Chapter 22 Lost Within the Force
The nightmarish images came faster now; unchecked by Anakin, they flowed into Obi-Wan like a torrent.
Palpatine, putting his hand on Anakin's head. Anakin vaguely hearing his master calling for a medical capsule. Being lifted painfully into the capsule, a breathing mask over his nose and mouth….pain…intense white hot pain….hate and anger…Obi-Wan…Obi-Wan had done this to him….then lying on a medical table…still the pain persisted…why didn't the pain stop….he was in a suit now and a helmet was coming down over his face….NO!...but no one cared and the helmet is lowered down and sealed over his head. He feels the table tilt until he is upright. "Lord Vader, can you hear me?" It is his master's voice and he repeats the question. "Where is Padme?" He hears himself say in a strange mechanical voice. "Is she alright?" "She's dead, Lord Vader. I'm afraid you killed her in a fit of rage." Sidious informs him…
NO! He could never…he didn't….Liar!..."NOOOOOOOOO". He is destroying the room now, everything…the med droids who had worked on him, the equipment…everything….and through it all, he hears his master….laughing. His hate and anger increase ten fold and he swears if he ever…
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The images became a raging flood….Jedi hunted to the far edges of the galaxy….and everywhere, this thing that Anakin has become is…doing the Emperor's bidding now…the Empire rises despite the resistance in the Senate. Soon his master would tell him, soon they could eliminate the Senate too….
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A ship is fleeing from them…Vader knows what is aboard that vessel. A cruiser from Alderaan. Quickly they outrun the ship and bring it aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer. With some resistance, access is gained…and the captain taken into custody. Vader, now holding the captain by the neck. "If this was a diplomatic mission then where is the ambassador?" He is asking…the captain dies by his hand and thrown against the bulkhead. "Search this ship, find those plans and bring the passengers to me; I want them alive." He orders….a young girl, dark haired…resistant, stubborn…a rebel! "Lord Vader, only you would be so bold…" She says defiantly…she reminds him of someone….
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Now Vader is on the Death Star, a weapon of mass destruction…He tortures this girl, the princess of Alderaan and when that does not work, brings her before Grand Moff Tarkin….and he destroys Alderaan right in front of her…
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A presence…Obi-Wan…"You should not have come back, Old Man." Vader says. "The circle is now complete once you were the master and I but the learner; now I am the Master." "Only a master of evil, Darth." This old Obi-Wan says….a fight…down the corridor and almost into the landing bay…a ship, a derelict ship is there and now Obi-Wan turns in that direction…a boy is there with the princess and another older man. Vader watches as Obi-Wan draws his weapon up to his face as if in salute and then smiles at him. Vader slices through him completely, but…what's this?...there should be two halves of a body…no…where did he go? Now the boy is screaming and firing and a voice, a familiar voice..."Run Luke!" It says and the boy stops for a moment before running up the ramp of the ship…and the ship is gone.
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"We're taking an awful chance, Vader; this had better work." Tarkin is telling him now….a tracking device has been placed on board the ship…now he would have victory, his master will be pleased….
The ship is tracked to one of Yavin's moons…soon the entire rebel alliance will be crushed along with the rebellion…the Empire will be secure….
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A fleet of fighters is approaching …what are they fools, all of them?...fighters against this battle station?...well, they will know soon enough….now these pitiful fighters are managing to break through the defenses. "We'll have to take them ship by ship. Ready my fighter." Lord Vader is ordering…
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He's flying along one of the maintenance trenches. "Leave the leader to me." He orders his escort…"The Force is strong in this one." Vader is telling himself and targets the fighter…and his TIE fighter is rocked by the sudden destruction of his fighter escort and he is shot, out of control, from the trench moments before he witnesses the massive explosion that obliterates the 'indestructible' battle station….
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For three years he has tracked this boy, he is obsessed with it because now he knows the boy's name, it's his name…Skywalker…how could this be?...he wants to know…he NEEDS to know…the Emperor has felt his presence as well and wants to eliminate this boy….Only two Sith there can be at one time…no more…the boy must go….a probe droid has been destroyed in the Hoth system, but no matter…the information it provided before this unfortunate event was priceless….the hidden base is there….
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The invasion is successful…but the boy, Luke; Vader knows is his name, is gone, he knows this because he sensed the boy's presence growing fainter…but the princess…Luke likes this princess…we can use her…he orders his destroyer to track the ship and capture all those aboard…the ship is chased into an asteroid field and just when Vader thinks capture is eminent, he is summoned by his master….bounty hunters have been hired and now stand on his bridge… a Trandoshan, a Neimoidian and several humans including one in complete body armor…familiar, this one is…
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The ship, a freighter has been successfully tracked heading to a gas mining city called Bespin….they have no hyperdrive…he can beat them to this city….they are easily fooled and captured…he knows Luke is strong in the Force…he tortures them so that Luke will come…he knows he will come…he wants to freeze the boy in carbonite so that he can be easily managed…but he will test it first on the man, this friend of Luke's and the princess, Leia…the test is successful and he feels the approach of his son…a fierce fight breaks out and the boy fights bravely… "Obi-Wan has taught you well." He tells him…the fight continues and intensifies as Vader flings anything he can at this boy until he is thrown through the window into the power shaft….Vader searches for him and feels Luke coming to him again…he is weaker now and his feeble attempts to kill Vader fail miserably…Vader takes advantage of the boy's failing strength and hits him in the wrist, severing the hand…hand and lightsaber fall into the shaft and disappear from view…the boy cries in agony and clutches his arm to his chest, backing away…. Now is the time to tell the boy who he really is. "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father." Vader begins. "He told me enough." Luke screams. "He told me you killed him." "No, Luke, I am your father." Vader says. "NOOOO! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Luke screams. "Join me and together we can rule the Empire as father and son." Vader implores. "I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU." The boy screams as Vader approaches and holds his hand out…but the boy looks down, then looks at Vader and lets go of the railing he was holding on to with his left hand….Vader watches him fall…
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Luke is not dead, Vader know this…he senses the boy through the Force and tries to reach out to him. "Luke" He sends. "Father." He hears…and then "Ben, why didn't you tell me?..." No matter, the hyperdrive that was to be fixed has been disengaged and Luke will soon be his…until…the unexpected happens and the ship disappears into hyperspace….Vader toys briefly with the idea of killing another of his officers…what's another, he has killed so many…no, this will not satisfy him this time….
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Endor, and a new Death Star…this one is behind schedule; his master will not be pleased…"The Emperor will not be as forgiving as I am." He warns the commander….oh, and now he feels his son's presence again. "The son of Skywalker must die." The emperor is telling him. "But if he can be turned…" Vader suggests. "Yessssss, he could prove useful to us; turn him, Lord Vader." His master orders. "He will join us or die, my master." Vader promises.
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This boy is foolish, he has given himself up and….oh, his power is overwhelming…but it's more than the Force, it's…it's love….love?...after all Vader has done to this boy, to his friends and allies…to Kenobi…he loves Vader?..."Come with me, Father." Luke asks. "I feel the good in you." "You don't know the power of the Dark Side; I must obey my master." Vader tells him. "Then my father is truly dead." Luke says sadly as he is taken before the Emperor. The Emperor is taunting Luke now, forcing the young man, yes, a boy no longer, this son of Vader's; forcing him to watch the slow destruction of the Rebel Alliance. "Oh, I'm afraid your friends will find this battle station to be quite operational." Vader's master is saying….Vader can feel Luke's anger building, and his son pushing it back down. "You want to use this, don't you." Sidious says, as he caresses Luke's lightsaber. "Go ahead, strike me down; I am unarmed." The Emperor taunts him again…Luke controls his anger…until…the lightsaber flies to Luke's hand and the young man slashes the blade at the Sith Lord…Vader blocks him….and the boy; the man is fighting now, he is different than he had been, better, stronger and more skilled and it takes longer for Vader to get the advantage…his son leaps onto the scaffolding…a Force leap…yes, he has learned very well…Vader slashes the supports from the platform and Luke falls down to the floor below…Sidious is cackling, obviously enjoying this little show…Vader's hate and disgust for him increases but he goes down to the lower level… The boy is hiding there, Vader can sense he does not wish to continue the fight. He enters his son's mind, trying to find something…"Well, if you will not join us, perhaps your…sister will." Vader is saying…."NOOOO!" Luke cries out and Vader is unprepared for the assault Luke is waging on him….but still the hate is not there, only fear, fear that his sister will be turned to the Dark Side…he is fighting for her, this young man…and Vader is forced back and back, the attacks come fast and furious and Vader is weakened, his breath comes ragged the suit is no longer able to perform its functions, it was not meant to withstand this kind of fight. Vader is backed into a railing and leaves his arm vulnerable…Luke takes Vader's hand off at the wrist…and raises his hand for the killing blow…then stops…looks at his gloved hand…the hand that Vader had taken…All the ferocity that had carried him through the fight was fading, Vader could feel his son returning to calmness. "Kill him and take your father's place at my side." Palpatine said. What?...is this how Dooku felt all those years ago?...his master was betraying him…. But Luke threw away his weapon. "I am Jedi, like my father before me." He says…A Jedi?...was Vader still a Jedi?...is this what his son thinks?...before he has time to think anything else, Palpatine unleashes his most powerful weapon…the weapon that had seen the end of Mace Windu long ago…."Then you will die." Sidious says and Luke is now writhing in pain on floor. "Father, please, help me." He is begging him….Vader watches for a moment, what should he do?...this is his son, his only son…he makes his choice, a selfless choice that he knows will end in his death…he picks up the Emperor, the Sith lightning now engulfing both of them, and throws him down, down, down into the power core….then slumps next to the railing, his suit completely malfunctioning, he can no longer breath properly….
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His son has carried him to the landing bay and lays him on the boarding ramp. "Leave me." Vader says. "No, I won't leave you; I want to save you." Luke tells him. "You already have." Vader answers. "Take off this helmet so I can see you with my own eyes." "But you'll die." Luke replies. "Nothing can stop that now." Vader says…. The helmet is removed and Vader sees… He smiles at his son, who has his eyes and just a touch of his mother. "Tell your sister, you were right." He says…
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It was over and Anakin opened his eyes. Obi-Wan was slumped in a sitting position in front of him, eyes closed and his hands limp on his lap. Anakin moved next to him and laid him down on the grass, pulling his cloak around him. He looked up to see Padme and Zak looking down at him. He took his coat off and gently lifted his brother's head and placed it underneath him. He touched Obi-Wan's head, feeling for his friend's presence.
"Master Anakin, will he be alright?" Zak asked.
"I don't know yet, Zak; we'll just have to wait." Anakin answered, sadly.
"It was the Force, wasn't it?" Zak asked.
"Yes, I tried to pull him out, but he was too deep; I'm sorry, Zak. I didn't mean for this to happen." Anakin said fighting tears.
"It was meant to happen, Master Anakin." Zak replied.
"Why? So that he would end up like this? What purpose does this serve?" Anakin asked, tears now starting down his cheeks.
"I don't know, Master." Zak answered. "But there's always a reason."
"Should we take him back up to the house?" Padme asked.
"No, I don't think I should move him." Anakin replied.
"Alright, then I'll go and bring some blankets down." Padme said. "Otherwise, you'll both be sick; Boba, you can help me."
"Yes, Ma'am." Boba answered and followed her up to the house.
Anakin stroked Obi-Wan's forehead…calling his name softly as he did when he had been in the medical center on Coruscant. But this time, there was no response. He was not ready to come up yet. He could feel his brother's presence, deep within, hiding; driven there by the nightmares he had experienced. Obi-Wan's breathing was normal, his heart rate strong and steady. There was nothing he or Zak could except be there and wait.
Padme and Boba returned a few minutes later with blankets, pillows and a thermos of warm tea, "Any change?" She asked.
Anakin only shook his head.
"My parents are going to stay the night." She said. "Boba and I will stay down here with you."
"That isn't necessary, Padme. Zak and I can do this." Anakin told her.
"I know; but Obi-Wan is my friend too, Anakin." Padme replied.
Carefully, Anakin turned Obi-Wan on his side and Padme placed a thick blanket underneath him and a pillow under his head; then Anakin rolled him gently onto his back once again and covered him with another blanket. Having made his brother as comfortable as possible, Anakin helped Padme lay out the rest of the blankets for themselves. Zak positioned his on one side of his master and Anakin on the other with Padme to his other side. Boba, still feeling a loner, bedded down a short distance away. For awhile after they laid down, Anakin listened to Obi-Wan's steady breathing, comforted by the regularity of it, before drifting off into dreamless sleep.