Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing. Star Wars and LucasArts are the property of George Lucas and Disney.
Chapter 5: Betrayal
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Starkiller entered Vader's chambers in a hurry. He could barely contain his excitement and joy, soon he and his father would rule the Galaxy. He stepped up by Vader's side admiring the view with him. They looked so regal, with matching suits and billowing capes. They looked like royalty. Staring out into space, watching the ships come and go, Vader finally spoke.
"The Emperor's fleet has finally arrived." Vader commented offhandedly.
"You have lured the Emperor to us?" Starkiller sounded impressed. "When do we strike?"
"I did not summon him." The rush of doors opening came from behind them, and Starkiller turned quickly to see who it was. When he did, Vader brought up his lightsaber and pierced his stomach. Holding him close, he spoke into his ear. "His Hand has been spying on you for months." Removing his lightsaber from Starkiller's midsection, he fell to the ground.
Walking up slowly, Emperor Palpatine, otherwise known as Darth Sidious, observed the two closely.
"What is thy bidding, my master?" Asked Darth Vader.
"You have forgotten your place, Lord Vader. By taking this boy as your apprentice, you have betrayed me." His voice was surprised. "Now, you will kill him! Or I will destroy you both." He threatened.
Slowly bringing himself up to his knees, Starkiller used one hand to remove his helmet. His face was covered in a cold sweat, no doubt from the pain. And his face was twisted into a combination of pain, determination and lingering surprise. His long blonde hair bobbed with every motion. He tossed his hair back and addressed his master.
"Master," His voice now free of distortion. "We can defeat him together!" He begged.
"Do it now, Lord Vader." Egged on the Emperor. "Strike him down and prove your loyalty to me." Vader looked between them, his master and his apprentice, his son. The decision didn't take too long to make. With a wave of his hand, Starkiller flew towards the wall, slamming into it with a sickening crunch. The Emperor's cackling filled the room. With another wave, Starkiller flew to the opposite wall; a scream was the only thing that indicated his consciousness. His body slammed into the wall with almost twice as much force.
"Yes!" Cried out the Emperor in sickening, unrestrained glee. "Kill him Lord Vader!" Starkiller's body was lifted into the air, the sound of snapping bones rang out in the room. Starkiller looked at Vader and the Emperor.
"Father, please!" He begged. Vader said nothing, and with a final wave, Starkiller flew forwards, and crashed through the glass window. For a second, there was a rush of air, before the emergency locks shut the breach down.
The Emperor looked up at Vader, and could no longer sense the boy. Looking down, they saw the boy's helmet. With a flex of his hand, Vader crushed the steel with no effort, mangling the protective gear beyond recognition.
Satisfied, the Emperor turned to leave.
"Well done Lord Vader. As a reward for your loyalty, I shall give you a special gift." He said.
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He was in a strange place. There were lights and sounds, but nothing he could discern.
There is no Light Side, nor a Dark Side…
"W-what…?" That wasn't right.
There is only the Force…
I am a guardian of balance…
I am a Gray Jedi…
Suddenly, everything stopped. He could hear the sounds of machines, and he could faintly hear some breathing. He felt a slight pressure in his arm, and an indescribable heat erupted in his body, jolting him out of his stupor. He remembered everything. His father's betrayal, how he tried to kill him…
"AAAHHHH!" He quickly noticed he was restrained to a table, with a medical droid near him. Looking down, he saw Vader standing at the foot of the steel slab.
"You!" Cried Starkiller. "You tried to kill me! Why Father!? Wasn't I loyal! Why would you betray me like that!?" He screamed at his father.
"Because the Emperor wanted you dead. So I staged the whole thing to make him believe it."
"Why?" Starkiller ground out.
"Because you are my Son." Vader said, surprising Starkiller. "Your lover, Mara Jade, was a spy for the Emperor. One of his hands." Starkiller's eyes widened. No, It can't be true… "The Emperor knew from the very beginning that we were going to betray him. What I didn't expect was for him to have…insurance."
"Insurance?"
"Yes. This life-support suit doesn't just keep me alive, it also keeps me under the Emperor's thumb." Vader said. "At any point he so desires, my master can deactivate my suit and kill me. I could not go against the Emperor with you because it wouldn't be us against him, it would be you against him." He explained. "You are powerful, but not powerful enough to take on the Emperor by yourself. He would have turned you and made you into his slave, like me, or he would have killed you. I could not allow that to happen."
Was that what it truly meant to be a Sith? To be a slave?
Vader reached down and hit the release switch, releasing Starkiller. He sat up and rubbed his wrists, trying to banish the feeling of the shackles.
"What is thy bidding, my master?" Asked Starkiller, loyally. Vader shook his head.
"You are no longer my student, and no longer a Sith Lord. It is too dangerous for us to be near each other. I have taught you everything I know, and it is time for you to forge your own destiny. This is where we part ways." Vader lifted his hands to his helmet, and lifted it off. Starkiller looked on in morbid fascination, he had never seen his father's face. He knew what happened to him, about his battle on Mustafar with his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he had never seen the damage. Peeling off his face mask, Darth Vader revealed his face for the first time in almost two decades.
His face was very pale, from not seeing any light in years and he had some scars, the most prominent ones being on his head. But the real difference was in his eyes. His entire life, Starkiller could sense the Dark Side festering around Darth Vader, he knew for a fact his eyes were Sith Yellow, despite never actually seeing them. But now, they were a striking blue. The same shade as his own.
And he was crying.
Reaching out, Vader pulled Starkiller into a hug.
"I'm sorry Luke, for everything." Begged Vader. "I should have been a Father to you, but instead I was a tyrant." Starkiller couldn't help himself, he cried into his father's armor. "Luke Skywalker, my son, always remember, even if we end up on opposite sides of the battlefield, I am proud of you and I love you." Vader placed a gentle kiss on Luke's forehead. They held each other for a few minutes, but it ended soon enough.
Vader replaced his mask on his face, and secured his helmet. He would need an antibiotic shot later on, to prevent any infections, but he would be fine.
A second droid entered the room, this one carrying a familiar black body suit and armor.
"I could not save your helmet." Said Vader. Changing, Luke shook his head.
"The helmet was Darth Starkiller's thing." He grinned. "Luke Skywalker doesn't need it."
Vader nodded to him. He turned to leave. As much as he would like to stay and help, he also had other duties and he didn't want to make the Emperor suspicious.
"Father, wait." Said Luke. "I have to ask you, where is Mara?"
"Why would you want anything to do with her? She betrayed you."
"I know…" Said Luke. "But…I love her. I have to hear it from her. If she truly is evil, then we'll go our separate ways. But, she has to say it." Luke's voice was filled with conviction.
For a while, Vader said nothing.
"She's in the brig, 10th floor, D-block, cell 1052."
"Thank you father."
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All Mara Jade knew was pain. It was all she had endured for days. But she deserved it. She deserved this pain. She told the Emperor of Starkiller's plan. She told him when they would attack. It was all her fault.
And nothing changed.
Vader was still the Sith apprentice, and she had nothing. In fact, she was betrayed too.
After Vader killed Starkiller, his own son, the Emperor rewarded him by handing over Mara. As the one who hand-delivered them to the Emperor she was the sole reason for Starkiller's death. And Vader had his revenge.
Mara begged her master not to hand her over, but he just laughed.
"What use do I have of you? You are powerful, but you aren't my only Hand. You have allowed love to make you weak. Now you will die for that weakness."
It wasn't worth it. Everything she had with Starkiller, she threw it away. And for what? Death by torture?
There was nothing Vader could do to her that would make her feel as bad as her shattered heart. She never even attempted to escape. Not that she could, seeing as how they pumped her full of Ysalamir serum.
Behind her, she heard the door to her cell open. Her body tensed in fear, but instead of being lifted or dragged out of her cell, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Rolling over, she saw a face that she believed was dead.
"S-starkiller…?" She said, afraid to believe it. Smiling and nodding, he spoke.
"Yeah, It's me." He slid his arms underneath her. One under her legs and the other under her neck. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. She cried.
"I-I thought y-you were dead!" She whimpered. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She begged him.
"It's okay." He spoke in a soothing voice. "It's okay." It seemed enough to calm her down for the moment. He carried her through the hallways without a care. "Why did you betray me?"
For a moment, Mara said nothing.
"I felt I didn't have a choice. All my life, I've been trained by the Emperor. My only goal in life was to become his Sith apprentice. Then he assigned me to the Bombing of Callos after Captain Juno Eclipse backed out. It was all a plan to have Vader take an interest in me. If the Emperor just assigned me to Vader, he would know I was a spy. He had to choose me of his own free will. It was a sheer stroke of luck that Vader assigned me to his own secret apprentice. I immediately began messaging the Emperor." She said.
"But things changed between us. We fell in love." She said wistfully. "For a while, I completely forgot about my mission and I focused entirely on us. Then you told me about your last mission, and that you were prepared to strike down the Emperor right after your defeat of Shaak Ti. Everything became very real, very fast. My whole world was crashing down around me and I was forced to choose between you and my Master."
Luke nodded. He could understand loyalty. Apart of him was angry that she chose the Emperor over him, but he had a master too.
"I ended up choosing the safest option. If I sided with you, there was a chance that the Emperor would have killed you and Vader. And probably me if he found out I was helping you. On the other hand, if I remained loyal to the Emperor then perhaps I could convince him to free you. It was a long shot, but I thought I could perhaps convince him. I believed everything would work out if I remained true to my master. But it didn't. He betrayed me. He used me up, and threw me away. After I helped him, he handed me over to Vader as a reward for his loyalty. He said that he had plenty other Hands that would take my place, and that because I fell in love I was weak." She growled.
Her face softened again and she nuzzled into Starkiller's chest.
"But, everything's alright now. You survived and came back for me." She held him tighter. "I'm so sorry, Starkiller. I'll never betray you ever again. I'll follow you to the end of the universe, and beyond if you so desire." She declared.
"I forgive you, Mara Jade." She smiled. "By the way, it's not Starkiller anymore. My name, the name my mother gave me, is Luke Skywalker." She looked up at him.
"Luke. That's a beautiful name. It's Nubian right?" Luke nodded. "I love you Luke. With all my heart and soul."
"I love you too, Mara Jade. With every fiber of my being." Mara leaned up and kissed him. It wasn't a sloppy, lustful kiss, but a gentle meeting of the lips. Luke leaned into it, meeting her with equal affection.
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Luke and PROXY were busy in the cockpit, readying themselves for takeoff. They'd have to leave soon because it wouldn't be long before the Guards learned of Mara's escape from the brig. Immediately, Luke felt her.
Mara kept her Force presence hidden their entire time together. He never thought for a second that she was also a Force sensitive. But now he could feel her. Her presence was bright, powerful, but at the same time gentle. He felt at peace in her presence. Turning in his chair, he saw her enter the cockpit. He whistled.
"That's one hell of an outfit." He admired. She wore a black bodysuit, like himself, but hers was made out of a polished leather that shone in the light, and it was sleeveless. It hugged her curves tightly, and did nothing to diminish her expansive breasts or full ass. Around her waist was a brown leather utility belt with various tools, one blaster, and a lightsaber. On each hand was a black glove and over her shoulders was a large black cape/cloak hybrid with an attached hood. Reaching up, Mara lowered her hood and revealed her beautiful face, and long wavy red hair.
"You like?" She grinned.
"Yeah, you look amazing."
"You're not so bad yourself." She flirted. "You know, I like it better without your helmet." She said. "The black bodysuit, armor and cape make you look intimidating, but seeing your face…It looks good. Way better than your freaky helmet and voice." Luke actually blushed.
"I was trying to be more like my father." He tried to justify.
"Master? We are ready for takeoff." Said PROXY. Turning in his chair, Luke addressed the holodorid.
"Then let's get out of here, PROXY." HE grinned. "What's the nearest system?"
"The Kashyyyk System."
"Very well, take us there and we'll stock up on supplies and go somewhere else."
"Very good, sir."
Luke turned and looked at Mara, who was now polishing and fixing her lightsaber.
"Mara," He unclipped his own lightsaber. "Would you like to train with me?" Mara smiled at him.
"Sure, but I haven't actually trained in while." She said. "I'll probably never finish my training."
"I'll train you." He offered.
"But only a Jedi Knight, or a full fledged Sith Lord can complete my training." She said.
"I am-was a Sith Lord." Mara's eyes widened. "The day that you became my pilot, Darth Vader gave me my Sith Title and said my training was complete. That's why you called me Starkiller. Darth Starkiller." He revealed. Suddenly Mara was kneeling in front of him.
"I submit myself to your teachings, my master."
"Whoa, hey." He said surprised. "No need to be dramatic. I will complete your Sith training, but we're also going to seek out a Jedi to teach us about the Light Side of the Force."
Mara looked up, surprised. Luke spent his time killing Jedi, why would her want to learn from one. Sensing her question through the Force, Luke answered.
"I had a vision." He explained. "In the vision I heard a voice, it kept talking about balance. That the Force had no 'sides' and that each Force user must balance the Force. A Gray Jedi."
"Gray Jedi? Aren't they a Myth?"
"If they are, then I guess we'll be the first." He said with determination. "For now, let's worry about completing your training."
Mara followed Luke down to the Rec Room, ready to receive the teachings her former Master failed to deliver.
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A/N: Darth Starkiller no longer exists and Luke Skywalker has emerged from the Sith. I apologize for those of you who felt that the whole 'Gray Jedi' thing came out of Left Field, but I think it's necessary. If someone has been trained by the Sith, using the Dark Side, I don't think that they would ever be able to let it go. Jedi use the Force while at peace, they have to be calm. When they use the Force while angry or Frustrated, or feeling any kind of emotion at all, even the positive ones, the Force becomes tainted with those feelings, and that is what the Jedi call the Dark Side.
A Sith who has 'converted' will never be able to use the Force while at peace, their emotions will always leak through. So, instead of forcing Luke and Mara to constantly battle their emotions, they will embrace them and use them in battle if necessary. They will embrace the teachings of the Sith and the Jedi.