Chapter 24: Stroke of Darkness

A single fighter jumped out of hyperspace with a roar as it sped toward the surface of a blue-green world. Sim eased the control as his mind sped from all the possibilities. The planet of Yavin IV was in front of him and his unique destination. It had only been a day before that he had received a message from Mon Mothma of the Rebel Alliance about a surprise attack on the Empire's capital. Unknown to Leia or the others, Sim had secretly helped the Rebels in reorganizing themselves from the disastrous Battle of Endor. He had kept it a secret from Leia because he had worried that she would leave and return to the Rebellion and not complete her Jedi training. She was the last hope and she was a Skywalker. Neither was very close together when it came to coherence. Her brashness would likely spell the end for the Jedi and the Rebellion.

As his star fighter entered the Yavin IV atmosphere, he felt a sort of uneasiness emitting from the Force. Something was wrong and he could sense it. Whatever it was, something dangerous was about to happen, yet he couldn't see what.

The Temple of Yavin appeared shortly afterwards in full view from the cockpit. It was now the Rebel Headquarters until something better could be found. The Rebels had been able to use it after Vader had called for Imperial troops to leave the planet and join the Battle of Endor a few years back. He never restationed any troops here afterwards and it naturally became the place for the Rebel hideout once more.

The fighter landed with a thud at one of the hangers as Sim's cockpit opened up, letting him climb out. He pulled his hood on as a slight drizzle poured down from the heavens upon him. He rushed in door as he found one of the guards there. The guard immediately brought his blaster up to Sim,

"Who are you?" asked the guard with a stern face.

"I'm Sim Nam. I have a meeting with Mon Mothma," replied Sim without even flinching. The soldier narrowed his eyes on him before letting his gun fall from its position. He nodded to the other guard who rushed over and took his spot while the first guard escorted him to a conference chamber.

Sim entered and found Mon Mothma staring out the window. She looked slightly different, though, from what Sim had seen her from before. She was... aged further than expected. He watched as his escort left the room and shut the door after him.

Mon turned around to face Sim as a smile crept up on her face,

"Hello, Master Nam, it is a pleasure to see you once more. Please take a seat," said Mon as she sat in her crimson, leather chair at the end of the wooden table. Sim bowed to Mon as he took a seat across from her in a similar chair.

"Mon, what would you like to talk about?" asked Sim.

"It seems that we require your assistance for one final time,"

"This wouldn't be the first time, though; I had distinctly said I would not go on any missions after my last one."

"I understand, but we need you on this one." There was a moment of silence before Sim sighed and nodded his head.

"What does this require?"

"We need you to infiltrate Courscant and kill Vader." Sim looked at her in shock.

"What? I'm sorry but that is one place a Jedi should not venture, mentally. I will never attack someone unless in defense."

"Ah, but the Jedi Order is extinct. You can not honestly say that you still follow their rules?"

"Yes, I actually still do. Jedi order or not, I will remain and die as a Jedi." Mon shook her head as Sim suddenly noticed a scar on her left temple.

"When did you acquire a scar on your left temple?" asked Sim with narrowing eyes.

"Uh... a while back in an accident, I guess." Sim stared at her and suddenly he felt the Force raping around him.

"Mon, what's your favorite dessert?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious, please answer the question as I need it for something."

"Very well... uh... chocolate ice cream I would say." Sim smiled as he looked at her.

"Just as I thought," said Sim as Mon suddenly slammed straight into the wall. Sim leaped up as guards immediately entered in with their blasters flaring and shooting.

Sim called up his lightsaber as his black blade instantly sprang forth and he deflected the blaster shots with deadly precision straight back at the guards. He leaped out of the room and suddenly found the hallway was blocked off by incoming Storm troopers. He cursed as he brought his hand up and collapsed the roof of the hallway in one ending and collapsing the other roof of the other hallway ending. He looked around and saw he was safe for the moment but he was trapped. He scanned the place and suddenly caught site of a ventilation door above him. Calling on the Force, he pulled the door off its hinges and leaped up into the ventilation system and began climbing his way out.

The fake Mon Mothma, Captain Karen limped up to her desk and pressed the red button on it. She barked into it, "Nam has escaped. Have his fighter surrounded and every hallway searched. Now!"

Meanwhile, Sim made his way through the system until he found himself at the gates of the Temple. He blew the vent door from its hinges and leaped out, landing with a soft thud. He looked around and heard blaster shots ring at him, narrowly missing him. He jumped forward as he made his way to the landing pad. As he ran he cursed that he should have foreseen this plan after his feelings he had. Qui-Gon would have said, "Sim, trust in the Living Force and in your emotions." Even a Jedi Master sometimes needed help.

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Leia paced back and forth as she tried to figure out where her Master had gone. She felt unease on the other side of her Force bond with her Master but still couldn't figure out what was happening. She just prayed something bad was not happening.

Padme gently walked into the room as she found her daughter pacing back and forth. She had just come back from talking with Luke, something she made sure she did at least twice a day. She could see each day; she was having an effect on her only son. She just hoped it would be enough for him to return to the light side of the Force once more and defend the galaxy as a Jedi like Anakin Skywalker, her husband and their father, had once done so long ago during the Clone Wars.

"Leia, calm down. Sim is a grown man, he can take care of himself," said Padme.

"Yeah, but he is my master and it doesn't help that he looks as old as me," said Leia which suddenly reminded her that Sim had never told her why he could stay young other than it had to do with the Force but that thought slipped away as she returned to reality once more.

"He may look young, but in terms of wisdom and power, he is far from that," said Padme as she sat down and watched her daughter continue to pace.

"Yeah, but I don't want anything to happen to him," replied Leia worried, "He didn't even say where he was going."

"Maybe he decided you didn't need to know," suggested Padme.

"How rude," snorted Leia at the thought. Padme only shook her head and gently laid her head down on one of the cushions. Leia was tempted to join her mother and go to sleep but suddenly she felt a strong pain in her head. Her vision blurred for a second but it disappeared as fast as it appeared. She looked around the room and suddenly she felt cold and dark, as if the light and warmth had been swept away in a gust of wind.

She casually walked out of the room, making sure her mother didn't realize her unease before closing the door and leaping to the bottom floor. She ran to the opening of the Temple, hoping it was not what she thought it was. She halted in her steps and gasped. She suddenly felt weak-kneed and a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as if she needed to suddenly throw-up.

There stood the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, with Tosh and Myrenia's bodies sprawled on the ground. The only thing that covered his face was a wicked smile and a lightsaber hilt dangling from his hand, still warm.

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Sim's blade cut through another storm trooper as he leaped above him and Force-threw his blade into the chest of an unsuspecting soldier. He landed and Force-called his lightsaber to his hand just in time to deflect two blaster shots at two storm troopers at the top of the building in their sniper positions. He twirled his lightsaber in a full circle and deflected another couple of shots and killing another couple of storm troopers. His fighter was swarming with them and he was getting tired of dealing with the scum.

Calling on the Force, the troopers suddenly found themselves in the air, panicking, and then flying off the ledge of the landing pad to the deaths below. Sim observed to see if there were anymore storm troopers around before climbing into his cockpit. He pulled the canopy down before igniting the engines. The star fighter roared to life once more as he blasted into space and with blaster shots ringing at him from all sides.

As he entered space he suddenly found himself being tracked by four TIE Avengers. These advanced TIEs could take on aircraft and have a probable chance of winning. Only a skilled pilot could defeat one of them, much less a group of them.

Sim pulled the control of his ship and pushed the throttle as he sped up and gained speed. He quickly swirled left and then right before taking a sharp downturn. Still the Avengers stayed on his tail. Suddenly laser shots rang out from them, straight at Sim who pulled his fighter into a straight path just in time and avoided them. The Avengers did the same as the began to surround him.

"Damn it, if only Anakin were here. He would have loved this," said Sim as he maneuvered out of another shot.

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Leia looked at the bodies of Tosh and Myrenia at the feet of the Dark Lord. She peered through the Force to find if they had any Living Force in them yet, but the only thing she found was emptiness. A tear slid down her soft cheek as he fought to hold back the sadness that flooded her and the urge to just collapse and join them in the Netherworld of the Force.

Vader advanced on her as he continued to smile, "What's wrong Leia, don't have any friends to play with anymore? Don't worry, you can join me and your brother once more and rule the galaxy with me."

Leia just stared at him. Her sadness suddenly vanished as anger replaced it. All she could think about was Vader.

"How dare you talk to me, you dirty bastard," shouted Leia with everything she had.

"Yes, allow your anger to flow through you. It gives you focus," muttered Vader with a seductive smile.

"I will never join you or your vile order. And you aren't my father, your nowhere near good enough for my mom," said Leia with anger and mocking ness in her voice. This hit something in Vader as his eyes turned fiery yellow-red.

"Don't you ever dare talk about Padme!" shouted Vader with a roar that made Leia's look like a squeak.

"I'm going to make you regret what you did." Vader regained his composure as he smiled at his daughter.

"Don't worry, they died easily. I was able to cloak myself from you and these two, allowing me to infiltrate the Temple. When I arrived, Tosh was at the gate and waiting for me. It seemed the old fool was more powerful than I thought. He foolishly engaged me in a lightsaber duel that I easily won with my superior Force talent and my younger age. Then the beautiful Myrenia joined in. It seemed that she couldn't bare seeing her Master slayed so she attacked me with vengeance. I must say although she used her emotions, she was fully controlling them. I couldn't defeat her with a lightsaber but she underestimated my abilities. Lets just say she met a sizzling end," said Vader with a grin that made the room suddenly feel chilly. Yet Leia did not notice, all she knew was that she had to destroy Vader.

"Don't worry, Vader, they will be avenged. And when Sim returns, the Jedi will triumph once more," replied Leia determined. Vader only offered a laugh.

"Fool, Sim Nam is dead!" shouted Vader as he could see Leia's eye's opened up with horror, "You fool, he left for a meeting with the Rebel Alliance officials that little did he know where imposters. I made sure that he was killed on the ground and if he managed to escape that, he would be killed in space. I have the four best pilots in the military on him, he will not survive."

"Your wrong," said Leia with tears threatening to rim off again, "He will live but Vader, you won't."

"We will see, my young child," said Vader as he allowed his black cloak to fall to the ground. His blade sprung forth, crimson red once more. Leia's robe fell to the ground, too, and her blade sprung out too, as silver as ever.

It was Skywalker vs. Skywalker.

Author Note: My deepest apoligies for not updating sooner, but I've been busy along with trying to figure out which way to continue the story. Hopefully the way I have picked will suit it the best. But I have finally enteredSpring Vacation so updates will come far faster now.Until then, please Read and Review. Thank You. :)