-A New Year treat for my readers-a new chapter, and this one is going to have you on the edge of your seats!
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Chapter Eleven: The Battle of Light and Dark
*
"We should be there in a few minutes," said Han to the others in the cockpit of the Imperial shuttle.
"I'll go tell Luke and General Kenobi," said Wedge. "They're in the back doing that Jedi meditation of theirs."
As soon as they made their escape from the Imperial base, Obi-Wan, Han, Luke, Leia, and Wedge, set their stolen Imperial shuttle on a course for the Emperor's star destroyer, located in what was once the Naboo system. Ralla took the Millennium Falcon to Hoth to inform the Rebellion about what the others were doing, and to request assistance.
Chewie growled something to Han.
"Yeah, I don't think they had wookies in mind when the designed her either, Chewie," said Han. "I miss the Falcon, too. But, Ralla promised she'd take care of her for me."
"I'm still surprised you agreed to let her take it," said Leia.
Han turned to look at her. "I had to," he said. "I'm not letting you charge into an Imperial star destroyer without me along."
"Why Han," said Leia, "are you saying you are trying to protect me?"
Han turned back and faced the stars. Then, quietly, he replied. "With my life if necessary."
Leia smiled, and leaned forward. She placed her hand on Han's chin, and turned his face to hers. Leia then leaned in and gently kissed Han on the lips.
Pulling back, she smiled, and said, "Thank you."
She then turned, and left to join the others in the back. Chewie sat in the co-pilot's seat and growled something else to Han.
"I am not in love with her," said Han. "Well, at least I don't think I am." Then, he smiled. "But I now know she likes me. Just one problem. Her Father would skewer me with that light saber of his if I tried to land her."
Chewie growled something else in reply.
"I wish I had your confidence in that," said Han.
**
"You don't need to torture her anymore," said Anakin to the Emperor. "You don't need Padme anymore. I'm here. Do whatever you want with me, just let her go."
Palpatine chuckled. "Who said I would ever let her go?" he asked. "My former protégé, you do not understand what plans I have for her."
"Plans?" asked Anakin. "What are you talking about?"
"Your Padme has proven to be quite adept at bearing children strong in the force," said Palpatine. "And in your case, her breading partner was only a mere Jedi. I wish to have an heir to my throne, a blood heir to carry on my legacy. An heir that will one day take my place as the Sith Master. If Amidalla could breed a force strong child with a Jedi, imagine how force strong her child would be if it was from MY seed! Your wife will be the vessel by which I will ensure my legacy!"
Anakin's anger was rising, and Palpatine could feel it.
"Yes," said Palpatine. "I can feel your ANGER growing, Jedi. It seems you don't like the idea of me using your wife to bear my progeny. Funny, I find the idea of breeding with Amidalla most APPEALING!"
"Well," began Padme, wearily, "I find the idea....most...repulsive. I will NEVER bear you a child!"
Palpatine lifted his hand. Padme screamed, and she fell to the deck once again in pain. Anakin kneeled down beside her as pain administered through the force continued to assault her. Anakin tried to block it with his own force powers, but found it difficult to focus as his anger grew upon seeing his beloved wife in excruciating pain.
"PALPATINE!" screamed Anakin. "STOP THIS! How can you use her for what you want if she is dead?!"
"She will not die," said Palpatine. "I am not harming her physically. Through the force, she can feel a universe of pain without coming to any real physical harm!"
Anakin rose up, and stood before Palpatine. His face reflected boiling rage, as his wife continued to writhe in pain. Then, in a low voice filled with anger, Anakin spoke. "Stop this, NOW!"
"You will have to stop me, Anakin," said Palpatine. "Take your weapon, strike me down with all of your HATRED, and your journey towards the dark side will be COMPLETE!"
Anakin looked at his light saber, laying on the arm of Palpatine's chair. Then, he looked at his wife, grunting and writhing in pain on the ground. She screamed, as Palpatine increased the pain. Anakin tried to muster all of his Jedi control, tried to focus on the force, to block Palpatine's assault on Padme through the force. But his anger was winning. He couldn't stop the rage from flowing through him at seeing his wife subjected to such torture.
Finally, Anakin turned, and summoned his light saber through the force. It flew into his hand, and Anakin activated it. He jumped towards Palpatine, and swung his light saber down towards the seated Emperor.
But his thrust failed to connect with the intended target. A red light saber blade had appeared, and blocked Anakin's attack. The latter looked up and saw Darth Hister, his blade ignited, ready to defend his Master from attack. Palpatine laughed, as he continued to assault Padme with waves of pain. Hister attacked Anakin, and the Jedi fought back, as the two warriors engaged in single combat.
***
Han adeptly guided the Imperial shuttle into the hanger of the Emperor's star destroyer. When he had contacted the destroyer upon arriving in the system, informing them they were a supply shuttle, the landing officer at first did not allow them to land without a security clearance code. But then, Obi-Wan spoke into the comm, informing the officer that they did not need a clearance code, and that they should be allowed to land. The officer immediately agreed, and allowed the ship to land.
Han, Wedge, and Chewie exchanged puzzled looks. Luke and Leia knowingly smiled. "The force," said Obi-Wan. "It can used to influence the will of the weak minded."
"Yeah, well, weak minded, that would describe your typical Imperial stooge," said Wedge.
The shuttle came in for a landing, and only a few storm troopers paid it much heed. Supply shuttles coming in were nothing out of the ordinary on a star destroyer. Neither them, or anyone else in the landing bay, could be ready for the surprise in store for them.
Han used the laser cannons on the front of the shuttle to open fire on the other ships in the hanger. Explosions rocked through the hanger, and fires began erupting from exploding fuel and munitions being loaded off of and onto ships. The Imperials on the deck were thrown into such a state of confusion, that they didn't notice two brown robed figures stealthily make their way through the flames and smoke to the entrance to the hanger.
Meanwhile, Han, Chewie, Leia, and Wedge, made their way down the ramp, and set out on their task. They, too, ran out of the hanger, shooting two storm troopers who tried to stop them.
****
If the Emperor, his dark servant, or Anakin, knew of what was going in the levels far below the Emperor's throne room, they took no notice of it. The Emperor continued to inflict pain on Padme, and watched with a smile as his servant, Hister, and Anakin engaged in mortal combat.
Padme's screams of pain continued to goad Anakin on as he defended against Hister's attacks, then counterattacked with furious energy to try and get past Hister and strike at the Emperor. Anakin jumped, somersaulted in mid-air, and landed on the other side of Hister, and charged at the Emperor. But Hister somersaulted over Anakin, and landed directly in his path, leveling his light saber at Anakin, the latter quickly defending against the attack.
Palpatine was focused on torturing Padme, while at the same time watching with keen interest as Hister and Anakin battled each other. He smiled, and chuckled, thinking how everything was proceeding as he had hoped. Anakin would either be destroyed by Hister, or Anakin would destroy Hister, and by doing so in anger, would fall to the dark side. Then, the Emperor himself would kill Anakin after having humiliated him. Either way, Anakin would be destroyed. One way did involve losing Hister, but the Emperor could replace him with another-Anakin's and Padme's son, Luke, perhaps, might be turned. Hister truly believed he could defeat Anakin. Palpatine gave him a 50/50 chance, but told Hister he had foreseen the Sith apprentice's victory over the Jedi.
Then, Palpatine looked at Padme, writhing in pain on the ground. When all of this was over, he would allow her some time to recover from her torture, before beginning the breeding process. He had considered doing it by genetic implantation, but decided a direct mating would be just as effective. Besides, Amidalla was still a beautiful woman, and breeding with her would be a pleasurable experience for the Emperor. It would also be the ultimate act of claiming victory over his nemesis, Anakin Skywalker, by claiming his widow as a prize.
But then, something pulled Palpatine from his focus on the duel and on torturing his victim. He stopped inflicting pain on Padme through the force, and began to tap into its powers of foresight and danger sense. There was a definite tremor in the force, a powerful one, and its source was aboard his ship. The Emperor focused his mind, and sensed the presence of several more force sensitives on board the ship. One of them was untrained, and in a different part of the ship. But two of them were strong in the force, and were closing in on his throne room. Palpatine recognized the unmistakable light side force signature of Jedi, and he realized what was going on.
"Hister!" yelled Palpatine. "Join me here!"
Hister backed off, and retreated to stand next to his Master. Anakin, momentarily confused by his opponent's sudden retreat, moved to attack once again. But something in the force caused him to stop. He was able to clear his mind at last, now that Padme was no longer being tortured, and let his mind tap into the force. Anakin smiled as a he felt the presence of two very familiar Jedi.
Just then, the door to the throne room began to melt away, the steel subjected to the concentrated heat that could only come from one source-light sabers. Several moments later, the door collapsed, and Obi-Wan and Luke burst into the room, light sabers at the ready.
"Father!" yelled Luke, running to stand next to his Father, with Obi-Wan close on his heels.
"What took you two so long?" asked Anakin.
"Well, you know, Father, we had to find an Imperial ship we really liked," Luke deadpanned, "then those stupid storm troopers in the corridors tried to stop us, then the Emperor's guards stood in our way. Those guys held us up a good three minutes."
"Oh, excuses, excuses," returned Anakin in sarcasm.
"Oh, force," said Obi-Wan, "you two MUST be Father and son."
"How DARE you burst in on these proceedings!" said the Emperor with rage. He sent force lighting barreling towards the three Jedi, but they blocked the blasts with their light sabers in a union of perfectly timed motion.
As Luke helped the other two Jedi block the force lightning, he looked over on the ground and saw the weakened, tortured, crumpled up form of his Mother, lying still on the floor. Anger began to boil up within him, just as it did his Father, but a voice spoke to Luke's mind through the force.
"I know what you are feeling, my son," said Anakin through the force, "but you must focus. Only together can we save her."
"I understand Father," sent back Luke.
"Obi-Wan," said Anakin out loud, "do you think you could keep Hister off of us while we face the Emperor?"
"It would be a pleasure," said Obi-Wan, remembering the day that Hister had killed the last of the Jedi, save for Mace Windu, Yoda, and himself. He also remembered in that moment his friend, Luminara Unduli, who had been killed by Hister holding him off so Yoda and the other two Jedi could escape. "I'll take care of him," added Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan moved towards Hister. The latter sneered, and moved forward to face Obi-Wan, after getting a nod of consent from the Emperor. The two warriors twirled their light sabers slightly, and circled each other like wild animals ready to strike at one another.
"We have some unfinished business, Hister," said Obi-Wan.
"Another old man to toy with," said Hister. "I shall take your head as I did Windu's, and the other of my race that faced me all of those years ago and kept me from dispensing with Master Yoda."
"Her name was Luminara Unduli," said Obi-Wan, "and her killer will be brought to account this day."
Hister struck at Obi-Wan with his weapon, the latter blocking the thrust, and striking back at the attacker. As Obi-Wan and Hister engaged in single combat, Anakin and Luke stood side by side, facing the Emperor.
"So, you are Anakin's son," said the Emperor to Luke. "Not very impressive."
"Funny," said Luke. "I was thinking the same thing about you."
The Emperor raised his hand, and sent another wave of pain at Padme. She again screamed, this time more hoarsely than before.
"Luke," said Anakin, "I couldn't stop him from doing that before, but together we might be able to. Concentrate."
The two men, Father and son, focused on the force, and on Padme. Through the force, they could see the waves of pain coming at Padme from the Emperor as waves of energy moving through the air. In their individual minds eye, they joined their powers together, and erected a shield around Padme. The waves of pain bounced off of the shield, and hit the Emperor.
"Argh!" screamed Palpatine, as he stumbled backwards after being struck by the power he himself had created.
Padme stopped writhing in pain, and her body lay still. Father and son checked to make sure she was fine, and found that she was merely knocked out from the stress.
Now that Padme was safe, Anakin and Luke slowly approached the Emperor, their light sabers raised and at the ready. Palpatine stood still, and watched the two Jedi approach him.
"Fools!" said the Emperor. "You think you can challenge ME! You have no idea WHAT you are dealing with!"
He pushed out his hands, and sent a massive wave of energy careening towards the Skywalkers. Anakin and Luke were knocked off of their feet and sent rolling backwards down the deck. Momentarily stunned, Anakin and Luke barely had enough time to raise their light sabers to block a powerful discharge of force lightening fired at them from the Emperor's outstretched hands.
Anakin and Luke just barely managed to stand up again, as they held off the Emperor's force lightening with their sabers. If it had been just one of them, they would have been overcome by the power of the assault quickly. But together, Anakin and Luke were able to match the Emperor's attack.
However, the two Jedi were not completely protected, because the Emperor's attacks kept coming, in a seemingly never-ending salvo of force lightening that the two Jedi's light sabers could only hold off for so long.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Hister continued to battle each other, the sounds of their clashing light sabers themselves dueling with the sounds of the Emperor's force lightening connecting with Anakin's and Luke's light sabers. In the gloomy throne room, the forces of light and dark were engaged in mortal combat, and the question of which side would come out victorious was still an open question.
************************
-Ha! Ha! I love cliffhangers! Will good defeat evil? Will it be Obi-Wan or Hister who will win the duel? Can Anakin and Luke stand against Palpatine's power? Will the three Jedi all come out of this alive? Be sure to tune in for the next exciting chapter of this story to find out. In the meantime, if you would like, please review this chapter and let me know what you think of it, or where the story is going as a whole.
*************************************
Chapter Eleven: The Battle of Light and Dark
*
"We should be there in a few minutes," said Han to the others in the cockpit of the Imperial shuttle.
"I'll go tell Luke and General Kenobi," said Wedge. "They're in the back doing that Jedi meditation of theirs."
As soon as they made their escape from the Imperial base, Obi-Wan, Han, Luke, Leia, and Wedge, set their stolen Imperial shuttle on a course for the Emperor's star destroyer, located in what was once the Naboo system. Ralla took the Millennium Falcon to Hoth to inform the Rebellion about what the others were doing, and to request assistance.
Chewie growled something to Han.
"Yeah, I don't think they had wookies in mind when the designed her either, Chewie," said Han. "I miss the Falcon, too. But, Ralla promised she'd take care of her for me."
"I'm still surprised you agreed to let her take it," said Leia.
Han turned to look at her. "I had to," he said. "I'm not letting you charge into an Imperial star destroyer without me along."
"Why Han," said Leia, "are you saying you are trying to protect me?"
Han turned back and faced the stars. Then, quietly, he replied. "With my life if necessary."
Leia smiled, and leaned forward. She placed her hand on Han's chin, and turned his face to hers. Leia then leaned in and gently kissed Han on the lips.
Pulling back, she smiled, and said, "Thank you."
She then turned, and left to join the others in the back. Chewie sat in the co-pilot's seat and growled something else to Han.
"I am not in love with her," said Han. "Well, at least I don't think I am." Then, he smiled. "But I now know she likes me. Just one problem. Her Father would skewer me with that light saber of his if I tried to land her."
Chewie growled something else in reply.
"I wish I had your confidence in that," said Han.
**
"You don't need to torture her anymore," said Anakin to the Emperor. "You don't need Padme anymore. I'm here. Do whatever you want with me, just let her go."
Palpatine chuckled. "Who said I would ever let her go?" he asked. "My former protégé, you do not understand what plans I have for her."
"Plans?" asked Anakin. "What are you talking about?"
"Your Padme has proven to be quite adept at bearing children strong in the force," said Palpatine. "And in your case, her breading partner was only a mere Jedi. I wish to have an heir to my throne, a blood heir to carry on my legacy. An heir that will one day take my place as the Sith Master. If Amidalla could breed a force strong child with a Jedi, imagine how force strong her child would be if it was from MY seed! Your wife will be the vessel by which I will ensure my legacy!"
Anakin's anger was rising, and Palpatine could feel it.
"Yes," said Palpatine. "I can feel your ANGER growing, Jedi. It seems you don't like the idea of me using your wife to bear my progeny. Funny, I find the idea of breeding with Amidalla most APPEALING!"
"Well," began Padme, wearily, "I find the idea....most...repulsive. I will NEVER bear you a child!"
Palpatine lifted his hand. Padme screamed, and she fell to the deck once again in pain. Anakin kneeled down beside her as pain administered through the force continued to assault her. Anakin tried to block it with his own force powers, but found it difficult to focus as his anger grew upon seeing his beloved wife in excruciating pain.
"PALPATINE!" screamed Anakin. "STOP THIS! How can you use her for what you want if she is dead?!"
"She will not die," said Palpatine. "I am not harming her physically. Through the force, she can feel a universe of pain without coming to any real physical harm!"
Anakin rose up, and stood before Palpatine. His face reflected boiling rage, as his wife continued to writhe in pain. Then, in a low voice filled with anger, Anakin spoke. "Stop this, NOW!"
"You will have to stop me, Anakin," said Palpatine. "Take your weapon, strike me down with all of your HATRED, and your journey towards the dark side will be COMPLETE!"
Anakin looked at his light saber, laying on the arm of Palpatine's chair. Then, he looked at his wife, grunting and writhing in pain on the ground. She screamed, as Palpatine increased the pain. Anakin tried to muster all of his Jedi control, tried to focus on the force, to block Palpatine's assault on Padme through the force. But his anger was winning. He couldn't stop the rage from flowing through him at seeing his wife subjected to such torture.
Finally, Anakin turned, and summoned his light saber through the force. It flew into his hand, and Anakin activated it. He jumped towards Palpatine, and swung his light saber down towards the seated Emperor.
But his thrust failed to connect with the intended target. A red light saber blade had appeared, and blocked Anakin's attack. The latter looked up and saw Darth Hister, his blade ignited, ready to defend his Master from attack. Palpatine laughed, as he continued to assault Padme with waves of pain. Hister attacked Anakin, and the Jedi fought back, as the two warriors engaged in single combat.
***
Han adeptly guided the Imperial shuttle into the hanger of the Emperor's star destroyer. When he had contacted the destroyer upon arriving in the system, informing them they were a supply shuttle, the landing officer at first did not allow them to land without a security clearance code. But then, Obi-Wan spoke into the comm, informing the officer that they did not need a clearance code, and that they should be allowed to land. The officer immediately agreed, and allowed the ship to land.
Han, Wedge, and Chewie exchanged puzzled looks. Luke and Leia knowingly smiled. "The force," said Obi-Wan. "It can used to influence the will of the weak minded."
"Yeah, well, weak minded, that would describe your typical Imperial stooge," said Wedge.
The shuttle came in for a landing, and only a few storm troopers paid it much heed. Supply shuttles coming in were nothing out of the ordinary on a star destroyer. Neither them, or anyone else in the landing bay, could be ready for the surprise in store for them.
Han used the laser cannons on the front of the shuttle to open fire on the other ships in the hanger. Explosions rocked through the hanger, and fires began erupting from exploding fuel and munitions being loaded off of and onto ships. The Imperials on the deck were thrown into such a state of confusion, that they didn't notice two brown robed figures stealthily make their way through the flames and smoke to the entrance to the hanger.
Meanwhile, Han, Chewie, Leia, and Wedge, made their way down the ramp, and set out on their task. They, too, ran out of the hanger, shooting two storm troopers who tried to stop them.
****
If the Emperor, his dark servant, or Anakin, knew of what was going in the levels far below the Emperor's throne room, they took no notice of it. The Emperor continued to inflict pain on Padme, and watched with a smile as his servant, Hister, and Anakin engaged in mortal combat.
Padme's screams of pain continued to goad Anakin on as he defended against Hister's attacks, then counterattacked with furious energy to try and get past Hister and strike at the Emperor. Anakin jumped, somersaulted in mid-air, and landed on the other side of Hister, and charged at the Emperor. But Hister somersaulted over Anakin, and landed directly in his path, leveling his light saber at Anakin, the latter quickly defending against the attack.
Palpatine was focused on torturing Padme, while at the same time watching with keen interest as Hister and Anakin battled each other. He smiled, and chuckled, thinking how everything was proceeding as he had hoped. Anakin would either be destroyed by Hister, or Anakin would destroy Hister, and by doing so in anger, would fall to the dark side. Then, the Emperor himself would kill Anakin after having humiliated him. Either way, Anakin would be destroyed. One way did involve losing Hister, but the Emperor could replace him with another-Anakin's and Padme's son, Luke, perhaps, might be turned. Hister truly believed he could defeat Anakin. Palpatine gave him a 50/50 chance, but told Hister he had foreseen the Sith apprentice's victory over the Jedi.
Then, Palpatine looked at Padme, writhing in pain on the ground. When all of this was over, he would allow her some time to recover from her torture, before beginning the breeding process. He had considered doing it by genetic implantation, but decided a direct mating would be just as effective. Besides, Amidalla was still a beautiful woman, and breeding with her would be a pleasurable experience for the Emperor. It would also be the ultimate act of claiming victory over his nemesis, Anakin Skywalker, by claiming his widow as a prize.
But then, something pulled Palpatine from his focus on the duel and on torturing his victim. He stopped inflicting pain on Padme through the force, and began to tap into its powers of foresight and danger sense. There was a definite tremor in the force, a powerful one, and its source was aboard his ship. The Emperor focused his mind, and sensed the presence of several more force sensitives on board the ship. One of them was untrained, and in a different part of the ship. But two of them were strong in the force, and were closing in on his throne room. Palpatine recognized the unmistakable light side force signature of Jedi, and he realized what was going on.
"Hister!" yelled Palpatine. "Join me here!"
Hister backed off, and retreated to stand next to his Master. Anakin, momentarily confused by his opponent's sudden retreat, moved to attack once again. But something in the force caused him to stop. He was able to clear his mind at last, now that Padme was no longer being tortured, and let his mind tap into the force. Anakin smiled as a he felt the presence of two very familiar Jedi.
Just then, the door to the throne room began to melt away, the steel subjected to the concentrated heat that could only come from one source-light sabers. Several moments later, the door collapsed, and Obi-Wan and Luke burst into the room, light sabers at the ready.
"Father!" yelled Luke, running to stand next to his Father, with Obi-Wan close on his heels.
"What took you two so long?" asked Anakin.
"Well, you know, Father, we had to find an Imperial ship we really liked," Luke deadpanned, "then those stupid storm troopers in the corridors tried to stop us, then the Emperor's guards stood in our way. Those guys held us up a good three minutes."
"Oh, excuses, excuses," returned Anakin in sarcasm.
"Oh, force," said Obi-Wan, "you two MUST be Father and son."
"How DARE you burst in on these proceedings!" said the Emperor with rage. He sent force lighting barreling towards the three Jedi, but they blocked the blasts with their light sabers in a union of perfectly timed motion.
As Luke helped the other two Jedi block the force lightning, he looked over on the ground and saw the weakened, tortured, crumpled up form of his Mother, lying still on the floor. Anger began to boil up within him, just as it did his Father, but a voice spoke to Luke's mind through the force.
"I know what you are feeling, my son," said Anakin through the force, "but you must focus. Only together can we save her."
"I understand Father," sent back Luke.
"Obi-Wan," said Anakin out loud, "do you think you could keep Hister off of us while we face the Emperor?"
"It would be a pleasure," said Obi-Wan, remembering the day that Hister had killed the last of the Jedi, save for Mace Windu, Yoda, and himself. He also remembered in that moment his friend, Luminara Unduli, who had been killed by Hister holding him off so Yoda and the other two Jedi could escape. "I'll take care of him," added Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan moved towards Hister. The latter sneered, and moved forward to face Obi-Wan, after getting a nod of consent from the Emperor. The two warriors twirled their light sabers slightly, and circled each other like wild animals ready to strike at one another.
"We have some unfinished business, Hister," said Obi-Wan.
"Another old man to toy with," said Hister. "I shall take your head as I did Windu's, and the other of my race that faced me all of those years ago and kept me from dispensing with Master Yoda."
"Her name was Luminara Unduli," said Obi-Wan, "and her killer will be brought to account this day."
Hister struck at Obi-Wan with his weapon, the latter blocking the thrust, and striking back at the attacker. As Obi-Wan and Hister engaged in single combat, Anakin and Luke stood side by side, facing the Emperor.
"So, you are Anakin's son," said the Emperor to Luke. "Not very impressive."
"Funny," said Luke. "I was thinking the same thing about you."
The Emperor raised his hand, and sent another wave of pain at Padme. She again screamed, this time more hoarsely than before.
"Luke," said Anakin, "I couldn't stop him from doing that before, but together we might be able to. Concentrate."
The two men, Father and son, focused on the force, and on Padme. Through the force, they could see the waves of pain coming at Padme from the Emperor as waves of energy moving through the air. In their individual minds eye, they joined their powers together, and erected a shield around Padme. The waves of pain bounced off of the shield, and hit the Emperor.
"Argh!" screamed Palpatine, as he stumbled backwards after being struck by the power he himself had created.
Padme stopped writhing in pain, and her body lay still. Father and son checked to make sure she was fine, and found that she was merely knocked out from the stress.
Now that Padme was safe, Anakin and Luke slowly approached the Emperor, their light sabers raised and at the ready. Palpatine stood still, and watched the two Jedi approach him.
"Fools!" said the Emperor. "You think you can challenge ME! You have no idea WHAT you are dealing with!"
He pushed out his hands, and sent a massive wave of energy careening towards the Skywalkers. Anakin and Luke were knocked off of their feet and sent rolling backwards down the deck. Momentarily stunned, Anakin and Luke barely had enough time to raise their light sabers to block a powerful discharge of force lightening fired at them from the Emperor's outstretched hands.
Anakin and Luke just barely managed to stand up again, as they held off the Emperor's force lightening with their sabers. If it had been just one of them, they would have been overcome by the power of the assault quickly. But together, Anakin and Luke were able to match the Emperor's attack.
However, the two Jedi were not completely protected, because the Emperor's attacks kept coming, in a seemingly never-ending salvo of force lightening that the two Jedi's light sabers could only hold off for so long.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Hister continued to battle each other, the sounds of their clashing light sabers themselves dueling with the sounds of the Emperor's force lightening connecting with Anakin's and Luke's light sabers. In the gloomy throne room, the forces of light and dark were engaged in mortal combat, and the question of which side would come out victorious was still an open question.
************************
-Ha! Ha! I love cliffhangers! Will good defeat evil? Will it be Obi-Wan or Hister who will win the duel? Can Anakin and Luke stand against Palpatine's power? Will the three Jedi all come out of this alive? Be sure to tune in for the next exciting chapter of this story to find out. In the meantime, if you would like, please review this chapter and let me know what you think of it, or where the story is going as a whole.