Chapter 22 – Battle
DISCLAIMER: We do not own Star Wars, even if we wish we did. xD
Author's Note: Here's the first half of the climatic ROTJ battle! :D
~ Amina Gila
My eyes flick to the window behind his throne. Far up in the sky, explosions ring out. The space battle is underway. I can only hope this is a battle we're going to win.
"Come. See for yourself," he offers. Hesitantly, I follow Luke over to the window and look out. Vader walks forward to stand at Sidious' side, a movement which painfully reminds me of the situation at hand.
"From here, you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance, and the end of your insignificant Rebellion," he laughs, his yellow eyes practically glowing in the darkness. Considering the Alliance won't exist to begin with in my universe... I flinch as I watch the battle, sensing ships blowing up and lives ending. As many times as I've seen it, it never got easier.
Luke turns, his eyes focused on the lightsaber on the armrest of the throne. Sidious smiles smugly. "You want this, don't you? The hate is swelling in you now. Take your Jedi weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger." Struggling to control himself, Luke turns back to the window as more explosions ring out high in the sky. "With each passing moment, you make yourself more my servant."
"No!" Luke cries.
"We are not – and never will be – your servants," I growl, "And neither will Anakin."
"It is unavoidable," he insists, "It is their destiny." He then turns back to Luke, "You, like your father, are now mine." No. Never. I won't let either of them Fall. Not now, not ever. Maybe I should kill him just to prevent Luke from doing it. I shouldn't. The Force is telling me not to, but I want to, so badly. My fists clench and I struggle to keep my gaze riveted on the window. If I turn around, I just might snap.
Another ship – a Rebel one – explodes out the window. I can't just stand here and watch as they die. I can't. We need to do something, but there's nothing we can do. I... I need to get home. Now. Except I can't send myself back, Leia's not even trained, and Luke doesn't know how. And Vader obviously won't be doing it, so... I just have to stand here and watch. I can't, I can't, I can't –
"As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed." You're getting over two decades and one apprentice ahead of yourself, Sidious. "Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station." I stubbornly refuse to move, even though every inch of me is screaming at me to spin around and grab my lightsaber and – It wouldn't matter, though, would it? I'm not a Jedi anymore. It's only justice to kill him, and a Sith Lord is never truly unarmed.
"Fire at will, Commander," he orders into a commlink. The intensity and quantity of explosions up in the sky intensify. Luke looks like he's about to explode.
"Your fleet has lost," the Emperor decides, "And your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. There is no escape, my young apprentice. The Alliance will die, as will your friends."
"Good," he gloats, "I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete." Don't do it, Ahsoka! I yell at myself mentally. It's all I can do not to move. Killing him now won't change anything! He'll still be alive in your time. Stop it. The Force is telling you not to, trust the Force.
Luke turns around to face the window again and I can sense him in just as much turmoil as I am. The anger which I'd previously been able to suppress comes back in a rush, screaming at me to avenge their deaths. I can't just let him do this and get away with it. I won't. There is no good without evil, though, but it must not be allowed to flourish. Just do it. And then, just as I'm thinking I won't be able to stand here one more second like this, Luke snaps. Whirling around, he calls his lightsaber to his hand, igniting it and swinging it towards Sidious – but it's promptly intercepted by Vader's red blade.
I whirl around on the same instant, drawing my lightsabers to my hands and igniting them before leaping into the fight. Our lightsabers clash incessantly. I quickly realize from how Vader's fighting, though, that he doesn't want to fight us. I'm fighting more on pure anger which quickly starts fading upon that realization. Besides, it's not Vader I want to fight. It's Sidious. Luke and I are both on the offensive right now and manage to push Vader back, right to the edge of the stairs which Luke kicks him down.
"Good!" Sidious cackles maniacally behind us, "Use your aggressive feelings, boy! Let the hate flow through you." And that... that... promptly breaks both Luke and I out of our rage. We're doing what he wants. Never. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing us fight from anger alone.
I take a deep breath, letting the anger flow through me. Not overpowering, just there. Remember. There is no Dark Side, nor a Light Side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what keeps me together. Luke steps back from the top of the stairs and deactivates his lightsaber. I lower my lightsabers but don't deactivate them, staying on guard in case the battle continues. At this point, I think it's gone a bit too far. One of us will have to win.
Below us, Vader climbs to his feet and starts towards us again. Now that I've come out of my initial rage, I see the truth. I don't want to kill or hurt anyone. But that doesn't mean I won't. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. There is serenity, yet emotion. There is chaos, yet order. I reach into the entirety of the Force, letting it wrap around me, strengthening me.
"Obi-Wan has taught you well," Vader remarks to Luke as he slowly ascends the stairs.
"I will not fight you, Father," Luke replies, unmoving. I don't say anything, but it's true for me too. I won't fight him, not with my full strength. I'll do what I need to do to stay alive, but that's it. I can't just let myself die, not when the world needs me. He doesn't want to kill me anyway, but Sidious's presence is affecting his actions. The world needs... it needs someone like me, someone who understands balance, someone who can help Anakin find his balance which Sidious has been throwing off for years. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch, lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance. I am a Gray Jedi.
Vader comes to a halt at the top of the stairs. "You are unwise to lower your defenses," is all he says before swinging his lightsaber towards Luke. Instantly, I step in front of him, raising my blades to meet his. Luke leaps out of the way, landing on a beam over our heads, out of Vader's reach. Our blades clash a few more times, with me solely on the defensive, having no interest in actually fighting him.
As I attempt to parry one of his blows, his lightsaber swings a little lower than I expected. It cuts through one of my lightsabers, narrowly missing my hand. I back up a step to recollect myself, slightly shaken up over the near loss of my hand, before swinging at him again. Our lightsabers begin clashing again, but soon we're trapped in a saber-lock, which is broken when the Force suddenly slams into me.
Before I have a chance to counter it, I'm sent flying backwards across the room before smashing into the wall and falling to the floor, head spinning. Why does this always happen when fighting Vader? Sidious cackles gleefully from his position on the throne. This must be quite the comedy show for him.
With me out of the way, Vader turns his attention to Luke who is still standing on the beam.
"Your thoughts betray you, Father. I feel the good in you. The conflict," Luke says as Vader steps closer.
"There is no conflict," he denies, raising his lightsaber higher.
"You couldn't bring yourself to kill us before," Luke continues, "And I don't believe that you'll destroy us now." He might have changed a lot, but I still know him too well. Even when he fought my older self... and Obi-Wan, he didn't want to kill either of them. And he's much lighter now.
Vader stalks closer to where he's standing, and Luke slowly makes his way down the beam to stay out of his reach. None of us want this fight but I need to get back up. I can't leave Luke alone over there. I push myself up into a sitting position before slowly and unsteadily standing up.
"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny," Vader warns before suddenly throwing his still-ignited lightsaber Luke's direction. He ducks instinctively, and the lightsaber cuts through the beam behind him, and it crashes to the floor below. The platform falls to the floor, and Luke rolls out of sight.
"Good, good," laughs Sidious, smug no matter what happens today. Calling my lightsaber back to my hand, I jump across the platform towards Vader again. He spins around, meeting my blade and the fight is on again. I'm pushed onto the defensive in no time. Really, this is a pointless fight to exhaustion. Neither of us is going to intentionally harm the other, which means neither of us is going to let ourselves win it. If only there was something else, we could do... Like all three of us attacking Sidious by surprise. I'm certain we could win again him, especially considering that I don't think he has a lightsaber with him to begin with. At least he claimed he didn't, and fighting the Chosen One, a Skywalker, and me, I doubt he could hold off long.
As our lightsabers continue clashing, I find myself trying to think of a way to end the fight more than anything. Try jumping out, perhaps. I don't know if that would work, but I can't hurt him. I know that for sure. And I think the feelings are mutual. It's not until too late I realize I'm being far too sloppy. His lightsaber slashes across my arm.
I gasp from the pain shooting through my arm, jerking backwards. The blade falls from my hand, clanging into the floor. I look up sharply at my former master. I didn't actually expect him to hurt me, but it was the fault of my own clumsiness. Regardless, I know he doesn't want to kill me, but right now he has the chance. Sidious will order him to, and – no.
I leap into the air, landing on his shoulders before flipping off the platform to the edge of the stairs and then darting off into the darkness below. I'm just going to stay here and hide for now, especially since now I have no lightsaber at all. At least I've given Luke enough time to hopefully calm down, so he won't be using calling only on the Dark Side if he gets in a fight again.
I crouch against a pillar, trying to stay as far out of sight as possible while reaching into the Force to conceal my presence. My left hand clamps down over the burn as I struggle to dull the pain a little. If it's taken care of, it won't take long to heal, but it'll definitely scar. And there's nothing I can do about it now.
I quietly edge further out of sigh as I hear Vader descending the stairs. His footsteps echo in the darkness as he searches for us.
"You cannot hide forever, Ahsoka, Luke," Vader calls.
"I will not fight you," Luke replies.
"Neither will I," I add, closing my eyes as I try to continue concealing myself. From a normal person, it wouldn't be hard, but Anakin – Vader – is no normal person. I can sense him reaching through our bond, trying to trace it to me.