Torment 3

Luke's mouth dropped open in shock, his lightsaber wavering in front of him unsteadily. He quickly glanced at his friends behind him, and then snapped his eyes back onto the Sith Lord. "I … I didn't call you here! I'm not switching sides! Why, I don't even know what I'm doing here! Han, tell him!"

"Yeah," Han added, his voice filled with bravado he really didn't feel at the moment. Being stuck inside a creepy old pyramid with Darth Vader wasn't exactly his idea of fun. "Luke is right. We didn't ask you here. We received a message from someone offering information on the Empire, so you're the one switching sides!"

"Do not toy with me, Solo." Vader advanced towards his unruly son, one hand raised in threat towards the Rebels. His mechanical breathing echoed loudly in the dark chamber, only the occasional ping of dripping water disturbing it. "I do not appreciate being dragged out here for nothing; nor do my colleagues. I strongly suggest you stop playing games."

"Colleagues?" Luke repeated fearfully as he slowly backed away from his father. He had automatically presumed Vader was alone and now he berated himself for his stupidity. Of course Vader wasn't alone! Dozens of stormtroopers traveled with him everywhere, especially in a situation like this. His heart hammered loudly in his chest as he realized he had failed his friends and now they would all become prisoners of the Empire! At the thought of his poor sister locked away in a cell again, Luke grew angry. "You lied to us! Admit it, Father, you sent us that message to trap us! You couldn't catch me any other way so you resulted to treachery!"

"No, Luke." Vader stepped closer, no fear of his son's ignited lightsaber halting his movements. "You ARE the one that sent the message to me on Executor. Do not play games with me, Son. Just because you are my offspring does not give you the right to amuse yourself with such situations. Perhaps you find this amusing but be assured I do not. I know it wasn't Captain Solo or the Princess that sent the message; both are too firm in their beliefs of the Rebellion to ever change. But you are young and inexperienced, therefore you are the one that sent the message."

"But I didn't! I swear!" Luke protested, his blue eyes wide as saucers. "Stay away from me, Father!

"We don't know what you're talking about! Luke would never switch sides!" Leia stated boldly. "Someone sent us a message and it was you! Either that or you arrested our contact. Why don't you just admit it?"

Vader's black-gloved hand sped out and snatched Luke by the front of his black tunic. "Do not lie to me, Son. I will not warn you again."

Luke's heart skipped a beat as his father's hand latched itself onto his wet shirt and lifted him off his feet. Panic spread throughout his body and he didn't know what to do. Instead of getting better by telling the truth, it had just gotten worse! Evil cackling floated out of the total darkness that surrounded their little circle of light and Luke immediately turned his head in the direction it seemed to be coming from. The blood in his veins seemed to freeze as a horrible apparition drifted out of the shadows into the light.

It was covered from head to foot in a dust-covered, dark hooded robe, one pale skeletal hand clutching a gnarled walking stick. Thick cobwebs hung like lace from the sleeves of its robe and these fluttered as it glided across the floor towards them. Its face appeared to be rotten, the skin hanging from the bones in folds and creases. But worst of all was its eyes, red and glowing with pure evil and hatred. Darkness radiated out of it in immense waves, the strength of it staggering. And when its horrid mouth opened to laugh he could see its teeth were a scummy yellow, in places coated with green. It appeared to be right at home in the abandoned pyramid, a corpse that had crawled out of its tomb.

Luke's mouth dropped open in horror but only gurgling sounds emerged. So he pointed a finger at the creature, sure his Father would strike the horrible zombie down before it killed them all.

"Lord Vader," the zombie spoke. "I see you have finally caught your son. Is he the one that called us here?"

"I believe he is, although he denies it." Darth Vader informed the newcomer.

"Emperor Palpatine! I should have known you were behind this ploy!" Princess Leia glared at the newcomer angrily. "You'll never get away with this!"

"The Emperor?" Luke asked, shocked that this horrid creature was his Father's Master. "You're the Emperor?"

"Yes, young Skywalker, I am." Palpatine floated closer, his feet lost in the darkness. It was eerie how he moved so smoothly and silently as if he were a ghost instead of flesh and blood. He finally reached the small group and stretched a bony hand out towards Luke's face.

Luke instinctively pulled his head away from the horrid hand but it was no use. With Vader still holding him off his feet he couldn't get away. The young Jedi considered kicking his Father and escaping into the darkness, but dismissed it for the moment. He didn't know what lay in wait out there and running around blindly inside the step pyramid was a bad idea. Open pits could mar the floor and one could easily fall right into one. Not only that, but nasty surprises such as upright spears or poisonous creatures might wait at the bottom of them. He just hoped Han or Leia wouldn't do something rash to make the situation worst. Palpatine's hand closed around his chin and jaw, the flesh cold as a block of ice. The grip tightened and he allowed his head to be turned this way and that, as if he was some exotic creature being examined in a marketplace. "Get your slimy hand off me!"

"Such language!" Palpatine stared Luke in the eyes, unaffected by the insult. "You'll soon learn your place, young one. You're much like your Father, both in appearance and impulsiveness. You'll make a fine apprentice, I believe. But first let us settle this confusion about who called whom here."

"Get your rotten hand off him!" Han warned as he pulled the blaster off his belt and aimed it right at Palpatine. But before the smuggler could fire, a boot came flying out of the surrounding shadows and kicked it from his hand. The blaster clattered noisily on the stone floor and vanished from sight, swallowed up by the eternal night around them. Han stared in surprise at the red head that had appeared out of nowhere, a viroblade in her hand. "Jade!"

Chewie roared angrily, white canines flashing in the weak light of the glowrods. He moved to crush the female intruder with his strong, fur covered arms.

Han was quick to stop him. "Easy, Chewie. If you do something, who knows what they'll do to Luke?"

The Wookie growled his complaints.

"Yeah, I don't like this any better than you do! This has setup written all over it and it stinks!" Han grumbled as he kept one eye on the redheaded assassin.

"What a rag-tag bunch…" a voice said out of the darkness and then Prince Xizor emerged, his fine clothes oddly free of the dust and grime that seemed to coat everyone else. "I don't see why I had to come to this miserable place. Unless, of course, Lord Vader was being incompetent as usual and required my assistance."

"Is the whole blasted Empire here?" Han complained, annoyed. Vader was bad enough but this…!

"The message young Skywalker sent was exceedingly specific." Palpatine replied as he finally removed his cold clammy hand from Luke's face. "He specified that the four of us meet him here in this magnificent Sith Temple."

"Only magnificent to you…" Han mumbled under his breath as he stood next to Leia uneasily.

"I didn't call you here!" Luke shouted angrily, his voice bouncing off the unseen walls and ceiling of the immense chamber. "And I'm not lying!"

"Hmmmmph! Well, someone called us here!" Palpatine glared at the four Rebels.

A loud voice boomed out of the darkness, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

I CALLED YOU HERE.

Then the door through which the Rebels had entered the chamber slammed shut, locking them all within the not-so-abandoned Sith Temple.

To be continued…