Match Maker
Chapter 11
Location: Death Star
"YOU!" shouted Darth Vader in a fury.
He had not seen Lady Thrice Kenobi since he tried to strangle her with his bare hands back on Dagobah Clan Colony nearly 15 years ago. Yet, standing strong and proud by the doorway stood the woman-warrior and she looked every inch as confident and defiant as her pale-twin, Lady Nina.
"Fight me you coward! Fight me and meet your death!"
Though, cautiously Vader ignored Thrice's taunts and instead gave her a curious glance. "Where is Obi-Wan? I have learned long ago that you are never far from my former-Master's thoughts. And you, Milady are not so unfeeling as you pretend to be."
Thrice casually gave him a grin and answered, "Well, age has certainly mellowed you out, Sith dog. I remember you used to be a lot more eager for a good brawl. What's the matter? Do you miss Obi-Wan that badly?"
Amused, Vader laughed and replied, "You cannot provoke me, Milady for I know you have come to save your fellow sister, Lady Nina but you are too late."
Then, in a swift move, the Sith called his red lightsaber back into his hand and ignited the blade and moved to chop off the pale-warrior's head. However, just in the nick of time Nina summoned Thrice's black sword off the ground as well and blocked the killing blow with all her might.
"NO!" cried Thrice in desperation.
Quickly, she ran to stop Vader from attacking again, but it she was still too far away. Mercilessly he raised his saber and was about to plunge it into the heart of his prey, yet incredible Obi-Wan appeared and clashed blades with his former-apprentice in a battle of sheer strength.
"Thrice! Now!" shouted the Knight.
And in a mad dash, she ran towards them and collected Nina and her weapon off the ground. Meanwhile, Vader was shocked to discover that his former-Master was unchanged. He looked exactly as he did the day he had left him for dead on Mustafar. It was like no time had passed for either Obi-Wan and his bride at all.
"No, this can't be." Vader then used his Dark powers to launch his former-Master away from him and began to boil over with rage. "You allowed yourself to be cloned by that filthy witch! You are not the Obi-Wan that I remembered from my past."
The Jedi Master circled the Sith and retorted back, "It's true, Darth Vader. I am not the same man I was before when we meet last, but love has changed me and time as well."
"Love…what do you know of love? Where was this love when you abandoned me on Mustafar? Where were your feelings of affection when you betrayed me for your precious Jedi!
Vader then lunged forward and the two lightsabers crashed in a duel of light and speed. Suddenly, in a battle of the Force, the two men tried to out match the other in a contest of wills, but with a great blast they separated in draw.
"You have trained well, Obi-Wan. You are stronger than you were before."
"My wife makes a good partner."
"And together we are strong," said the woman-warrior as she rushed towards the Sith and tired to sever his arm in half. Swiftly, Vader blocked her blow, but instantly he realized that his once one-on-one match had turned into a duel of two. In a wild dance of steel and light, the pair quickly burned and sliced at the Dark Master's armor until he could barely move. Unsteadily, he backed away and gazed at his opponents in a black rage. He knew that as a team they were unsurpassed.
"Obi-Wan…you cannot defeat me."
Impassively, Thrice stepped forward and said, "Watch me" but compassionately the Knight halted her advance with his hand.
"No. Vader—Anakin, please reconsider and return to the Light. Please forgive me for failing you and repent."
Shocked, the raven-beauty cried, "Sir Knight, no." Then, suddenly in a voice filled with feeling she begged, "Please, my darling don't do this to yourself. For no man can grant another forgiveness until he can forgive himself. We choose our own paths."
Yet, Obi-Wan was resolved and said, "Yes, I know, but I do not do this for my own sake, Milady. I do it for our son's." He then looked to Vader and stated, "Choose. The path of Darkness or the path of Light. Only one can grant you peace, old friend."
In response, Vader sneered and replied, "Save me your pathetic promises of redemption, Obi-Wan. The Light has nothing to offer me. And soon you shall be stripped of all that you hold dear just as I have."
Then, in an unexpected move Vader threw his lightsaber into the room's light source and plunged the chamber into darkness.
"Hellfire!" shouted Thrice enraged. "The dog turned tail and ran."
Obi-Wan reached up and calmly touched his wife's shoulder and said, "Stay focused, my dear. Vader was not our main objective. Now, where's Nina?"
"Passed out against the far wall. You'll have to carry her. Do you think the children have rescued the Princess?"
"I don't know, but hopefully they'll have better luck than us."
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Location: Death Star, elsewhere
After a little help from R2D2, the three young men found the location of the Princess in the prison block and learned she was scheduled for execution. In haste, they left the control station and left R2 and C3PO behind and ambushed some stormtroopers and took their gear for a disguise. And with their new camouflage, they were able to reach the elevator to the prison center with relative ease.
"I can't see anything," complained Jinn inside the elevator.
"Well, I can't either so pipe down," snapped Han.
Irked, Luke said, "Hey, leave him alone or we'll never pull this off."
Han glared inside under his mask and gave Jinn one last immature shove and said, "So, Mr. Smarty-pants what's the plan?"
"Well…" thought Luke—"I guess we go in saying we've been resigned for guard duty and take advantage of the confusion when they try to find out."
Though, passionately Jinn suggested, "I think we ought to just shoot them up."
Amazed, the two turned to face the teen in disbelief.
"Jeez, kid. Are you bloodthirsty or what?"
Jinn shrugged and replied, "Ok, how about Luke and I just do some Force mind-tricks on them and subdue them that way?"
In response, Han was confused, but to Luke it made perfect sense. The elder brother said, "Right, sounds like a plan."
The two nodded and faced the front of the elevator while Han continued to be the odd man out. Finally, he shook his head and wondered again if he made a big mistake. Though, he didn't have long to contemplate as the doors threw open and they at last found their destination.
Perplexed, the prison guard asked, "Who sent you? What are you three doing here?"
Luke didn't waste any time and stepped forward and instantly raised his hand to his face. "Sleep," he commanded and immediately the guard dropped back into his chair in a heap.
Astounded, Han watched as Jinn did the same to the other guard and saw the uniformed-men nod off like flies. Yet, still there were too many to spell for just the two brothers and so Han found himself confronted with an armed soldier with a blaster in his hand.
"What the hell is going on!" he shouted.
"A prison break!"
Han then shot the guard and knocked him over the head and headed towards the controls. It didn't take him long to find the Princess' cell and he quickly shouted out her location to Luke.
The young-Jedi ran to the cellblock and opened the door and saw the lovely Princess Leia curled up on a plain prison cot against the wall. Bewildered, she stared up at the trooper as he gawked at her in amazement.
"Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?"
"What? Oh!" Luke pulled off his helmet and said, "I'm not a stormtrooper. I'm Luke, I'm here to rescue you."
Quickly, Leia rose off the cot and said, "You were sent here by Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Luke smiled. "Yeah, he's my Dad. Come on."
Yet, once outside the cell Luke and Leia were bombarded by blaster-fire and saw Han and Jinn crouched down together by a support beam for cover.
"What kind of rescue is this?" shouted Leia.
Jinn turned to the Princess and smiled. "The best kind, Milady. It's exciting."
Annoyed, Leia grabbed Jinn's gun and then began shooting the troopers at the end of the hall. These had to be three of the worst Rebels she had ever met. Didn't they do anything right? And why did they bring a child with them?
"Is there a back entrance to this place?" shouted Han.
Luke replied, "No, it's a prison block. It's only got one way out."
"Oh, quit being such a civilian, Luke," called Jinn.
The amber-eyed teen then reached over and pulled Luke's lightsaber from his belt and ignited the blade. Then, with a wild grin, the young-warrior winked and rushed out into the hall and began to deflect the blaster-fire like a tennis champ. Astonished, Leia and Han watched as he wielded the legendary Jedi weapon with ease and enthusiasm.
"Hey, that's my lightsaber, Jinn!"
Frustrated, Luke followed behind his little brother out into the corridor and pulled Jinn's sword from his side and helped him fight back the guards. It didn't take them long before they vanquished all the Imperial troops. And once Jinn deactivated his saber, Luke immediately yanked it out from his hand and tossed him back the Clan-sword.
"Jinn, you're such a nut. Give me a warning before you do something stupid like that."
"Well, what was I supposed to do? Wait until I got shot?"
"No, but Father left me in charge. Not you."
Jinn frown and said, "That's not true. Father didn't say you were the leader. And besides, I can take care of myself."
"Boys!" shouted Leia annoyed. "Knock it off the both of you. Now come on, let's go."
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As the Princess and company made it down the halls of the Death Star, they released they were encountering very little resistance. Suspiciously, Han said, "Boy, this place sure has lousy security. You'd think a place this big would be crawling with more men."
"Yeah," said Luke. "Something doesn't feel right."
"Who cares," replied Leia. "The sooner we get out of here the better."
Jinn shook his head. "No, I agree. The damage by the Iron Gate shouldn't have been that severe." He then turned to Luke and asked, "Do you think it's a trap?"
Surprised, Leia grabbed the teen and said, "Hey, did you just say the Iron Gate is here?"
"Yes, but they got pounded by the Death Star. But you needn't worry about that, your Highness, we'll set everything right."
Irritated, Han said, "Oh, quite being such a big-shot, kid. And there is no we."
The amber-eyed teen frowned in disappointment and stated, "Well, then the Princess can count on me because I'm a Jedi and as a warrior my word means something."
Luke gave his brother a warning look and began, "Jinn—"
But, the teen would have none of it and shouted, "No! I know this might sound dumb, but my dream in life is to grow up and become a Knight. I want to save people. And I didn't just gamble at the slums on Tatooine because I wanted money. I did it so I could earn credits to free slaves."
In response, everyone was stunned and said nothing at all until Han began to laugh and shook his head overwhelmed and said, "Oh gods, you're freaking unbelievable, kid."
Annoyed and embarrassed, Jinn then lunged forward and shoved Han back and cried, "Oh, yeah well then you're a damn selfish coward!"
"Hey!" scolded the space-captain sternly. He grabbed hold of Jinn by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back and said, "Take it easy, kid. You're beginning to sound like you're mother."
"Well, that sounds like high praise," said Obi-Wan from around the bend of the hall. The group turned and saw the Jedi Master carrying the unconscious Lady Nina over his back, piggy-back style and his wife standing beside him.
Thrice scanned them all and nodded her head. "Good. It looks like you're all fine and you've got the Princess too. Let's go."
"Mother, wait," called Luke—"I think we might be stepping into a trap. There hasn't been that many guards around lately and we figured they might be waiting to ambush us at the hanger bay."
Concerned, she paused and gave her husband a glance. "Sir Knight?"
"I don't think it can be helped, Milady."
She smiled and said, "Then, we better not keep them waiting."
-0-0-0-
Location: hanger bay
When the group made it back to the hanger bay to board the Falcon, they saw that waiting for them on the dock was a full platoon of stormtroopers who were all armed and ready to fire on command. At the front of the troops stood Darth Vader nursing his injured side and holding his lightsaber threatening over Chewie's shoulder where he was kneeled.
Mournfully, the hairy first mate wailed piteously at his captain and watched as Captain Solo shook his head in grief.
"Oh, Chewie."
Confidently, Vader said, "Surrender now or I will end him."
Enraged, Han shouted, "You touch him and you're a dead man, buddy!"
"Silence!" roared the Sith. He then moved to choke Han with the Force, but swiftly Thrice stepped forward and dispelled Vader's powers with a wave of her palm.
Venomously, the raven-warrior began to churn the Living Force around her until the atmosphere around them grew heavy and dense. And with her hand still extended she channeled the energy around her till her eerie eyes began to glow a demonic red and with a flick of her wrist she shot a blot of Force-lightening out at the platoon and subdued them with her skill.
Just barely, Vader was able to dodge the blow as it paralyzed all his men on the floor and had them withering in pain. In that instant, Luke and Jinn plowed the way and helped Han get Chewie onto his feet and quickly they dragged their wounded and weak away till they reached the ship.
In haste, the group boarded the ship to make their getaway, but furious Vader rose up and strode towards the ramp to intervene. He could not permit his enemies to escape so easily. Yet, with one last blast of energy Thrice shot another blot of energy at the Sith until he landed on his knees. Willfully, he tried to withstand her attack as best as he could, but it was too late. In minutes the ship's ramp lifted and in a bust of energy the vessel began to move away and in a flash they blasted the bay-doors and flew into the darkness of space.
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Location: Millennium Falcon, space
The moment the ramp doors closed, Thrice suddenly fell unconscious and collapsed onto the floor like a dead weight. Luke was shocked at her abrupt descent and ran to her side and tried to revive her with a shake.
"Mom! Mom, wake up." Scared, he looked over to Obi-Wan and shouted, "Dad, something's wrong with Mom!"
Carefully, Obi-Wan handed Nina to Jinn and rushed to his wife. He then gingerly lifted her up and placed his hand onto her face to try and read her presence in the Force and sensed she was alright, just fatigued. He let out a breath in relief and held her closer to his chest and planted a kiss over her forehead as she slept.
Smiling, he turned to Luke and said, "She'll be fine. She merely fainted. She just tapped into too much energy."
In reply, Luke nodded and said, "Father, I didn't know Mom could do that."
Obi-Wan slowly gathered his wife into his arms and lifted her up like a bride and retorted, "Yes, that makes the two of us, son."
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TBC
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Thank you for your reviews: RKF22, Anaika Skywalker, ladynatasha, The Jedi Princess and Star the Foxhound. I love the feedback. And I couldn't kill off Darth Vader that easily. He still has to fight Luke and learn that he has a son. Plus, I have to explain the fate of the Clan and maybe squeeze in another plot twist, but for now I don't really know.
Please review. Thank you.