Blaze: yay! New chapter

Darth: that's cool

Blaze: thanks

Darth: so… (pulls out Sun Crusher)

Palpypie: hi

Darth: (blasts Palpypie with the Sun Crusher)

Palpypie's Ghost: that was mean

Blaze: (laughs) here's chapter 24 and it is from Mara's, Vader's, Qui-Gon's, Luke's and Leia's POV, not necessarily in that order, so reviews are once again appreciated

Chapter 24

Passing the Test

Leia narrowed her eyes as she watched Han guided the Millennium Falcon through the asteroid field so skillfully that they managed to take out several of the TIE fighters chasing them and they managed to evade the rest. Han guided the Falcon through a crack in the cliff of an asteroid before guiding it to a nearby hole.

"This looks like a good place to stop," he said.

"I sure hope so," Leia muttered.

Han glanced at her. "We managed to evade being captured, come on, give me a break," he said.

"When you're wrong, I just hope I'm there to see it."

Obi-Wan, who was seated nearby calmly watching everything, chuckled and Leia glanced at the old Jedi Master. "What's so funny?" Han asked also glancing at the Jedi Master.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "You two fight a lot," he replied. "It almost seems that you fight only because you're hiding what you truly feel toward each other."

"I feel nothing for this stupid nerfherder," Leia declared.

"Yeah, same here," Han agreed.

"Sure you do," Obi-Wan said.

Han muttered a curse under his breath before guiding the Falcon toward the hole in the asteroid and slowly lowering it to a stop. "Come on, let's see if we can figure out what's going on with the hyperdrive," he murmured getting to his feet and leading the way out of the cockpit of the Falcon.

Mara narrowed her eyes as she guided her starship into the atmosphere surrounded Dagobah and she suddenly wished she hadn't. The atmosphere was so cloudy that Mara couldn't see where she was going and it was likely that she would accidently crash into the swamp instead of landing on dry land.

She narrowed her green eyes as branches interlaced in front of her and she struggled to guide her starship around the branches. She reached out with the Force but the sense of the dark side that she has been getting from this planet continued to hit her like a wave.

Why would a Jedi Master hide out here? Is it because of the dark side's presence? Or could I have been wrong? Mara wondered silently as she continued to struggle her way through the trees in an effort to find dry, solid land to land on.

I sure hope I find what I'm looking for while I'm here, Mara thought grimly as she finally spotted a solid patch of land and guided her starship toward it. She landed the ship before shutting down the main engines and opening the canopy of the ship as she gazed around.

Now where am I supposed to look now? She wondered silently. The dark side was clouding her vision and she couldn't sense Skywalker's Force presence any more than she could sense her own.

This mission just got a bit trickier, Mara thought narrowing her eyes as she climbed out of her starship and leaped to the ground before gazing around again, unable to determine which way to go.

I'm sure the Force will lead me to my goal, sooner or later, she thought picking a direction at random and starting to walk through the swamp in that direction.

"My Lord, we cannot seem to locate the Millennium Falcon. It is likely that the ship was either destroyed by an asteroid or it is seeking shelter in one of the larger asteroids," Admiral Piett said walking to Vader said as the dark lord of the Sith paced in front of the large transperisteel viewports of his Star Destroyer, the Executor.

"They're out there, Admiral, keep looking," Vader ordered coldly not once glancing at the Admiral as he continued to pace, his thoughts drifting to his son.

I will find you, Luke and I will do away with my pesky former master as well, Vader thought as he paced back and forth, his dark black cloak swirling around at his ankles. The sergeants and the other workers onboard the Executor knew better than to try and talk to Vader when he was in this mood. It was only when someone had something to report that they dared approach him and they usually had a random drawing to determine who was the unfortunate one to approach him.

Vader didn't care. All he cared about right now was discovering where his son was and bringing his son to his rightfully place at his father's side. And he knew he had to accomplish this before Emperor Palpatine's Hand, Mara Jade, did. He knew it was likely that Mara will find Luke first but he also knew that, in the end, he would get his son before the Emperor does.

The Emperor had lied to him all these years and now he was attempting to take away the only thing Vader had left of his beloved wife from him. Vader clenched his fist as he paced, he was not going to let that happen, no matter what. He was not going to let the Emperor take his son away from him, no matter what the cost may be.

"My Lord?" Piett's voice sounded again and Vader glanced at him.

"What is it?" He demanded coolly.

"My Lord, we've discovered that we are getting closer to the general place where the Millennium Falcon disappeared. As I said, it is likely the ship took shelter in one of the larger asteroids. Do you wish to wait them out or do you want us to flush them out of there?" Piett asked.

Vader thought about it for a moment. He knew that if he attempted to flush them out, he would lose some of his fighters because of the asteroids that still swarmed around them. He also knew that if he waited them out that he was losing precious time he could be spending finding his son.

Vader scowled, he always hated it when the only options he has end up being options that will cost him time. "Wait them out," he snapped finally. "They will have to leave sooner or later if they want to get out of this asteroid field so we'll just wait for them."

"Yes, my Lord," Piett said before he issued the order to a nearby sergeant and Vader went back to his pacing.

Luke narrowed his eyes as he gazed around the clearing that Yoda had led him and his master to the following day. The clearing was solid but there were many trees lying around. He remembered the day before when he and Yoda had gone for a run through the swamp and now he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next.

Yoda glanced at him. "Learned much in the last fifteen years you have," he said gravelly. "But enough to beat the Emperor it is not. Still have much to learn you do and learn it all you shall."

Luke narrowed his eyes slightly as a sudden thought came to him. "Master Yoda, if I am to defeat the Emperor, will I have to kill my father?" he asked.

Yoda glanced at Qui-Gon who shrugged. "He found out on his own," he replied. "I gave him a few hints but he was able to piece together everything."

Yoda sighed before looking back at Luke. "That depends, young Luke," he replied.

"Depends on what?" Luke asked narrowing his eyes slightly.

"On whether or not you can kill him it depends."

"I can't kill my own father," Luke protested. "There's good in him, I know there is. He couldn't kill Obi-Wan and he couldn't kill me. I know that Anakin Skywalker is still alive inside of Vader and I won't kill him."

Yoda sighed. "Much to learn you still do. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny," he said.

"I don't believe that," Luke snapped.

"Calm down, Luke," Qui-Gon said softly.

"I won't calm down, Master. You said so yourself that you believe my father can return. I know you said that because you told that to Obi-Wan when you thought I wasn't listening. I know that my father can be returned to the light side of the Force and I won't kill him," Luke said determinably.

"Determined to face the dark side you are?" Yoda asked.

"If I have to in order to save my father then yes," Luke declared.

Yoda nodded before he pointed with his gimer stick toward a swath of trees and bushes in the distance. "Then take the test you must. Go there and face the dark side you will and see if pass the test you can," he said.

Luke glanced at the direction Yoda was pointing before looking at Qui-Gon who nodded encouragingly at him. Luke took a deep breath before he walked toward the bushes and trees and slowly made his way toward a cave in the distance. The cave reeked of the dark side and Luke winced as he slowly slide into the cave and gazed around, his hand almost self-consciously going to the lightsaber that hung at his belt.

He took a deep breath before walking forward, narrowing his eyes as he strained to see in the darkness. He felt the tendrils of the dark side reach out toward him but he shrugged them off and continued to walk.

As he neared the cave, he wasn't all too surprised when a version of Vader walked out of the cave. This version was different from the real version but this one was completely covered in darkness to where Luke couldn't see his father's face. He didn't reach for his lightsaber though instead he just faced his father calmly even as the imitation Vader ignited his ruby blade.

"I will not fight you," Luke said calmly.

Vader just continued to look at him as if weighing his opponent and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. In the back of his mind, Luke was sure that he was getting a feeling from Vader, a feeling that was begging him to attack, to give in to the darkness. Luke pushed the thought away even though he knew there was a chance that he would defeat Vader, he knew could not kill him.

"I won't fight you," he said again.

And that was all he needed to do and the imitation Vader disappeared to be replaced by the illusion of Leia. Luke was a bit shocked to see his friend appear but Leia just smiled and said, "I'm glad," before she was gone.

"Passed the test he did, strong in the light side of the Force he is," Yoda said looking at Qui-Gon. "Did well with him you have but one last test he must pass if become a full Jedi Knight he is."

"I know, Master, but he's determined to save his father," Qui-Gon pointed out. He smiled slightly before adding, "He certainly reminds me of his father when his father was that young."

Yoda sighed. "Much peril in his future there is. Determined to save his father he may be and proven that he can face the dark side and win he has but save his father and resist the dark side, a tougher challenge that will be," he said.

"Yes but I believe he can do it. In my heart, I know that Luke is the only one that can bring Anakin Skywalker back and vanquish Darth Vader forever," Qui-Gon replied calmly.

"Be that as it may, only the beginning of his troubles this is. Face much more than the dark side he does," Yoda pointed out.

"Indeed." Qui-Gon fell silent as he stretched out with the Force to get a sense as to when Luke would be coming back but instead he got the sense of the dark side and it wasn't coming from the cave.

"Someone's here," he whispered.

Yoda nodded. "Felt it too I did, a servant of Palpatine it is," he said.

"And it's close by too," Qui-Gon added.

At that moment, the trees rustled and Luke walked into the clearing, stretching and rubbing his arms. "That cave sure has a lot of thorns in them," he complained.

Qui-Gon chuckled. "You weren't supposed to go near the thorns, young Padawan," he said.

"Well it wasn't as if I had much of a choice." Luke narrowed his eyes before he looked at Yoda. "How did I do?"

"Passed this test you have but many more tests you face in the future," Yoda replied.

Luke nodded before he stretched out with the Force and he frowned. "I sense the dark side, Master, and it's not coming from that cave," he said looking at Qui-Gon.

"We sensed it too. Master Yoda believes it's a servant of the Emperor," Qui-Gon replied calmly.

Luke winced. "It's not Vader is it?" he asked and Qui-Gon realized that even though he passed the test, he was, still, a bit uncertain about meeting Vader again.

"No, Vader it is not but someone else on the dark side it is," Yoda replied.

"Who?"

"Know that I do not," Yoda replied.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "Are we just going to wait here until he or she finds us?" he asked.

"We can't do anything else, Luke. It is likely that whoever this person is that he or she already knows that we are here. It won't be long before he or she finds us," Qui-Gon replied.

"What do we do?"

Qui-Gon smiled. "We must have patience, young Luke. The correct solution will present itself in time but only if we have the patience to wait for it to come," he replied calmly.

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: that was chapter 24
Darth: cool

Blaze: I won't post chapter 25 until I get at least 240 reviews but I'll gladly accept more

Darth: that's cool

Blaze: oh and I'm not going to stop doing these author's notes, no matter what anyone says, okay? Good

Darth: gee, no need to be mean about it

Blaze: who said I was being mean?

Darth: (snorts and walks off to Starbucks)

Blaze: weirdo, please review and I'll post chapter 25 as soon as I possibly can but it'll probably be sometime in August though.