Chapter 6 - Luke: Proclamation

Now, you die.

Luke awoke from what seemed to be a painful dream. Unlike the first time he used the Force to destroy the first Death Star, he knew and remembered exactly what he had done this time. He was breathing rapidly and holding a lightsaber to Vader's throat. Sweat was pouring down his face. He had finally accomplished what he set out to do.

Or had he? What was he thinking? Was he supposed to kill him? What was that dark and horrible power he just tapped? Or was it the dark and horrible power that tapped him? Luke felt dizzy as if stuck at a very critical moment. It was as if the power he was wielding and the power he was normally accustomed to wielding were arguing within him over what to do next.

He then heard the Emperor's laughing voice close behind him.

"Good!" came the satisfied, wretched voice, cackling some more.

Luke looked back at his father, still unsure of what to do. The moment was too confusing.

"Your hate has made you powerful," the Emperor reassured. "Now, fulfill your destiny, and take your father's place at my side!"

Luke looked at his father's cauterized wrist, and then brought his own hand up to his face. He flexed the artificial fingers, hearing their mechanized whirring as he did so. He then looked down at the rest of his father's body, entombed in that suit of armor. His father's choice to turn to the Dark Side and what it had truly cost him began to weigh heavily on Luke's mind. It had cost him his identity, and imprisonment to the Dark Side. It had also enslaved him to the Emperor for the rest of his life.

My choice must be made, he thought.

Luke then remembered a voice from his training. It said, "Strong is Vader. Mind what you have learned. Save you, it can."

My father was made evil, assisted in the process by a monster that is also evil. I came here to save him, but first I have to save myself. I am about to slay him. Do I wish to become him?

No. This is NOT what I wish to be.

As assuredly as it entered him, he felt the dark power leave him as he sighed. He was free of its grip, and of the Emperor's grip. He was Luke Skywalker, not Darth Vader. Being Vader's son never meant that he had to become him. Defeating Vader was not as important as holding to Obi-Wan's and Yoda's teachings, and it showed with the pride on his face as he looked at his father and realized the truth. Luke confronted the same evil that his father had - and defeated it.

I defeated the potential for evil within myself. Also, I did not kill my own father, even if I did come close.

He turned away from his father, and faced Palpatine boldly.

"Never," he said, extinguishing his lightsaber and casting it aside proudly. "I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

The Emperor's smile turned downward, and Luke could feel the old man's yellow eyes piercing his soul. Luke knew he was about to face the Emperor, and something inside him told him he should not have cast his lightsaber aside, but he decided not to succumb to fear of any kind this time, and did not let that thought deter him. Defeat of evil sometimes meant sacrifice. Luke understood this now.

The Emperor spoke four words, acknowledging him as being what he chose to be.

"So be it, 'Jedi.'"

Luke had not planned for this moment. He suddenly realized why Yoda warned him not to underestimate the powers of the Emperor.

Luke felt a sudden rush of power coming straight from Palpatine that made him want to try and reach for his lightsaber, but it was far too late. "If you will not be turned," Palpatine started, slowly raising his hands, "...you will be destroyed."

Lightning spewed forth from the Emperor's hands, instantly knocking Luke to the floor. So, this is why my father always feared him. Things were becoming clearer to Luke, but Luke knew there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the Emperor's sudden attack.

Or was there?

Before he had the chance to ponder the possibility, more lightning came forth, almost knocking Luke off the catwalk into the reactor core. Luke barely held on. His mind was racing for a way out of this, but there was no way to stop it.

"Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side," the Emperor said as he continued his attack, moving in closer to Luke. "You have paid the price for your lack of vision!"

Now the attacks came even harder. The pain from the numbing electricity going through Luke's body was unbelievable. Luke noticed his father now standing back at the Emperor's side.

"Father, please!" he cried, "Help me!" Luke continued to scream in pain.

Luke began to really believe his father was truly dead if he was going to stand there and watch this happen. But, if he was going to die, Luke was going to try one more time to appeal to the side of his father that was once Anakin Skywalker.

Little did Luke know, that he had already done it, when he almost tore his father to shreds just moments ago.