Star Wars Infinities: The Warrior

By Christopher W. Blaine (darth_yoshi@yahoo.com)

DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by George Lucas and are used herein without permission for fan-related, non-profit entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express permission of the author.

CHAPTER 29

Luke was slightly surprised that he was granted almost immediate entry into the Imperial Center military defense zone. His Lambda-class shuttle was not harrassed as he followed the flight path sent to him by flight control. No escort came along side to verify that he wasn't some suicidal zealot out to kill the new emperor.

There could only be one reason for that: the Force. Lord Ravage had sensed Luke through the Force and was allowing him an audience. The chain of events puzzled the young Sith. His first loyalties were to his mother and the Emperor, but Palpatine was now dead and who was he to avenge the man? Perhaps his death was the result of trial by combat, the ancient Sith method of ascension. In that ritual, Palpatine would have been given the choice of combat or abdication, but either way his rule was challenged.

If this Lord Ravage was a Sith, then who trained him Luke wondered. He had been taught that the principle of "one master and one apprentice" was not the absolute rule of the Sith, but more of something that had become a forced tradition. Palpatine wanted to break away from that, to create a new society of Sith practitioners with himself at the head.

Perhaps Ravage was one of those whom Palpatine recruited and had in turn betrayed his benefactor. Luke wasn't sure, but he was determined to find out. His desire for revenge against Tarkin was great, but he felt as if he didn't know the entire plan and his next move had to come from here, this place of darkness.

He was directed to the landing pad normally reserved for his mother and was surprised to not see her personal TIE fighter sitting there. It meant she had not returned to Imperial Center, but then he wasn't sure what her exact orders were. During his trip to Imperial Center from Corellia, he had managed to get a fix on her personal fleet, surprised to find it out in orbit over Tatooine. When he tried to contact the flagship, he was ignored, no doubt a prudent security precaution given the civil unrest. Luke could only imagine how many people would try to pose as him to get through to his mother. He was after all trying to call from a common shuttle!

Luke shut down the shuttle and lowered the entry ramp. He ran a hand though his long brown hair and picked up his lightsaber, clipping it to his belt. He was clad in the black uniform of a pilot with a Death Star forces patch on the shoulder. He had thought of taking the patch off but he was afraid of ruining the sleeve and he was not going to confront Ravage looking like a vagabond.

Four Crimson Guardsmen awaited Luke. They were the private bodyguard of the Emperor and of they had assigned their loyalty to Ravage that spoke volumes about his ability and influence. Luke decided that for once it would be best not to rush into the situation, but to be subtle in the way of Palpatine. He would meet this Ravage and see of he could understand exactly what was going on.

None of the Guardsmen said anything, but then they didn't have to. Everyone on the platform knew why Luke was there and words would have been nothing more than useless ceremony. He fell in between the four escorts and they marched away from the pad and into the castle of the Emperor.

Luke noted that there was a true military presence within the castle. Technicians moved with discipline and he guessed that there had been some thinning of the ranks because many stations were unmanned. He also noted that the stormtroopers within the castle were wearing redesigned armor, black where it was white, red where it had been black. It gave the elite soldiers an almost demon-like appearance.

Then Luke understood that he had stepped into hell and Ravage was sitting on the throne. Through the Force he could feel the difference from the way it used to be. There were not the subtle messages of compliance whispering to you; instead you could feel the presence of Lord Ravage. He did not hide, he did not shirk; he wanted everyone who entered this place to know he was watching.

Luke found it to be a very effective method of control for he found himself guarding even his own thoughts.

"Welcome, young Skywalker, please enter and be received," Ravage said from his throne. Luke stepped away from the four escorts and immediately was drawn to the bloodstain on the marble floor. He could sense Palpatine's fading presence from the stain. "Yes, that is where your Emperor fell to me in battle." Ravage stood up and stepped down from the dais. He was clad in black and silver robes and a lightsaber hung loosely from his waist. "Do you wish to dispute this fact?"

Luke's hand drifted towards his own weapon. "I'm not sure yet."

"An honest answer; I like that. There are too many people in Palpatine's government that are too used to saying what they believe he wanted to hear." He smiled broadly. "I had to kill all of them."

Luke chuckled, silently agreeing with the method. He had no patience for sycophants. "Have you contacted my mother?"

Ravage shook his head slowly. "She is not a true Sith."

Luke unhooked his lightsaber but did not ignite it. "My mother is the Dark Apprentice…"

"No. I am the Dark Lord and I decide who my apprentice is. Your mother was never anything more than Palpatine's whore." Luke activated his weapon and swung, but Ravage blocked it easily. His own crimson blade deflecting the blow. The lightsaber had an oddly curved handle and Luke recognized it as the weapon he had been told Count Dooku had used.

"You defend a woman not worth defending. Toss away this loyalty to a woman undeserving of it!" Ravage said as he continued to ward off Luke's wild swings. "Women are meant to be bedded, not followed! In time, you will learn that the Dark Side is most powerful between a woman's thighs for it is the ruin of a good man!"

Luke reached with the Force and grabbed a Force-pike out of a Guardsman's hand. The Guardsman fell forward but none of the bodyguard made an effort to interfere. Luke used the Force to direct the weapon towards Ravage, but the Dark Lord halted it in mid-air with his own willpower. "You don't believe me, but in your heart you suspect it is true."

Luke tried to push the Force-pike further but it was like attacking a brick wall with a spoon. There was real power behind the eyes of Ravage; eyes that suddenly took on a familiar radiance. "Yes, you start to understand," Ravage cooed. "I am a genetic offspring…"

"Clone, you mean," Luke snapped.

Ravage smiled but still held the Force-pike in place with barely even a thought though Luke was pushing with all of his will. "Use whatever term you wish, but the result is the same. Palpatine sought immortality and he wanted to use your mother to create a vessel for his essence."

"Then what are you?" Luke asked, sweat running down his face.

"An embarrassment," Ravage responded. "Just as you are to your mother."

"That's not true!"

"Then why did she shuttle you off into the military instead of making you here immediate second-in-command? Perhaps it was because of your sister?" Ravage waved his hand and a far wall descended into the floor, revealing a large monitor. The monitor had a frozen image on it.

Luke cast a glance over and recognized from the symbols at the bottom that it was the transmission of an Imperial probe droid. "The Emperor trusted nobody and he left many spies on the various Imperial worlds, designed to respond to any unusual transmissions. This particular one picked up a conversation between a stormtrooper detachment and your mother on the surface of the world."

The video began and Luke watched as Leia and two Jedi Knights attacked Deceptra, but his mother seemed able to handle the situation. As the scene progressed, Deceptra taunted them and then the unthinkable happened. Deceptra offered to rule the galaxy with Leia!

The Force-pike fell to the floor with a clatter and Luke deactivated his lightsaber, letting it hang loosely from his hand. His sweat was cold now and he felt himself shivering as if the temperature had suddenly been dropped. Before he knew it, Ravage was next to him. "Did you not understand? You remind her of what she lost and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get you to measure up to your father. Palpatine knew this, but he did nothing about it. That was always his problem, never wanting to get involved."

Luke looked at him, a tear falling down his face. Ravage continued speaking. "I know these things because I have many of Palpatine's memories. I know his frustrations and his endless quests to preserve his life. It was all that he cared about; he had no desire to serve the Force, no want to be a true Dark Lord. He refused to understand that being subservient to the Dark Side comes before all else."

"She betrayed me for her?" Luke whispered. "She chose my sister…"

"It happens, but you must not dwell upon it. Take your anger and internalize it, use it for what it truly is, the key for unlocking the door to real power!" Ravage grabbed Luke by the shoulders and whirled him around. "You have been trained, but what have you been taught?"

"I don't understand," Luke said.

"And that is why you are not a true Sith. Any primate can wield a lightsaber or profess to be a servant of order, but only a Sith can understand what it all means. Become my apprentice, Luke Skywalker, and we will not just rule the galaxy, we will be the galaxy."

Luke started to answer, but then turned back to look at the frozen video. There was his mother, reaching out to Leia and he felt his heart breaking. He had always maintained his loyalty to his mother, never questioned her methods or her reasons for anything. Yet, the first chance she had gotten she had traded him off for his sister.

He looked up at Ravage. "Tell me what I must do…master."

"I'm honored that you have agreed to this meeting," Garm Bel Iblis said with a small nod of his head towards the hologram of Admiral Thrawn. The Imperial officer appeared to return the gesture, but the fuzziness of the transmission kept the Rebel leader from knowing for sure.

The meeting had been arranged through a network of spies and Thrawn had actually been expecting it ever since Tarkin's announcement. It would be a boon to the Rebels to get every flag officer they could. Bel Iblis seemed to sense Thrawn's thoughts. "You are considered something of a maverick in the Imperial forces, not your everyday officer."

Thrawn betrayed nothing but remained motionless. "I am an alien of high rank in a xenophobic society; the fact that I am even alive does testify to my natural survivor instinct. You are also something of a renegade, Senator."

"Guilty as charged, but Corellians are not known for conforming to the rules," Bel Iblis responded. He was seated in his private cabin onboard the Corellian Star, a self-proclaimed blockade runner with more modifications than any smuggler's vessel in Black Sun. "I'm sure by now your technicians have traced our routing signal."

"Actually, I'm not worried about your whereabouts. In case you haven't heard, there has been a situation that has developed in the Empire. I'm only taking this while my fleet forms up for the jump into hyperspace." There was a pause. "To what do I owe this call? Do you wish to surrender and face merciful Imperial justice?"

Bel Iblis laughed and shook his head. "I think I'll pass on that, but I was wondering if you would be interested in joining with us? We could use a competent officer such as yourself."

Thrawn seemed to consider the matter and then he replied slowly. "I serve the New Order, not the cause of chaos. I remember the Old Republic and I remember how democracy did not work."

"And a dictatorship does?" Bel Iblis looked to the side and nodded to his ship's captain and then returned to Thrawn. "You seem to misunderstand; I do not want to reestablish the Old Republic."

"The other Rebel leaders seem to have different ideas. I was led to believe that Mon Mothma, before her death, had voiced a desire to return to the old days," Thrawn said, his fingers propping his chin up. "I do not wish to see that occur. In those days, my people were treated…poorly."

Bel Iblis had no idea what Thrawn was talking about because his exact race had not been pinpointed. He made a mental note to get the Rebel historians on it immediately. "Maybe that was what she was after; I'll concede that Bail Organna had the same ideas probably, but the only thing I am concerned with is freeing Corellia."

"Ah, I thought so. Your methods suggested such a thing," Thrawn said, his red eyes flashing. "That will be quite difficult now, don't you think?"

"It won't be easy, but Corellians are a tough bunch…"

"And do you honestly believe that if you were to defeat not only Tarkin, but the Empire, that the new government of the galaxy would allow Corellia to operate independently?" Thrawn almost started laughing. "I am almost tempted to join up to watch the comedic fall of your dream. No, but I think I'll continue to support what I feel is right and correct."

"The Emperor is dead…"

"But I do not serve the man, I serve the ideal. You understand that, do you not?" He could tell that Bel Iblis could and he leaned forward. "There is a chance in this new government that Lord Ravage may see past your past indiscretions."

"Have you spoken with this Lord Ravage? He may be no better than Palpatine and then where will your New Order be?" Bel Iblis was disappointed that Thrawn had not agreed to side with the Rebellion. It would have been a great coup for him and he needed some moral victories right now. Tarkin's little excursion into self-rule had really thrown a hyperspanner into the works. "Can you be so sure that he'll be as tolerant as Palpatine of aliens?"

"That, my dear senator, is why I cannot join with you. In the New Order, I am seen as a useful member; you see me as an alien, a cause. I do not require humans to come to my defense." Thrawn looked away and nodded. "I'm afraid that I must cut this conversation short, senator. I do appreciate the offer, but I'm quite happy where I am."

"I understand, admiral; I am honestly sorry that we don't have more time to discuss our philosophical differences." Bel Iblis leaned forward to sign off, then paused. "By the way, Baron Fel sends his regards."

Thrawn grinned slightly and narrowed his eyes. "You make the game interesting, senator." The transmission then went blank, leaving Bel Iblis alone with his thoughts. Sighing, he turned back to second monitor that was activated. He looked at Wedge and shrugged his shoulders. "It was worth a try. Inform Colonel Fel that he was wrong."

Wedge stiffened as Bel Iblis used Fel's new rank in the Rebel Alliance. It put him very much over Wedge, but Bel Iblis had explained that Fel had real military experience and that counted in the Rebellion. "I will, sir."

Bel Iblis blew out. Wedge was a good man but sometimes very hard to deal with. His Corellian temper normally got the better of him. "Wedge, you need to let it go. This is bigger than your ego."

"Yes sir," Wedge said. "I do understand my orders; I'm just not happy about them."

"Welcome to the military, Commander," Bel Iblis said as he signed off. He then turned to his aide. "Ensign, order the captain to get us back to the fleet."

The young ensign answered in the affirmative and moved to make it happen. At full speed, they should just be able to meet up with Harkov's fleet in the Endor system. Then they would have what they needed to free Corellia.