as he brought his 'saber up into an offensive stance, he still knows Soresu… This will be more difficult than I thought.
Obi-Wan slowly circled around the Sith Lord, arms still vibrating with the force of the attack. It had been several years since he had last fought another being with a lightsaber, and the sheer power of Vader's last attack had caught him by surprise, albeit a welcome one. He sent out a few exploratory strikes towards Vader's midsection, hoping to gain a small bit of knowledge to his opponent's strengths and weaknesses in the suit. Vader easily blocked the attacks, and scowled under the mask.
"It is your fault this happened, Master," Vader taunted, hoping to unnerve his opponent. Remembering the words Obi-Wan had said on Mustafar, shortly before… "You failed me, Obi-Wan. You could have prevented this!" Vader swung towards Obi-Wan, a red streak of light appearing in the air as the blade sped towards the head of one of the last Jedi remaining. Obi-Wan's 'saber intercepted the blade at the last second, the crackle of lightsaber blades in contact echoing throughout the hallway.
Vader's taunts had fallen on deaf ears, and he withdrew his lightsaber only to strike again. Obi-Wan easily deflected his next attack, but had more difficulty in blocking the third. A few more attacks like that, Vader thought cruelly, and he shall be no more.
This isn't going to last long if this keeps up, Obi-Wan thought as he looked into the black "eyes" of the mask. I need to stall for more time so the others can reach the ship. He reached deep into the Force, feeling it envelope him. His arms seemed to feel a lot lighter, his legs moved much quicker as the Force enhanced his dexterity. He had felt this feeling many times before, whether he was using Ataru or Soresu, it supplemented his own conditioning much like it had with Dooku all those years ago.
Switching into a hybrid fighting style that was a hybrid of both of his main fighting styles, Obi-Wan launched an attack on Dooku's successor. The first attack took Vader by surprise, forcing the Sith Lord to exert more effort than previously needed to deflect the incoming attack. Using his newfound strength, Obi-Wan easily blocked Vader's angry reply. Sending two quick jabs towards Vader, he slowly backed away towards the hangar bay door.
Raising his lightsaber over his head with both hands gripping the hilt tightly, Vader charged towards his opponent. Sidestepping the charging Sith, Obi-Wan reverted back to his previous work with Ataru, he sent several quick strikes towards the wide-open defenses of Vader. Before Darth Vader could turn around, two quick slices ripped into the fabric of his cape, sending the pieces floating to the floor of the Death Star. As he turned around, he could barely keep the blue blade from sinking into the dark armor he wore. He backed away from his enemy, and raised his blade into an offensive stance yet again. Anger ran through him as he watched Obi-Wan revert back into a fully defensive stance yet again. Vader felt his limbs throb in his mind, the phantom pain he had felt before confronting Dooku for the second time. The fire inside of him ran up his spine, slowly and cruelly mimicking his immolation beside that river of fire on Mustafar. It ran up his neck and into the base of his brain, and with an unnatural sounding scream of rage the line was crossed. Beneath his mask, eyes blazed yellow as the anger consumed him completely.
The Stormtroopers guarding the Millenium Falcon looked on as Lord Vader engaged in an epic lightsaber duel against an old man. The commander motioned for his four troops to move closer to the door, planning to open fire upon the aged Jedi if he ever scored a lucky hit. Across the hangar, the three other intruders and their rescued compatriot watched as their chance to return to their ship opened up.
"Now's our chance, let's go," he whispered as he motioned his head towards the ship. Moving away from the wall last, he quickly sidestepped his way towards the transport keeping his eyes on the Stormtroopers.
Luke Skywalker was halfway to the entrance ramp when he heard a horrible scream emit from far side of the hangar. He turned to look at its source and noticed a man in black armor charge towards… "Ben?" He stopped in his tracks as he watched the demonic looking humanoid send several powerful strikes towards his mentor.
Obi-Wan saw Luke stop in his tracks and watch the duel out of the corner of his eye. He smiled to himself as he deflected several of Vader's angry strikes. It was time to fulfill his destiny, it was time to put the knowledge he had learned from Qui-Gon to the test. He readied himself to become one with the Force, then he saw it. A vital opening in Vader's defenses, a chance to end the battle. It was Vader's fateful leap, Maul's overconfidence all over again. With the Force all but controlling his actions, Obi-Wan exploited the weakness.
Another sidestep avoided an overhead swing, and Obi-Wan sank his lightsaber into the gut of the Sith Lord, feeling a little resistance from the dark armor. Vader's lightsaber dropped to the ground, the red blade extinguishing as it hit the gray floor. The man himself gave a slight cry of pain as he collapsed to the ground. I'm sorry, my friend, Obi-Wan thought as he prepared to end the life of the shell of a man on the floor. He readied a strike, only to turn his blade towards the hangar as the Stormtroopers opened fire.
Seeing his mentor and friend being fired upon caused Luke to aim his stolen E-11 at the nearest Stormtrooper. Pulling the trigger, he watched the red beam of energy slam into its body. Han Solo and Chewbacca watched as the Stormtroopers continued to watch as the man they had thought was an old fool deflect the incoming fire back towards the Stormtroopers. Two of the four remaining had fallen before Han and Chewie joined Luke in attempting to shoot the two troops that still survived. A blast from Han's E-11 took down one while Obi-Wan's lightsaber sliced the head off of another. With a twirl of his lightsaber, Obi-Wan turned the blade off and continued to run towards the ship.
With the Force, Obi-Wan could sense the badly wounded Vader as he slipped into unconsciousness, and he could sense the squad of Stormtroopers as they ran out into the hallway that the duel had just taken place in. Luke watched as half of the squad quickly attended to the wounded enemy, and the other half raised their rifles to fire upon the fleeing party.
"Luke, shoot the door!" he heard Obi-Wan say as he continued to run towards the ship. A few shots impacted on the Falcon as the Stormtroopers opened fire. Luke concentrated on the door's control panel, and saw himself hitting it in his mind. Adjusting his aim slightly to make up for the recoil of the weapon, Luke pulled the trigger. The control panel exploded into a fountain of sparks, causing the doors to slam shut on the firing Stormtroopers.
Luke and the others raced into the boarding ramp, and found Leia sitting in the copilot's chair in the cockpit, readying the blaster cannon on the side of the ship in case of a squad of enemy troops ran into the cockpit.
Obi-Wan Kenobi quickly raced onto the boarding ramp of the Millenium Falcon and collapsed against the wall as it closed behind him. He attempted to catch his breath as the fatigue of the previous battle began to set in. As he wiped the sweat off of his brow with the sleeve of his tunic he noticed Luke kneeling beside him.
"Ben, are you all right?" the concerned Jedi initiate asked.
"The droids… are they aboard?" Obi-Wan asked, seemingly ignoring Luke's question. "And the princess?" he asked after receiving a confirmation.
"She's fine, she's in the cockpit with Han and the Wookiee."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and slowly nodded. A memory over thirty years old came into his mind as he watch his Master Qui-Gon Jinn race up the boarding ramp of the Queen's Transport. The similarities to that moment were almost humorously similar. A small chuckle escaped his lips.
"What's so funny, Ben?"
"I'll tell you later," the Jedi responded as the Millenium Falcon blasted it's way out of the Death Star's hangar bay.