A/N: As you can probably guess from the title, it's time to see if Luke's faith in the Force holds out, and if Yui's faith in him- and Vaxra's spirit- is well-founded.

On to the conclusion of the epic battle over the Death Star!

Unwavering Faith

Yui diverted all of her engine power into her reverse shields and thrusters, staving off Varicious' attacks while his blasterfire whizzed all around her. They had less than a minute before the Death Star would fire, destroying the Yavin moon, and the rebels along with it.

Her R4 unit suddenly beeped a message to her, saying that the pursuing ship was hailing her. She considered it for a brief moment. It was very likely that Varicious was planning on using Sith rhetoric to upset or confuse her, or perhaps even just torment her on a personal level enough so that he could blast her to dust.

On the other hand, could it be possible that he had kept his word and meditated on their fight, and the convictions that drove her?

"Speak to him," Revan advised. "I sense no ill will towards you coming from him."

"The blasters he's using beg to differ," she muttered.

"You know that if he genuinely wanted to kill you, he would be hitting your ship more often than he has been," Revan said quietly. "Things are likely not what they seem… I sense the Force moving in him, but towards which destiny, I am not yet certain."

Yui hesitated for one final second before she flipped a switch that cut off her line to the ground base and said, "R4, open the channel."

"Luke, they're gaining on us," Biggs said, sounding nervous. "What's the call?"

"Yui had her boys divert their engine power from their guns to the shields," Luke answered. "I need you guys to do the same, but also divert some of the engine power to the shields, too."

"Bu that'll slow us down," Wedge argued, even as the trio of fighters began to close in.

"It'll slow them down, too," Luke answered. "We need to hold out long enough to make it that reactor shaft."

"Luke, we don't have much time," Biggs reminded him.

"I know, but we're only getting one shot anyway," his friend told him. "So let's make sure we do it right."

There was a brief crackle of static before the voice of the Sith Assassin came through. "I'm surprised you let me through," he stated.

"Someone I trust advised me to do so," Yui replied in the same even tone. "What is it? Have you considered what I spoke of?"

"I have," he answered. There was a brief pause, and Yui found herself holding her breath without knowing why. Then he said, "The focus you possess, and the drive to battle… I want that."

"Why?" she asked. "So you can better serve your master?"

"No," Varicious chuckled a bit, even as one of his blasts clipped one of her wings. "I recognize that your strength comes from your own convictions, not a devotion to an empty cause. All I have ever wanted was to be strong, Kirigaya. Vader and the Emperor have made me powerful… but not strong like you. I… admire that." The last part was said begrudgingly, but it was a sincere acknowledgement.

Luke was sweating so hard that he was drenched with it. "The Force is with me," he breathed heavily. "And I am one with the Force…" The target was approaching rapidly, he knew. His computer was off, but he could still see it in his head, coming closer and closer…

"Luke, we're running out of power!" Biggs shouted. "What's your call?!"

"My engine's been hit, I'm losing speed," Wedge informed him.

"Both of you, clear out," Luke said, his voice strangely calm despite all of the pressure he was feeling. "I don't want either of you losing your life if I can help it."

"We can't just leave you-"

"Biggs, Wedge, that's an order!" he told them. "You can't do anything more, just go!"

"Okay, but you'd better make it back alive," Biggs said.

"Sorry boss," Wedge added.

He didn't acknowledge them, putting every ounce of his focus into making it to the target in time. He increased his engine speed while having R2 drain all the power from the guns- he wasn't going to need them now, anyway. The torpedoes wouldn't take any resources from the auxiliary power since they were basically bombs that needed to be dropped.

Just as the blue-and-white astromech finished making the changes, Luke heard him scream, and his sensors indicated that the droid had stopped functioning. "I lost R2!" he reported with worry.

"Two of the fighters have broken off, Lord Vader, should we pursue?" one of the TIE pilots asked his commander.

"No, stay on the leader," he said, angling his ship slowly to take the perfect shot.

Then things went very wrong. The ship on his left was blown to pieces, breaking his concentration. "What?!" he demanded as he looked up to see a Corellian freighter coming in at high speed.

"Look out!" the other pilot said as he panicked, swerving his ship to accidently clip Vader's fighter on the left wing. He crashed into the side of the trench while the dark lord was sent spinning off into space, fuming at the bizarre reversal of fortunes.

"Yahoo!" Luke heard a familiar voice shout into his headset.

"Han?!" he gasped, shocked.

"You're all clear kid, so let's blow this thing and go home!" the pirate laughed from the Falcon's pilot seat.

Rather than ask questions, Luke immediately refocused on the task at hand, reaching out with his senses to feel for the right moment to destroy the place that marked Ob-Wan Kenobi's grave.

When he felt that the reactor shaft was at just the right place before him, he squeezed the triggers that would fire his photon torpedoes. He let out a huge breath of relief when there was no premature explosions on the surface- the shot was good.

"So what will you do?" she asked. "Kill me to prove that you are stronger?"

"No, not yet," he laughed darkly. "No, I'll let you go once this battle is over, disappear for a while… But you will hear from me again someday. And when you do, your convictions will be set against my own, and not my master's. Only then will I be satisfied in knowing that I found the true path to power."

"There are several paths to power," Yui said, her mind somewhat reeling from his declaration. "But only the light can provide a lasting strength."

"Says a user of the dark side?" Varicious smirked. Another blast hit one of her engines, causing a bit of damage and slowing her speed a fraction.

"The dark side is strong to tear things down, not to create anything lasting," Yui replied. "Oh, and Vaxra?"

"Varicious," he corrected her.

"I suggest we move further away from the Death Star. Right now."

"…Why…?" he asked slowly.

Yui responded by whipping her ship up, over, and spiraling so that she shot past her opponent's ship. "R4, divert all power to the engines- this is gonna be close."

"What are you- Wait, what the he-" Varicious' voice was cut off as the Death Star suddenly exploded, rocking her ship and nearly frying her with the intensity of the flames that resulted from the blast.

R4 screamed with fright, but Yui knew that they would make it. Turning her radio back on to receive signals from the rebels, she said, "Well done, Luke."

"Well done?!" Han's voice surprised her. "Are you kidding?! That was a great shot kid, one in a million!"

"Good to hear from you, Captain Solo," she smiled, glad that he had returned when it mattered most.

"You too, sweetheart," he chuckled. Normally she would have decided to deck him as soon as they landed, but she felt that she could let it go, just this once- after all, he had just helped them destroy the deadliest weapon in the known galaxy.

"Hey Yui?" Luke asked.

"What is it?" she asked kindly.

"The Force is with us, isn't it?" he said.

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling even brighter. "It definitely is."

"Well done, both of you," Revan echoed. Adding to his voice was that of Ben's as they said, "Remember… The Force will be with you. Always."

Waiting to greet the heroes of the battle were the majority of the alliance, but at the front of the crowd was a figure dressed in white, elegant in her bearing and joy radiating from her face. Luke quickly scaled down the ladder that was set up for him, leaping down the last few rungs to embrace Leia and spin her around with a huge smile on his face.

"You did it!" she kept shouting.

For the first time in his young life, despite the losses he had suffered in recent days, Luke felt that he was where he was meant to be. And he was happy to be there, surrounded by people that he could comrades, and even more importantly, friends and family.

"Luke!" Biggs shouldered his way through the crowd to give his best friend a massive bear hug. "I thought we were toast there for a minute, but you did it!"

"I couldn't have done it without you, buddy," he grinned.

"Hey, what about me?!" Han said as he made his way forward, flanked by Chewbacca.

"Han!" Luke shouted to be heard above the noise. "I knew you'd come back!"

"Yeah, well I couldn't let you take all the credit and rewards," he said as he ruffled the younger man's hair playfully. Luke and the others let it slide, but they all knew why Han was really there- he too, had finally found a circle of friends that would have his back, no matter the circumstance.

"Sir, sir!" C-3PO exclaimed as they brought down R2 from the X-wing.

"Oh no…" Luke winced as they saw the damage. The poor little droid had taken an indirect hit from Vader's guns, but it was still enough to have blasted off a number of his parts and laying bare some of his internal components.

"Don't worry 3PO, I'll get him fixed up in no time," Yui said as she rushed over to examine the damage.

"Please, Miss Kirigaya, if any of my parts will be of use, I'll gladly donate them!" the golden droid fretted.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," she chuckled at the protocol robot.

Then Yui turned to Luke, a huge smile on her face as she looked at the triumphant Skywalker. When she was close enough to be heard, she told him, "Luke, you're very determined, a great pilot, and you come through when it really counts." Hugging him close, she added, "Just like your father."

As the Rebel Alliance prepared to celebrate, a lone ship wandered the dark reaches of space, its pilot deep in meditation. When his eyes finally opened, he muttered, "Degobah… What will I find in those dark swamps…?"

Punching in new coordinates to the navicomputer, Varicious engaged his hyperdrive and shot off into the galaxy.

Every Alliance member on Yavin 4 was in attendance in a great hall that would serve today as the place where some of their greatest heroes would be honored accordingly. At the top step of what was once an altar of some kind, stood Princess Leia in another elegant white dress. But this time, she wore a belt from which a lightsaber rested.

Behind her stood a man with a pillow that held three golden medallions, each ready to be presented to a select individual.

The great doors at the other end of the hall opened to admit four figures. The one in the rear was massive, easily nine feet tall and covered in thick brown fur. Chewbacca roared a greeting to the assembly as the group began to walk down the aisle to where Leia awaited them.

On the right strode the pirate-turned-hero, Han Solo. He wore a confident smile as he strode through the room, seemingly taken by the rewards of being a hero to the galaxy. He wore his usual outfit, a black leather vest on top of sand-colored clothing.

On the left walked Luke, who looked a little uncomfortable at the attention he was receiving, but happy to be there nonetheless. He wore a yellow alliance jacket on top of black pants and a tan shirt, his father's lightsaber at his hip.

In the middle of them and slightly ahead of their pace strode the Jedi Yui. She was wearing a refitted version of her original clothes for the occasion, though she realized that she would likely be using it more often than not. She had kept her black-and-white theme, as well as the sleeves that were separate from her tunic, but now she wore light battle armor, based on designs she had studied from the old republic era. Silver gauntlets rested on her forearms, decorated with a pattern similar to her lightsaber's, and her boots were now reinforced with carbon steel, both of which would add to her martial prowess. And of course, her saberstaff hung from her belt as she walked through the assembly with poise and confidence in equal measures.

Once they had reached the bottom of the steps, every person in the gathering turned to face forward to observe the proceedings.

Leia turned to select one of the medals before moving to stand in front of Han. As he bowed his head to her, she announced in a voice that echoed through the hall, "For showing unprecedented courage in the hour of our greatest need, I name you a friend and ally of the Alliance. Captain Solo, should you choose to stay with us, you will be given the rank of a commander in our military."

As she placed the medallion on his head and he straightened, he grinned cockily and said, "That sounds like a pretty good offer, Princess. Think I'll take you up on it." He threw in a wink for good measure, which she chose to ignore.

Taking another medal, she moved onto Luke as he bowed, saying, "For following through on a task that many would have run away from, from rescuing me from the Death Star to saving the lives of all of those here, I thank you, Luke Skywalker." After she had put the medal around his neck and he had straightened, she announced, "Luke has already been approached with the offer of becoming a commander in our forces, which he had chosen to accept."

This got the crowd to roar with approval. Han may have played a vital role in the Death Star's destruction, but Luke had already been well-received by the Alliance in his time spent with them, especially since he had so readily devoted himself to their cause whereas the pirate had almost bailed on them.

"And last, but by no means the least of these brave fighters is the Jedi Knight Yui Kirigaya," Leia said. The crowd went wild with delight, especially the survivors of the recent battle with the Empire- it was clear that her orders and influence during the Death Star Battle had quickly become well-respected by the people in the military. Her calls had saved several of the pilot's lives, and though the mission had been a close call, they did succeed.

Leia had to hide a smile as the girl bowed and allowed a medal to be placed around her neck before straightening with a wry smile of her own. She had been against receiving any kind of reward, but eventually Leia convinced her that the pilots would riot if she wasn't properly recognized.

"For guiding our forces to a victory that many thought impossible, and showing us that the Force is still with us, Jedi Knight Kirigaya has been granted the rank of General," Leia revealed, sending a ripple of surprise through the crowd. "Her tactics and knowledge of the Empire's forces are unrivalled, and the military leaders are unanimous in their decision. From this day forward, General Kirigaya will be among the leaders that plan our battles and decide where we make our strongholds."

Done speaking, Leia stepped back while the heroes turned to face the adulation of the people that they had saved. Yui had smile as she heard R2-D2 whistling merrily next to C-3PO, looking as though he had never been through a battle in all of his years. Repairing him had been hard, but worth every second, she thought. After all of the times he had saved Anakin's like, she couldn't let him stop now that Luke was in the picture.

As the applause grew louder, Yui, Luke, and Leia all raised their sabers, ignited them, and said, "May the Force be with us!"

Mataras: Woop woop, and that's the last of Episode IV! And before anyone asks, no, I will not be making the next episode a separate story- Star Sword II is meant to cover the entire original trilogy.

Anakin: So what's next? Some filler arcs, or straight on to the Empire Strikes Back?

Mataras: Straight on.

Kirito: Any particular reason?

Mataras: I'll make references to some things that happen in between, but as far as this story is concerned, nothing significant enough to warrant a chapter is going to happen.

Asuna: What about between episodes V and VI?

Mataras: Probably.

Anakin: Probably what?

Mataras: Yes.

All: We hate you.

Mataras: Love you too, guys.