Chapter Eight: Fade to Black
The feeling of Stanford's death rocked Mabel to her core, as if her remorse had made her frozen like a statue. Even though she was not physically there to see her great-uncle die, the Force gave her the ability to sense his passing from this world and onto the next. This mixed with the fresh wound from the still bleeding that she had received from the trooper's wrist blade made her feel weaker then she had ever felt before.
"Hurry up Mabel—we're almost there!" Wickett insisted as stopped to try and coax her back into reality
The Ewok's words brought her back to the present for now. The Padawan clutched her side tightly as she tried to keep more blood from spilling out as she ran. Had Mabel had the time, she would try to heal the wound through the Force, but with the troopers only knocked out and no doubt Vader was searching for her now, she had to keep moving. Her mind was still on her Dipper. He was still out there somewhere in the vast forest and she was about to leave him behind. The guilt was building up within her with every step toward her destination, making her want to stop and turn around and seek out her twin so that they may leave together.
Soon enough, she and her alien friend reached their destination. Parked on the Cliffside was Stanford's ship that he had used to escape the Jedi purge and arrive on the forest moon with Dipper and Mabel in the first place. It was a small, sleek one-man craft without any weapons and by the looks of it not the toughest armor on it, but right now Mabel's only concern was that it could at least fly.
The young Jedi was only twenty feet away from the ship before the mental image of Dipper flashed in her mind. Was she really going abandon him right here and now? He may have fallen prey to the dark side; but he was still the only family she had left at this point. Unfortunately, her dreams of being happily reunited with her sibling where only a fantasy, since deep down she knew that he was to unpredictable to take with her. So with a heavy heart, he had to part ways with Dipper. She then looked over to Wickett, also knowing this was the last they would see one another.
"Goodbye Wickett" she said sadly as she hugged him tightly "I'll miss you"
"I'll miss you to, Mabel" the Ewok cub replied just as sadly as he spoke "I'll watch over Dipper. But from a safe distant"
"Its better you stay away from him altogether" the Padawan reasoned "I don't think he'll attack the village, but don't give him a reason to"
With that, she began to make her way toward the ship. However, after only taking five steps, her craft exploded in a ball of fire and twisted metal. Mabel managed to put up a Fore–barrier between herself and Wicket and the debris from the ship at the last second to shield them both. Staring in total disbelief by what had just happened right in front of her, Mabel collapsed to her knees as a sense of hopelessness washed over her like a tidal wave.
Out of the burning, there stepped out a boy who appeared to be close to her age. Even though he wore a dark hooded cloak around his body, the Padawan could see a pair of cold yellow eyes looking back at her with an icy glare. Mabel couldn't feel same dark cold as she did from Vader, but she could still sense darkness radiating from the boy.
"So you're Stanford's Padawan?" the stranger said with interest "You're a bit more pitiful that expected, but I can see some potential in you"
"Who are you?" Mabel questioned, weakly getting back to her feet as she did
"My name is Gideon" the boy began as he removed the hood of his cloak "But you may call me the Inquisitor, and I have come to show you the path of the dark side"
The young Jedi had no idea what an inquisitor was, but she had a pretty good idea that he was a servant of Vader. The Force was strong with the boy—maybe even stronger then it was with her, but she had to stand her ground and prepare for a fight. The Padawan then glanced over to Wickett, who was clearly frightened by the whole ordeal.
"Wickett, go" she commanded as she kept her eyes locked on the Inquisitor "I'll hold him off!"
The young Ewok knew that there was nothing he could do, he could run and find his family. With one last sorrowful look, Wickett took off into the forest, leaving the Jedi and the Inquisitor alone.
"We don't have to fight my dear" the boy offered "You're clearly not in the best shape. Just surrender peacefully and I can help you"
"I'd rather die then join you!" Mabel spat in disgust
"As much as I'd like to fulfill your request, Vader gave me orders to keep you alive" Gideon replied "But I can do everything up to killing you"
The dark side user then dropped his cloak to the ground, revealing a suit of body armor with the Imperial sigil on the chest-piece. He then reached behind him and pulled out a disk shaped lightsaber that was strapped to his back. The young Inquisitor then ignited the two blades of his weapon at the same time Mabel activated her own lightsaber and both it and herself steady.
"Do you really want do this?" her opponent inquired calmly, not fearing her in the slightest
Suddenly, an image of a person zipped out from the forest and placed itself between Mabel and the Inquisitor with an already activated lightsaber in hand. The Padawan couldn't help but smile at who was now standing before her.
"Yes" Ren answered for his sister as he took his shien stance "I really do"
"Dipper!" Mabel nearly exclaimed in joy "You came!"
Her twin sibling coldly glanced over to her with his yellow eyes. Before she knew it, he swung his lightsaber at her—which she barley blocked with her own before it could decapitate her. Mabel saw only a look of pure malice on her brother's face with burning rage in his eyes that only had the desire to kill her.
"Don't think this is a rescue. I only found you because of your fear gave you away!" he snarled "And if the ship wasn't destroyed—you would've marooned me on this rock!"
"Ren please don't do this!" Mabel reasoned as she tried to hold his blade back with her own "You're all I have left!"
"Yes! Kill her!" Gideon cheered "she is weak, but you are strong with the dark side! Kill her and we can—"
The boy was cut off when Dipper launched a powerful Force-blast from his hand that the young Inquisitor barley had time to black with a barrier of his own.
"And you…" Ren hissed as he looked back at the fellow follower of the dark side "Your no ally of mine. Your just another obstacle in my way to becoming a true Sith!"
Mabel was in total disarray by what she was hearing coming from her twin's mouth. He had truly embraced the dark side was willing to kill her to prove it. Gideon let out a small snicker at his current predicament, thinking this was too good to be true.
"Well it looks like we have ourselves a three man battle" he said "Perhaps Lord Vader will forgive me if I managed to keep one of you alive"
"Don't do this, Dipper!" Mabel begged once more "We can defeat him if we fight together!"
"Defeat him, yes" Ren answered darkly "But kill him? You don't have the stomach for it. So allow me to spill yours out!"
Without even thinking, Mabel Force-pushed her brother back a few feet, making a triangle between the three of them. The young Jedi had focus her mind, but the thought of actuality fighting her brother in a possibly death match was more then she could handle. The blood from her wound was leaking through her tunic, making her dizzy and sick. She could barley hold onto her lightsaber at this point.
"So...shall we begin?" the Inquisitor asked his combatants as the blades of his saberstaff to spin in a rapid motion
And the fight was on.
High above the moon's orbit, Darth Vader's personal ship The Execetor was staying on a circling path around the moon as they waited for the Sith Lord's return and to keep anyone from entering or exiting the moon. It was Super Death Destroyer—one of the few in the Empire's fleet in fact. This massive ship had a vast array of weapons at its disposal; from ion cannons, to particle mines, to even energy disrupters, this ship was designed to decimate any and all opposition with extreme force. It even was capable of carrying both TIE-Fighters and AT-AT assault vehicles in its gigantic hanger. Whenever this ship dropped out of Hyperspace to engage an enemy fleet, the opposing armada would to the most logical course of action in this situation: Run.
However, despite being one of the most powerful ships in the known galaxy, it was unable to detect the sudden arrival of a small ship that had just dropped out of Hyperspace, thanks to the small craft's sensor-proof shields. The owners of the small craft were in fact the trio of bounty hunters that Gideon and his men had crossed on Coruscant. Thanks to the tracking device they planted on their ship, Pacifica and her crew tracked them far into the Outer Rim where they hoped to get their hands on whatever it was the Empire was looking for.
"Shields are keeping us off of their scanners, boss" Candi said as she flew the ship closer to the moon
"Good, those shields cost me an arm and a leg" Pacifica replied with a shudder "And my dignity"
"Have you—"the Twi'lek tried to say
"No, I still haven't gotten the taste of Jawa out of my mouth" her leader cut off "no matter how hard I brush"
"Are you sure we should do this?" Greta asked "I mean that's Darth Vader's ship—you know—the guy who chokes people with his mind!"
"So we won't get in his way" Pacifica reasoned "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll go looking for whatever it is they want and you two can stay on the ship"
"But how will you know what it is you're looking for?" Candi inquired
"Simple: If I see Mr. Spooky and his goons with it, then I'll steal it" the human explained
"And if something goes wrong?" Greta questioned further
"Then we'll do what we do best" her leader answered "We'll run like cowards"
With that, The Everfree slipped past the Super Star Destroyer and headed downward toward the moon.
The sound of lightsaber blades smashing against one another over and over again could be heard across the forest as three combatants continued their dual. Mabel fought through the pain and kept pace with both Gideon and her brother. She had never seen a lightsaber like the young Inquisitor's before, the fury of the spins made it difficult to defend against if she stepped to close to it at first, but once she timed the spinning of the blades, she could challenge him better. Dipper was a different story; she could almost anticipate every strike thanks to her time training with alongside him for so long. While Ren studied the Shien style of dueling, Mabel studied the Soresu style of dueling, giving her a strong defensive stance against her two opponents.
The battle was growing more and more intense by the second, with every strike between their sabers, the more bloodthirsty the Inquisitor and Ren became while Mabel kept her guard up more then ever since she knew they would both target her more during the three-way dual because she was already wounded. As the dual continued on, the Padawan took notice that the Inquisitor was not as adept as the twins where with fighting with a lightsaber, though he had skill and the uniqueness of his weapon certainly gave him an edge in the fight, but it seemed he had some trouble keeping pace with his enemies.
It soon got to the point in the dual that the Inquisitor suddenly jumped away from the fight and deactivated his lightsaber before strapping it to his back once more. Just as the twins launched themselves at their common enemy—even though Mabel didn't want to kill him—he suddenly shot his arms outward toward them and let lightning fly from his fingers. The two siblings blocked the bolts of electric energy being thrown at them with their lightsabers before they could be struck by his power.
"Power!" the Inquisitor shouted with gleeful hysterics "Unlimited Power!"
Ren began to push forward with his weapon holding back the bolts as he advanced toward his opponent, fighting back the storm with everything he had with every step. Gideon was shocked by what he was seeing before him and in a panic turned his other hand away from Mabel and beared down the full power of his lightning down on the Sith in training. It took everything Dipper had to keep getting closer, pouring all of his strength into his arms to hold his blade steady and his legs to keep going.
"Do it Mabel!" he called out to his sister "Kill him now!"
The Padawan was frozen where she stood by her own fear, she wanted to aid her brother, but she could not even think of taking a life—even one as wicked as Gideon's. Her hesitation came at her brother's expense, for when the Inquisitor sensed her fear, he increased the power of his lightning to point where he managed to knock Dipper's lightsaber out of her hand and send it fling into the air before falling at his sister's feet. Ren put up a barrier with his hands and buried him deeply within his rage toward Gideon and Mabel as he called upon the power of the Force help him. Even then, his enemy fought through the storm and marched toward him, making the young acolyte to the dark side back up until his back was against the edge of the cliff
With everything he had, Ren held back the lightning with his barrier with even greater power then he did with his lightsaber thanks to the power of his hatred. Gideon was horrified to see the boy hold back his powers with his own use of the dark side. Once Dipper was close enough, reached out and grabbed hold of Gideon's hands and held the tightly with his own. The Inquisitor felt his own power begin to back up within him, filling him with an unholy pain.
"Mercy" Gideon begged weakly "Please have mercy!"
"Those who ask for mercy do not deserve it" Ren replied coldly "Such is the way of the Sith"
"Ren don't do it!" Mabel called out in horror
The Sith in training took hold of the Inquisitor's head in his hands and unleashed his own Sith lightning, frying his enemy's skin, brain, and internal organs as Dipper electrocuted him from the inside out. Ren continued to fry his enemy from the inside out until the dark side user's eyeballs exploded out of his head and his skin was charred to a crisp. Mabel was in a state of total disbelief by what she had just witnessed, seeing her twin murder the Gorax was one thing, but seeing him kill a human being right in front of her was to much to handle. Once he was absolutely sure his victim was dead, Dipper tossed the burnt corpse over the edge of the cave and turned a menacing gaze onto his sister.
"You're a monster!" she shouted at him
"And you're a coward!" he shot back "What? Did you think he'd listen to reason? I did what needed to be done! And I'll do the same to anyone who gets in my way!"
Right then and there Mabel that she had truly lost him to the dark side, she did not want to kill him, but if as long as Vader and his men remained on the planet and with her only means of escape gone; the young Jedi came to the conclusion that she could not let Dipper leave this place—even if it meant dying in the process.
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes…" she repeated her words from weeks before in a more somber tone "I will do what I must…"
Dipper's yellow eyes narrowed at his sibling with a burning rage.
"You will try…" he sneered
In a flash, Dipper yanked Mabel's lightsaber out of her hands and into his own through the Force before rushing at her. Mabel quickly picked up her brother's weapon that was at her feet and the battle began anew. Every strike, thrust and parry was filled with a new and more intense energy then every before. The two siblings clashed over and over again, knowing this could end in only one way. Their fierce dual continued until they were at the very edge of the cliff with now Dipper having his back to the edge now. Mabel was losing her vision and muscle control as the more energy she spent fighting was only making her wound bleed out faster then before. Soon enough, Mabel was now on one knee as she tried desperately to block Dipper's powerful swings.
Mabel then glanced down at the ground at her brother's feet as a plan spawned in her head, and as much as she hated herself for going through with this, she needed to stop him from reaching Vader and she couldn't bare the thought of killing her brother with his own weapon while looking him in the eye.
"This is the end for you, my sister" he said darkly as he raised his blade over his head, ready to finish the fight
With everything she had, Mabel struck the weak ground between her and Ren with her new lightsaber, causing it crack apart from the strike. As the earth began to break apart under Dipper's feet, he gave one last look at his sister that was a mixture of both shock and anger before falling into the dark abyss of the canyon below, screaming in rage all the way down until his cry became an echo.
No words could describe the amount of shame and remorse Mabel was feeling right now. She had just taken her first life—and it was her own brother's. The young Jedi had lost everything: her family, her friends, her home and her means of escaping Vader. But yet there was apart of her that felt almost at peace with everything, for her wound was now taking its full toll on her body. The Padawan collapsed in a pool of her blood as her body grew colder. This was it—the end, and she was strangely ok with that, for she would be one with the Force alongside her great-uncle and hopefully the good that may be hiding within Dipper's wrathful soul.
"I'll see you soon, Ren…" she murmured as she began to close her eyes
As Mabel's vision began to blur out, the last thing she saw was what looked like a blonde haired figure slowly approaching her dying form.
