Legacy of the Sith
Chapter 20: Paths Taken
Grand Admiral Thrawn blinked his solid red eyes, then resumed staring at the hologram before him. A number of years ago, the celebrated artist Burkel Jadly had disappeared. What Thrawn was examining so intently was Jadly's final masterpiece: Lord Vader's wall mural. Thrawn couldn't help but be impressed with the work, and it's presentation. It looked so inviting. Which of course, was it's dead giveaway.
Vader was trying to lure Jedi with that artwork.
Thrawn has always had the reputation of being an authority on art, especially interpretation. Vader, on the other hand, was not a known art collector. This was why Thrawn was certain that years ago, Vader had commissioned Jadly to create a scene of a grand old tree near a cave. While breathtaking to behold, especially with the fruit among the leaves that seemed to glow, this was hardly Jadly's usual subject matter. No, there was something about a tree and a cave that was significant to Jedi Knights. Thrawn was sorry now that he didn't get more of an opportunity to study the Jedi further, so he'd know for certain what those things might mean. Of course, Thrawn hadn't thought it all that important to know exactly what Vader was trying to tell the Jedi with the mural until he found out recently that a certain apartment on Corellia had been broken into. The perpetrators were rumored to be Jedi Adepts...
The Grand Admiral stared down at his blue-skinned hands. There was a puzzle here to be solved. Why, after all these years, did some Jedi finally break into the apartment? And if they were supposed to be lured there by whatever the art meant, why didn't Vader trap them? What was he up to?
Most likely, the Dark Lord was a traitor to the Empire now!
It was difficult to keep a cool head, but Thrawn knew he had to. Here he was, supervising the final stages of construction of a huge space station, certainly the most important project that the Empire had ever undertaken, and Darth Vader was off somewhere, leaving the project wide open for imminent attack by the Rebel Alliance! It helped ease Thrawn's mind knowing that the Hammertong laser, at least, was fully operational. However, the lack of any action or communication from any of his superiors was making Thrawn fidgety, which was not his natural state of being.
It was almost understandable that Palpatine had not made it to Endor. The last time Thrawn had seen him, the Emperor looked drawn and tired, and somehow diminished. But for Vader to not be here either... Thrawn knew that Vader should have been the one to supervise here. Just like the last time...when the old Death Star was destroyed.
Unless the answer was that the Emperor no longer trusted Vader.
In that case, Thrawn asked himself, what should his next move be? If Vader has Jedi Adepts chasing him, or working with him (unlikely, even Thrawn had to admit) who knew what would come next? All Thrawn knew was this; he had the galaxy's most powerful weapon in his grasp, and he'd be damned if he was going to just turn it over to Darth Vader, who it has been long established had no love for a weapon that could destroy planets. He wasn't going to be able to hesitate much longer; once he got a clear signal, Thrawn would have to make his move.
As he turned his red eyes back to the Jadly image, Thrawn knew he wouldn't have much longer to wait...
The Rebel Alliance Fleet, needless to say, welcomed Han Solo back with open arms. After all, General Calrissian had worked out a battle plan with General Madine and Admiral Ackbar on the best way to attack the Death Star. And while Han listened to the plan, he couldn't help but think back on Vader's unease about the situation with the Death Star...
"Solo, you look like you have a problem with the plan," Ackbar observed.
Han fidgeted. He knew Vader wanted the Death Star destroyed. But he wasn't too convinced that Vader cared what happened to the Alliance during or after the attack. "How recent it this intelligence on the construction stages of this thing, anyway?"
Lando frowned. "It's been a few months old, to tell the truth."
Madine spoke up. "So naturally, we have an intel team on the ground on the Endor moon, so we can be updated regularly."
"Yeah, that team being Chewie and Leia!" Han frowned even deeper.
"There will be more people soon. I have word that Luke Skywalker is headed there directly," Ackbar assured him.
"That's sure to help; he's going to have Kenobi with him. And, he mentioned there's another Jedi with them..." Lando added.
Ackbar's fishy jowls shped into a Calamari smile. "Yes. Jedi Master Yoda is with them. The Force really is with us that he still lives!"
"Well, until we know more, I think we should hold off on a large scale attack. Just send some of us ahead."
"That's part of the plan. We'll send you over to join them, and then, you and the rest of the team can knock out the force shield generator on the moon..." Madine began.
"And then send the rest of the Fleet to blast it to oblivion? Sure, that'll work as long as the laser isn't operational. If it is though, the Imps will use us as target practice until we're completely wiped out!"
"Captain Solo, why are you so certain the laser is operational? Do you have intel we haven't heard?" Madine frowned.
"Let's just put it this way. I suspect the Imps have been expecting this attack for months, ever since the Bothans picked up that computer with the plans. I do happen to know one thing for absolute certain; Palpatine is not aboard the Death Star," Han revealed.
Madine looked stunned. Ackbar stammered, "How do you know this?"
Han drew a deep breath. "I heard a bit of intercepted communication between Vader and Grand Admiral Thrawn. And don't ask how that happened. Let's just say I've got my ears opened a bit wider than they used to be and leave it at that. Thrawn's been watching the Death Star all this time. I don't think the old man even made it there."
After a long silence, Ackbar murmured "I have a bad feeling about this." Han didn't even blink, even though Vader had said just about the same thing when he'd heard that Palpatine had gone AWOL.
Lando was angry. "We're never going to get another chance like this! Han, is there anyway at all that you could be wrong?
"'Fraid not, ol' pal."
Madine began to pace. "Admiral Ackbar, General Calrissian is right. We must find some way to attack before another planet potentially is destroyed like Alderaan!"
Han glanced at each one, reading their thoughts. Each one thought of his homeworld, and it's potential as a target for the Death Star's destructive power. Then he found himself speaking before the thoughts were fully formed. "I think there's a way to do this without endangering the Fleet. But we're going to have to be able to smuggle some people onto the Death Star itself to do it. Which, of course, happens to be one of my specialties..."
All three of them turned their full attention to Han. "We're listening," Lando assured him.
Meanwhile, Darth Vader had rejoined the Imperial Fleet, just as his apprentice had rejoined the Rebel Alliance's. Aboard Executor again, Vader seamlessly took the helm, thanks to the efficient work of his immediate subordinates. He was able to gain complete access to what information he lacked. None of it was good news however. Palpatine really was still on Coruscant. Thrawn really was put in charge of the Death Star project. But at least, Vader still had the Fleet...
While Palpatine was still alive, Vader could not risk being so bold as to order the Fleet to attack the construction site. That was why, after touching base with everyone, working out plans, deploying parts of the Fleet to strategic locations where they could immediately respond to a crisis (should there be one), Vader again departed, taking his TIE Interceptor. This time, he was on his way to Coruscant.
"My lord Emperor, Lord Vader has arrived."
"Very good. Send him up here." As his most trusted manservent bowed out, Palpatine summoned what small bit of strength he had left in his withered body. He could only sense his apprentice's Force Signature, a blazing sensation. He could sense no other. But, that did not mean that no one else was there. No, in Palpatine's experience with Anakin Skywalker, his light was like the sun compared to the mere candlelights that were other Force-Sensitives. It often blocked out others...
No matter. Palpatine's only hope was that Vader brought his son with him. He climbed to the edge of his bed, carefully stepped into his slippers, and shuffled to a special hidden niche in the wall near his bedside. It opened at his touch, and with shaking hands, he grasped his lightsaber. A grim determination crossed over Palpatine. He knew he would die. But he would die as a Sith.
He would see to it...
"Where is everybody?" Vader growled aloud as he walked through the great open doors of the Imperial Palace. A clearing throat cut through the near silence of the Grand Hall, and Vader glared up to see Palpatine's obnoxious manservant. A pale thin ghoul of a man, he would soon be nothing but a bad memory, Vader promised himself...
"His lord Emperor wished for them to leave. Since you finally deigned to come back, I'll take you upstairs," the manservant sniffed. Vader seethed as he followed the turd through the public, then the semi-private areas of the Palace.
"Why aren't we going to the throne room?" Vader asked. "Why are we going to Palpatine's private chambers?"
"You'll soon see, and you'll regret ever having traipsed off to that group of religious fanatics!" the ghostlike manservant wailed.
"What? I haven't been with those B'Omarr monks all this while!" Vader argued.
"Whatever, Vader. Well, there you are. I'm sure you can figure out the rest of the way," he snapped as he gestured to the huge wooden doors that closed off Palpatine from the rest of the galaxy. Vader searched out the place with the Force. Something was definitely not right.
Vader opened the doors. He saw Palpatine's huge circular bed in the middle of the room, but it seemed unmade, and the Emperor wasn't in there. Puzzled, Vader took a step inside, until, at the last second, he sensed his mistake. Darth Sidious stood just on the other side of the door, lightsaber in hand, ready to duel!
Very quickly, Vader's own lightsaber was activated, and Vader used the Force again to gain some sort of insight about Sidious' state. It wasn't at all good. "What is this?" Vader asked, bewildered at Sidious' appearance. He'd never looked worse, not even the moment after he survived Mace Windu's attack on him.
"What does it look like to you? Death?" Sidious taunted as he raised the lightsaber higher. "It should look like death, because that's what it is!" The lightsaber bore down on Vader, and Vader was forced to block it with his own. In a matter of seconds, Vader used the Force to bind Sidious and pin him to the wall. "Let me go, damn you! Let me have a little dignity in the short time I have left!"
"Not until you tell me what you could possibly be thinking by attacking me?" Vader demanded.
"Hmph! Did you bring your son?" Sidious asked.
"No! I didn't bring Luke here with me," Vader answered, even more puzzled. "Why would you want Luke here with you...like this?"
Sidious nearly couldn't beleive what he was hearing. "Vader! Never once have you disobeyed me like this. How could you not bring him here? Now, all is lost..."
Sidious was making less sense to Vader with each passing moment. "Master, Luke would not make good Sith material, if that is what you're thinking to do. He has no wish to join me. And he'd have even less wish to join you, if that was your intention. My apprentice and I had discussed the matter at length..." Vader started to say.
"What did you just say?" Sidious gasped.
"I just said that Luke has no wish..."
"No! After that!" Sidious demanded in between gasps.
"Oh...I...never mind, forget I said it..." Vader winced. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Here the man's dying, and all I do is aggravate him with the news that I've got an apprentice! Vader thought furiously. "Just don't worry about it!"
"No! You have an apprentice! Tell me the truth, Vader!" Sidious hissed.
Vader released Sidious slowly, placing his slippered feet on the carpeting with caution. "I, alright, yes, I have an apprentice after all," Vader admitted.
Sidious' yellow eyes widened, and an odd fanatical light shone in them. "Where is your apprentice, Vader?"
"I'm not letting him within twenty parsecs of you!" Vader warned.
Sidious laughed in a choppy manner. "You are wise, not to bring him here. Is he skilled in using the Force?"
"In his own fashion. He's a Wilder."
Sidious seemed very pleased by all this. Vader was puzzled. Surely Sidious must have known that Vader was coming, now, to kill him. Why was he so happy? He watched his Sith master shuffle back to his bed, with barely enough strength left to get back in. Vader shut his lightsaber off and caught Sidious under his scrawny arm to keep him from falling. Then, Sidious looked up, trying to see into Vader's helmet, into his eyes, but Vader didn't miss the look. Those yellow eyes pleaded now.
For that one moment, only Vader's metallic breath made any sound at all. Sidious then said, "Oh, Vader. I did a terrible thing to you that day when I recovered you on Mustafar. I should not have left you alive, to suffer that way. Only now, as I bear terrible pain myself, do I understand how selfish I was. I wanted you as my apprentice so badly I was willing to betray everything decent in order to have you. I can only hope that now, you will show me the mercy I never showed you..."
Vader said nothing. His master asked for death! If Sidious only knew what Vader was really capable of, would he ever ask for death? And if Vader did heal Sidious, would it be the right thing? No wonder Obi-Wan called him confused; he was! As Vader seached the Force, he saw very plainly how sick Sidious had become. And if he put Sidious out of his misery, then he, Darth Vader, would finally become the master Sith!
There was nothing to be done for it except what he had to do... So, he turned his lightsaber back on. Sidious smiled, sighed with relief. "I knew I could count on you; I always have..."
"I resent this," Vader growled."
"I tried to duel you," Sidious countered weakly.
"Don't be a fool!" Vader said.
"Well, then don't be a sentimental sap, Vader! This is long overdue!"
Vader glared down at the shriveled form on the bed. "I'm a 'sap?' Only you would have enough gall..."
"Well, if you don't like that, how about 'Fatherless Bastard?' That suits you too!" Sidious piped up.
"I know what you're trying to do. If you have enough strength to insult me, then I'm sure you could take one more swing at me with your lightsaber," Vader argued.
"If I had the strength, Vader, I'd kick you right in the ass!"
"Don't be an old twit! You'd break your toe..." Vader snorted.
"That would be the least of my ills, Vader. Now, if you would please get on with it," Sidious asked.
Vader shook his helmet. "Just like this?"
"Like I said before, I always knew I could count on you. Even my manservant Helkin doubted that you'd get here in time, and I said to him, 'Helkin, all in good time. Vader will not let me down.' I only ask that you not be so quick to strike him down once I'm gone; he can be of valuable use to you. And your new apprentice... What is he like?"
"He will make an even better Sith than I am," Vader told Sidious.
"Then I know the Legacy of the Sith shall continue, and I can die in peace. Now, Vader, before it's too late..."
Vader could sense the life force in Sidious fading. And his master would want to die under the blade of his apprentice... So Vader raised the lightsaber high. "May the Force be with you," he said finally.
"May the Force be with you too," Sidious answered, then watched as the lightsaber made a seemingly endless descent down...
"Hey, Han old buddy? You alright?" Lando asked. General Madine and Admiral Ackbar watched him with concern.
"Oh, yeah..." he answered, shaking himself a bit to break the moment. It was the weirdest thing he'd just felt. "Was there somethin' goin' on in this part of the sector. Any black holes or..."
Madine laughed. "No, none that I know of. But you know, I have noticed once or twice Luke Skywalker have sudden lapses like that. I hope neither of you were exposed to any sort of radioactive substance we're not aware of..."
Han shrugged Madine off, but secretly he knew what that sensation was: a disturbance in the Force. Oh, damn, what did Vader do?
Vader sat on the carpet beside the bed. He was shaking as the threads that held him and his master together snapped, one by painful one. He was a terrible person! How could he do that to his master?
But then, once his system started to settle down, the room grew very silent. And the silence nearly drove Vader out of his mind. He forgot, for a moment, who he was. And this room, it was alien to him, unreal. What was this glowing red blade in my hands?
He turned around, pushed himself off the floor, and looked down into the bed. There was a very old man laying there. He was dead. And suddenly, Vader remembered that man. The first time he'd seen him was when he was standing on a landing platform, waiting. He was this rich fellow, a Senator. Yes, and he had this graying red hair and a clever glint in his eyes. They weren't yellow eyes back then. No, he was very presentable, very respectable. Later, people elected him Chancellor, and that was when he'd taken notice of Vader. I was only nine years old. And you already knew you were going to take me away from the Jedi...
"And so you did." Vader began to recall now what had been temporarily forgotten.
I am Darth Vader. I just killed Darth Sidious. And now, I am FREE...
NOTE: Sorry, I thought this was going to be the last chapter, but it's not! I still have too many things that have to be addressed, and I couldn't do it all in this one chapter. Therefore, the will be one more chapter and then, honest, this story is done.