Torment 4
"Who said that?" Palpatine demanded as he turned around seeking the unseen speaker. "Show yourself! But I warn you, it is unwise to trifle with me."
IT IS I, TANTALUS.
Han moved closer to Leia as the low-timbered voice boomed out, the stone under his boots trembling with sound vibrations. The smuggler had an uneasy expression on his face as he scanned the darkness around them. He had no idea who this Tantalus was, but it sounded like the guy had issues that he wasn't very happy about. Reaching out, he gripped Leia's hand and squeezed it. "You know, I'm beginning to think the Kid was right after all. Coming in here was a bad idea, a very bad idea."
"You got my vote on that." Leia replied, squeezing Han's hand back. "But is this guy mad at us or the Empire?"
Darth Vader lowered Luke to the ground and released his shirt, his black breath-mask scanning for the source of the voice. It wasn't often that someone got one up on the Lord of the Sith and he didn't like it at all. Reaching onto his belt, his lightsaber was out in a snap and it hissed to life. The red blade sparkled and glowed, deadly to any who dare oppose him. "Stay close to me, my Son. Do not think of using this unexpected event as a means to escape."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Father." Luke replied, his fear only increasing at the odd turn of events. If he had to choose between a known enemy and an unknown one, in this situation he'd quickly choose his Father. At least he knew Vader wanted him alive and relatively uninjured. When the voice had spoken, the depth and power of the Dark Side had greatly increased and Luke feared they were to witness a battle between Siths. He couldn't even dream of what such a battle would be like but he feared few would survive.
Palpatine stared up towards the unseen ceiling, his wrinkled neck stretching. "What do you want? Why have you called us here?"
FOR CENTURIES I HAVE WAITED FOR ONE WHO CAN FREE ME FROM MY PRISON. NOW THE TIME HAS COME AND ONE OF YOU WILL BEGIN A NEW LIFE, A BETTER LIFE….
"Centuries?" Leia asked, confused. "How could anyone survive for centuries? I know there's some long-lived aliens but still…"
A BLESSED LIFE….
Without warning, the glowrods went out and they were all plunged into total darkness. Han yelped in fright and did Leia, Prince Xizor shouting something in his own language. Luke tightened his grip on his lightsaber, now one of the only sources of light in the room. His heart sped up inside his chest until he was sure it would burst. He didn't understand how this new Sith, if that's what he was, could shut all the glowrods off. Struggling to stop his lightsaber from shaking in fear, he glanced towards the now calming sight of his Father's long red blade and the blinking lights on his chest panel. A sense of relief filled him momentarily when he saw the power failure hadn't affected Vader's life support equipment. It was odd to be thinking such a thought about Vader, but then the entire situation was odd. Unfortunately, a lightsaber really wasn't meant as a light source and it hardly provided any light at all. He didn't dare swing his weapon for fear of hitting one of his comrades or the others. His mind raced for possible ideas but he came up blank. His Jedi skills weren't advanced enough to handle a situation where the adversary could flick off glowrods at will and apparently preventing the holders of such glowrods to turn them back on.
MY LIFE!
New lights flashed on without warning and Luke closed his eyes, the abrupt brightness painful. Carefully he squinted, the lids peeled open just enough to barely see until he adjusted to the brilliance. To his surprise, he could now see the entire room around him. An immense circular chandelier carved from wood and held high aloft by thick iron chains provided the light. Lit candles, held in place thanks to holes in the wood, flickered above in a draft. Scones along the walls held torches, their fire oddly brighter than it should be. In fact, the whole place was brighter than it should be and the young Jedi couldn't help but wonder how Tantalus had done it. The light in the room was more akin to modern lighting than this primitive style. Various out-dated weapons decorated the walls, their metal blades shining. And way at the front of the room sat an immense throne, the chair itself comprised of skulls and other assorted bones. A hand slid its fingers down Luke's back following his backbone but when he spun around to see who it was, no one was there. Fearing another phantom touch, he eased closer to his Father.
"Now I really don't like this." Han muttered, his dark eyes on the throne.
"What do you mean by that?" Palpatine demanded, his voice angry. "This temple is property of the Sith and you have no right being in here!"
I HAVE EVERY RIGHT! I BUILT THIS PYRAMID CENTURIES AGO AND IT IS MINE AND MINE ALONE. BUT I GROW TIRED OF BEING LOCKED INSIDE WITH NO WAY OF ESCAPE. ONE OF YOUR BODIES WILL PROVIDE THE WAY OUT FOR ME.
Realization dawned in Emperor Palpatine's eyes and he glanced towards Luke. "No! You cannot have him! He's mine!"
Luke gulped nervously, beads of sweat breaking out on his brow. His blue eyes scanned the room frantically for an exit. There just had to be a way out of this place! The preferred way would be the way they came in and he glanced back at the now closed door. Oddly enough, the pair of stone eyes was now on this side of the door and as Luke stared at them they actually blinked.
"This sort of thing isn't in my contract!" Prince Xizor said as he dashed towards the stone door. The eyes tilted on an angle as they glared angrily at him, a crease appearing in the stone surface of the door where the forehead would be. He tugged on it, his black topknot of hair bouncing wildly. When the door failed to open, he pounded on it with his pale green fists. "Let me out!"
NO ONE MAY LEAVE.
Lost in a wild state of panic, Xizor failed to listen. The Prince of Black Sun was normally cool-headed and reserved, but this was just too freaky. He continued to pound his fists on the door, his mind no longer rational. A mouth formed and opened on the door's stone surface, the new orifice sporting razor sharp teeth. Not noticing the new cavity, the Prince continued to bang his fists until one hand slipped inside the dark opening. Immediately the mouth closed and Xizor shrieked in pain. He leaned back on his heels and pulled frantically to free his trapped hand. Then a bluish-white bolt of lightning shot out from the chandelier and struck the Prince in his back. Xizor's body went slack and the door released his hand, his body collapsing onto the floor with a soft thud.
Everyone stared at Xizor.
Luke shivered as another phantom touch trailed down his back and then once again vanished. It was without doubt the creepiest thing he had ever experienced and he hated it. How was he supposed to fight something he couldn't see? A part of him longed to run to the fallen man and see if he was all right, but feared if he moved away from his Father's side something awful would happen to him. What, he didn't know but he could sense the malicious entity lurking in the room with them. They had dumbly entered the beast's lair and now they were trapped!
After a moment of hesitation, Han released Leia's hand and cautiously walked over to Xizor. Kneeling, he placed his finger's on the Prince's neck to feel for a pulse. Then he shook his head and stood. "He's dead."
HE WAS OF NO USE AND DOES NOT POSSESS THE POWER WITHIN THAT I NEED.
"Look," Han started to say to the thin air.
"Han! Be careful!" Luke warned. "The last thing you want to do is make it angry!"
"Look," Han continued anyway, his head tilted backwards to watch the lit chandelier high above. "There's been some mistake here. This is obviously some power struggle between you and Palpatine. So why don't you let us go?"
I SAID NO ONE IS LEAVING.
Han held his arms up in surrender and quickly hurried back to Leia's side, lowering them. "It was worth a shot anyway."
To be continued…