Blaze: uh huh, it's the last chapter, it's the last chapter of this part
Darth: NO! Why must you be so cruel to end it there?
Blaze: shut up, the chapter hasn't even ended yet
Vader: what's going to happen? What's going to happen? What's going to happen?
Luke: you're annoying father
Obi-Wan: yes he is
Vader: hey! That was mean
Luke and Obi-Wan: you're welcome
Vader: (scowls)
Blaze: (laughs) here is the next and last chapter, chapter XXVI, of this part at least, chapter XXVII will begin the second part of the story.
Chapter XXVI
Luke Skywalker gazed around the training area for a long while before turning his attention back to his father as Vader ignited his lightsaber before getting into a position. Luke ignited his own bluish green blade before leaping forward and swinging his lightsaber at Vader who blocked the blow with his own ruby red blade.
Vader leapt backward, his black cloak billowing out around him and his blue eyes narrowed slightly before he leapt forward and swung his lightsaber at Luke who dodged the blade before swinging his lightsaber to block the blow. Their blades sizzled slightly as they intersected with each other.
"You are getting better, Luke," Vader said with a small smile that still seemed odd to come to his normally stone like features. Luke could feel the conflict within his father and he knew it was stronger than it had been before. He smiled slightly before jumping backwards to avoid his father's blade. He swung his lightsaber swiftly at Vader who leapt backwards to avoid the bluish green blade again.
"Thanks father," Luke replied before swinging his lightsaber at Vader who flipped out of the way before balancing on one of the training droids. Luke reached out with the Force as Vader had taught him before leaping up to join his father, their lightsabers intersected with one another and they began leaping from droid to droid, their blades flashing.
They were still balancing on droids when Vader's comlink began to beep. Vader deactivated his lightsaber before turning on his comlink. "What is it?" he asked.
"Lord Vader," Admiral Piett's holographic image appeared and he saluted quickly. "A Lambada shuttle was pulled into docking bay 2 a few minutes ago but I have not received word from any of the troopers who were stationed here. I have reason to believe the occupant of the shuttle is somewhere loose on the Executor."
Vader narrowed his eyes slightly. "How are the repairs on the hyperdrive coming?" he asked.
"It will not be long, Jade and the other techs have gotten the main reactor back on and there is only some minor details they need to see to before the hyperdrive will be fully functional," Piett said.
"Very well, find him and have him delivered to the detention center and also send some troops to docking bay 2 and have them check on the Stormtroopers to see what happened to them," Vader ordered.
"Very well, my Lord," Piett said saluting before disconnecting the transmission. Vader put his comlink away before leaping down from the droid he was balancing on and glanced at Luke who leapt down from the droid as well.'
"What's the matter, father? You seem worried," Luke said frowning slightly.
"There's something about this sudden appearance, it is as if the Force is warning me to be on my guard," Vader murmured, clipping his lightsaber to his belt before straightening up. "Why don't we go to the bridge?"
Luke shrugged. "Sure," he said before following Vader as he led the way out of the training room and toward the bridge.
~*~
Vader couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them as he walked down the long hallways in the general direction of the bridge. He glanced back at his son and a sense of protectiveness flashed over him. He wanted to protect his son but he didn't know what from. He had this feeling something was coming but he didn't know what it was. Shaking his head to clear it, Vader stretched out with the Force and was startled when a dark Force signature came to him. The shock caused him to stop and Luke ran into his back, nearly toppling him over.
"Father?" he asked concern in his voice.
"It's nothing, it's just…" Vader fell silent before pulling out his lightsaber and igniting it.
"What's the matter, father?" Luke said alarm shining in his eyes.
"Shh," Vader said swiftly before gazing around and he noticed the hallway was empty and there were no Stormtroopers in the hallway. "Odd," he murmured. "There are always Stormtroopers here but why is it so empty and silent?"
Luke glanced at him and Vader felt him stretch out with the Force. "There's a Force signature here," he said frowning. "But it's not Fury's."
"No, it is not," Vader agreed before slowly making his way down the hallway and stopped when a tall man cloaked in black stepped into the hallway, his eyes were shadowed by the hood of the cloak butt Vader could sense the power of the Force within the man.
The man glared at him before speaking, "Lord Vader I presume," he said coldly.
Vader narrowed his eyes. "Do I know you?" he asked.
"No one does," the man sneered. "Palpatine kept me a secret, only to be used when I have to be used."
"Used? What are you, a piece of equipment or a human being?" Luke asked.
The man snarled at him, his lips drawn back in a feral like snarl. "Palpatine sent me to accomplish what Lord Fury was unable to," he said coolly.
"Lord Fury?" Vader echoed before smirking coldly. "You've come too late, Hand, Lord Fury has already failed in his mission and now, so shall you."
The Hand smirked. "I will not fail, Palpatine has given me free reign, he considers you to be incompetent of being his apprentice and so he has sent me to finish you off," he hissed.
"Is that so?" Vader echoed sounding vaguely amused. "Do you honestly believe you can best me that easily?"
"No, but I know who I can best easily," the Hand shouted before Force pushing Vader and, catching him off guard, sending him flying into the wall. He then turned on Luke before igniting a dark blue lightsaber and swinging it swiftly at Luke who leapt backward before blocking the blow with his own lightsaber.
Vader leapt to his feet before swinging his lightsaber at the Hand who blocked the blow. "So you really think you can best Luke and I, dark Jedi?" he said.
The Hand snarled in fury before leaping at Vader and Luke again. He Force pushed Vader and he went flying into the wall. "You idiot," he shrieked. "Palpatine has trained me in the ways of the Force and I shall defeat you."
"He only showed you a few things, he has not showed you the full extent of the Force," Vader retorted leaping to his feet and swinging his lightsaber swiftly at the Hand who blocked it again.
"I will prove you that I am stronger," the Hand snarled before swinging his lightsaber swiftly at Luke but Vader blocked it. Vader Force pushed the Hand away but the Hand leap backward to avoid it. The Hand snarled in fury before Force pushing Vader away and swinging his lightsaber at Luke who barely blocked it in time. Vader started to get to his feet but the Hand Force pushed him to the ground once again before swinging his lightsaber at Luke and disarming him, Luke's lightsaber flew out of his hand. It deactivated before it hit the ground but Vader suddenly saw what was going to happen before it actually did.
He knew what the Hand was planning on doing but he didn't know what to do now. The conflict arose in him again and the fear coursed through his veins. The fear was what caused him to fall in the first place but now the fear is what is causing him to rethink everything that has happened in his life. His love, Padmé, his brother and master Obi-Wan, all of them were gone and now, he was faced with a choice.
The Hand thrust his lightsaber swiftly at Luke but Vader leapt to his feet before Force pushing Luke out of he way, sending his son flying into the wall. The Hand snarled in fury before swinging his lightsaber swiftly at Vader and before he had time to stop it, the blade sank deep into Vader's chest.
Vader gasped before slowly collapsing onto the ground with the Hand smirking over him.
"Father!" Luke shouted as Vader slowly collapsed into unconscious.
~*~
Luke gazed at his father's limp body in shock and he swung his lightsaber swiftly at the person his father called a Hand. He took a deep breath to curb his anger before swinging his lightsaber again swiftly at the Hand and the blade sliced straight through the Hand's hand.
The Hand screeched in pain before grabbing his lightsaber and hurrying away before Luke could chase after him. The Hand rounded the corner and was gone and Luke gazed after him for a long moment before kneeling down beside his limp father's body.
"Father?" he whispered sadly but his father was motionless and unresponsive and his eyes were closed. Luke quickly pulled out his comlink. "Admiral Piett?" he called.
"What is it, Skywalker?" Piett answered immediately, noticing the alarm in Luke's voice.
"Lord Vader has been injured and there is a person loose on the Executor, he is armed with a lightsaber but he's highly dangerous. Please find some medics or something and hurry, I don't know how much longer he has," Luke said.
"Right away, Skywalker, do not worry, the medics are on their way and I'll have the Stormtroopers check the entire Executor," said Piett before he disconnected the transmission.
Luke put his comlink away before putting two fingers on his father's throat and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a faint heartbeat. "Please, father, please survive," Luke whispered. "I've only just found you and I can't lose you now." A single tear cascaded down Luke's face and he didn't bother wiping it away as three medics appeared from around the corner.
~*~
Qui-Gon started, swaying slightly as a great disturbance in the Force hit him and he saw Ahsoka sway as well as though she felt it as well. The Council members glanced at him with concern in their eyes.
"What's the matter, Master Jedi?" Madine asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I've felt a great disturbance in the Force," Qui-Gon whispered. "Something terrible has happened and yet it's more than that. It's eluding me as if the Force is somehow blocking something from me."
Leia narrowed her chocolate brown eyes. "Luke?" she asked.
"No," Ahsoka said. "I do not think its' Luke, I think its' something more."
"Yes, something much more is at play here," Qui-Gon said. "The game we are playing has taken another turn and it would seem the Force, itself, is making the move for us this time."
~*~
Vader was floating, he didn't know exactly where he was, all he knew was he was surrounded by complete darkness. He suddenly found himself on a floor; a forest floor from what he could tell from the trees surrounding the clearing. Leaves fell to the ground and it seemed strange of Vader to be in a forest.
He slowly got to his feet, his hand almost self-consciously going to his chest but he found there was nothing there. He made his way through the trees in the forest and suddenly entered a clearing, a sunlit clearing and he could see Force ghosts surrounding the clearing.
He spotted his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, floating nearby with Mace Windu, Shaak Ti, Aayla Secura, Ki-Adi Mundi, and Yoda floating in a semicircle around them. He gazed around; his eyes wide as he gazed at the masters that had died either during or after the Jedi Purges.
"Welcome," Yoda said gravely.
Vader lowered his head slightly. "I'm dead, aren't I?" he asked softly.
"Not yet," Obi-Wan said. "But it is up to the Force. You have been called here because something has happened. As I told you before, there was a conflict inside of you and your selfless act of sacrificing your life to save your son, it brought the conflict out and pushed you over the line back into the light side of the Force. You know this to be true, you can sense it yourself."
Vader felt what Obi-Wan was talking to him about; his selfless act of saving his son had pushed him back over the line. "But I know I'll never receive forgiveness," he whispered.
"In mysterious ways, the Force works," Yoda said. "Receive forgiveness you shall but right away you will not."
Vader raised his head to gaze at the Jedi masters. "It's all my fault," he whispered. "I destroyed the Jedi Order, I killed you," he turned his gaze to Obi-Wan. "I have done so much harm to the galaxy."
"You can always gain forgiveness, Anakin," Obi-Wan said softly. "I already told you that I forgave you for your acts but you don't have to worry about it now. The past is unchanging, everyone knows this, but you can change the future. Luke, Ahsoka and I both believed you could return and we were right."
Mace Windu nodded. "It's hard to forgive you after all you have done," he said. "But to say the least, Obi-Wan and I have been working at this for a long while. The prophecy still lives even though the Jedi Order is near extinction."
"Because of me," Vader whispered.
"Yes but that doesn't mean anything, the old Jedi Order may be dead but you and your son can rebuild the Jedi, your son is the first in the new line of Jedi knights," Mace said. "Obi-Wan, Yoda and I have been talking with the other masters and we have both agreed, you are forgiven, Anakin, it is better for you to be forgiven then us to hold grudges."
Vader gazed at the Jedi Masters in front of him before turning his attention back to his former master. "I'm sorry, master," he whispered sadly.
Obi-Wan stretched out a hand before placing it on Vader's shoulder. "I know, Anakin, I know, but I forgive you, as do all of us. Now then, it is time for you to return to your son," he said. "You are free, Anakin, you are no longer Vader, Palpatine has no control over you. You now have the freedom to return to your Jedi ways or leave it all behind but you are no longer the Emperor's minion. Goodbye, Anakin, and may the Force be with you." With that, Obi-Wan nodded and disappeared, Mace, Shaak Ti, Ki-Adi Mundi, Aayla Secura and Yoda nodded once before disappearing as well and Vader was thrown away from the clearing and back into the living world.
But as he passed through the boundary between life and death, he felt the darkness rip away from his body and run away screaming. He felt the binds that had been placed upon his former self break and the light side of the Force surged through his body again, pushing the darkness aside.
And in that instant, Darth Vader ceased to exist, in his place the Chosen One, the Hero with No Fear, Anakin Skywalker, returned.
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: I'm sorry, I just had to cut it off there
Darth: you suck
Tigerstar: yes you do
Vader: yeah
Anakin: hahahaha, you're dead, you're dead
Vader: shut up
Anakin: (smiles) why?
Vader: (scowls before driving away on his motorcycle)
Anakin: wait a minute that's mine! (Chases after Vader)
Blaze: (laughs) please review and I'll post the second part as soon as I can but not until I learn of what you think of the ending of the first part.