"Three….two….one…" Luke whispered to himself, watching the countdown on his cell phone. Right on cue, a massive explosion rocked the mountain side, and he watched from his hidden perch in the rocks just above the base as the tremor shook the snow-capped mountain ledges above…and sent an avalanche careening down in a flood of white destruction over most of the complex below him. The roar of the tumbling snowpack was deafening on top of the ringing still in his ears from the bomb blast. He felt the deaths of a few unlucky Inquisitors, their lifeforce joining instantly with the Force, and he could also feel the sudden frantic frenzy as alarms began to blare loudly across the valley. He grinned grimly, and though he had no phone service up here on this remote mountain top in the Swiss Alps, when he closed out his timer app, he couldn't help but notice the frantic text messages from Mara on his screen.
He frowned, feeling a surge of guilt twinge through him. When he'd left to go get more explosives for their attack on this base, he hadn't left with the intention of going on the mission by himself. However, as he'd purchased the explosives (under a fake name, of course, and through the Black Market), he mulled over the fact that he was about to put Mara into incredible danger. Yeah. Sure, she had a good idea of how dangerous this mission was…but yet, at the same time, she didn't really know. Luke had spent enough time at this base over the years to know that even this diversion would only last for a short time window. If he were caught and killed…well, at least he could die knowing that Mara was safe. Technically, she knew where he was—he'd given her the coordinates back when they had been planning to go together. However, if she decided to come after him, he would hopefully be done before she could get anywhere near the base.
Hopefully.
So, he stole a random ship from some type of docking facility in one of the run down parts of London, loaded the explosives he'd just bought, and took off for Switzerland. He hadn't even planned on telling her he was going at all. But, with each message she'd sent, asking to pick him up, asking why he wasn't responding to her texts…the guilt he felt at leaving her behind increased. So, he'd texted her back, letting her know what he was doing, and apologizing for leaving her behind. That way, if he didn't return, at least she knew why. He had then put the phone on airplane mode. He told himself it was to take away the distraction so he could focus, but really, it was because he just didn't want to deal with her likely furious reaction. Was it cowardly? Sure. Did he care at the moment? Absolutely not.
She was safe, and he had bigger things to worry about anyway.
While chaos and confusion rippled throughout the top-secret, hidden Inquisitor compound, Luke used that moment to quickly move from his hiding spot and move towards the south entrance, far away from the devastation his planted explosives and the avalanche had caused to the north end of the massive complex. Unfortunately, his last-minute decision to come alone hadn't exactly prepared him for the frigid temperatures with the biting-cold snow storm, but he'd scrounged around in the storage bins in the back of the ship and found some spare gloves in one of the ship's compartments. So now, thanks to the gloves, as he gripped his lightsaber in one hand and his gun in the other, he didn't feel like his fingers were going to fall off. His face, on the other hand, was a different story—his cheeks had long ago gone numb.
He reached the door of the south entrance, igniting his lightsaber and digging it into the panel where the locking mechanism was, using the blade to slice it completely out of the wall. It took a bit of time, time that he really didn't have, but he finally managed to cut through, and then used the Force to push the door open. A blast of warm air hit his face, and he couldn't help but sigh a bit in relief, as he sprinted through the well remembered halls towards the information center of the complex. If all went as planned, he wouldn't have time to thaw out and warm up.
The halls were basically deserted. A good thing. Luke knew that most of the Inquisitors had gone to dig out the north side of their base, but he also knew that he hadn't taken out the security cameras. The only way to do that was to shut down the information center, and he wasn't ready to do that. If anyone was monitoring the cameras (which they were), he would be up against other Inquisitors in no time flat.
He was right.
Soon, three Inquisitors skidded around the corner, half dressed in snow gear, red lightsabers blazing in their hands. "Oi!" One of them growled into his radio, as Luken ignited his own lightsaber with the familiar snap-hiss and moved to engage them, "We found Starkiller! He's…"
Luke silenced him with a quick stab to the gut, then ripping his saber free before ducking as the other two Inquisitors swung their lightsabers at him, the whoosh of their movements ruffling his hair as he ducked and spun. Shit. He didn't have time for this. Before the other two could recover and swing again, he quickly stood, reaching his arm out toward them and stretched out with the Force, grabbing hold of their necks and squeezing hard until their throats were crushed, listening impassively to the gurgling noises they emitted as they struggled momentarily against his choke hold, and then fell limply to the floor, dead, when he opened his hand and released them.
He pushed forward, the internal alarms blaring in his ears, drowning out all other sound. He was almost there. He turned the last corner, seeing the double doors ahead that led to the information center, and picked up his pace. His lungs were burning with the need for air, but he didn't dare slow down. He didn't stop until he'd slammed into the locked doors, driving his lightsaber through the metal of the door, already moving to cut open a hole big enough for him to move through. These doors were thinner than the outer doors had been, and it didn't take him long to get it open. He used the Force to push the metal inward, hearing it clatter on the floor in the room, and just as he was about to step through…gunshots rang out through the hole, barely missing him, the bullets peppering the concrete wall opposite him, sending chunks of debris flying.
Luke rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth in frustration, ducking to the side of the door in a squat, bracing his back along the wall, before he reached a hand out tentatively through the hole and used the Force to send a massive push throughout the room. He heard yelps of surprise, followed by bodies hitting against the far wall. He paused for a second, reaching out to sense the others in the room—unconscious. Good. He climbed through the hole and found himself facing a table of instruments and computer screens. On one wall was the surveillance system, and though he knew it didn't do him much good now, he slashed his lightsaber blade across that particular computer, disabling the camera feed entirely. The whole base already knew he was here, but at least they'd have to drag another computer up the mountain now if they wanted to fix it. He smirked, stepping over crumpled unconscious bodies and approached the computer he needed.
As he stared at the computer before him, he suddenly realized that his login wouldn't work anymore. Damn! In fact, trying to input it would probably lock the whole system down, and then he'd never get the info he needed from the blasted machine. Luke cursed and raked his hands through his hair in frustration. Why hadn't he thought of that? Had he decided to stay with Mara and continue to plan out their attack, she certainly would have reminded him that he needed a different way into the computer. But, like an idiot, he hadn't stayed, and he didn't have any sort of encryption to get the computer open. Ok. Time for Plan B.
He'd have to settle for the hard drive.
Scowling, Luke quickly knelt down beneath the desk, finding the computer tower and turning it over. He had been taught how to do this through the Inquisitor program, of course, but somehow, as he nimbly opened the computer case, found what he was looking for, and carefully began to extract it, it seemed…natural, somehow. It had always been that way, he remembered. Machines and technology came as naturally to him as breathing. As he worked, his mind briefly flashed back to when he'd stolen the airship to get to his destination. He'd read all about flying, had watched Mara and Han and Chewie fly extensively, but he had never actually flown anything himself. Yet, when he'd entered the cockpit, his body had moved almost without prompting from him, as if he'd done this all before. He'd settled in the pilot's chair and flown that ship as if he'd been flying since the day he was born. Perhaps flying was like his affinity with machines. After all, the ship technically was a machine.
Got it!
He extracted the hard drive, and he carefully put it in his jacket pocket. He didn't waste time in straightening back up and bolting for the door again, lightsaber in hand, climbing through the hole…Where he came face to face with a whole troop of Inquisitors, lightsabers blazing, staining the hall blood red with their light. Luke instinctively ignited his own, moving into a defensive stance, his eyes darting side to side to try to find some sort of an escape route, anything…
"Don't even try it." A cultured voice tsked, and a tall, bald-headed man stepped forward. He had golden eyes, with his teeth all sharpened into points, giving him the look of a serpent. He grinned maliciously at Luke, malevolence filling his yellow gaze. "Welcome home, Starkiller." The Grand Inquisitor said. "Surrender. There is no escape for you now."
Luke glared back, his pride swelling with defiance. He would fight to the death—he wouldn't allow himself the humiliation of being captured! He was Starkiller, after all, and he never gave up...Suddenly, Mara flashed through his mind, followed by the promise he'd made her. When this was over, they would leave this life behind them together. Luke had long ago given up hope that his life would be filled with anything but this seemingly never-ending war between the Jedi and the Sith, but with Mara…
There was hope. If he fought to the death, that hope died with him.
Hesitantly, Luke disengaged his lightsaber, dropping it to the floor at his feet with a clang that rang in his ears like a death knell. There was something akin to disappointment in the Grand Inquisitor's eyes, as if he'd been hoping for Luke to put up a fight so he could outright kill him, but the look was fleeting. "You're going to wish that you'd never even thought about betraying us, Starkiller." He growled with malice dripping off every word, motioning to some of the Inquisitors with him. "Arrest him."
Luke was strapped to a stainless steel upright table. He knew what was coming. He'd watched plenty of interrogations during his time as an Inquisitor…he'd even conducted a few himself. He knew that the metal binds that had him strapped firmly to the cold table were controlled electronically. There would be no key for him to lift off a guard using the Force. His vision swirled, the room seeming to spin and whirl around him. Of course, the moment he'd been strapped down, the guards had injected him with just enough of the Force inhibiting drugs to keep him from effectively using the Force. He had been trained to combat against being drugged, but it took time, and with limited use of the Force, it took quite a bit of effort. Luke had no doubt that his guards knew that he would work himself free of the drug's effects eventually; so, he knew they'd soon be back to inject more into his system. However, unlike most Inquisitors, Luke was unordinarily strong in the Force, undoubtedly a gift he'd inherited from the Skywalker genepool. If he could somehow force the Force to work quick enough in combating the drug's effects, maybe…
Sure enough, at that moment, the door to his windowless cell slid open, and in walked the Grand Inquisitor, flanked by two guards. He smiled thinly, humorlessly, as he studied Luke. "You've given us quite a bit of trouble, Starkiller."
Luke glared back defiantly. "I'm not interested in your little organization. You're all pawns in Palpatine's games. Frankly, the fact that he's sent your weakling Inquisitors after me instead of his top agents says that he really couldn't care two shits if they live or die."
If Luke's words affected the Grand Inquisitor in any way, the man didn't show it. He remained stone faced and impassive, a picture of calm. The older man, the man who had grilled, trained, instructed, and punished their Order for as long as Luke could remember, stared at him with a mixture of disdain and mild amusement…which honestly wasn't that different from how he'd looked at Luke before he'd defected. "I assure you," he sniffed, "That won't be an issue any longer."
"Y'know, if you're going to kill me," Luke glared, "Just do it." Honestly, he was actually surprised that they hadn't killed him yet.
Again, that thin, humorless smile. "All in due time." And yet this time, Luke caught the barest flicker in the older man's eyes, and suddenly, Luke realized the reason why they were keeping him alive—because Palpatine had commanded it. His stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought. Even now, Palpatine was toying with him. Even now, Luke's fate was not fully his own. Now that he was trapped, with no ideas on how he could get out and was basically captured with little hope of rescue, Palpatine was not concerned with killing him immediately. Oh, eventually he would, yes. Of that, Luke had no doubt, but sick, twisted bastard that he was, Palpatine enjoyed other people's misery—especially that of his enemies. And given that Luke was supposed to be his Sith Apprentice, and had instead, in Palpatine's mind, betrayed him, the Dark Lord would now make Luke suffer greatly before he killed him. The Grand Inquisitor continued on before Luke could voice those suspicions. "Care to tell me why you were looking for this?"
Luke didn't need to see it to know what he was pulling out of his pocket. The hard drive. Of course, the first thing they'd done when they'd captured him was to search him. As a result, they'd found the hard drive he'd come there specifically to get. Still, Luke decided to downplay it as much as he could. If, by some miracle, he was able to escape, he still wanted to have at least some chance to get what he'd originally came for. "Who says I was looking for that?" Luke did his best to shrug, but with the restraints, he didn't think it achieved the nonchalance that he wanted it to.
If the Grand Inquisitor had been the type of man to roll his eyes, he would have. "Come now, Starkiller. It's obvious, isn't it? After all, you went straight for the Information Center. Other than the destroyed video surveillance systems, this," He held up the hard drive for Luke to see, "was the only other part missing. Honestly, I expected better from our previous star pupil. So, I'll ask you again, what data were you hoping to find on this?"
Shit.
The man had a point. He should have planted false leads. He knew better, and he wasn't normally that sloppy…but he'd been so concerned with just getting out, he hadn't thought about hiding his trail. Until now. But still, he wasn't about to just tell the bastard what information he was looking for. That would likely only get him killed faster. So, instead, Luke just glared at him, silent as a stone. When it became apparent that Luke wasn't going to answer him, the Grand Inquisitor sighed. "Are we really going to have to go through this?" He asked, as one of the guards behind him headed over to the panel embedded in the wall. Luke tensed involuntarily, knowing exactly what was about to happen, but even then, he didn't say anything. Besides, he knew this would happen anyway, no matter what he did or didn't do. Even if he gave them everything he knew, they would still torture him until he was dead. A long, painful death.
Still, even with that knowledge, even as he watched the guard power up the control panel, even as he prepared himself as mentally as he could, that was nothing compared to the waves of white hot, excruciating pain that seized his body as high voltage electric currents surged into his body, coursing torturously along every nerve ending in his body. He had told himself that he wouldn't yell. He'd be stronger than that. But, he hadn't ever expected it to hurt so much; so, he couldn't help but scream out in pain.
When the electric current stopped, Luke wheezed in deep gulps of air. Instinctively, he tried to use the Force to push the pain away, but it was still slow to respond to his call. He still hadn't effectively combated the drugs in his system enough to do so. "I'll ask again," The Grand Inquisitor's voice was icy. "What information were you hoping to find?"
Slowly, Luke opened his eyes, his gaze locking with the older man's. "Go…to...Hell." He hissed between clenched teeth.
The Grand Inquisitor wasn't offended in the least. In fact, Luke saw a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes. He was going to enjoy hurting him. "How very disappointing." The man said, tilting his head a little towards the guard. The signal to continue.
Luke lost count of how much time passed as the Grand Inquisitor interrogated him. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. All Luke knew was incredible pain was ripping him apart, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. Each time it stopped, the question was always the same. And, each time, Luke refused to answer, despite all of his natural instincts screaming at him to just give up the information already. It was only Luke's sheer will of rebellion and years of training that kept him from doing so. He simply wasn't going to give this asshole the satisfaction.
But Force, it hurt. It hurt so much.
But then, it stopped. He didn't know why it stopped. One moment he was wracked with pain, screaming through a now hoarse throat, and the next it just stopped, and he was left lying limply on the table in exhaustion, sweat dripping onto the table from his now damp curls plastered to his forehead and neck, as the Grand Inquisitor snapped, "Watch him! And, don't begin again without me!"
Luke opened his eyes just enough to watch the Grand Inquisitor turn to leave…then stop short at the door, turning back to Luke. Meeting Luke's gaze, the man lifted up the hard drive so that Luke could see it, and then dropped it to the floor. Before Luke could even muster the energy to protest, the man slammed his heel down on the little piece of machinery, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. "It was all a waste, Starkiller. One way or another, I will get my answers from you. When I come back, you'll find I'm just getting started." With that promise blistering the air, the Grand Inquisitor left the room, all but one Inquisitor following after him.
Was it for nothing? Was it a waste? Wracked with pain, and too exhausted to think his way out of this one any longer, Luke hung his head dejectedly, trying to use whatever period of rest he had to steel himself for the next round of torture. Suddenly, it all felt like a waste. The future suddenly looked very short, very painful, and very bleak. The one thing he'd come for…destroyed. Just like that. He saw now how stupid he was to have come here alone, unprepared, and without any backup. In his own arrogance, he had overestimated his abilities. Mara had been right. He couldn't do this by himself—do any of this by himself. He saw that now. If he couldn't even get in and out of the main Inquisitor base in one piece, how could he ever hope to reach Palpatine, who would surely be even more well guarded in his little safe-haven?
Instinctively, he tried to reach out to the Force, and he felt it respond, though not as much as he would have liked. Still, he used what he could access to start trying to push the pain away, to clear his foggy brain. As he did so, he began to wonder why the Grand Inquisitor had suddenly stopped the interrogation, and wondered when he would be back. Perhaps, they had finished cleaning up after the avalanche he had caused, and the Grand Inquisitor was simply going to inspect the damage. Considering that he didn't know exactly how long he'd been down in that holding cell, it was possible. After all, being this high in the Alps, they did have the necessary equipment on base to handle massive amounts of snow. So, if that was the case, he wouldn't have long before the electrified torture began again and…
Another vision hit him then. It was brief, but it was so real, it was as if Luke could feel the pain from the vision. He was in a darkened room, sprawled out on cold, metal flooring. A very shriveled version of Palpatine stood over him, clothed in a black robe, his shriveled hands outstretched. Blue lightning sizzled from his fingertips, hitting Luke, who screamed and writhed in agony on the floor. Briefly, Luke caught sight of another figure looming in the background, a huge semblance of a man in a black suit, with a black, plastic looking mask/helmet thing over his entire head. Distantly, over his own screams, he could hear what sounded like some sort of mechanical breathing apparatus. "Father!" Luke cried out towards the man, "Please!"
The vision ended as soon as it had started, the old familiar pain slamming into Luke's head, making everything in his vision blurry—but this time he cried out not from that, but from how real the pain in the vision had been. He realized that he'd actually screamed, out loud, here and now, and the guard left with him was shifting nervously over his erratic behavior, clearly wondering if he should radio for backup, as if Luke had the ability to fight back through his restraints.
He wanted it to stop. He wanted to somehow build a time machine and go back 24 hours to stop himself from embarking on this insane suicide mission. He wanted the visions in his head to stop. He wanted to go home, back to Mara, back to…
Suddenly, a dull boom from a distant explosion reached his ears, muffled by the walls of the compound, followed shortly by the rumbling of the building as it shuddered and shook, and then…
Darkness.
Abruptly, everything went pitch black, like an inky abyss. Luke blinked, using the Force to absorb some of his pain as he confirmed that yes, the power really had just gone out. It wasn't just him suddenly going blind. Interesting. Very interesting. He heard the other Inquisitor try to radio someone…but all that could be heard was static. Luke's heart began to fill with hope—he wasn't sure what was going on, but as he tested his restraints and found them now useless without the electrical power to hold them in place, he felt hopeful for the first time since being captured. Even in as much pain as he was in, he could make this work. He would have to make this work. He was going to escape, and this time no one would stop him. Feeling refortified, determination flooded his veins, pulsing through him with a clear purpose…
Get the hell outta here. Now.
The other Inquisitor ignited his lightsaber, illuminating the darkness with the eerie red glow. "What the hell is…?" He never finished. Using what Force he could access, Luke ripped free of the restraints, using a Force push to knock the other boy into the wall as hard as he could. The boy hadn't realized yet that Luke was free; so, there was no resistance as he hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, knocked unconscious. A split second later, his lightsaber snapped off, leaving Luke alone in the darkness until he used the Force to call the weapon to his hand, igniting it once more. Given that his own lightsaber had been taken somewhere else in the complex when he was captured, he would have to use this one…even if it felt strangely alien and out of place in his hand.
He cut out the locking mechanism of the cell door, using his free hand to slide it open just enough so that he could squeeze out into the pitch-black hallway. He frowned, looking up at what he knew to be emergency lights in the ceiling. Had the whole complex entirely lost power? If so, that meant that whatever explosion had happened, it had completely destroyed all the generators. That was no small feat—because of how high up the complex was in the mountains, those generators were specifically built to withstand extreme conditions, and each one had fail-safes just in case parts of it failed. As Luke considered this, he heard the sound of anti-aircraft guns being fired outside, their sound booming in the eerie silence of the hallway.
Anti-aircraft guns? "What the hell?" Luke muttered softly. He wanted to reach out with the Force to figure out what was going on, but he could barely keep himself upright with the Force ability he had gained back. Was there an attack on the base? No,that was impossible. The only person he had told of this location was Mara, but there wasn't any reason to use anti-aircraft guns on a lone attacker. That was overkill, and Mara's ship wasn't exactly built for heavy combat. He highly doubted she'd use it to attack the base.
The Millennium Falcon could easily attack the base—and avoid the anti-aircraft guns. This he might have considered, but Han had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Luke's crazy schemes anymore. He doubted even Mara could convince him to help, and she wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of stealing the Falcon. That ship was Han's baby. So...Who, then? Of course! There was only one possibility, only one other logical answer.
His father and the Jedi.
Luke scowled at the thought, and turned away from the continuing explosions to painfully limp down the corridor opposite of the noise. His father was stubborn. Especially after lashing out at him like he had, he was sure his father would track him down to finish him off…and given the state that Luke was in, he had no doubt that this time, his father would kill him. He didn't know how his father had tracked him, but Anakin Skywalker wasn't a Grand Master of the Jedi Order because he was stupid and incompetent. Now that he'd tracked Luke not once, but twice in the last week and a half, Luke doubted he'd stop hunting him until one of them was dead.
And, Luke had no interest in dying today.
Using the red glow from the absconded lightsaber, Luke made his way down through the winding maze of corridors. Despite the fact that each step he took was agonizing and really only served to exhaust him further, he forced himself to remain on high alert, stretching out with the Force as much as he could. The hallways were empty, but judging by the ongoing explosions and the occasional building shudder, he figured that the Inquisitors were a bit busy at the moment trying to hold off his father and whoever else he'd brought with him. Possibly the entire Jedi Order from the sounds of it. That was just fine with Luke, but he didn't trust it to last long.
Sure enough, as Luke rounded the last corner to the hallway that would lead him to one of the exit doors leading outside and to freedom, there stood two Inquisitors, lightsabers already blazing. From the look of surprise on their faces when they saw him, Luke figured that they hadn't been waiting for him, merely guarding that door from whoever was attacking. "Starkiller!" One of them hissed, moving forward to engage him. Inwardly, Luke groaned—he was so tired, he didn't know if he would last in a fight. It was taking his entire concentration just to stand upright. A lightsaber duel…
The thought didn't have time to compute. Suddenly, there was a massive BOOM that sounded like a bomb had just dropped right on top of them—it felt like it, too. Part of the wall blew inwards from the side, a wave of heat and cold slicing through the crater all at once. Luke was thrown against the wall by the blast, momentarily losing his grip on the Force (and everything else, too), his knees buckling from under him as he slid down the wall, landing in a heap on the floor. Over the near deafening roar, he heard more loud bangs, reverberations, and screams resonating from the other Inquisitors, and he felt rather than saw (for the dust kicked up from the explosion practically blinded him) something come crashing down ahead of him. Luke gritted his teeth, covering his head with his arms, waiting and praying to the Force that he wouldn't get killed by whatever had just dropped on them. He felt stray stones graze over him, a few scratching and nicking his bare skin. But soon it was over. At first, Luke lay there, uncertain whether this was truly over or not, but eventually, he hesitantly pulled his arms off of his head, shaking off the dust and debris, to look up.
Almost the entire middle section of the hallway had been blown apart. Completely. To the left hand side was where, he assumed, the projectile or bomb or whatever it was that had hit, had exploded. A fire was still blazing there, black smoke filling the narrow space, causing him to cough and splutter, his eyes beginning to sting and water from the strong vapors. The ceiling had also caved in, the tiles were shredded and hanging haphazardly, threatening to rain down on him with the slightest provocation, and the only part still standing was the right wall, which was cracked and looking ready to topple over as well. The Inquisitors, who had been standing there only moments before, were nowhere to be seen…likely crushed under the falling rubble.
He couldn't hear anything over the ringing in his ears…everything was muffled. He could sort of make out the sounds of more gunfire, of more explosions, but nothing that told him if the battle was coming back this way. He had to get out of there before the whole building came down on top of him. Slowly, he worked the Force back into his limbs, giving him the strength to pull himself back onto his feet. The moment he'd gotten his feet under him, dust started falling off of him in a cascade that made him cough more, and he hesitantly began to make his way towards the pile of rubble before him. He couldn't get out the hole, where the fire was still blazing unchecked, but he could climb over the rubble and make his way down the rest of the still-intact hallway down towards the door to freedom. Then, he'd figure out where he was and hope that the battle wasn't raging in the direction of where he'd left the stolen ship so he could get the hell out of here and figure out his next move from there.
It took him much longer than he would have liked to reach the rubble pile, as every blast he heard made the structure around him shudder and shake, and he stopped for a moment to visually plan the safest way to climb over the rubble to get to the other side. Frigid cold air stung his cheeks, but when he took a deep breath in, all he smelled was smoke from the fire. He found his way and began to carefully climb, using his hands to occasionally steady himself.
He reached the top of the rubble pile, looking down…and found himself staring at the half-buried form of one of the Inquisitors. Although Luke had seen plenty of death over the last nine years, this was still a sight that unnerved him. At first, the boy…a boy, Luke thought, that he had seen in passing but had never bothered to get to know, looked like he was dead. The lower half of his body was buried under the rubble, his upper torso covered in dust, giving him a pale white appearance. One hand was clenched around something—a rock maybe, Luke assumed. Luke could see his eyes staring at him, blood pooling at the corners of his lips. Luke shuddered, briefly imagining what it would have been like to die that way. It would have been a horrible death.
But then, the boy coughed, spitting blood out, and Luke's heart sank further. So, not dead then. Still alive, but dying very slowly. That was worse than being instantly crushed to death, Luke thought. "Star….killer…." The boy coughed, spitting out more blood. Luke suppressed another shudder—for whatever reason, though he knew that he should ignore him and leave like he usually did, he felt…he felt as if he shouldn't leave the boy in his final moments. Luke didn't understand the feeling. He would have killed him had they gotten into a lightsaber duel. He had killed plenty of other Inquisitors without a second thought. They were the enemy, after all. And yet….
"It'll be alright," Luke found himself saying, reaching out with the Force to comfort the boy. Pain flooded back into his senses, but he found that he didn't care. Not right then. Instead, he focused on the boy's feelings, trying to send what comfort he could to him…not that Luke was very good at that. He sensed the boy's fear of death, fear of the unknown…and confusion at what Luke was doing. It was not the Inquisitor way…but then again, Luke was no longer an Inquisitor. "Death is just…a part of the journey we all must take." He didn't know where those words were coming from. From what Gandalf said in that one Lord of the Rings movie? Probably. They were nice words…still, Luke found himself almost believing them.
Something changed in the boy's emotions. It went from fear…to almost grim determination. "Then I won't….make the journey….alone!" Luke frowned—the boy certainly wasn't in any position to attack him. But, then the boy unclenched his fist, the fist that Luke had assumed held a rock. It was no rock.
It was a grenade. And, the pin had been pulled.
"Shi…!" Luke stood rapidly, eyes widening in shock, trying to call the Force up to shield himself from the imminent blast, trying to scramble backwards, away from the grenade…The explosion knocked him into the last remaining wall, bringing it down with him, tumbling over and over out into the freezing snow. He hit the ground, HARD, the breath completely knocked out of him. Other than the ringing in his ears, he could hear his own shallow breathing. Mentally, he cursed himself. How could he have been so damn stupid, so foolish, so weak?! Dammit! He should have left the kid to die! And now….!
The numbness of being blasted essentially through a wall wore off, and with it, incredible pain flooded through him, like nothing he had ever felt before. Not even the electrical torture he'd just endured. He opened his mouth, tried to make his voice work to cry out in pain, but no sound came out. He felt as if his whole body were being stabbed with fiery darts or needles, as if…Despite the freezing cold temperatures, his chest was rapidly warming up. Irrationally, he thought he might have been on fire…but no. It couldn't have been that. So what was it? Taking a hesitantly deep, painful, shuddering breath, he craned his neck around to look down at himself.
Blood. Everywhere. His blood.
With a chill, he realized that though he may have escaped the worst of the blast, he hadn't escaped the shrapnel, and he was now losing blood. Fast.
Now his own death was apparently imminent. Even if he did somehow manage to drag himself back to the stolen ship, there was no way he was going to be able to fly that thing home, let alone to the nearest hospital. He was alone, surrounded by enemies, on top of a frozen remote mountain. Truly, he had been very, very stupid to come alone, and now he was going to die for it.
The ultimate price for stupidity.
But, he wasn't ready to die. He had so much to do still! He needed to get back to Mara. He needed to defeat Palpatine. He needed…he needed…His parents suddenly popped into his head. It was a fleeting image—one of them still together, and very happy. His mother was smiling up at as his father, her eyes shining with love, as he wrapped his arms snugly around her waist from behind, kissing her cheek lovingly. As soon as the image was there, it was gone, and he was back on that mountain, alone and staring up at the night sky, stone and snow all around him as blood seeped from his body out on the frozen ground around him, staining the snow crimson.
How he wished it could have stayed like that. How he wished things hadn't happened the way they did. It occurred to him to call out to his father, but…why? His father would have killed him anyway.
Leia.
Another vision, fleeting. This time, there was no pain, perhaps because he was already dying. He was hanging upside down, his right hand cut off. Below him loomed a vast nothingness—no ground in sight. "Leia," he whispered in the vision, "hear me!"
The vision ended and once more he was back in reality, though his vision was dimming. It was a stupid idea. He didn't even know if she was there with their father. If she was, she literally had no reason to help him. He'd killed their mother. He'd tried to kill their father right in front of her. They'd never been close. And yet….
"Leia," Luke said, pushing out through the Force with the very last of his strength, as his vision began to go black, "Hear me!"
The moment those words left his lips, he slipped into a dreamless darkness.
Sorry for the late update. This would have been done sooner, but I got sick and I tend to write really weird things when I get sick. But I'm better now, just in time for the holidays! Let's hope it stays that way *knocks on all the wood in the house.*
I plan on pumping out the next chapter quick, so let's hope for another update soon. However, it is the holidays, so although I may be a loner who has nothing better to do during Thanksgiving, that doesn't mean my Beta doesn't have plans with her family (I love you SW!) so...we shall see when this cliffie gets resolved.
The Grand Inquisitor, for those wondering, is THE Grand Inquisitor from Star Wars: Rebels Season 1. He doesn't have a name that I could find other than the Grand Inquisitor, so I tried to allude to his identity as much as I could.
Happy thanksgiving! Other than the cliffie, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter...it's basically played over and over in my head for like a year now. As a result, there were multiple songs that inspired this chapter:
The Imperial March-John Williams
Last Resort-Papa Roach
You're Not Getting Out of Here-From The Scorch Trials
Fearful Odds-From Oblivion (this is the song that inspired the ending of this chapter heavily).
Lastly, if you're still upset about the Mara-Luke thing...as I said before. It stays. I'm not explaining again. To quote Mark Hammil: "Judge Luke by his character, not who he loves." Honestly, I think that applies to most characters in any saga. Way to go Mark, you wonderful man.
Review!
Love,
Sarah
