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The Trial of Darth Vader

Chapter 9

Anakin could not believe how different A'Sharad was from the last time he'd seen the Jedi. His hair, what little there was, had turned shockingly white and deep wrinkles lined his face. He looked so ancient, despite being only a few years older than himself. Anakin remembered hearing from some of his people of Hett's death on Tatooine a couple months after the Battle of Hoth, but he'd never seen images of what A'Sharad had looked like at the time. In his mind he knew what his appearance had to be, but then just because one pictures someone they knew as looking a little older than when they last saw them certainly doesn't mean they'll look that way.

"Master Hett, you served as a Jedi with the defendant during the Clone Wars. During that time, did he ever display an inner darkness in your presence?"

A'Sharad didn't answer Gareth. Rather, he merely stared straight ahead, not looking at the prosecutor. In fact he didn't seem to be looking at anyone in the courtroom, or even considering the question. His attention was focused solely on the doors leading out. Gareth turned to see what had got his attention, seeing nothing but the doors. He turned back towards the stand, but once more turned to face the doors when he saw A'Sharad was still facing them. After a minute he realized nothing was about to happen and turned his attention back to the witness.

"Master Hett, did you hear the question?" Still A'Sharad showed no sign of answering Gareth. "You're honor…."

"Master Hett, did you hear the prosecutor's question?" Ulic asked calmly as he leaned over towards the witness stand. A'Sharad nodded his head, turning slightly toward him. "I assume you are still able to speak." Again he received a nod. "Then please, answer the man before I am forced to hold you in contempt."

Hearing this, Anakin leaned over to Tristain. "How can he be held in contempt when that would mean some kind of punishment being imposed? I can't see any need for punishments here."

"Master Hett's punishment would come in the form of having to escort a set number of witnesses to and from the lands of the dark side. I'm sure you've already been told what the afterlife is like there."

As they spoke, Gareth once more asked A'Sharad his question. Again, he looked as if he was not about to answer. But then he looked apologetically over at Anakin before finally turning to face the prosecutor.

"Yes. On Aargonar."

"How exactly did he do this?"

Again A'Sharad gave Anakin an apologetic glance, but there was no need. Anakin knew what the glance was about, guessed what had to be going through his mind. He gave the slightest of nods as if to say that it was alright.

"We had been shot down and were in need of reuniting with our forces. My padwan was dead, my troops were dead. Skywalker's master was believed killed on Jabiim, leaving him masterless at the time and assigned to my command. We were the sole survivors, deep in enemy territory.

"Together we had managed to avoid enemy patrols which allowed us to locate one of their ships. Skywalker admitted he'd be able to repair it, but it would require a couple of power cells. I offered him the power cells from both my father's and my own lightsabers, telling him I would fashion a weapon in the way of my people.

"I came back to find he was fighting sentries, it being obvious from where he was that they had discovered him. When I moved to help, he said that I was so eager to get at him that I'd kill my own to do so. All this time he was shouting that he would kill all of them, then added that he would kill me. That I was his kill."

"His kill? So he was trying to kill you along with your enemies. But why? Had he begun killing his fellow Jedi already?"

"No, it was because he saw me as a Tusken. He saw me as such because I wore the trappings of a Tusken. I do not know what caused him to see the sentries as such, but as he claimed I was killing my own to get at him, it was clear he saw them as Tuskens. I must assume from the way he was acting that he saw us as the clan who killed his mother. He had already made it clear before then that he had little care for Tuskens, though I paid it little heed."

"So because of his hatred for Tuskens he was willing to blindly attack you in a fit of rage. Thank you, Master Hett, no further questions."

Tristain was up in a flash, her bright smile making Gareth wish he hadn't been so fast to turn the witness over to her. "Master Hett, forgive me but you don't look like a Tusken. You look human. How is it that a human Jedi would choose to wear the trappings of a Tusken?"

"You would have to ask my father, Sharad Hett. He became a member of the clan I was born into, and the tribe to which our clan belonged. My mother had been taken as a little girl and eventually she became a member of the tribe before ever meeting my father. When I was born, I was raised as a Tusken, even though I was human. That was who I was, though my father realized I could become a Jedi and he began to train me as such.

"It was after Master Mundi came to Tatooine to ask my father to return to the Order, and after my father's death, that I was finally brought to Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi. Had it not been for my father both beginning my training and asking Master Mundi to see that I became a Jedi, the Council might never have accepted me due to my age. I was about fifteen at the time, even older than Skywalker when he first joined the Order."

"So you were raised as a Tusken, even though you were human. You know, I'm Elidaelis and was raised as such. But Elidon is made up of several city-states. My father ended up moving to my mother's city-state before I was born, so I was raised in the culture of her city-state. And you know something, I was very proud of that culture. Were you proud of Tusken culture?"

"Yes, very much so. Until Aargonar I continued to wear my mask and clothing befitting a Tusken warrior, which would be covered on Tatooine by robes. I even marked my face so I would not have to be human under my outer face."

"Did you ever do anything else to remind the defendant that to you, you saw yourself as a Tusken?"

"Yes, I kept pointing out the Tusken way to him. Telling him he would have made a good Tusken."

"Is it possible that all that had caused him to lash out at the sentries and yourself?"

"It's something I questioned of myself for the rest of my life. Did I cause Skywalker to see the Tuskens that killed his mother and once more he lashed out at them? In part I must have been to blame, I knew that even then. But there had to be more to it, more I never understood. I had only offered him a reminder, had kept it on his mind. The environment we were facing had to have enhanced that reminder. But there had to be something else, something Skywalker never told me about. Something that actually caused him to relive that horrific day."

"Prior to his attack, had Skywalker demonstrated to you anything that would be contrary to this inner darkness?"

"Yes, both on Aargonar and New Holstice. On New Holstice he tried to use the Force to save Master Sora Mobari as she lay dieing. On Aargonar, I could feel him trying to do the same for my padwan Bhat Jul. In both cases it was no use, but he wanted them to live. That much I could sense. It is the opposite of the inner darkness someone who is truly evil possess."

"Why did he stop attacking you? Was it because there was good in him?"

"That was a part of it. Skywalker still was having problems with me immediately after our fight because he could only see me as a Tusken. To help him see me as a Jedi, I removed my outer face. Without my mask, he saw me in a new light. And he truly regretted what he had tried to do. But more importantly for me, he had helped me to become wholly a Jedi."

"One final question. Here today you refused to answer the prosecution's first question. Why was that?"

"Skywalker told me what he had done to the clan that killed his mother, told me of the slaughter. I promised him that I would not tell anyone else, that would be for him to do. I myself had once had to face my own inner darkness, and only thanks to my masters was I able to over come it. Had I not understood what he was facing, I would not have made such a promise."

"Thank you, Master Hett."

This time it was Gareth's turn to smile as he rose from his seat. "Redirect, your honor."

"Very well, counselor."

"Master Hett, was keeping the defendant's secret wise? Couldn't it have helped to foster his inner darkness?"

"Objection. The prosecution is asking the witness make a supposition as to the defendant's state of mind over the course of a set number of years."

"Your honor, Master Hett is a Jedi, and has himself admitted that he had to face his own inner darkness. Without help from his masters he might not have over come it. If anyone should understand what that must have been like for the defendant Master Hett should."

"Agreed. The witness will answer the question, objection overruled."

A'Sharad nodded, though he refused to look at Gareth. "No, it was not wise for me to keep his secret. Once Master Kenobi returned to our lines from his imprisonment I should have counseled Skywalker to talk to him concerning what he had done.

"What he had done could have meant his being disgraced as a Jedi. My fear was what would happen if he faced disgrace. I felt it could mean possible banishment from the Order at the worst. And even if he did not face banishment the shame of disgrace could still have resulted in his turning more to the dark side. I believed it better for Skywalker that I not reveal his secret, but rather allow him the chance to do so himself. The first step to dealing with that disgrace would be admitting to what he had done rather than have another reveal it."

"So you felt it better for the defendant that you not reveal his secret, felt you were doing more good than harm. Obviously, you were wrong. No more questions, your honor."

Ulic looked over at Tristain to see if she had any new questions to ask, but she merely shook her head. Ulic then proceeded to dismiss A'Sharad and motioned for Gareth to call his next witness.

"The prosecution calls the bounty hunter Durge."

The Gen'Dai bounty hunter was as ugly as he had been when Anakin last saw him. He wore his armor once more, but without the helmet, it did not matter what could not be seen, the face remained quite grotesque. Anakin found himself wondering if he'd tapped into the dark side that day in the Karthakk system or if he had been acting as a Jedi when he killed Durge.

The bounty hunter hated the Jedi as much as he hated Mandalorians. And that meant that because the clones had been based on a Mandalorian, they had inherited Durge as a nemesis. Ever since the first time he'd seen him on Ohma-D'un, he'd known he would be a serious threat. That day Durge had killed all the clones with them except one, the ARC Trooper he had named Alpha based on his designation of A-17.

Then the Battle of Muunilist had come, and with the Republic victory there came Obi-Wan's claim that Durge had died during the Republic's capture of San Hill. Unfortunately, few alive knew very much about the Gen'Dai species and their regenerative abilities. With no central nervous or circulatory systems, the apparent bloody mess that was believed by Obi-Wan and the clones to have been Durge was actually able to pull itself back together and rebuild itself. Though it had taken a several months to fully heal from that day.

And Durge's survival had been a serious shock to the Republic. But though Durge was soon overshadowed by another as the most serious threat among the Separatist military forces, his hatred of the Jedi and clones had left him still a very real threat, one that would be virtually impossible to kill if he could just keep regenerating. Anakin had known that he wouldn't stop until all the Jedi and clones were dead, no matter how often his body seemed destroyed. It had been the only way he could come up with stopping him once and for all, yet he had been sure it was fueled by the dark side. Now he wondered if it was the dark side and not merely a Jedi doing what he knew needed to be done to end a threat once and for all.

However, his only real question was whether or not any of the questions Gareth had been asking really mattered. And whether or not Tristain could counter him once again. Until A'Sharad, he'd come to believe her invincible when it came to dealing with the prosecutions witnesses. And from the look of defeat on her face after the redirect, she had as well. Now he wondered if that one defeat after what seemed like nothing but victories would shake her, cause her to start making mistake after mistake.

"The defendant used the Force to throw a large group of active explosives at you? That doesn't sound like something a Jedi would do."

"One who has turned to the dark side would do so." Once more Anakin marveled at how he could understand the Gen'Dai's native tongue as basic instead. It was something he decided to ask Obi-wan about if the trial was decided in his favor.

"Hmmm, yes, the dark side," Gareth said, turning to look at the jury as he did so. "How did you survive the attack?"

"I am Gen'Dai, it takes much more than that merely to seriously injure me."

"What would it take to have killed you? I'm sure the defendant did just that."

"Indeed. He used the dark side to place me in an escape pod and launch it into the system's sun."

"How do you know it was the dark side?"

"His master defeated me on Muunilist, but that was only because I had foolishly absorbed him into my body. Externally, I am much more difficult as Kenobi learned when he thought he had defeated me during our first encounter on Muunilist. Cutting me up would only slow me down, not defeat me. It would merely give my opponent time to get a good distance away from me. But once I had pulled myself back together their lead would mean nothing.

"I have little doubt Skywalker and Kenobi had discussed our battle on Muunilist. Skywalker would have known that I heal faster than he would believe from such wounds. And as his attempts to stop me with the explosives did not work, he would have been driven by his rage to find another method. The only thing that could have stopped me was use of the dark side to place me in that sun."

"Thank you, no further questions."

Tristain rose, squeezing Anakin's shoulder reassuringly before moving towards the witness stand. As with Gareth she refused to get too close to Durge. Unlike Darth Maul's clone, Durge was far more dangerous. Even the lands of the dark side would take a long time to destroy him, and he knew it.

"You said the defendant used the dark side to send you into the Karthakk system's sun."

"What, can't the silly little counselor understand me?"

"The defendant will watch what he says or he will be held in contempt!" Ulic shouted, growing tired of Durge's attitude. He'd put up with it during Gareth's questioning because he knew that being held in contempt of the court would mean so little to the bounty hunter. But he also had plenty of time to contemplate a fitting punishment as well, and Durge seemed to realize that as he seethed in his seat.

"As I was saying, you said the defendant used the dark side to send you into the Karthakk system's sun. Claiming that was the only way you could be defeated. But that wasn't the case, was it?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh come now, you know exactly what I mean. The Mandalorians managed to capture you and put you through unspeakable tortures for a long time. They had to defeat you just to be able to contain you long enough for the torturing to begin. Yes, you managed to escape, but they had defeated you, without using the dark side.

"And they weren't the only ones who could do so. Nine hundred years before the Mandalorians tortured you, you went into hiding to prevent the Jedi from doing the same thing after you had sided with the Sith during the last great Sith war.

So tell me, just how do you know it was the dark side the defendant used? Isn't it true you are merely using that as an excuse because a Jedi had defeated you for at least the second time in three years?"

Durge said nothing, merely growling at Tristain and gripping the railing of the witness stand as if he planned to rip it apart so he could attack the woman who dared say such a thing. Yet even without saying a word, his actions spoke volumes.

"Tell me, how did you feel about Jedi and the clone troopers?"

"The only thing they were good for was as my victims."

"As your victims. Are we to take it then that had you defeated the defendant that you would have not stopped hunting them?"

"They were my victims, trophies for me to claim. Once Skywalker was dead, his master would have been next. And then his fellow Jedi and all their pet clones."

"Yes," Tristain said with a smile as she turned to face the jury. "You would have continued to be a threat to those the defendant had served beside and lead. One final question." Now she turned back to Durge. "Did the defendant know this?"

Durge laughed, a deep guttural sound that nearly made Tristain cower under the defendant's table. "He knew, unless he was utterly stupid. I made it clear to him both the first time we met and the last that I enjoyed killing Jedi and clones."

"Indeed. Knowing that you would never stop no matter what he did, the defendant had to find a means to stop you. A means that you could not come back from. The Jedi prefer not to kill whenever possible, but they also know that sometimes there is no choice. And to prevent you from coming back to kill more Jedi and clones, along with innocent lives, the defendant had to kill you because it was the only way to truly defeat you once and for all.

"No more questions your honor."