When no fewer than eight Star Destroyers reverted from Hyperspace above Dagobah, Luke understood.
It was all painfully clear in a moment of terrifying insight. This was his fault. He'd done this. He'd led the Empire to the last of the Jedi. Third Sister had come for him, and they'd been so stupid, so thoughtless, as to allow her to land on the planet.
Any developed planet would have had sensors to tell them if a small ship was emitting a signal. They would have been able to take care of it within minutes of Third Sister's arrival. The Jedi would have been long gone before the Empire showed up.
But this was Dagobah, usually populated by a single ancient Jedi Master who was content to live without electricity, let alone modern technology.
This had been Third Sister's true mission. She had distracted the Force sensitive minds on the planet, eagerly answering any question they put to her until the full force of the Empire showed up.
Luke turned, his hand already at his saber, desparate to warn the Jedi masters, but Ezra Bridger already stood in his way.
"Did you do this?" The boy asked, his expression dark.
"Not on purpose." Luke blurted. "C'mon we need to warn the other Jedi."
Ezra remained still, his blue saber pointed at Luke's heart. "Or you could get in that shuttle, and turn yourself in. They're here for you."
Luke looked up at the destroyers hanging in orbit. He could hear the transceiver in Third Sister's shuttle crackling, a Core accented voice trying to establish contact.
"Go on." Bridger said forcefully. "Tell them you surrender."
Luke asked the Force to guide him, to show him what he was supposed to do, but he felt no direction. He asked himself what Master Yoda would do, and then the answer was clear as transparasteel.
"Alright." He agreed, turning his back on Bridger and clambering into the shuttle.
"Hand 3, this is ISD Widowmaker, you have one minute to update us on your status before we lower drop ships."
Luke sighed and responded, "This is Luke Skywalker, I want to come in."
A beat of silence, the line falling quiet, then another burst of static. "Luke Skywalker, by order of the emperor, you are required to surrender yourself. Remain where you are, we are sending a shuttle."
Luke glanced behind himself but Ezra was gone. He could sense him, further afield, spurring the Jedi into action. He considered flying the shuttle in which he stood up into the atmosphere, but he couldn't guarantee the Imperials wouldn't fire on the planet unless he remained here himself.
"Yeah, fine." He agreed, letting resignation seep into his voice. "You've obviously got my coordinates."
He slouched in the flight seat. He was going to die. It might not be today, but if he let the Imperials take him in, eventually he would have to stand before the emperor, and he knew Palpatine did not tolerate failure.
All he could do now was buy more time for the Jedi to get away. He exited the shuttle, considering. He could already see the flicker of a ship descending in his direction.
It was easy enough to gouge the shuttle's fuel pipes with his green-crystaled saber, a gift from Yoda himself. He set it all ablaze, leaping back as it caught quickly. Then, wincing, he tossed his saber into the fire and then turned and ran into the jungle. If the Imperials wanted to take him alive, and it certainly seemed that was their mission, they were going to have to find him first.
Leia was summoned to court.
She donned her black robes, her lightsaber at her hip, and made her way to the throne room. It seemed to be court as usually. Throngs of well-heeled sentients made way for her as she passed through the attendants gallery and into the presence room.
Palpatine, upon his throne, did not look up as he was in discussion with an unfamiliar man in the uniform of the Imperial Navy. A vice-admiral, from what Leia could see of his insignia.
She knelt inside the door, in Palpatine's direct line of sight, not daring be so bold as to take her place at her side. If he wanted her there, he would tell her.
When the vice-admiral left, glancing at her briefly, she moved forward, bowing then kneeling again at the Emperor's feet.
"Ah, Leia." Palpatine's yellow eyes glinted, "Come take your place at my right hand."
"Yes, master." Leia replied, rising and standing behind and to the right of the throne.
Leia remembered the days when she and her brother had both stood in this place, watching court, waiting through the long hours until the end of the day when the emperor would speak to them. She wondered where Luke was now. She couldn't sense him clearly, not so near to the emperor's own Force presence. All she felt was Palpatine's darkness, a vast chasm of which she a small part.
She'd felt strange after killing Galen. It had been different than her previous kills in this lifetime, all of whom had been nameless strangers. But Galen… had been her friend.
She'd never killed someone she knew, even in her past life when she'd been a Rebel, not directly, not by her own hand. It had felt intimate, watching the light go out from his eyes. It had been what Palpatine wanted. He'd stood there and told her to do it, and she had.
It was what he would ask her to do to Luke. It would be the ultimate test, in Palpatine's eyes. Then her father, perhaps. And then she would be alone, the most powerful servant of the emperor, just has her father had been for all those years.
That was what Palpatine wanted. She saw it painfully clearly now, and she knew she could not do it.
The emperor dismissed the sentient who had been speaking to him with a wave, turning to glance at Leia.
Palpatine, usually loath to make displays of his own power, made all the doors in the throne room to slam closed, so it was just he and Leia alone.
Palpatine rose from his throne slowly, until he stood before her, his power crackling around them both.
"I won't kill Luke, or my father. I can't." She spat.
Palpatine smiled, clasping his gnarled hands. "So again we come to this moment in which you think you can defy me."
Leia said nothing, even though her saber was in her sleeve, ready to be called forth she felt utterly frozen. She was rooted to the spot and could only hear her heart beating wildly in her chest.
"Draw your weapon, apprentice." Palpatine hissed.
Leia did so. The darkness wanted this.
Palpatine smiled, eyes blazing, "Very good. Well, my dear girl, let us see if you have trained well enough."
Leia attacked, her blade met Palpatine's own in a crackle of red sparks. She pushed back, gaining space.
Palpatine tossed his blade at her almost lazily. She ducked, smelling burnt hair as it passed over her head.
She looked up, utterly unsure if she could win this.
His weapon back in his hand, Palpatine stalked forward. "I am pleased, young one, with the dedication you have shown to your training. I expect that will prove to be an asset no matter what the outcome."
Leia frowned, she couldn't make sense of Palpatine's words.
He was on her, the pressure of the Force pushing her toward him even as he met her blade with his own. She called on the dark side, letting it strengthen her, and used it to break free and speed backwards, as far as she could.
Palpatine offered her a smug, lipless smile, "Attack. Perhaps you will succeed. Perhaps your power will be sufficient to vanquish me, Leia."
She attacked, using the Force to speed her movements, trying to get any opening, watching for any misstep by her opponent.
The emperor fought back, a malevolent glee lighting his wretched features. His saber work was as fast as her own, and his blocking was flawless.
She pushed him back with the Force, then lifted the throne itself, throwing it after him. Palpatine seemed to collapse beneath it.
Her heart was beating painfully. She waited, wishing this was over, one way or another.
With a wrench in the Force, Palpatine threw the heavy throne off of himself and got to his feet. His hood was on his shoulders and the full horror of his deformed skull was on display. "You lack the will for this battle, girl."
Leia felt Force swirl around her, then she was lifted by her throat, held immobile in the air, her feet dangling. She struggled fruitlessly against the choking grip.
Palpatine looked up at her, "You killed Galen but you failed to use his death to add to your own strength. That was a foolish mistake. Perhaps if you had, you would be winning now."
Leia was dropped to the floor, her vision clearing slowly. She raised her saber in time to block a low cutting blow from Palpatine, her arm shaking as she did so.
Palpatine cocked his head. "Your brother will soon be back in my custody."
Enraged, Leia called the Force, throwing it at Palpatine, who skidded back across the floor.
She lunged at him, forcing him to move defensively, though a small smile still played on his features all the while.
Their blades locked, he stared at her, "I have so enjoyed this game. I think we should play again."
Then Leia was pushed back across the room by the emperor's power, and the toppled Imperial throne came at her head like a missile.
She blocked it, but the impact still shook her. She'd taken her eyes off of the emperor. That had been a mistake.
The lightning hit her. Her muscles spasmed and contracted and she collapsed on the floor. Her skeleton was burning within her.
She screamed. It was all she could do. It went on and on.
The lightning finally stopped, and the emperor loomed over her. "You see, my dear, you should have trained longer before defying me. Perhaps you will keep that in mind, the next time you are able play this game of ours."
Leia could barely sit up, she was going to die. It was over.
Palpatine smiled, "A less foolish apprentice might yield, and beg for mercy."
But Leia just wanted this to be over. She got to her feet, her muscles protesting. She could feel open wounds where the lightning had broken her skin.
She relit her blade, determined to go down fighting. "I won't."
The lightning hit her again, oh so briefly, leaving her gasping on the floor. The emperor was playing with her, even now.
She was on her hands and knees when Palpatine kicked her shoulder, causing her to collapse again. Then the Force was lifting her, turning her over. She stared up the length of Palpatine's blade.
"Do you wish for death, or shall we play this game once again?"
Leia could taste blood on her lips. "Death." She spat at him.
The lightning hit her again. She felt her body rupture in impossible ways, wounds opened everywhere the lighting sought egress.
Then everything was silent. She felt the emperor near by, and sensed him watching her. She could not move, her body was broken. She waited, hoping the killing blow would come soon.
She felt Palpatine's ice cold touch on her face, and her eyes flickered open. The emperor looked down at her almost affectionately. "I will never give you death, Leia."
She stared back at him, understanding what was about to happen and utterly helpless to prevent it.
Luke had led his Imperial pursuers on a merry chase through the swamps of Dagobah. He'd run this terrain so many times, he could have done it in his sleep. As it was, he thought he'd given the Jedi maybe half an hour to escape and he sensed they were distant now, safe from the Empire for at least one more day.
So he stopped running, back in the original clearing where Yoda's hut stood, abandoned now, his fire gone cold.
Luke was glad the Jedi master was safe. Yoda, Obi-wan, Ezra, and Ahsoka would continue the fight.
He sank to his knees as white clad Storm Troopers surged into the clearing, many of them clearly worse the wear for having tried to chase him through the nearly impenetrable jungle.
The stun blasts didn't even hurt.
He woke in a secure cell, stun cuffs binding his hands together, and beyond the ray shield a dozen Stormtroopers held blasters on him.
It was over. He didn't bother to try to stand up, preferring to savor these final hours of peace before he had to face the emperor's punishment.
Darth Vader knew well the rupture of the fabric of the Force created when his master had cast the lighting. Many times it had been cast on his son, during the boy's training, when it seemed Luke would be Palpatine's next apprentice.
But today the emperor was torturing his daughter. Vader had felt her crying out for him in every fiber of his soul, the frisson of it only grew stronger as he approached the Imperial palace and made his way towards the throne room.
The attendants hall had been cleared, and only red guards remained. They did not attempt to halt his progress.
With a tremendous wrenching Force pull he opened the heavy doors of the throne room, drawing his saber as he entered.
He was met with silence. Palpatine sat placid on the floor of his ruined throne room, staring up at Vader with a sickly grin upon his ruined face.
In front of him, her head cradled in his withered hands, was Leia, broken, bloodied, and unconscious.
"You can yet save her." The emperor said softly. "I believe you know exactly what I shall ask of you in exchange for that privilege."
The long hyperspace jump came to an end, and Luke was ushered into a Lambda shuttle. He supposed he could have resisted, even now, mind tricking the Stormtroopers and commandeering the shuttle, but he was tired of running and there was nowhere left to go.
He remembered when he'd first been brought to Imperial Center. It felt like ages ago. He'd been blinded by the brightness that was the center of the galaxy. Then its darkness had begun to consume him. But he'd had Leia, a brilliant star on his darkening horizon. Even before he'd know they were kin, he had loved her and had wanted to protect her.
He reached for her presence now, to find her sleeping within the Imperial Palace, Darth Vader's presence at her side. That was good. That was as it should be.
Luke was led off the Lambda shuttle onto the tarmac of main Palace landing pad. A misty rain was falling and it felt good on his skin for the seconds before he was taken inside.
The Stormtroopers who had accompanied him from the Star Destroyer handed him off to royal guards. It was time to face Palpatine, and this time it was going to hurt, a lot.
He was taken to the emperor's north tower apartments, rather than the throne room, and none too gently pushed past the entrance doors which were then, promptly, closed behind him.
He found the emperor sitting in a carved wooded chair, gazing out one of the narrow windows at the cloudy weather beyond.
He knelt. Whatever was coming next, he would endure it.
Palpatine turned to look at him, heavily lidded eyes taking him in for silent minutes.
"You failed in your mission." The emperor said dryly.
Luke did not reply, unsure now what Palpatine wanted him to say.
"I was impressed that your father was able to command his former padawan to intercede."
So Palpatine knew about that. "Yes, Master." Luke agreed eagerly. "Ahsoka Tano utterly derailed my mission." He looked up.
Palpatine was looking down at him, visibly amused. "And yet when you gained your freedom from the Rebellion, you did not return to me."
"Because I had failed." Luke enunciated, glad the conversation had taken this course, perhaps there was a way out of this.
"No. You found yourself at liberty in the galaxy and decided you didn't want this life. You sought out the Jedi."
"That was an accident." Luke explained, knowing it sounded weak, but it was the truth.
A low chuckle came from Palpatine, "And when you remained with the Jedi?"
Luke shook his head, he could not lie to this man, he was only digging himself a deeper grave. "I thought I could escape you, master."
"Ah." Palpatine leaned back, satisfied. "There it is. The moment you betrayed me."
Luke shifted uneasily. "Master— I am—"
"Silence." Palpatine replied icily. "I told you long ago that there is no forgiveness, your apologies are worthless."
Luke stared at the flecks of color in the stone floor. He didn't know what he was supposed to say, he'd expected torture…
"Ah, you rightly understand that you deserve punishment." The emperor observed, reading his thoughts.
Luke remained bowed, waiting. He would endure whatever Palpatine did…
"But the punishment has already been carried out." The emperor whispered succinctly.
Luke looked up, unnerved by the sparks of amusement he saw in Palpatine's sulfurous eyes.
"I understand you well, child. You progressed best when you had a simple objective, and an obvious reward."
Luke didn't understand, but his heart was beating heart in his chest and he felt tendrils of fear starting to take hold.
"I made a mistake, allowing Leia to gain strength. I thought perhaps it was time for her to achieve her destiny. Truly, she could become a marvelous Sith, but I see now that she is best used as a lever to control my lesser servants."
"What did you do to Leia?" Luke bit out, fear giving way to pure dread.
Palpatine smiled with unnerving, genuine pleasure. "I have remedied my mistake. Go see for yourself, my acolyte. Hold her hand, shed your tears, but understand this: You serve me, you will become the apprentice I deserve, and if you waver, ever, for an instant, everything I have done to your sister, I will do again."
"Master—" Luke began, not wanting to understand, and desperate to see Leia for himself.
"Go." Palpatine repeated, his voice now implacably hard.
Luke left.
In the atrium he found the familiar form of Doctor Abbe standing silently near the West tower turbolift. He approached the man. Abbe looked exhausted, his dark skin unable to hide the weariness written on his face. But he smiled faintly as he saw Luke.
"Skywalker. Welcome back. Will you come with me?" The medic said.
Luke stood with him in the turbolift, disconcerted. "It's bad isn't it?" He asked heavily.
The medic turned, looking at him with a strained expression, "It is good that you are back. I believe Leia will benefit greatly from your company."
Luke merely nodded.
The lift slid open at Leia's floor. It was all the same as it had been. White fixtures with blue accents. Like Alderaan, he realized. Leia had made her apartments like Alderaan, even when she hadn't been able to remember where she'd come from. Or perhaps Vader had made them that way, as a concession to his daughter's forgotten past.
Vader appeared now, looming out of the passage to Leia's rooms.
"Hello." Luke acknowledged. "May I see Leia?"
Vader merely inclined his head, allowing Luke to precede him down the corridor to Leia's bedroom.
It was the scent of bacta that warned him that not everything was well in the chamber beyond. Then he was there, rushing to Leia's bed, where his sister lay motionless, raw lines of wounds criss crossing her exposed skin. Beneath the bacta patches, he could smell the faint odor of charred flesh.
He turned accusingly to Vader who stood at the doorway, silent but for his mechanical breathing. Vader said nothing.
Luke sank to the side of his sister's bed, finding her hand and cradling it gently against his face.
"Stars, Leia. I am so sorry." He whispered desperately.
Leia's hand twitched. Luke glanced up finding her warm brown eyes looking at him with a soft expression. He felt his sister's radiant Force presence wash over him and if felt so good to be seen by her, to finally be back at her side, even in such a state.
Leia's gaze flicked to Vader, "Father? Who is this?"
"He is your brother, Leia. His name is Luke." Vader rumbled, coming to stand on the opposite side of the bed.
Luke wished he could see Vader's face, to get some idea of the man's expression. As it was, his father's sense was shielded and wary, but Luke knew the man was looking at him.
But Leia's fingers had grasped on to his own, pulling his attention back. "Luke. I'm sorry I can't remember you. I've had an accident. Father says its okay if I don't remember. He's going to take care of me. I'm safe here." She smiled brilliantly, seemingly unaware of the fresh wounds on her face which reached up towards her hairline like the branches of a tree.
"All that matters is that you are safe." Luke agreed heavily, icy despair seeping into his heart. "I'm here, and I remember you."
The End
Dear Readers,
I could not be happier to offer you the conclusion of this story. It is a sad ending, but did you really expect otherwise? I've always thought that Star Wars is largely tragic, and in this story I've tried to fully explore that. Could there be a sequel? I won't pretend I haven't written about six chapters of a sequel, but I don't post anything until it is thoroughly finished, so I can't say exactly when the sequel might be available. If such a sequel is ever posted, I will add a mention of it as a chapter to this fic, so if you are subscribed to this fic, or to me as an author, you'll get a notification. Thank you for reading and commenting. Please read my new fic, If This Be Treason, once I start posting it and my first fic, Thirteenth which is already up. Both of them are less angsty than Damages but share the same characters explored in new, fun ways.
-Amb