Title: Revenge of the Jedi, Chapter Seven
Author: Jonathan Evans
Author email: noggins@ic24.net
Summary: Continued from Chapter Six. Leia and Anakin face Palaptine and Vader as truths are revealed and relationships strained...
Special Thanks: to everyone who's commented on all of my fan fiction so far. It's great to know I've got an audience! Special thanks to those who have commented on the story so far. I've enjoyed seeing the shock and intrigue that my story is causing and I hope you're looking forward to even more....
Disclaimer: George Lucas owns everything and I'm not making anymoney off of thi nor do I intend to (I'd like to but that's not the point). You can distribute this freely provided that it's complete with this disclaimer.
REVENGE OF THE JEDI
CHAPTER SEVEN
By Jonathan Evans
Ackbar sat in his seat on the bridge of the Calamari Star
Cruiser. Outside the Rebel fighters were fighting a losing
a battle against the TIEs and Star Destroyers. An A-wing
plummeted through the cockpit of a Super Star Destroyer,
forcing it down into the Death Star.
A reading came to the computers. The bridge officer turned
to Ackbar and gave a positive nod. The Admiral smiled and
activated the com-link.
"The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star's
main reactor," he ordered.
"We're on our way," Lando replied. "Red Group, Gold Group,
all fighters follow me."
Ackbar turned to another Mon Calamari nearby. "Send them
the gift..."
"Yes sir!"
As the Falcon, followed by several smaller Rebel fighters,
headed toward the unfinished superstructure of the Death Star,
ten escape pods flew from the lead Cruiser, straight towards
a docking bay of the massive space station.
As they fell in place the doors opened and two Jedi emerged
from each one, their lightsabers ignited. The Stormtroopers
guarding the bay were quickly hacked down, their bodies
falling to the ground in several pieces.
"Get to the throneroom!" Adi Gallia called. "It's time we
destroyed the Empire at its core!"
One of the younger Jedi hacked through the reinforced door
into the heart of the Death Star. The group came to a junction.
"Which way?" one asked.
"The Force will guide us," Gallia replied and closed her eyes.
A legion of Stormtroopers came running up the corridor
towards them, their blasters blazing towards the Jedi Knights.
An array of lightsabers moved into place, deflecting the lasers
back at their owners. Seven Imperial soldiers fell to the ground
while others continued their pursuit. A blue skinned female
Twi-Lek jumped forward and with a quick stroke decapitated
two of the troops.
"Master Gallia!" she called. "Where are we being guided?"
"This way!" the dark skinned Jedi jumped up and cut through
the ceiling with her red bladed laser sword. She quickly
arrived at the next level, followed by her companions.
* * * * * * * *
"You are weak, princess. You are not a Jedi. You never will
be," Vader mocked Leia. He edged closer, his saber outstretched.
Leia extended her arm to reach for the weapon she had just
dropped in her fall. The red blade came down on her but she
managed to roll away, activating her own lightsaber and striking
down on Vader, an attack he easily blocked.
Anakin crawled from under the rubble of the collapsed bridge
to see his daughter struggling desperatly to defend herself
against the Dark Lord. He pulled himself out only to discover
a numbness in his leg. As he touched it he discovered that
it was filled with sheer pain. It was broken, but he had
to do something to help Leia. He staggered closer towards
the two battling.
"Do not forget me, Skywalker," a voice behind him hissed.
Anakin turned to see Palpatine standing there, his arms
outstretched. The old Jedi jumped out of the way of the
first barrage of Force lightening but his injury left his
reflexes slow as the second hit him, the blue streaks
covering his whole body.
Leia looked towards her father to see him suffering. She
tried to ran to his aid but Vader's non-stop attacks prevented
her. The screams of Anakin built up the anger in the princess
and she struck again, rushing at Vader with an angered frenzy
she never knew she had. Sparks flew as she and the Sith fought
in the cramped area. Leia's hatred forced Vader to retreat out
of the low area and across a bridge overlooking a vast elevator
shaft. Each stroke of Leia's saber drove her enemy further
toward defeat.
Anakin looked at the way his daughter was fighting. "No!" He
called. "That is not the way!" Palpatine increased the power
of the blasts leaving Skywalker unable to speak other than in
a scream. "It is how she was meant to fight you pathetic fool."
The Dark Lord was knocked to his knees, and as he raised his sword
to block another onslaught, Leia slashed Vader's right hand off
at the wrist, causing metal and electronic parts to fly from the
mechanical stump. Vader's sword clattered uselessly away, towards
the edge of the platform and into the bottomless shaft below. Leia
moved over Vader and held the blade of her own sword to the Dark
Lord's throat.
The Emperor watched with uncontrollable, pleased agitation. He
looked down on Anakin. "See? She understands what you do not.
Anger is the way forward. It grants you more control over your
abilities..."
"No..." the old Jedi moaned. "It controls you... but makes you
believe you are the one with the... power..."
Palpatine stopped the onslaught of electricity and Anakin fell
to the ground, the shock waves still moving through his body,
rendering him almost paralysed. The Sith Master walked towards
Leia who was still looking in shock at Vader who was on the
ground. She turned to face the Emperor with defiance in her
eye.
"You try to show me that the Dark Side is better yet you
torture my father forcing me away from your teachings. I
can't become evil like you... no one can and I don't
understand enough about the Force to appreciate how the
Dark can benifate me. You can't win."
"But I can," the old man replied. "You do not need to
understand the Force. All you need is anger and a thirst
for vengeance. You have both of those... and the ability
to learn. My princess, your planet is destroyed, your
brother dead. You want to kill me and my apprentice. I
want it too. Strike me down and you will know all you
need to...."
* * * * * * * *
Rebel fighters followed the Falcon across the surface of the
Death Star to the unfinished portion, where they dived into the
super-structure of the giant battle station, followed by many TIE
fighters.
"I'm going in," sighed Wedge Antilles out loud.
"Here goes nothing," Lando replied. "Lock onto the strongest power
source. It should be the power generator."
Three X-wings led the chase through the ever-narrowing shaft,
followed by the Falcon and four other fighters, plus TIE fighters
who continually fired at the Rebels. The fighters and the Falcon
raced through the tunnel, still pursued by the TIE fighters. One of
the X-wings was hit from behind and exploded.
Lando tried tp think the situation over. The more of them in
here, the more enemy fighters would be following them but if there
were less Rebels in here the chances of succeeding would be greatly
diminished. He looked over to Nien Nunb who was obviously thinking
the same thing. The alien nodded, more than enough confirmation
for Calrissian to go along with his plan.
"Split up and head back to the surface. See if you can get a few
of those TIE fighters to follow you."
The pilots forwarded their agreements and Rebel ships peeled off
pursued by three of the TIE's, while Lando and Wedge continued through
the main tunnel. It narrowed, and the Falcon was forced to scrape the
side dangerously. Two other TIE fighters blasted away at them, hitting
the back of Wedge's fighter.
"You okay, Wedge?" Lando asked.
"Just a little fried. I've taken worse," the seasoned pilot replied.
"Anyway, we've got more to worry about than my tail... Our fleet's
dying back there."
"I know. The whole thing rests on us now..."
The battle between the Rebel and Imperial fleet raged on. Several
cruisers fire at the giant Super Star Destroyer while X-wings fought
desperately with the incoming Imperial TIEs. One was hit from two
of the slightly weaker fighters and exploded in a massive flash.
A Y-wing launched a carefully locked proton torpedo towards a
Star Destroyer's shield generators causing it to blow up, sending
the massive cruiser on a collision course with one just below it.
The first's front end piled through the main structure of the second
and soon they were just floating space debris.
* * * * * * * *
Leia looked into Palpatine's eyes and saw only evil. Perhaps in
his younger days he had been a good man but had been corrupted
by greed, envy and power. She didn't feel angry any more, just
pity. He honestly believed that his way was the true way. He
was deluded yet didn't realise.
"I can only feel sorry for you, your Highness," she said and
put the lightsaber she was holding away.
Anakin looked up but it seemed to be too late as Darth Vader
had got to his feet and was about to hack down on his daughter.
Suddenly Leia felt the air blowing passed her ear and realised
she had a sensitivity that she never realised. With an
extrordinary leap, she flew through the air and landed behind
Vader, but standing dangerously near the edge of the bridge
leading down to the core of the Death Star.
He re-ignited her lightsaber and deflected more of the Dark
Lord's attacks but was forced closer and closer to the edge.
"The Emperor had so much hope for you," he said. "You failed
him, you failed me..."
"I know nothing of you, Darth Vader," she replied. "You are
a Jedi too weak to resist the easy way out of a problem. That's
something that could never have happened to my father or my brother
and will never happen to me. You thought you destroyed everything
that belonged to me but you did the opposite of what you expected.
You gave me hope. Without realising it, Vader, you gave me a
future I never thought I could have..."
Leia's defiance angered the Sith. He slashed at Leia but was
stopped when a crashing ringed through his entire body. He
turned around to see twenty Jedi knights, all armed with
lightsabers, flooding into the throneroom. He recognised
the leader and walked to her, ignoring Leia who ran to her
father.
Adi Gallia looked at Vader and frowned. "I thought more of
you, Mace. You betrayed the Jedi and now look at you. I
believe this is punishment enough for you. But you are not
the reason I am here... he is."
She looked at Palpatine who who was reeling from the shock
of there being so many Jedi still alive after all that he
had done to prevent it. Gallia stalked towards him.
"Emperor Palpatine," she began. "Your reign of terror is
over. The Republic will be restored."
"I will not die, Jedi. I will go on forever as long as your
kind exist to be tempted to the Dark Side... Strike me down.
Kill me with your lack of emotion. You will never understand
what it is like to be truly free."
Gallia extended her saber and sliced through the Emperor.
His body fell into two pieces. Vader watched in terror as
everything he had known was falling apart around him but
without warning he felt stronger, more powerful. His master
had left him one last gift - his pure essence.
"Come, my old friend," he hissed at the member of what had
once been the Jedi Council. "We will finish this now..."
* * * * * * * *
The Millennium Falcon led a swerving bomb run through the
immense superstructure of the half-built Death Star while the
Rebel Star Cruisers outside continually bombarded the huge
station. And each direct hit was answered by resonating, chain-
reaction explosions within the station itself.
Lando's crew fired away at the pursuing TIE fighters as the
dashing Baron of Bespin and his alien copilot homed in on the
main reactor shaft.
"There it is!" Wedge called out over the com-link as he gazed
in awe at what was the power source to not only the entire battle
station but also to the heart of the Empire itself.
"All right, Wedge," Lando replied. "Go for the power regulator
on the north tower."
Wedge nodded to himself. "Copy, Gold Leader. I'm already on my
way out."
The X-wing headed for the top of the huge reactor and fired
several proton torpedoes at the power regulator, causing a series
of small explosions.
The Falcon took a run towards the main reactor, and when it was
dangerously close, Lando fired the missiles, which shot out of the
Falcon with a powerful roar, and hit directly at the center of the
main reactor.
"We did it!" a Rebel situated at the back of the cockpit exclaimed.
Nien Nunb cheered happily but Lando stayed calm. "We're not out
of it yet!"
He maneuvered the Falcon out of the winding superstructure just
ahead of the continuing chain of explosions.
* * * * * * * *
The two red lightsabers clashed fiercly as Vader and Adi Gallia
fought. The aggression of Dark Lord was matched by the Jedi's
calm, trance-like state as she hit back against his attacks.
Palpatine's power was keeping him going but it was fading slowly.
The initial burst of enery was lowered by the light energies
flowing around the room.
Two of the Jedi ran to help Anakin and Leia to their feet.
"I think its time to go now," Skywalker said. "We have fought well
but now it is time to think things over."
"Indeed, Master Skywalker," Evajo Siinit replied.
Anakin looked at the young boy. "Master?"
"It was decided before you left us. You and Master Kenobi were
to be offered places on the Council... you are a Jedi Master."
Skywalker smiled. But this wasn't the time or the place. He
staggered towards the door and looked back at Adi Gallia who
fought well against the weakening Sith Lord.
"Darth Vader..." she frowned. "You were one us once but you
could not resist the Dark Side. It was your fear and jealousy that
forced you over the edge and I am so sorry I was there to
witness it. Good bye Mace Windu..."
She sliced skillfully down, cutting the Dark Lord in half, his
armour providing no defence against the lightsaber. As he died
his life flew passed his eyes. He remembered growing up on
Nar Shaddar, life was hard but he managed to be discovered
by a Jedi who took him in, taught him the ways of the Force
and eventually led to him being placed on the Council. It was
when the boy came along that things began to change. Eventually
even Yoda began to trust him but he himself had remained
suspicious. Anakin Skywalker was liked by everyone but Mace
Windu was still edging further away. Only the Chancellor
understood his argument. The two developed a close relationship
as he told the galactic leader all that was happening within the
Council. He realised what a mistake he'd made as an attack in
the Clone Wars caused the deaths of over a hundred Jedi. He realised
only one person could have planned it that well. Upon meeting with
Palaptine he realised that he was a Sith and told him that he
should not hold back his anger and guilt, to let his emotions
flow. It seemed like such a good philosophy. Soon Mace forgot
all that he had stood for, all that his master had taught him,
all that he learnt from his own experience. The Sith were new
to him and he needed to know more. That was his mistake...
The two parts of Vader's body fell to the floor with a thump.
Gallia looked at the remains and shed a tear for her old friend.
His way was wrong and he became someone he wasn't but to her
he was always Mace Windu, a man she looked up to all her life.
Adi picked up the fallen lightsaber and attached it to her belt
before joining the other Jedi. The ground below her shook as the
chain reactions through the Death Star were taking place.
* * * * * * * * *
The Falcon flew at top speed, with a single X-wing as escort, over
the endless surface of the Death Star. A series of explosions within
the superstructure followed, then swiftly overtake the small craft as
it raced for an exit.
"Come on baby!" he shouted to the Falcon. "You know you can do it!"
The heat in the cockpit began to rise. He turned to Nien Nunb and
shook his head. He spoke into the radio.
Wedge, I don't think we're going to make it.
"You'll make it," Wedge reassured him. "Just follow me Gold Leader."
"I promised to return his ship without a scratch..." he sighed. "I
sure hope that old pirate forgives me."
* * * * * * * * *
An Imperial shuttle, with Leia and Anakin in the cockpit, rocketed
out of the main docking bay as that entire section of the Death Star
was blown away. Anakin looked back at the group of Jedi, looking
relaxed and serene despite all that was happening and realised how
much he had changed. The panic was rising in him. If Obi-Wan was here
he would have given him a real earfull about controlling his emotions.
Leia's thoughts were elsewhere as she looked towards Endor just below
them. She hoped Han was down there, she felt as if he should be, but
something inside her was telling her otherwise. She controlled the
shuttle carefully through tear-filled eyes.
* * * * * * * * *
The X-wing, piloted by Wedge Antilles, raced out of the exploding
superstructure and whizzed toward the Sanctuary Moon. But the Millennium
Falcon was not fast enough as it exploded with the Death Star in a
supernova of glory...
TO BE CONCLUDED
Author: Jonathan Evans
Author email: noggins@ic24.net
Summary: Continued from Chapter Six. Leia and Anakin face Palaptine and Vader as truths are revealed and relationships strained...
Special Thanks: to everyone who's commented on all of my fan fiction so far. It's great to know I've got an audience! Special thanks to those who have commented on the story so far. I've enjoyed seeing the shock and intrigue that my story is causing and I hope you're looking forward to even more....
Disclaimer: George Lucas owns everything and I'm not making anymoney off of thi nor do I intend to (I'd like to but that's not the point). You can distribute this freely provided that it's complete with this disclaimer.
REVENGE OF THE JEDI
CHAPTER SEVEN
By Jonathan Evans
Ackbar sat in his seat on the bridge of the Calamari Star
Cruiser. Outside the Rebel fighters were fighting a losing
a battle against the TIEs and Star Destroyers. An A-wing
plummeted through the cockpit of a Super Star Destroyer,
forcing it down into the Death Star.
A reading came to the computers. The bridge officer turned
to Ackbar and gave a positive nod. The Admiral smiled and
activated the com-link.
"The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star's
main reactor," he ordered.
"We're on our way," Lando replied. "Red Group, Gold Group,
all fighters follow me."
Ackbar turned to another Mon Calamari nearby. "Send them
the gift..."
"Yes sir!"
As the Falcon, followed by several smaller Rebel fighters,
headed toward the unfinished superstructure of the Death Star,
ten escape pods flew from the lead Cruiser, straight towards
a docking bay of the massive space station.
As they fell in place the doors opened and two Jedi emerged
from each one, their lightsabers ignited. The Stormtroopers
guarding the bay were quickly hacked down, their bodies
falling to the ground in several pieces.
"Get to the throneroom!" Adi Gallia called. "It's time we
destroyed the Empire at its core!"
One of the younger Jedi hacked through the reinforced door
into the heart of the Death Star. The group came to a junction.
"Which way?" one asked.
"The Force will guide us," Gallia replied and closed her eyes.
A legion of Stormtroopers came running up the corridor
towards them, their blasters blazing towards the Jedi Knights.
An array of lightsabers moved into place, deflecting the lasers
back at their owners. Seven Imperial soldiers fell to the ground
while others continued their pursuit. A blue skinned female
Twi-Lek jumped forward and with a quick stroke decapitated
two of the troops.
"Master Gallia!" she called. "Where are we being guided?"
"This way!" the dark skinned Jedi jumped up and cut through
the ceiling with her red bladed laser sword. She quickly
arrived at the next level, followed by her companions.
* * * * * * * *
"You are weak, princess. You are not a Jedi. You never will
be," Vader mocked Leia. He edged closer, his saber outstretched.
Leia extended her arm to reach for the weapon she had just
dropped in her fall. The red blade came down on her but she
managed to roll away, activating her own lightsaber and striking
down on Vader, an attack he easily blocked.
Anakin crawled from under the rubble of the collapsed bridge
to see his daughter struggling desperatly to defend herself
against the Dark Lord. He pulled himself out only to discover
a numbness in his leg. As he touched it he discovered that
it was filled with sheer pain. It was broken, but he had
to do something to help Leia. He staggered closer towards
the two battling.
"Do not forget me, Skywalker," a voice behind him hissed.
Anakin turned to see Palpatine standing there, his arms
outstretched. The old Jedi jumped out of the way of the
first barrage of Force lightening but his injury left his
reflexes slow as the second hit him, the blue streaks
covering his whole body.
Leia looked towards her father to see him suffering. She
tried to ran to his aid but Vader's non-stop attacks prevented
her. The screams of Anakin built up the anger in the princess
and she struck again, rushing at Vader with an angered frenzy
she never knew she had. Sparks flew as she and the Sith fought
in the cramped area. Leia's hatred forced Vader to retreat out
of the low area and across a bridge overlooking a vast elevator
shaft. Each stroke of Leia's saber drove her enemy further
toward defeat.
Anakin looked at the way his daughter was fighting. "No!" He
called. "That is not the way!" Palpatine increased the power
of the blasts leaving Skywalker unable to speak other than in
a scream. "It is how she was meant to fight you pathetic fool."
The Dark Lord was knocked to his knees, and as he raised his sword
to block another onslaught, Leia slashed Vader's right hand off
at the wrist, causing metal and electronic parts to fly from the
mechanical stump. Vader's sword clattered uselessly away, towards
the edge of the platform and into the bottomless shaft below. Leia
moved over Vader and held the blade of her own sword to the Dark
Lord's throat.
The Emperor watched with uncontrollable, pleased agitation. He
looked down on Anakin. "See? She understands what you do not.
Anger is the way forward. It grants you more control over your
abilities..."
"No..." the old Jedi moaned. "It controls you... but makes you
believe you are the one with the... power..."
Palpatine stopped the onslaught of electricity and Anakin fell
to the ground, the shock waves still moving through his body,
rendering him almost paralysed. The Sith Master walked towards
Leia who was still looking in shock at Vader who was on the
ground. She turned to face the Emperor with defiance in her
eye.
"You try to show me that the Dark Side is better yet you
torture my father forcing me away from your teachings. I
can't become evil like you... no one can and I don't
understand enough about the Force to appreciate how the
Dark can benifate me. You can't win."
"But I can," the old man replied. "You do not need to
understand the Force. All you need is anger and a thirst
for vengeance. You have both of those... and the ability
to learn. My princess, your planet is destroyed, your
brother dead. You want to kill me and my apprentice. I
want it too. Strike me down and you will know all you
need to...."
* * * * * * * *
Rebel fighters followed the Falcon across the surface of the
Death Star to the unfinished portion, where they dived into the
super-structure of the giant battle station, followed by many TIE
fighters.
"I'm going in," sighed Wedge Antilles out loud.
"Here goes nothing," Lando replied. "Lock onto the strongest power
source. It should be the power generator."
Three X-wings led the chase through the ever-narrowing shaft,
followed by the Falcon and four other fighters, plus TIE fighters
who continually fired at the Rebels. The fighters and the Falcon
raced through the tunnel, still pursued by the TIE fighters. One of
the X-wings was hit from behind and exploded.
Lando tried tp think the situation over. The more of them in
here, the more enemy fighters would be following them but if there
were less Rebels in here the chances of succeeding would be greatly
diminished. He looked over to Nien Nunb who was obviously thinking
the same thing. The alien nodded, more than enough confirmation
for Calrissian to go along with his plan.
"Split up and head back to the surface. See if you can get a few
of those TIE fighters to follow you."
The pilots forwarded their agreements and Rebel ships peeled off
pursued by three of the TIE's, while Lando and Wedge continued through
the main tunnel. It narrowed, and the Falcon was forced to scrape the
side dangerously. Two other TIE fighters blasted away at them, hitting
the back of Wedge's fighter.
"You okay, Wedge?" Lando asked.
"Just a little fried. I've taken worse," the seasoned pilot replied.
"Anyway, we've got more to worry about than my tail... Our fleet's
dying back there."
"I know. The whole thing rests on us now..."
The battle between the Rebel and Imperial fleet raged on. Several
cruisers fire at the giant Super Star Destroyer while X-wings fought
desperately with the incoming Imperial TIEs. One was hit from two
of the slightly weaker fighters and exploded in a massive flash.
A Y-wing launched a carefully locked proton torpedo towards a
Star Destroyer's shield generators causing it to blow up, sending
the massive cruiser on a collision course with one just below it.
The first's front end piled through the main structure of the second
and soon they were just floating space debris.
* * * * * * * *
Leia looked into Palpatine's eyes and saw only evil. Perhaps in
his younger days he had been a good man but had been corrupted
by greed, envy and power. She didn't feel angry any more, just
pity. He honestly believed that his way was the true way. He
was deluded yet didn't realise.
"I can only feel sorry for you, your Highness," she said and
put the lightsaber she was holding away.
Anakin looked up but it seemed to be too late as Darth Vader
had got to his feet and was about to hack down on his daughter.
Suddenly Leia felt the air blowing passed her ear and realised
she had a sensitivity that she never realised. With an
extrordinary leap, she flew through the air and landed behind
Vader, but standing dangerously near the edge of the bridge
leading down to the core of the Death Star.
He re-ignited her lightsaber and deflected more of the Dark
Lord's attacks but was forced closer and closer to the edge.
"The Emperor had so much hope for you," he said. "You failed
him, you failed me..."
"I know nothing of you, Darth Vader," she replied. "You are
a Jedi too weak to resist the easy way out of a problem. That's
something that could never have happened to my father or my brother
and will never happen to me. You thought you destroyed everything
that belonged to me but you did the opposite of what you expected.
You gave me hope. Without realising it, Vader, you gave me a
future I never thought I could have..."
Leia's defiance angered the Sith. He slashed at Leia but was
stopped when a crashing ringed through his entire body. He
turned around to see twenty Jedi knights, all armed with
lightsabers, flooding into the throneroom. He recognised
the leader and walked to her, ignoring Leia who ran to her
father.
Adi Gallia looked at Vader and frowned. "I thought more of
you, Mace. You betrayed the Jedi and now look at you. I
believe this is punishment enough for you. But you are not
the reason I am here... he is."
She looked at Palpatine who who was reeling from the shock
of there being so many Jedi still alive after all that he
had done to prevent it. Gallia stalked towards him.
"Emperor Palpatine," she began. "Your reign of terror is
over. The Republic will be restored."
"I will not die, Jedi. I will go on forever as long as your
kind exist to be tempted to the Dark Side... Strike me down.
Kill me with your lack of emotion. You will never understand
what it is like to be truly free."
Gallia extended her saber and sliced through the Emperor.
His body fell into two pieces. Vader watched in terror as
everything he had known was falling apart around him but
without warning he felt stronger, more powerful. His master
had left him one last gift - his pure essence.
"Come, my old friend," he hissed at the member of what had
once been the Jedi Council. "We will finish this now..."
* * * * * * * *
The Millennium Falcon led a swerving bomb run through the
immense superstructure of the half-built Death Star while the
Rebel Star Cruisers outside continually bombarded the huge
station. And each direct hit was answered by resonating, chain-
reaction explosions within the station itself.
Lando's crew fired away at the pursuing TIE fighters as the
dashing Baron of Bespin and his alien copilot homed in on the
main reactor shaft.
"There it is!" Wedge called out over the com-link as he gazed
in awe at what was the power source to not only the entire battle
station but also to the heart of the Empire itself.
"All right, Wedge," Lando replied. "Go for the power regulator
on the north tower."
Wedge nodded to himself. "Copy, Gold Leader. I'm already on my
way out."
The X-wing headed for the top of the huge reactor and fired
several proton torpedoes at the power regulator, causing a series
of small explosions.
The Falcon took a run towards the main reactor, and when it was
dangerously close, Lando fired the missiles, which shot out of the
Falcon with a powerful roar, and hit directly at the center of the
main reactor.
"We did it!" a Rebel situated at the back of the cockpit exclaimed.
Nien Nunb cheered happily but Lando stayed calm. "We're not out
of it yet!"
He maneuvered the Falcon out of the winding superstructure just
ahead of the continuing chain of explosions.
* * * * * * * *
The two red lightsabers clashed fiercly as Vader and Adi Gallia
fought. The aggression of Dark Lord was matched by the Jedi's
calm, trance-like state as she hit back against his attacks.
Palpatine's power was keeping him going but it was fading slowly.
The initial burst of enery was lowered by the light energies
flowing around the room.
Two of the Jedi ran to help Anakin and Leia to their feet.
"I think its time to go now," Skywalker said. "We have fought well
but now it is time to think things over."
"Indeed, Master Skywalker," Evajo Siinit replied.
Anakin looked at the young boy. "Master?"
"It was decided before you left us. You and Master Kenobi were
to be offered places on the Council... you are a Jedi Master."
Skywalker smiled. But this wasn't the time or the place. He
staggered towards the door and looked back at Adi Gallia who
fought well against the weakening Sith Lord.
"Darth Vader..." she frowned. "You were one us once but you
could not resist the Dark Side. It was your fear and jealousy that
forced you over the edge and I am so sorry I was there to
witness it. Good bye Mace Windu..."
She sliced skillfully down, cutting the Dark Lord in half, his
armour providing no defence against the lightsaber. As he died
his life flew passed his eyes. He remembered growing up on
Nar Shaddar, life was hard but he managed to be discovered
by a Jedi who took him in, taught him the ways of the Force
and eventually led to him being placed on the Council. It was
when the boy came along that things began to change. Eventually
even Yoda began to trust him but he himself had remained
suspicious. Anakin Skywalker was liked by everyone but Mace
Windu was still edging further away. Only the Chancellor
understood his argument. The two developed a close relationship
as he told the galactic leader all that was happening within the
Council. He realised what a mistake he'd made as an attack in
the Clone Wars caused the deaths of over a hundred Jedi. He realised
only one person could have planned it that well. Upon meeting with
Palaptine he realised that he was a Sith and told him that he
should not hold back his anger and guilt, to let his emotions
flow. It seemed like such a good philosophy. Soon Mace forgot
all that he had stood for, all that his master had taught him,
all that he learnt from his own experience. The Sith were new
to him and he needed to know more. That was his mistake...
The two parts of Vader's body fell to the floor with a thump.
Gallia looked at the remains and shed a tear for her old friend.
His way was wrong and he became someone he wasn't but to her
he was always Mace Windu, a man she looked up to all her life.
Adi picked up the fallen lightsaber and attached it to her belt
before joining the other Jedi. The ground below her shook as the
chain reactions through the Death Star were taking place.
* * * * * * * * *
The Falcon flew at top speed, with a single X-wing as escort, over
the endless surface of the Death Star. A series of explosions within
the superstructure followed, then swiftly overtake the small craft as
it raced for an exit.
"Come on baby!" he shouted to the Falcon. "You know you can do it!"
The heat in the cockpit began to rise. He turned to Nien Nunb and
shook his head. He spoke into the radio.
Wedge, I don't think we're going to make it.
"You'll make it," Wedge reassured him. "Just follow me Gold Leader."
"I promised to return his ship without a scratch..." he sighed. "I
sure hope that old pirate forgives me."
* * * * * * * * *
An Imperial shuttle, with Leia and Anakin in the cockpit, rocketed
out of the main docking bay as that entire section of the Death Star
was blown away. Anakin looked back at the group of Jedi, looking
relaxed and serene despite all that was happening and realised how
much he had changed. The panic was rising in him. If Obi-Wan was here
he would have given him a real earfull about controlling his emotions.
Leia's thoughts were elsewhere as she looked towards Endor just below
them. She hoped Han was down there, she felt as if he should be, but
something inside her was telling her otherwise. She controlled the
shuttle carefully through tear-filled eyes.
* * * * * * * * *
The X-wing, piloted by Wedge Antilles, raced out of the exploding
superstructure and whizzed toward the Sanctuary Moon. But the Millennium
Falcon was not fast enough as it exploded with the Death Star in a
supernova of glory...
TO BE CONCLUDED