Chapter 19 The Will of the Force
Trust in the Force, trust in the Force, trust in the Force...
He'd run every scenario through his mind trying to find a solution, and he could think of none. Except for this one. This time he would not fight the will of the Force, he would follow it. Whatever it was.
Since the moment that he had detected Luke on board that seemingly ordinary shuttle, he'd been trying to figure out what to do about his son. He'd let the ship go on its way to give himself time to think, but he needed to do something soon, or doubtless the Rebels' actions would make their presence known to Palpatine, if not to the entire fleet.
There was no time to train Luke, assuming Luke was any more receptive to the idea of them working together than he was at Bespin. No time to formulate a plan if he were trained. No way to disperse the enormous amount of Imperial firepower that was gathered around Endor. It seemed impossible to escape the Emperor's vision that Luke would be brought before him.
He swallowed hard as he rode the elevator up to the top of the spire that served as the Emperor's throne room on board the second Death Star. He kept his eyes closed, trying to gather strength, until he heard the elevator doors swoosh open at the top level.
He'd anticipated that Palpatine would not be pleased with his disobedience, and he was not disappointed.The Emperor punctuated his annoyance by refusing to relinquish his attention from the depths of space. "I told you to remain on the command ship," he said peevishly.
Must you be such a bastard ? "A small Rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor."
"Yes, I know," the Emperor said, finally swiveling in the throne to face him.
"My son is with them," he said, not bothering to disguise their relation as Palpatine did.
"Are you sure ?"
Are you not ? "I have felt him, my master."
"Strange that I have not," the Emperor said. He leaned forward in the throne, his yellow eyes fixating on him, as if by the intensity of his gaze he could pierce both the impassiveness of his mask, and of his mental cloak. "I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader."
"They are clear, my master." As clear as the lake next to which I was married. But as for yours, do you think I have forgotten Dooku ?
"Then you must go to the Sanctuary moon and wait for him."
"He will come to me ?" he said, wishing that he could see Luke's future as clearly.
"I have forseen it. His compassion for you will be his undoing," Palpatine said. "He will come to you, and then you will bring him before me."
"As you wish," he said.
There, it is begun.Do not take it as betrayal, my son.There is only one thing left for us, and that is to trust in the Force. I keep telling myself that as I prepare to do the one thing that seems most wrong in my heart : to bring you to my master.
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Who knew ? Who knew that Threepio could be such a good storyteller ? His impressions were spot on, and he was certainly keeping everyone else entertained, especially the Ewoks. Luke tried to let his mind be carried away with the droid's tale, to lose himself in the evening's festivities, but it wasn't working.
His mind kept returning to the moment when the Tydirium passed over the Super Star Destroyer. There was no military strategy to explain why they had not been captured. If the positions had been reversed and the Empire had infiltrated the Alliance Fleet, there would have been no hesitation in seizing the ship. If Vader knowingly let them go, could it be because his loyalty to his son was greater than his loyalty to the Empire ?
The possibility astonished him , and made him wonder who truly lay behind the mask.What was his father really like, since he appeared to be cast of solid durasteel, yet inside, lived feelings of such intensity that they would melt an ordinary being ? Was the hero of the old Republic trapped behind the facade of enforcer of the Empire ? Would he really jeopardize the Empire to protect his son ?
His father could have killed him at Bespin, but he did not. He could have captured the Tydirium, but he did not.There was a thrill that came of falling under the protection of Vader, almost as if a pack of wild beasts had lay down at his feet, and he felt emboldened by his privileged status. Maybe there was still a way for them to work together as father and son, to achieve the mutual goal of unseating the Emperor.Rather than descending into the Dark Side, he would extend his hand to his father, and pull him back from the depths.
The room erupted in celebration after Threepio concluded his story, and the Ewoks welcomed the Rebels into the tribe. Undiminished by the noise and commotion,a ripple in the Force made its way to him. His father was in the skies above Endor.If he stayed here, his father would track him to this location, and his friends would be put at risk.
He slipped out of the Ewok hut without saying a word, instead sending a suggestion with his mind. Leia, come talk to me.
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He'd disappointed this boy. This boy who had been waiting for him on Endor, just as Palpatine had predicted. Except that waiting was too passive a word, because Luke had purposefully come after him, having turned himself in to the Imperial squad guarding the shield generator.
This boy, who should no longer be called that, because in the year since Bespin he'd rebuilt himself, somehow resurrecting the cool confidence of the Jedi Order, despite having never seen it in action. This boy, who had become comfortable with the truth of their relationship, no longer shrinking from contact, but instead seeking it out. This boy who'd left the safety of his Rebel compatriots, who trusted that his father would not deliver him to the Emperor, he'd disappointed this boy.It poured from Luke's mind, dripped in his voice, as he gave his indictment.
"Then my father is truly dead."
Luke, you are the harshest of all my masters. You think like Obi-Wan did, in black and white, of good and evil. It's not that simple. The Dark Side is not evil, only what a man does with it. The power it can give is unattainable by other means. You will need it if you are to defeat Palpatine, if only I could make you see that.
You thought that you could throw my name before me, and I would wake up as if from a dream ? What would we do if I did come with you ? Leave the Galaxy in Palpatine's grip ? Let him blow this moon to bits of rubble, and you and me with it ? I cannot stop your destiny Luke, much as I could not stop your mother's, or my own, though I almost wrecked the Galaxy trying. The Emperor has forseen that you can destroy him, and to keep you from that role would be my greatest crime. My time has come and gone, and all that remains for me is to help you to achieve your destiny.
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He thought his father was Darth Vader. Or Anakin Skywalker. But not this resigned man who acted as if he were powerless to change anything.What happened to the mind of scorching intensity who used the Force with such casual ease ? The massive being who loomed over him at Cloud City, who appeared to command unlimited power ? The symbol of Imperial might who plotted the Emperor's demise ?
No, his father had been replaced by someone who made excuses for his obedience to his master, who had given up any hope for himself. A defeated man who could walk away from his son's offer for them to work together. A being who could ignore his own dreams to submit to another's vision. He would have never left the Rebel camp if he had known that his father was this strongly controlled by the Emperor.
He stood in the elevator between the two stormtroopers, waiting for his father to refute his condemnation, but Vader turned away, seemingly unable to answer.The doors shushed closed, and the elevator rose to the level of the landing platform. The stormtroopers pushed him forward and guided him up the ramp of a lambda shuttle. Inside the passenger compartment the troopers indicated a seat to him, while they remained standing, blasters in hand.
The three of them waited in silence for several minutes before Vader's ventilator announced his approach. Once inside the shuttle, his father had no words for him, no thoughts, no last minute download of emotions to explain. Vader turned at the head of the ramp to enter the cockpit, while the stormtroopers took seats opposing his, and the shuttle rose off of the platform.
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The silence that began on Endor continued without interruption.It stayed with them as the shuttle made its way to the Death Star, remained unabated as they left the hangar and walked into the battlestation interior. They were striding side by side through the corridors, almost a duplication of the vision his father had sent to him after Bespin, but it felt entirely different. His father's dream had been filled with pride, with a connection between them, while this felt cold and empty.
On Endor, he had detected none of the emotional honesty that had characterized their last interaction. Instead, only traces of his father's feelings leaked out as they talked beneath the landing platform, only enough for him to feel his father's reluctance to take him to the Emperor, and mostly, his father's sense of resignation. Now as they walked together, he could feel nothing at all emanating from his father. It was not so much a state of tranquility but a complete absence of feeling, as if his father's mind was covered by an organic blast door.
They entered another elevator, this one rising some distance before opening out onto an enormous chamber ringed with windows of equally large proportion. A broad staircase lay before them. Just as they had walked through the Death Star, they climbed the staircase together, side by side.
The great military throne that lay beyond the summit of the stairs faced outward into space. It slowly rotated towards them, and he found himself looking into the face of the Emperor. The figure looked impossibly old, slumped so far back in the throne as to almost become one with it. Hardly the picture of supreme power. He realized that no Alliance member had ever come this close to the Emperor. Perhaps his father's actions could be seen not as betrayal, but as opportunity. If not to kill the Emperor, then to keep him preoccupied and unaware of the advancing Alliance fleet.
"Welcome, young Skywalker," the Emperor said. "I've been expecting you."
"You no longer need those," he continued, make a slight motion.
The binders fell from his wrists, and he looked up from his hands in comprehension.Though the Alliance commanders never discussed the ability, the Emperor was obviously a Force user. It all made sense now : the Emperor's great skill in predicting the future, his father's fall to the Dark Side, his father's failure to overcome his master. He realized that the Emperor's presence felt exactly the same as his father's : an absolute blankness that gave the impression of mental armor.It was from this person his father had sealed off his mind, not himself.
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It was an act so practiced that it was almost accomplished by rote. Unfortunately the staleness of the performance did not hinder its effectiveness. Palpatine was slowly circling another victim, poking, prodding, looking for weaknesses. It was always a painful thing to watch, since he knew what it was like to be stalked by Palpatine, but it was especially painful now because the victim was Luke.
It didn't take much for Palpatine to discover Luke's vulnerable spot : his friends and compatriots among the Rebel troops. What the boy didn't reveal in his own words, he gave up in his expression and from his unguarded mind. A hole in his training, the boy obviously had not been taught to protect himself from Force sensitive opponents, and could not understand the strength of the one he faced now.
Not that the boy hadn't fought well, his inner resolve to follow the Jedi path apparent from the beginning. At first Luke had proven a worthy opponent to Palpatine's verbal jabs, enough that he had to suppress a chuckle when Luke zeroed in on Palpatine's over developed sense of confidence. But soon the Emperor had turned the battle, and Luke's resolve had gone the way of Alderaan.
He could feel Luke's turmoil now, the boy equally determined to resist the Dark Side, and protect his fellow Rebels.Now that Luke knew how firmly Palpatine controlled the situation, he was weighing the alternatives, torn between whom he would sacrifice . His friends. The Rebel Alliance. Himself. The turmoil ceased as the boy made a decision.
He sensed Luke's intention to summon his lightsaber, just as Palpatine must.
No, Luke ! It's the oldest trick he has. He's never defenseless.Try it and he will kill you on the spot.
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His lightsaber was not moving effortlessly through the Emperor's body, but instead was held at bay by the unyielding glow of another lightsaber. His father's lightsaber.It was his father who had first spoken to him of his destiny ,about being powerful enough to destroy the Emperor.It was his father who had tried to convince him that if he used that power they could save the Galaxy from the ravages of war. Now that he'd finally decided to make that future come to pass, it was his father who was stopping him.
You LIED to me ! So it's possible to lie through the Force just as it is with words. What were all those feelings you sent to me ? All lies ? You don't love me, you don't want us to defeat the Emperor. I left my friends to come save you. I should be with them now, helping them now, not trying to save you from a master that still holds your loyalty.
He disengaged his saber, changed targets, and took aim at his father.He landed blow after blow, working from a position of offense, driving Vader back. The Force was not flowing through him, it was filling him, so much so that it threatened to burst through his skin. By the time he thought of his next move, he found he had already made it. Vader was struggling to counter his attack, and he was able to manuever his father backwards to the head of the long staircase. He saw an opening and planted a kick firmly in his father's thigh.Vader tumbled to the bottom of the stairs, where he had to gather himself before he was able to stand.
He was pleased with himself, pleased until he heard the laughter that signaled the Emperor's pleasure, as well.
"Good," the Emperor said. "Use you aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you."
He done exactly that. Used all the feelings he'd been warned about : anger, hate, aggression, and with them had come the power of the Dark Side. It didn't feel different at all, except for the incredible intensity. Before, he thought that turning to the Dark Side would be like jumping off a cliff, but instead it was easy, seamless, leaving him unable to pinpoint the exact moment when he slipped over.
He turned off his lightsaber. He would not fall to the temptation of the Dark Side.
His father had regained his feet. Even through the mechanism of the voice modulator, he could hear the praise in his father's voice, a feeling that went beyond the words.
"Obi-Wan has taught you well, " Vader said.
Sadness flooded him. He didn't want a replay of Bespin, he wanted them to act as father and son, to be able to enjoy his father's approval. He had come here to save him, not destroy him.
"I will not fight you, Father," he said, as close to tears as he ever came.
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If only you had said that at Cloud City, Luke.That is not possible here,not with Palpatine among us, because as soon as there is a victor between us, the loser will die.It's me or you or him, and I don't know how to make it be him unless you will use the Dark Side.
He climbed the staircase back up to Luke. The boy moved back to maintain distance, but made no move to resume their combat.
"You are unwise to lower your defenses," he said, swinging his lightsaber at Luke.
Luke reignited his lightsaber in time to meet the blow, but unlike their earlier exchange, he maintained a strictly defensive posture.The boy skillfully parried all his advances, finally removing himself from the battle by using the Force to somersault himself to an upper level walkway.
He admired his son's confidence, and how his skills had increased so much since Bespin. Luke was no longer an out-classed, though courageous, boy, but a fine warrior in his own right. And he'd accomplished it all with what must have been the scarcest of education. How powerful would the boy be if he had received the proper training ?
"Your thoughts betray you, Father," Luke said from the overhead walkway. "I sense the good in you, the conflict."
"There is no conflict," he said. My loyalties have always been with you, even if you cannot see that. But that does not mean that I can let you abandon your destiny.
"You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before, and I don't believe you will destroy me now," Luke said.
You're probably right. Which means you must do your part. "You underestimate the power of the Dark Side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny," he said, as he flung his locked lightsaber into the supports of the walkway.
As the walkway crashed down, Luke slid with it, ending up two levels below where he had started.
He descended the tall staircase in search of his son. The area under the main platform was dim, and his helmet automatically turned up the gain on his visual display, but it was not enough to reveal Luke's location.
"You cannot hide forever, Luke," he said.
"I will not fight you," came Luke's voice from within the darkness.
He felt the pressure of Palpatine's presence lurking directly above them. If Luke remained passive, it was all over for him.He needed to provoke him, but Luke had renouced his anger, had never seemed motivated by power. The only thing that seemed to hold sway over the boy was his connection to his friends. Of course. This boy was like himself; he would not turn for hate, or for power, but he would turn for love.
"Give yourself to the Dark Side," he said."It is the only way to save your friends."
His prodding was rewarded by an immediate flash of feeling from Luke.Indeed, this was the way to reach the boy.
"Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong, especially for..." his voice trailed off as he comprehended the enormity of what Luke was revealing to him.This long concealed girl was Luke's cornerstone ; just as he had turned to save Padme', Luke would turn to save his sister. He put aside his own feelings to increase the pressure on Luke.
"Sister... so, you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. His failure is now complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will."
His breath caught as he heard Luke spring up from the darkness with a roar, his lightsaber blazing. The boy's strength and fury surprised him, and he struggled to keep Luke's saber from reaching him. He suddenly knew what Dooku must have felt all those years ago on board the Invisible Hand. His mouth went dry, and fear began to spread its metallic taste. Despite all his skill and experience, the boy was going to beat him.
He was no Palpatine. He had learned from his master how to incite the storm, but he did not have his master's skill at controlling the aftermath. He could not drive Luke off, leaving nowhere to go but back. And backwards he went, while the unstoppable weapon that was his son continued to batter him.
They moved onto a narrow bridge crossing the depths of the elevator shaft. He lost his footing, and slipped to the floor. All that he could see was the glow of Luke's lightsaber coming so fast that he could not meet it. His armor worked as it was designed, but bit by bit the lightsaber ate through the suit, until once again he felt the pain of losing a limb. His lightsaber fell with his severed prosthesis into the chasm.
The Dark Side has made you strong enough to defeat me. Now let it make you strong enough to defeat him,and you will fulfill your destiny, Luke.
He waited for the killing blow to strike, but it did not come.Where he had been unable to stop Luke's attack, the sound of Palpatine's gleeful laughter appeared to have done so. Above him, he saw Luke blink himself back into the present, a measure of rationality returning to his face.
"Good," Palpatine said as he approached them. "Your hate has made you powerful. Now fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side."
He wondered what Luke was thinking as he felt his son's anger fade. The boy needed that fury to take on Palpatine; without it he would not succeed against the Emperor.
His heart jumped as he watched Luke throw it all away. His lightsaber. The power that had come with the Dark Side. His destiny.He had never been so afraid for his son as he was now.
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He had never felt more powerful. His rage had allowed the Force to electrify him so that he felt like he was not following his own mind, but the will of the Force itself. He had brought the seemingly unconquerable Darth Vader to his knees, nevermind that Vader was his father. And therein lay the problem; that power had led him, no, carried him to a place he never wanted to go. He wasn't even sure he could remember everything he had just done.
The worst part was, he had gone down that path because of Leia. Because he loved her, because he wanted to protect her, he had forgotten everything else that he stood for,had almost let his anger consume him, had almost killed the father that he'd come to save.
He looked down at the prone black figure below him with new eyes. Is this how you fell ?
He looked at his gloved prosthetic hand, and then to the wiring protruding from Vader's stump. He almost felt nauseous.It wasn't as impossible for his face to end up inside that helmet as he had always thought. His lightsaber felt like it was burning a hole in his hand.
"Never," he said, as he tossed the saber aside."I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
The Emperor looked more than displeased at his pronouncement.The Emperor looked furious, like a man who was not in the least accustomed to failure.
"So be it, Jedi," the Emperor said, making Jedi sound like the foulest expletive in the Galaxy.
The last thing he remembered was the Emperor threatening him, and then wondering how this ancient, dried-up slip of a man was going to make good on that threat.
The next thing he knew he had been knocked off his feet and he was grasping a metal cylinder, grasping because all his muscles were contracting in unbelievable agony as some sort of energy field enveloped him. He was unable to let go, unable to move, unable to stop it.
The energy field relented, and he felt like he could breathe again.
"Young fool," the Emperor said,"only now, at the end, do you understand."
A new blast of energy struck him, and this time he could see that it was generated from the Emperor's own hands. No one had ever mentioned that it was possible to use the Force in this way. As he writhed in pain, Yoda's words came to him. Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor, or suffer your father's fate you will. He hadn't understood that Yoda meant power like this.
The energy field relaxed again, and he knew he should get up, should try to get to his lightsaber, but his limbs wouldn't answer.
"Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side," the Emperor said, punctuating his words with another round of energy bolts."You will pay a price for your lack of vision."
The Emperor was standing over him now, and had increased the intensity of the energy assaulting his body. He could barely think anymore, could barely keep himself conscious. Though his mind was in a haze, he suddenly realized that he might not be able to escape, that this might kill him.
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He didn't know how to stop it, his master's torture of his son. He was weaponless, trapped in a crippled body that could neither generate nor repel Force lightning. All his life he had nursed deep regret for not being there in time to save his mother, to save Padme'. Now his son was dying before his eyes, and he could still do nothing.
"Father, please," Luke called out from within the grip of the Force lightning.
How could he stop Palpatine ? His master was the stronger, that had already been proven. The Force lightning would disrupt the life controls of the suit, and he would be killed, and still not save Luke. He couldn't see what to do.
A voice came to him, a voice that should have only been in his memory, but it seemed louder as if it were here now.
You must let go of everything you fear to lose.
He couldn't do it then, but he would do it now. He let go of his dream that he and Luke would rule the Galaxy together. He let go of his dream that Luke would destroy Palpatine.He let go of his dream of himself. Nothing mattered after that, not the Empire, not the Rebel Alliance, not the Jedi, not the Sith . The only truth that remained was that he must save Luke.
As he picked up his old master and lifted him over his head, he marveled at how light he felt. Just as he knew it would, the Force lightning infiltrated his suit.He felt his heart become erratic, and the suit's air flow diminish. The lightning ravaged his body, and he felt it burn him, not like the molten lava of Mustafar, but from within, so that he wondered if his bones were glowing as Mace Windu's had.He felt dizzy and weak, but he willed himself to keep going, until he hefted Palpatine's body into the depths of the elevator shaft.
He collapsed on the railing, his body failing as the life support suit malfunctioned. He felt someone moving him away from the edge, laying him back, and suddenly it was easier to breathe. Luke, it was Luke. He felt of his son's mind, felt how worried Luke was about him. He smiled. If Luke was worried about him, then he must not hate him, must have forgiven him. Now he was complete, now he could let go all the way.
As he drifted off the voice was in his head again, and this time it was shouting.
Anakin !
His eyes fluttered open.
Anakin ! Listen to me, you must. Short, time is.
He summoned his remaining strength, and focused his mind on the instructions of another old master.
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His muscles had relaxed and he found he could move again. Through the pain and fog of the energy field he had seen his father pick up the Emperor and throw him over the railing. His father had saved him.
I'm sorry I doubted you, Father.
He could hear the wheeze of his father's ventilator, and while he didn't know how it worked, he knew it didn't sound right. He scrambled to his father's side, realized his body felt limp. He leaned his father's head back, and the respiratory sound became less labored. He looked at all the electronic controls on the suit, and realized he knew nothing about them, didn't even know exactly what his father's injuries had been.
He felt of his father's mind, looking for that characteristic fire, and found it cold. His father was dying. Not now, not after everything that had kept them apart, not now, when they could finally be father and son.
He would take his father to the Alliance medics. They would know what to do, how to save him. This was Anakin Skywalker, the hero of the old Republic, his father. They had to save him.