Tal Celes: Thanks for reviewing. Here's the next chapter. I will try and update faster.

Ultimate-Vader-Fan: I know Mara Jade had red hair and green eyes; but I'm not overly fond of red hair and green eyes. (No offence to anyone with that colour hair and eyes) So I decided to change it a bit. Hope you don't mind.

Chapter Two

Darth Vader watched the majestic shuttle approach, then land gracefully on the deck of the Death Star's largest shuttle bay. The troops surrounding him snapped to attention as the ramp lowered and eight crimson-robed Imperial guards walked out and to the sides of it. Vader and Commander Jerjerrod both went down on one knee, heads bowed.

The Emperor, ruler of the Galactic Empire, walked slowly down the ramp towards them. "Rise, my friend," he said to Vader, and even his voice sounded utterly evil.

They began walking along the ranks of Stormtroopers, technicians, controllers and just about every other person who worked on the Death Star.

"The Death Star will be completed on schedule," Vader told his master in his deep, menacing, and only slightly less evil voice.

"You have done well, Lord Vader. And now, I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker."

Vader paused before answering. "Yes, my master."

"Patience, my friend. In time, he will seek you out. And when he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the Force."

"Yes, my master."

The evil man paused. "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen."

The sound of his laughter filled the bay and every trooper's mind with dread.

"That face you make. Look I so old to young eyes?"

Luke quickly wiped the look of worry and pity off his face and replied, "No! Of course not."

Master Yoda smiled ruefully. "I do. Yes, I do. Sick have I become. Hm. Old and weak. When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not, hm? Hehehehehe," the Jedi Master said in good humour.

Luke grinned and looked down. No, he probably would not look so good, with the kind of life he led. He assisted the ancient Jedi Master to his bed, where Yoda lay down and continued speaking.

"Soon I will rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have."

"Master Yoda, you can't die!" Luke exclaimed. He didn't think he could handle losing another great friend.

"Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong," Yoda contradicted him gently. "Twilight is upon me, and so night must fall. That is the way of things, the way of the Force."

Luke was dismayed. "But I need your help. I've come back to complete the training."

Yoda smiled. "No more training do you require. Already know you that what you need."

"Then I am a Jedi."

"No!" Yoda took a breath. "Not yet. One thing remains. Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be. And confront him you will."

Now was the time to ask the question that had been haunting him since Bespin. "Master Yoda. Is... Darth Vader my father?"

There was a pause; then Yoda turned to face the wall. "A rest I need. Yes, rest."

"Yoda, I must know."

Another pause, then a sigh. "Your father he is."

Luke sat back. At last, he knew. The second most evil man in the galaxy, the man who stood by and watched as Grand Moff Tarkin destroyed Princess Leia's home planet, Alderaan, tried to shoot down Luke's X-Wing in the first Death Star's trench, froze his best friend, Han Solo, in carbonite, as an "experiment", and cut Luke's hand off at Cloud City, was his father.

"Unexpected this is and unfortunate," the little Jedi Master said softly.

"Unfortunate that I know the truth?" Luke demanded, anger flaring up.

"No! Unfortunate that you rushed to face him. That incomplete was your training! That not ready for the burden were you," Yoda corrected.

"I'm sorry," his pupil replied sincerely, regretting his temper loss.

Yoda relaxed and turned to Luke. "The Force runs strong in your family."

Luke nodded in understanding. But Yoda wasn't finished.

"Luke; when gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be."

Luke was stunned. He would be all alone. He turned back to Yoda and waited to see if he would say anything else.

After a while, Yoda spoke again, his voice becoming more and more difficult to use by the second. "Do not... underestimate... the power... of the Emperor... or suffer your father's fate... you will."

"Luke..."

Luke leaned closer to hear what he was saying.

Luke... there is... another... Sky... walker..."

Yoda's voice trailed off and his head fell to the side. Luke stared at his Master sadly, devastated that he was gone. The sadness welled up inside him, as he remembered the lively 900-year-old Jedi Master he had first met when coming to Dagobah.

Then he watched the deceased Jedi Master's body disappear, just like Ben's had on the first Death Star.

Another great friend, mentor and father figure was gone.

"I can't do it, R2. I can't go on alone," Luke said to his droid in despair, one hand resting on his X-Wing's hull.

"Yoda will always be with you."

"Obi-Wan!" Luke turned to see the figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi, his deceased friend and first teacher, shrouded in blue transparency. "Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father!" Luke walked over to his mentor.

"Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true. From a certain point of view."

"A certain point of view?"

"Luke, you're going to find that most of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. Anakin was a good friend." Ben sat down, slow with age. It seemed that being one with the Force had not helped Ben's arthritis any. Luke sat down next to the apparition. "When I first knew him, Anakin was
already a great pilot, but I was amazed at how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong," the old Jedi admitted.

"There is still good in him," Luke said with conviction.

Almost invisibly, Ben shook his head in sorrow. "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

"I can't do it, Ben," Luke insisted.

"You cannot escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again."

"I can't kill my own father!"

"Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope," Obi-Wan said sadly.

Abruptly, a small, perhaps trivial thought flitted its way into Luke's mind. "Yoda spoke of another," he pointed out.

"The other he spoke of is your twin sister," Ben revealed.

Luke frowned. "But I have no sister."

"Mm. To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous," Ben said with finality.

"Leia!" Luke breathed, the instant Obi-Wan had finished speaking. "Leia is my sister!" It was so obvious, he should have known. They were so close to each other emotionally. He knew he loved Leia, but up until now he had felt a little awkward for some reason. Now he knew why he had instinctively loved her from the moment he first saw her.

"Your insight serves you well. Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor," Ben warned.

Luke nodded in understanding as his former teacher began to fade away. "Thank you for visiting, Ben. I needed to talk to someone I trust," he said.

"It was a pleasure," Ben replied. "Goodbye, Luke. May the Force be with you."

A few days later, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia Organa were in a shuttle. A team of commandos was with them.

They had just had been through Imperial checkpoint and had been allowed passage to the moon. Luckily, the Imperials didn't know what their real purpose was. To bring down the shields of a new super-weapon: the second Death Star.

Luke was feeling very miserable. He knew that Vader could sense his presence. As long as he was there, the mission was in danger. But that wasn't his only problem. The mysterious stranger who had tried to kill him on Tatooine was constantly on his mind.

Leia somehow knew what he was thinking. That was a strange occurrence that had been happening a lot lately. "Luke, stop thinking about it. It'll only make you tense."

"No," Luke said. I can sense the presence. It's almost like the stranger's near."

"That's impossible," Leia argued. "The stranger's probably still on Tatooine."

"You don't know that."

"Will you two knock it off?" Han complained. "You're worrying about a person who is billions of miles away."

"Maybe," muttered Luke darkly.

"It doesn't matter," Han said. "We have a mission to complete."

"Right," agreed Leia. Chewie growled something. The four of them looked out the view screen at the approaching moon.

A couple of hours before Solo and his team landed on Endor; the huge battle station loomed in front of Jade. It seemed even bigger than the first one that was built. It brought back so many memories. Her thoughts were interrupted by her bleeping comlink. She slapped it on with her hand.

"What's your clearance code?" asked a bored sounding voice. Jade recited the number on the screen in front of her.

She landed the shuttle in one of the docking bays. Hopefully, word had gotten to her master that she had arrived. True, he would be angry that she had failed to kill Skywalker. But he would probably have a greeting party for her. She grabbed her cloak, put it on and walked out.

But when she walked down the ramp, her master was not waiting for her.

Vader was.

Jade took a deep breath. She never liked him much, and the feeling was mutual. She put up a mental barrier. If she wasn't careful, Vader would be able to read her every thought and emotion.

"Welcome back, Emperor's Hand," he said through his mask. As usual, he was completely unreadable.

"Where is the Emperor?" she asked, not wanting to be stuck making small talk with the Dark Lord.

"He is waiting for you in the throne room," Vader replied.

Jade curtly and briefly nodded her head in thanks; then turned and walked down a corridor, two Stormtroopers following as entourage. Vader watched her as she strode off. He was glad he wasn't required to escort her to his master. He knew that she had been assigned to kill his son and he didn't want that to happen.

The comlink clipped to his belt started to bleep. Vader switched it on. "Yes," he hissed. "This had better be very important."

"I believe it is, my lord," a voice replied. "We have picked up a prisoner on the forest moon who wishes to speak to you. His name is Luke Skywalker."

"I am on my way," replied Vader. At last, he would be reunited with his son.

Jade walked through the many corridors of the Death Star, the two Stormtroopers following a short distance behind. She walked into one of the many command centres that dotted the ship. The officer in charge nodded his respect as she passed. She climbed up a flight of stairs that led to the Emperor's throne room.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she turned to the left and walked up three steps to the turbo lift that led to her master's throne room. The Stormtroopers standing guard stood at attention as she passed them and entered the turbo lift.

Jade shut the doors behind her and stood facing them as the turbo lift started to go upwards. As she stood there, she wondered how the Emperor would react to her failing the mission. She hoped he wouldn't take it badly.

The turbo lift stopped and the door slid open. Jade took a deep breath; then glided silently into the room. She walked up the long flight of stairs that led to her master's throne.

The Emperor glared at her with his yellow reptilian eyes. His shrivelled form was hidden beneath a long cloak. He arms lent on the side of his throne.

"Leave us," the Emperor commanded. Silently, the Imperial guards obeyed.

"My master." She dropped to one knee, bowing her head in reverence.

"Come here, my Hand," he commanded. She got up and walked the few steps to her master's throne.

"I apologize, my Master..." she began.

"That is not important right now. It was a mistake that can be forgiven, this time," the Emperor replied briskly. "Right now there are more important matters to attend to."

Jade was shocked for a moment. She though her master would be extremely upset that she had failed. But he had not even brought the subject up. Clearing her mind of questions, she turned her attention back to her master.

"I have heard disturbing reports from Byss. There are a couple problems that need taking care of." He pointed his finger at Jade. "See to it."

"Yes, my master," Jade replied. She turned and walked down the stairs to the turbo lift. She entered and flicked the comm panel. The doors slid shut and the turbo lift started to descent. As she stood in the turbo lift, she suddenly heard her master's voice in her head. "And do not worry, my Hand. I will take care of Skywalker."

Hoped you liked it. Please review. -- Tomb Raider X