Chapter 8
Darth Vader strolled through his private hangar, his ebony cape flowing behind him as his boots impacted the cold durasteel floor beneath his artificial feet. His mechanical breathing was a companion to the single thought radiating in his mind.
The Dark Lord of the Sith was due for a confrontation with his son on Tatooine.
Vader had terrible memories of his time on Tatooine. His days as a slave taught Vader the value of pursuing his own destiny and the death of his mother at the hand of Tusken Raiders, a memory he had shoved deep into his blackened soul, returned with a vengeance and his blood boiled. It was a primal thirst for revenge that drove him that day and the recollection fueled his connection to the dark side.
Leia could not know where he had to go. Part of her still trusted Luke and her compassion would prove to be a danger to his mission. While Vader did not doubt that his daughter's presence warmed his heart, it was a feeling unbecoming of a Sith Lord.
Vader climbed into his TIE Advanced x1 Starfighter and closed the canopy.
"Lord Vader, you are cleared for departure," the droid controller said.
The Sith Lord did not respond. His figher rose above the floor and burst from the hangar. Vader wasted no time clearing Vjun's atmosphere. Once in space, he activated the navicomputer to plot a course for Tatooine. Seconds later, Vader's fighter entered hyperspace.
Luke loaded Artoo-Detoo into his hatch on the X-Wing. "That should do it," he told his astromech. "Get her ready for takeoff, Artoo."
Artoo beeped his compliance.
Luke retrieved his helmet and was about to place it on his head when he felt a flicker in the Force. It was as if a gust of cold air hit his face. Luke could only compare it to the coldness of the dark side cave on Dagobah. He knew it could not be Vader, but Yoda spoke of Dark Jedi once.
After setting his helmet in a storage compartment in his X-Wing, Luke unclipped his new lightsaber from his belt. He also kept his father's lightsaber on his utility belt, but he realized he was not skilled enough to handle two lightsabers at once.
Luke sent rapid probes through the Force, trying to minimize the size of the ripples he projected in his search. He raised his left hand to silence Artoo's questioning beeps. By now, the astromech understood Luke's requests for quiet so he could remain hidden.
There! Luke's mind screamed as he sensed the Dark Jedi's presence in the Force.
But she was already upon him, her violet lightsaber cutting for Luke's head.
Green fire sprang from Luke's right hand and the Jedi quickly moved to parry her thrust. He stared across their locked blades, but was unable to see her face underneath her hooded cloak.
With the weight of his body, Luke pushed her back. He shifted to the right and lunged hard.
The Dark Jedi offered a sloppy defense against Luke's technique, making it clear to the Jedi that she was a mere amateur in lightsaber combat.
Luke pressed his advantage, driving the Dark Jedi back with a series of unconnected rapid thrusts. As the Dark Jedi was forced to defend different parts of her body, her responses slowed.
Luke drove his green blade forward in a feint, which the Dark Jedi moved to parry. The Jedi shifted his wrist and drove his sword under hers. With a push, he knocked the lightsaber out of her grasp.
The Dark Jedi growled out of frustration as Luke lifted her body with the Force.
"You must be Arica," Luke said before he heard a landspeeder stop at Kenobi's hut.
"Luke?" Wedge asked before leaping out of his rented landspeeder.
"Stun her," Luke ordered before deactivating his lightsaber.
Wedge wasted no time obeying his order. He lifted his blaster pistol and fired a stun bolt at the Dark Jedi just as Luke released her with the Force. She landed harmlessly on the desert surface.
"Who was that?" Wedge asked. "And where have you been?"
"I think her name is Arica," Luke told the other Rebel as he walked to retrieve the fallen lightsaber. He knelt before lifting the weapon from the ground. "And I've been training to become a Jedi." He placed both lightsabers he carried on his utility belt before standing.
"A Jedi?" Wedge asked, obviously surprised. "How is that possible?"
"I'll rejoin the fleet as soon as I can, Wedge," Luke told his friend. "For now, you'll just have to trust me and take this Dark Jedi prisoner."
Wedge seemed uncomfortable with Luke's proposal. "But what if she wakes up on us?" he asked, apparently having heard horror stories about Dark Jedi himself.
Luke walked over to Arica before kneeling beside her. He placed his hand on her forehead and placed her in a timed Force Trance. "I've placed her in a trance," Luke said before lifting her body from the sand. "Just remember to tell the fleet I'll return as soon as possible."
"But we've got bad news for you, Luke," Wedge said as Luke placed Arica in his landspeeder. "Han, Leia and Chewbacca are missing."
Luke immediately recalled images from his dream and winced. He saw Leia dressed in a TIE pilot uniform, kneeling before the body of Han Solo. A single tear fell down her cheek. But what haunted Luke the most was the sulfurous tinge in her brown eyes.
"No one has heard anything about them," Wedge added, drawing Luke from his thoughts. "We all thought you were dead until a bounty hunter sold us some information on your whereabouts."
"Leia's alive," Luke said to Wedge. His face was pale with fear and uncertainty.
"Are you sure?" Wedge asked.
"Yes," Luke replied before walking towards his X-Wing.
"Luke!" Wedge shouted. "Where is she?"
"I wish I knew," Luke said before retrieving his helmet and climbing into his X-Wing. Moments later, he soared through Tatooine's atmosphere and plotted a course for Dagobah. Luke needed answers that only Yoda could provide.
Yoda watched Luke's X-Wing land near his hut, obviously pleased his apprentice had returned. The young Jedi descended from his fighter just as Artoo-Detoo ejected. "Returned, you have," Yoda said. "And with three lightsabers?"
"Master, I faced a Dark Jedi on Tatooine," Luke said before unclipping the extra lightsaber from his utility belt.
Yoda used the Force to call the lightsaber to him. He levitated the weapon in front of his face. "Belonged to Mace Windu, this lightsaber did."
"Who was Mace Windu?" Luke asked.
"An old friend of mine," Yoda replied sadly before taking the weapon underneath his right arm. "Pleased am I that you have returned his lightsaber to me. Perhaps tell you about Master Windu, I will. But first, a matter of urgency has arisen."
"I saw a vision of Leia," Luke said as he approached his master. The pupil took a seat on a rock so he could be at eye level with Yoda.
"Captured by Darth Vader, she has been," Yoda said, sensing he was confirming his student's worst fears.
"My father?" Luke asked, his blue eyes searching for confirmation.
Yoda exhaled slowly before casting his green gaze towards the ground. "Your father he is," he answered. "Seeking to poison the mind of your sister, Vader is."
"My sister?" Luke was obviously flabbergasted at the revelation. "Master, what is going on?"
"Your father, a great Jedi he was," Yoda began. "Anakin Skywalker was consumed by the dark side, by Darth Vader. Allied with the Sith, he did. But hope…left to us he did. His twins, last hope of the galaxy they are. If corrupted to the dark side Leia is, difficult our mission will become."
"Master, if I had gone to save my friends, I could have stopped this from happening," Luke said as despair crept into his voice. "Leia wouldn't have been captured and Vader wouldn't be…"
"Stop this, you must!" Yoda demanded. "Focus on the negative, you must not. If gone to save your friends you had, lost you would have become. The hope of the Jedi, lost it would have been. Be at calm, young Skywalker."
Luke took deep breaths before saying, "I'm sorry."
"A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind," Yoda said. "But beware of anger, fear, aggression; the dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."
"I've come back to complete the training," Luke said.
"No more training here do you require," Yoda said. "No longer can the Jedi hide in seclusion. Two Jedi shall leave Dagobah today."
Luke was speechless, prompting Yoda to grin.
"Though a Jedi Knight you are, begun your real training has," Yoda said.
