Chapter 11
The Archives blazed like an inferno from the darkest Hell as Luke staggered inside, coughing as hot fumes and ash seared his mouth and throat, clutching the sleeve of his robe over his nose and lips in an effort to filter out the smoke. Sharks of crystal crunched under his feet, and the air around him seemed to shimmer and tremble with the heat. He blinked burning eyes and crouched low to duck underneath the scorching vapors.
Kain lay in the center of the room, surrounded by shattered Holocrons, his legs smoldering, a saber wound just beneath the tip of his sternum piercing him clear through.
Luke didn't even stop to consider. He knelt beside the fallen Sith, grabbed his cape, and used the cloth for something practical for a change – to smother the flames on Kain's body. He didn't hate Kain anymore. He couldn't. This man, like Vader and so many others before him, had been used, manipulated, and betrayed by Palpatine. Luke couldn't harbor any more anger toward him, not when he had already suffered so much at the hands of the Emperor.
Kain groaned in pain as Luke dragged him into the throne room, out of the dangers of the flaming Archives. Luke reached down to pull off his helmet, but Kain's grip stayed his hand.
"Don't…" he rasped.
"You'll breathe easier without it," Luke told him.
"No…" he insisted hoarsely. "Even… in death… I have some dignity…" He coughed violently. "My saber…"
The weapon still lay in the next room, glittering in the blaze. Luke hesitated. Just because he had let go of his hate didn't mean he trusted Kain any more. He was still a Sith, and if it was his intention to kill Luke before he passed away…
"Destroy it…" Kain ordered. "Destroy my saber… I want to die… as I was born… I want to die… as Boba Fett… not Darth Kain…"
Luke gestured, and the lightsaber hurled itself toward the wall, shattering into useless fragments.
"Boba Fett," Luke said quietly. "I want you to know that I forgive you for what you've done to me."
Fett struggled to inhale enough air to reply. "Thank you… Skywalker…" He slowly raised a hand and pressed something into Luke's palm.
Luke stared at the gemstone Fett had given him, stunned. It wasn't red, like the Sith Holocrons, but the deepest blue like a bottomless lake. As large as a man's eye and pulsing with an inner energy like a living thing, it was a glimmer of sweet clean light in the overwhelming darkness of the fortress, and it seemed to fill Luke with renewed strength as he held it. What in the galaxy was a Jedi Holocron doing in the Sith headquarters, though? Maybe it was a trophy or spoils gained from the destruction of the Jedi Temple, or maybe Palpatine had used it before the Purges to gather information about his foe.
"You'll need it…" Fett whispered.
"Why are you giving me this, Fett?" asked Luke. "I thought you hated the Jedi. Why the change of heart?"
Fett gripped Luke's arm. "Kill the Emperor…" he snarled weakly. "He betrayed me… used me… and he'll use… you… unless you destroy him…" His grip tightened with the desperation of a man who knew he was doomed but had one last message to impart. "Use what I give you… to destroy the Emperor… and to save your father…" His voice grew even more distant. "Let my father… aid you… use his name…"
Luke stared down at the hunter, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
"Father…" Fett's last words were so faint he could hardly hear them. "Father… I'm so sorry…"
His entire body shuddered, then relaxed, and his feverish grip on Luke loosened. Luke gently folded the man's arms across his chest, then covered him with the cloak as best he could as a sort of makeshift shroud. He couldn't give the man the proper last rites – there wasn't time – but he would make sure Fett's redemption would not go unheard.
/Whatever his destination beyond death may be/ he thought/I pray he'll find peace there./
Wrapping the Jedi Holocron securely in a torn-off section of his robe sleeve, he pocketed the precious bundle and stood. He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ran back for the corridor, ready for battle. He had to find his father at all costs, before the droids could activate the self-destruct.
Father… Fett's father… use his name… that was it!
Break…
If Midnight didn't shut up soon, Artoo was going to knock her down again. He'd just about had enough of her complaints and paranoia.
It had been simple enough to get past the droideka guards at the fortress gate – they were programmed to stop biological intruders, not droids. It had been even easier to plug himself into the nearest computer jack and hack into the central computers of the fortress. Slicing through the security code… that was something else. But Artoo enjoyed a challenge, and he tried out various combinations of letters and numbers, waiting for something to click.
Midnight shrieked again. Her auditory receptors had picked up an intrusion! They were about to be discovered!
Artoo told her to stuff a 'spanner in it and kept working. His sensors had already picked it up; he knew about whatever it was.
The intruder rolled into view – a short, squat, tank-shaped maintenance droid. He gave Midnight a self-satisfied blat before trying a few more numeral sequences. No numbers were registering in the code. It must be a simple password. He ditched numbers entirely and tried random letter sequences.
Midnight screamed electronically. Artoo whirled his dome to see doors open up on either side of the maintenance droid, unfurling blasters that pointed directly at the two astromechs. Evidently the Sith preferred housekeeping droids with attitudes.
Artoo disengaged from the computer jack and turned to face the droid.
Midnight gave an incredulous exclamation. He wasn't planning on fighting the thing, was he?
/You bet I am/ he processed without actually vocalizing it.
He charged forward with a long, loud electronic battle cry. The maintenance droid, not having the most up-to-date logic processor on the market, couldn't compute why a mere astromech would be initiating a charge and just watched, stumped, as Artoo slammed into it, his circular saw shearing through one blaster-arm before it could squeeze off a round.
Midnight watched, silent for once, but quietly impressed.
Break…
Vader was trapped.
Palpatine had herded him deftly into this chamber, controlling his flight with well-placed blasts of lightning, blocking off possible escape routes with Force-sparked ceiling collapses. The room he'd finally ended up in had no exits other than the door he'd come through, and he didn't dare fight past the Emperor in his wounded, weakened condition.
/I'm dead/ he realized.
Surprisingly, the realization that he was going to meet his end here didn't frighten him in the least. An odd feeling of peace filled him. He was redeemed of his crimes. Never mind what the Emperor's ghostly illusions had told him; he had done penance for his years as a Sith. If Palpatine killed him today, he would die without regrets, without fear.
/I love you, Luke/ he sent. /Don't come back for me. Get out of the fortress and give Artoo the go-ahead. We'll meet again beyond the veil. I'm sure of it./
Before Luke could reply, the Emperor entered the room, an expression of absolute hatred on his face.
"How ironic," the tyrant mused. "Look at the room you have chosen as your deathbed, Vader."
He didn't need to look around to know where he was. This was the closest thing the Sith bastion had to a medbay – what he had irreverently referred to as a younger man as the Torture Chamber. Here he had lain after his fateful duel with Obi-wan on Mustafare, blinded and screaming with agony, the pain of his burns equal only to the pain of the surgical droids' instruments as they cut away scorched tissue, amputated what was left of his mangled legs, and invaded his body to repair his internal organs. He'd pleaded with his master for an anesthetic of any kind, but Palpatine had insisted that a Sith felt no pain, and if he desired to inherit the title of apprentice he would endure the operation without drugs.
"I saved your life here," Palpatine sneered, stepping forward, his fingers caressing the hilt of a lightsaber in one hand. "I snatched you from the jaws of death and made you stronger than any Jedi could ever hope to be. And now, here, I will destroy you once and for all. Fitting, isn't it?"
"You have it backward," Vader replied. "You destroyed me that day. You killed Anakin Skywalker and from his remains assembled a monster, a creature to obey your whims and slink in your footsteps like a twisted warlock's familiar." He gestured to his chest, a chest that no longer bore the control panel of Vader, one that, scars aside, might belong to any man in the galaxy. "But the Darth Vader you created died in combat at Yavin. My son killed the monster along with your Death Star, and from his ashes I was born."
"You're not Anakin Skywalker," hissed Palpatine. "You'll never again be Anakin Skywalker!"
"I will never again be the Jedi Knight who you sought to corrupt decades ago," Vader acknowledged. "But neither will I ever again be your right-hand man. I am Anakin Skywalker… and Darth Vader. I am a Jedi Knight… and a reformed Sith. I am, above all, the Chosen One, and I will never again submit to your whim."
Lightning leaped from the Emperor's hand, striking the left side of Vader's helmet. Shards of black metal rained down on the stone floor. Vader didn't flinch.
"You can't destroy me," Vader went on. "Strike me down, and I'll become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
The Emperor struck again, and the right side of Vader's helmet shattered, this time taking a fragment of the mask with it. His exposed cheek burned with the heat of the electric blast.
"Hold your tongue," snarled the Emperor, "or your arms are next."
"If you haven't noticed, I no longer care what you do to me," Vader replied. "Anything further you do to me will be as useless as beating a dead bantha. Kill me, or torture me, or whatever you elect to do. I am beyond caring."
"Oh, you'll start caring, I promise you," Palpatine hissed in a tone of deranged fury. "I have ways to inflict pain that are beyond your pathetic imagination…"
"Father!"
The two men turned to face the door, startled.
"Ah, and young Skywalker has joined the fray," the Emperor snickered. "Do you plan on fighting me to spare your father? If you haven't noticed, he's already given up. So stand aside while I finish him off, and you won't get hurt."
"Luke, run!" Vader ordered. "Get out now!"
Luke ignored both men's orders. "Your Highness, I'll join the dark side!"
"Luke, no!" Vader screamed. "What are you doing?"
"Shut up," Palpatine barked. "Really, young Skywalker? Why the change of heart?"
Luke made eye contact with his father as if trying to impart a message, then turned back to the Emperor. "Don't hurt him anymore. Please. I'll join the Sith and become your apprentice if you just let me talk to him for a few minutes."
"No!" Vader shouted. What in the galaxy had possessed his son? Had Kain turned him in his final moments? Had his brush with the dark side in the Archives irrevocably corrupted him? Was his vision to come true?
"Deal," the Emperor said with a disgusting smile. "I'll give you one minute, starting now."
Break…
Midnight finished dismantling the incapacitated maintenance droid while Artoo kept tinkering with the self-destruct. She had to admit, Artoo had acted bravely, if a little recklessly. No wonder he liked the Skywalkers so much – he shared their personality.
Artoo, meanwhile, had hit a snag. The password wasn't a random series of letters, evidently. It had to be an actual name or word. But what name would a Sith use? He tried to process his thoughts like a Sith, reviewing all he knew about the Order – which was a lot, considering he liked to slice into the Rebellion's information banks from time to time and help himself to whatever information looked interesting, especially that which related to the Clone Wars.
SIDIOUS, he tried. No go.
TYRANUS. Nothing.
MAUL. No effect.
VADER, he attempted. DURGE. VENTRESS. BANE. WESSEL. POGGLE. DOOKU. GRIEVOUS. He tried every name he knew to be somehow connected to the Sith. Nothing was clicking.
Midnight chirruped. Was he getting any closer? He beeped negatively and kept going.
TARKIN. THRAWN. LAAMA. HAAKO. GUNRAY. DOFINE. What was he doing wrong?
His comm beeped. He answered with an irritated whistle.
"Sorry to interrupt you, Artoo, but have you figured out that code yet?" asked Luke.
Artoo gave a negative beep.
"Try a name. I think the code word's the name of a Mandalorian, specifically Boba Fett's father."
Mandalorians! Of course! According to Clone War records, a bounty hunter and former Mandalorian named Jango Fett had worked for Dooku/Tyranus as an assassin and general go-fer, not to mention the genetic base for the cloned stormtroopers. The records made no mention of a son, but then, how many Fetts could there be in the galaxy?
JANGO, he entered.
Something deep inside the fortress seemed to rumble to life. Artoo realized what he'd just done and shrieked, scrambling frantically to deactivate the self-destruct.
"No, let it run its course!" Luke shouted. "How long before it goes off?"
It took a few seconds to pin that down. He relayed the time to Luke – two minutes fifty-two seconds and counting.
"That should be long enough. You and Midnight get out now. Vader and I'll be all right. See you outside."
Artoo shut off the connection and headed for the door, Midnight close on his heels.
Break…
The minute the Emperor agreed to Luke's deal, he raced forward to embrace his father. Not that he trusted any deal of Palpatine's – in fact, he knew the Sith had no intention of keeping his end of the bargain.
That was okay. Luke had no intention of keeping his end either.
Vader hugged Luke close. "Luke," he murmured in his ear, "don't do this. I'm not worth your soul. Please…"
"I'll never join the dark side," Luke assured him. He pressed the Holocron into his father's palm. "Extend the Force. See what I've got."
Together they accessed the Holocron, delving into its layers and levels. The Jedi who had kept this record hadn't recorded his or her name, but had filled the crystal with the secrets of the Force… some of which had been lost to the Jedi Order even in Vader's day. Luke located the information that had most attracted his interest when scanning the Holocron and called his father's attention to it.
/Artoo and Midnight have set off the self-destruct/ he told his father. /When it goes off, meld your powers with mine. Together, we can generate an energy field to shield ourselves from the blast. We probably won't escape completely unscathed, but we'll survive./
Vader's hand tightened around his. /Forgive me for doubting you, Luke./
/Seeing me nearly turn back in the Archives, I can understand how you'd suspect the worst./
"Time's up, Skywalker," the Emperor announced. "Now come and take your place at my side."
Luke released his father from his arms, but he kept a firm grip on his hand, keeping the Holocron sandwiched between their palms and out of Palpatine's sight. Together, side by side, they faced the last of the Sith.
"My apprentice," the Emperor said, an exultant expression on his face, "do as I command. Step forward and take your rightful place at my side."
Luke raised his head proudly. "There is no ignorance," he quoted. "There is knowledge."
His triumphant expression wavered. "What?"
"There is no passion," Vader added, drawing himself up straight. "There is serenity."
"Stop that," the Emperor snarled, his smile vanishing altogether.
"There is no chaos," Luke continued. "There is order."
"Shut up!" the Emperor howled.
"There is no death," Vader went on. "There is the Force."
The floor beneath their feet trembled. Too late the Emperor realized what was going on.
Vader's hand tightened on Luke's. Together, they chanted the last stanza of the Code – a stanza that marked the death of the Sith Order and the birth of the New Jedi Order, a stanza that forever abolished the "no emotion" precept of the Code and restored the ultimate power to the Jedi.
"There is no despair; there is love."
The entire fortress seemed to scream in an extremity of pain as the generator core within its heart deliberately overloaded. A blossom of flame swelled outward, shoving such puny barriers as walls and support beams aside in its efforts to expand ever wider. Ceilings rushed down to meet floors, pillars buckled and shattered like dry twigs, stone and steel and ferrocrete and flame reached up into the black night like a glowing hand struggling to touch the stars.
The death cry of the Sith stronghold was a rumble of falling rock and a shock wave of energy that swept the stony plain, knocking over the two astromechs and making the starfighters rock dangerously in place.
In his final agonies, Palpatine knew a rage and desperation beyond all reason, and he used the last of his power to thrust out at the Skywalkers, determined to the very end to have his retribution.
Within the energy field the Jedi had produced, Vader felt an invisible fist penetrate the barrier and strike him with the force of a comet, and he lost his grip on Luke and fell backward, out of the field's protective perimeter.
Break…
Light years away, in the midst of a huge celebration feast on a forest moon, Leia collapsed, intense pain searing her nerves and mind.
"Leia!" Han, who had been watching the combined Rebel-Ewok-Gungan victory party with amusement, bent anxiously to help Leia up.
"Luke," she gasped. "Father…"
"They're not…" Han began, but he couldn't get the words out.
"They're not dead," she said, still reeling. "But they're hurt… one of them very badly…"
He hauled her to her feet. "Get Forenze and Chewie. We're going to Byss."