Revealed Identities
Chapter 22: Confrontation
"What's really going on here, kid?" Han whispered to Luke as they followed Anakin to the throne room. "You can't really expect me to believe that this guy used to be Darth Vader, and I can't believe that you would take this time to pull a practical joke on me, so what's the deal?" Luke sighed. He had a feeling something like this was going to happen. At least they found it unbelievable that his father was Darth Vader. That would help to sway his father not to do anything stupid, he hoped.
"I'm serious." Luke muttered back. "He turned back to the lightside of the Force." Han shook his head.
"Lightside? What the hell are you talking about?" Han grumbled. "And where's Leia?" He asked defiantly. Luke took a sidelong glance at his friend as they rounded a corner. 'There's something going on between the two of them.' Luke thought to himself. Not that it surprised him any.
"The Emperor has her." Anakin said worried, cutting in on their conversation.
"How do you know?" Han wondered.
"Her presence in the Force is mired by the Emperor's. He cannot completely block out her light from me, but it is not as strong as it normally is. I don't know why I couldn't sense how strongly the Force was with her before." Anakin said the last part to himself.
"It's not as strong? Do you think that he's hurting her?" Luke asked worried. Anakin shook his head.
"I don't know. I'm trying my best not to think about it." Anakin looked straight ahead as his long striding steps left Han and Luke at an almost running pace to keep up with him. Chewie followed in silence.
Han was utterly confused. He didn't understand Luke's reasoning. After watching Luke and - what was his name, Anakin? - for some time anyone could see that they were related. The way they looked, the way they held themselves, and even their accents were pretty much the same. But Han also didn't believe that this guy was Vader, no matter what either of them said. He was wondering if the whole thing with Jallishka calling Darth Vader their "father" had not been some sort of code language that Luke and Leia had figured out before hand. He felt out of the loop.
The weird thing was, Han felt as though he could trust this Anakin person. Luke obviously did, and Anakin's concern for Leia made him a good person in Han's eyes. There was also a natural air about Anakin that made him seem so easy to trust.
Chewie looked back and forth between Anakin and Luke. There was no doubt in his mind that Luke was Anakin's cub, as for the fact that they both claimed him to be Darth Vader...he didn't know what to believe, and since Luke did not seem bothered by Anakin, Chewie would keep his desire to rip Anakin's arms off at bay.
Luke looked over at Han and Chewie. Han was confused, that much was obvious, but he had no idea how Chewie felt. Chewie had been a slave underneath the Empire and, as far as Luke knew, hated Darth Vader. He glanced at his father, wishing that he could spend several minutes just to talk to him.
Anakin ignored Han's confusion, Chewie's aggressive feelings, and Luke's worry, and concentrated on locating Leia.
The Emperor watched as the princess enter his throne room for the second time that day, escorted by different guards.
"Ah...your highness, so good to see you again." He gave emphasis to "your highness", making it sound less than a welcoming greeting. Leia felt chills go down her spine as she heard his voice.
The guards left again.
"Why do you keep bringing me here?" Leia demanded, trying to hide the fear from her voice. She stood straighter, making herself at least look less intimidated. Leia did her best to glare at him with all of her anger behind it.
The Emperor was not fooled by her façade. It amused him to watch her struggle to keep her composure. His thick, pale wrinkles scrunched up into a wicked smile, if one could even call it a smile.
He purposefully ignored her demand and studied the woman in front of him. She was not even twenty yet, and for an unpleasant moment, he remembered another girl-woman like her who had caused him much trouble with her cool head, quick thinking, and dedication. However, the thing that intrigued him most was the strong hatred boiling from her. The darkside swirled around him as he relished in the dark energies she gave off.
Vader had turned back to the lightside, and turning Luke would now be increasingly difficult without the help of his former apprentice. Yet here was raw Force potential. Someone with deep hate, anger, and fear. Perhaps things would work out after all.
"You should consider yourself a galaxy rarity now. After all, there are no longer many living Alderaaneans since the destruction of Alderaan." The Emperor took pleasure in seeing Leia's face contort with a mixture of hurt and fury.
"If it weren't for you and your tactless...!" The Emperor allowed Leia to rant for some time, her anger boiling. What no one knew about the darkside except those who had fully turned, was that its intoxicating power enticed even the most pure of heart. They could feel the power of it, and they could feel that if they took that power, they could use it to do good. However, what they did not know was that it always corrupted, not matter who used it.
"I have a proposition for you." The Emperor interjected, a menacing tone in his voice for Leia to quiet down. She did so immediately in fear. The power he could offer her would interest her. That same power would also corrupt her to be his puppet, just like all his followers before just like-
"My old apprentice. How nice it is to see you again." Palpatine said oily. The Emperor cursed himself inwardly. While his thoughts occupied him, Anakin had entered the room, followed by his son, and two others that he assumed to be companions of young Skywalker's and the Princess's. He fleetingly wondered what had happened to his Red Guards, but he assumed that his old apprentice would have had no trouble taking care of them.
Leia wheeled around to look at her group of rescuers. She gaped at her father for a moment. It had to be him. Luke looked just like him, it was frightening.
Literally in a flash of lightening, the Emperor used his dark-side lightening to cripple Leia to the floor. He poured all of his hatred into it so that the lightning was burning her skin. She let out a piercing scream of pain. It had the desired effect he had hoped it would have on both father and son. They ran towards the despot with burning hatred, in an attempt to kill him. However, despite Luke's improved speed, and Anakin's mastered Force skills, it was Chewie that got to the Emperor first.
It took everyone by surprised, but none more so than the Emperor himself. Chewie locked his arms around Palpatine's neck, efficiently shutting off all of the man's oxygen. Unfortunately, mere strength was no match for the darkside of the Force, as the Emperor's lightning only momentarily faltered, switching its focus from one victim to the other. In that instance, Luke had felt the hatred in his father, the hatred that still burned in his father.
Luke put a hand on Anakin ever so gently, then it actually made Anakin jump and turn to look at his son. No more than a second must have passed between the two.
Anakin looked at his son.
Luke looked at his father.
Reading one another's minds in a single glance. Anakin could not deliver the killing blow to kill his old master in fear of turning back to the darkside. Luke could not kill the Emperor on his own.
Anakin, swallowing the desire to kill Palpatine, quickly passed Luke's lightsaber back to him. As Luke jumped towards the Emperor with his lightsaber glowing brilliantly, the Emperor once again redirected the lightening towards a new victim. However, Anakin was ready. He used the Force to redirect the lightning back at Palpatine, as Luke in a fluid movement, slashed down, neatly slicing the Emperor in half.
A dark energy seemed to fill the room with the Emperor's death. Even Han and Chewie, non-Force sensitives could feel it. Luke stood, stunned. He didn't know exactly what he had just done. He had killed the Emperor. Of all people, HE had killed him. It stunned him. His vision darkened as he could feel the darkside surround him. It consumed him, and he fell to the floor unconscious.
"Luke!" Anakin ran to his son's side. He didn't know what to do. Images of his life ran through his mind. He saw his mother, dying in his arms. He saw the friends he tried to help escape from slavery on Tatooine. He saw the disappointment from Obi-Wan. He felt the hurt from his fellow Jedi at his betrayal. He felt the loss when he had left Padmé. Anakin felt so much, that his vision swam. He shook his head. No more failures. There was no way he could bare to lose anyone again. He knew now more than ever that he needed to get away from his son and daughter, at least, after he knew that they were safe. It was his fault. Somehow, he knew it had to be his fault that everyone close to him ended up in desperate pain and suffering.
Right now was not the time to think of such things. "Luke, wake up!" He yelled. As if on cue, Luke's eyes fluttered open. Han was already checking on Leia who laid nearby, who was coming to as well.
"You're okay." Anakin helped Luke to his feet. Luke went over to help Chewie, as Anakin checked up on Leia.
"She's rousing, but she seems disoriented." Han said.
"Yes, so I see." Anakin said upon seeing Leia wake.
"Chewie's still out cold." Luke said loudly from his kneeling position near Chewie. Luke could not bear to bring himself to look at the Emperor. "But his pulse is steady."
"What're we going to do?" Leia asked, her eyes darting around, finally resting on Anakin. "Who're you?" She wondered her focus going sharp as she remembered her fist instinct that this man was her father.
"Anakin Skywalker." He said softly, looking at her. Leia opened her mouth, shock and disbelief in her face.
"We need to get out of here, fast!" Han yelled as a troop of stormtroopers stormed in.
"Right, let's go!"
Next part...Escape