Chapter III: Right Always Triumphs
The two fighters drifted lazily in the empty space over Dagobah, their pilots silent as they each programmed the course for Bespin into the computers.
"Right, I'm ready to go when you are," Jaina piped up, resting a hand on the joystick, the other pressing her comm mike slightly closer to her mouth. "Luke?"
"Hmm?"
"You're strangely quiet… and something feels off. In the Force."
She heard his sigh over the comm. "The New Jedi Order… did they make you pass the trials?"
"The trials are probably a bit different to what Yoda has in mind. Enlighten me?"
"He sent me into a cave, down there. On Dagobah. I saw Vader. I fought him."
Now she understood. Her uncle was one step closer to discovering his heritage. Of course facing Vader — even a hologram version — would have unsettled him. "If it makes you feel any better, I faced the cave as well, and my twin brother."
"What did you see?"
For a moment Jaina did not reply. The memory of her trials had come back to her, including the person she had faced in the cave. "Kueller."
"Who?"
"It doesn't matter. But you won't be the last to stumble in the trials, Luke."
Silence, and then he murmured assent. "Shall we go, then? Cloud City."
A minute later, the two starfighters leaped into hyperspace, disappearing from the Dagobah system.
R2 beeped, and Jaina sat up. On her display, the astromech was telling her that it was time to emerge out of hyperspace, and she re-engaged manual control of the spacecraft.
"No, Threepio's with them. Just hang on, we're almost there."
Jaina knew better than to ask; he was probably talking to Artoo. Dead ahead, the shining city of Bespin was approaching, the clouds about it seeming to part.
They set their fighters down on the nearer side of the city, and Jaina noted the Millennium Falcon on a raised platform bearing the numbers 327. That meant her parents, Chewie and Threepio were here.
What if Dad's getting carbonated right now?
It took all her willpower not to abandon Luke and run into the city to rescue her parents. It wouldn't help them — in fact, it might only make matters worse. And right now, Luke needed her more.
Although I don't know what I'm going to do to help him. He needs to meet Vader here.
They left their helmets in the fighters, Jaina leaving her R2 unit to monitor the X-Wings, and they entered the city with a quick stride, Artoo trailing behind them. Both took the opportunity to look around curiously at the plain white and brown walls, transparisteel windows built in here and there. From the entry doors, three corridors branched off in separate directions, and Jaina looked to Luke for guidance.
Silently, he lifted two fingers and gestured down the middle corridor, and she nodded, one hand on the hilt of her saber. A strange presence was poking at the corners of her mind, and she knew it was Vader. She had closed herself off completely in the Force, so as far as the Sith Lord was aware, Luke was the only Jedi aboard.
A shout rang through the halls, and they took off at a run, skidding around a corner. Several stormtroopers were herding a group down the corridor, away from them, and a short woman in the back whipped around at the sound of Luke and Jaina's footsteps.
Mother.
It was Leia Organa Solo, albeit younger and unmarried. Leia, before she had become Jaina's mother. "Luke! Luke, don't — it's a trap! It's a trap!"
Whatever else she might have been about to say upon seeing Jaina with Luke died on her lips as a stormtrooper pushed her through a door which hissed shut behind them, and they were gone. Exchanging a glance with Luke, Jaina took off towards the door, her uncle hot on her heels. She skidded to a halt and used her open palm to bang on the door, but it did not budge.
"Jaina. This way." Luke had managed to open the door to a nearby anteroom, and Jaina cautiously followed him inside.
Every step took them closer to Vader.
Inside the room, the lights were dimmed, with only small bulbs lighting the path amongst numerous pipes and steam. They moved forward slowly, Jaina behind Luke, her hand back on the hilt of her lightsaber. Memories flooded back to her, of infiltrating the worldship on Myrkr with Jacen, Anakin and the rest of the strike force.
Anakin, who died at Myrkr.
"You okay?" Luke whispered, halting for a brief moment to look back at her, and she nodded, taking a few deep breaths. In her mind, Anakin's face had appeared, young and carefree, as he had been before the war.
"Just remembering my youngest brother," she murmured. "I told you he died when he was seventeen."
Her uncle put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and then the platform they stood on jolted, disconnecting from its surrounds and beginning to rise. The comforting hand left her shoulder as Luke drew his lightsaber, although he did not yet ignite it. The air temperature was dropping, and the dark force Jaina had felt earlier was ever more insistent.
With a clang, the platform stopped its ascent, and Luke took several deliberate steps forward. Jaina remained where she was, letting the shadows hide her. Vader could not be allowed to see her just yet.
"The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."
Darth Vader moved out of the shadows at the top of the stairs, his long cloak billowing about him, the black mask illuminated by his red lightsaber. Jaina could hear the steady breathing that the machine behind the mask allowed, and she shuddered.
And then they clashed, blade on blade, her uncle and her grandfather, Jedi Knight and Sith Lord.
It had begun.
The duel had moved into the reactor shaft, and still Jaina moved in the shadows, watching the fight unfold.
Not yet. Not yet.
And then Luke was hanging off the gantry by one arm, howling in pain. Jaina gritted her teeth, knowing she was about to witness the moment that would change her uncle's life forever.
"There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance." Vader was advancing on him, red lightsaber drawn. "You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."
"I'll never join you!" Luke's shout was one of defiance.
The Sith Lord's mechanical voice sounded almost pitying. "If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."
"He told me enough! It was you who killed him!"
"No." Another step forward, and Vader dropped the bombshell. "I am your father."
It was done. Luke stared at Vader in disbelief, and Jaina unclipped her lightsaber. It was nearly time that she face him: the Sith who was more machine than man. Who had once been Anakin Skywalker.
In the meantime, the truth had sunk in to Luke's psyche, and the expression on his face was one of horror. Vader's hand was out, beckoning his son, but Luke seemed unwilling. "No," he whispered, and then he let go of the gantry.
Jaina suppressed a gasp, watching Darth Vader step up to the railing to observe Luke's fall. The time was now.
With a snap-hiss, her purple lightsaber hummed to life. She drew in a deep breath as Vader turned, keeping her mind closed off to the Sith. If her plan was to work, he must not know who she was.
"Another Jedi?" He sounded equal parts surprised and shocked. "How can this be? I killed Obi-Wan Kenobi three years ago, and Luke Skywalker is the only other…"
"Then you thought wrong, Vader." To her surprise, her voice was calm, with an edge of steel. "You may have might on your side, but we have right on ours. And right always triumphs."
This seemed to strike at something inside Vader, and he surged forward: their sabers clashed, red on purple, and she found herself staring into the grille of his mask. "I have not seen a purple saber for nineteen years," he rasped. "Who are you?"
"Jaina." She ducked, making him swipe the air above her, and rolled away. It reminded her of fighting her twin brother aboard the Anakin Solo. The part of the story she hadn't told Yoda and Luke.
And now, she was fighting another family member.
"That is insufficient information." In the corners of her mind, she felt him probing for more information, trying to ascertain who she was. For the first time in nearly two decades, Vader did not have the edge.
"Anakin." He froze, hearing his former name from the lips of the stranger Jedi. "It isn't too late. There is still time. Turn, and turn again."
"Who are you?" he thundered, as she circled him slowly, deliberately, both hands on the hilt of her saber.
Her chocolate-brown eyes flashed fire at him. "That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you are Anakin Skywalker of Tatooine. A Jedi Knight of the Republic. And I don't think you've ever forgotten that. You've never truly lost your sense of being that man."
"I am not Anakin Skywalker!" He came at her again, but she blocked him. "I am Darth Vader."
I've fought one Sith Lord, I can fight another.
"What does that mean?" she challenged. "What does that give you that being Anakin did not? Your wife is dead — your sole aim for turning being to save her! and she gave you a son, who lives still!"
At this, he seemed to waver, the grip on his saber faltering. "My… my family does not concern you," he said, but he sounded unsure. "You have no business talking about my family!"
"You don't sound very confident," she gave back, her eyes darting briefly to the right, mind already calculating her exit strategy. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that the dark side is losing its hold on you - or perhaps it never had a hold on you in the first place?"
When he lifted his saber again, she rushed at him, dodging at the last moment to roll towards the door. Her plan was already half-formed in her mind: she would flee to her starfighter, set course for Haven and allow her mother and Lando to rescue Luke.
History had to take its course.
She felt the anger a split second before she was lifted off her feet and slammed into the wall beside the door. Gasping for breath, she struggled to her knees, mentally tallying up her injuries: she was pretty sure that her right shoulder was sprained, at least.
"You cannot be allowed to leave," he thundered. "The Jedi must be eliminated — you amongst them!"
Something in his voice gave her pause, and from where she knelt near the door, she looked up and across the room at him. Her grandfather. "Them? But — Luke is the only other remaining Jedi!"
Vader advanced, his red saber flashing menacingly. "Then explain to me — Jaina — how it is that his powers have increased since first I discovered his Force potential?!"
Jaina forced herself to her feet, using the wall as leverage and taking deep breaths. "The same way the first Jedi must surely have trained themselves, Anakin. You killed your own Master four years ago — who else is left? The Emperor condoned, even ordered, the Jedi Purges and ensured that none were left alive."
"He was not my Master!" Vader's ire was aroused at the mention of Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Jedi who set himself far above his abilities. He merely showed me the way to the Force, and from there, the Force brought me to my destiny."
There was no pressing the point now, Jaina knew, and she took a deep breath, gathering her strength. She'd need it, if she was to get off Cloud City alive.
Seeing Vader skitter backwards, towards the control panelling, gave her an eerie flashback to Jacen's last stand aboard the Anakin Solo.
What is it with me fighting family members?
There was no more time to reflect, however, turning and unconsciously pushing the putting to open the door, constantly aware of Vader's movements behind her.
Despite her sprained shoulder and a possible bruised knee, she managed to follow the same path back to the hangar that she'd come in by. She was pulled up short when she reached the massive doors upon seeing a group of Imperial Stormtroopers blocking the path to her fighter. There was no way she could fight her way through a group of this size.
She had no choice.
Turning, she sprinted in the direction of the external landing platforms, following the signs. Platform 324, 325… 327. The door was already open, and she could see the thrusters of the Millennium Falcon firing, preparing for takeoff.
Every step felt like torture, but at last she hurled herself onto the ramp just as it began to close, rolling into the entrance corridor. As the ship lifted off, Jaina simply curled into a ball, letting the familiar smells and sounds of the ship engulf her, and cried.
I'm sorry I've taken so long to update; I got caught up in university work, sports and life in general. But I have a two-month break and I plan to make some headway on this story!
