Chapter 10

Luke Skywalker plunged deeply into the Force as his sister engaged him for the third time. Leia was a dangerous duelist, relying on an archaic, but incredibly powerful, technique. Luke was no less competent with a lightsaber, relying on the kinetic style his father used. Brother and sister, keepers of the Skywalker bloodline, were evenly matched in almost every area of power.

Luke sidestepped his sister's first thrust, avoiding the crimson blade easily before he pushed forward, bringing his sword up with an underhanded stroke to parry the blow. Luke pivoted his wrist and slammed in the direction in front of his body, quickly driving Leia's sword out of the way. The Sith absorbed the blow with her blade before stepping down the stairs, past the point where Anakin and Palpatine were dueling near the throne.

Trying to take advantage of the high ground, Luke drove forward, only to find himself caught in a Force grip that lifted him off the floor. Darth Apostas held out her hand and hurled Luke across the throne room.

Darth Sidious stood on his throne as Anakin came at him swiftly. The master of Djem So was cutting the master of Ataru no slack. Anakin's orange energy sword cut in a near horizontal arc. The Emperor spun in an impossibly tight circle as he dodged Anakin's blade, a wave of crimson flowing around his body before it angled downwards with a hard thrust.

Anakin had to take a step back to bat Palpatine's weapon away with only his right hand on his hilt. After two decades of dueling with his master, he knew the ins-and-outs of Ataru. With a move he could have borrowed from Count Dooku, Anakin retracted his blade and swiftly struck for the Emperor's unguarded left side.

Palpatine had to leap off his throne to avoid being skewered. He landed on the floor and smiled, "You've grown powerful, Anakin. Maybe stronger than you were as Darth Vader. But do not underestimate me. I have also grown in the Force."

"Only in the dark," Anakin retorted before both men resumed their duel.

Luke landed on a catwalk, still clutching his lightsaber in his left hand. Force lightning arced across the throne room at the Jedi Master. Luke held out his right hand and caught the blast in his palm, using the Force to shield his body from the worst of it. He reared back and used a Force push to send the lightning back to its wielder.

Darth Apostas ceased her Force lightning barrage and charged at her brother. Luke somersaulted off the catwalk and landed on the floor just in time to meet the Sith blade to blade. The Jedi gripped his weapon in both hands as Apostas used classic Form II techniques against him. Every movement was so precise. Apostas thrust for Luke's abdomen first, only to have the Jedi swiftly parry the blow. Luke was just on his feet and had no time to prepare for his sister's next series of attacks.

Retracting her blade, Apostas pivoted her wrist before sweeping her blade in a horizontal arc that Luke had to sidestep. Taking advantage of the situation, the Sith drew her blade upward in an attempt to cut her opponent down. Luke turned his body at the last minute and caught the blow with the top of his blade. The crimson blade slid up Luke's sword and only a Force push saved the Jedi.

"I don't want to fight you!" Luke shouted as his sister staggered backwards a few steps.

"Then you will die," Apostas said after recovering her footing.

Luke rushed forward, raising his sword before swinging down and to his right in a rapid motion. Apostas extended her right arm to catch Luke's blade on the long end of her sword. Luke quickly retracted his blade, pivoted and attacked from the left with an upward swing. Apostas was forced to give ground to parry her brother's blow. She was unable to capitalize on the opening on Luke, for the Jedi took a step back and thrust his blade for her center.

It was an easy blow for Apostas to parry. Both combatants retracted at the same time and moved their weapons forward, blades colliding and locking in front of their faces. Luke had the height and strength advantage, but Apostas refused to give ground.

"You still are unable to do what is necessary to defeat your foe," Apostas goaded. "Only your anger can destroy me, brother."

"I'm not here to destroy you," Luke told her before pushing against the lock. "I'm here to save you."

Brother and sister attempted to use a Force push to destabilize the saber lock, but only succeeded in pushing each other in opposite directions.

Anakin attempted to sweep the Emperor's legs with a wide Juyo swing, but Palpatine leapt over him, slashing downward as he was above his former pupil's head. Anakin dove forward to keep from being killed and dropped his lightsaber. He rolled on the floor just as the Emperor's feet connected.

Not wasting any time, Darth Sidious drove his blade down for the kill. Anakin quickly called his lightsaber to his hand and reactivated the orange energy sword. The Emperor was denied the killing blow when Anakin intercepted the attack. A swift kick connected with Palpatine's abdomen, temporarily knocking the wind out of the enemy.

Anakin leapt back to his feet and drive his lightsaber forward. Darth Sidious regained his breath and parried his former pupil's blow. The Emperor laughed. "Do you think you can stand against me, Lord Vader?" he taunted before retracting his sword and turning his body to gain another position to strike. The blow came as a hard thrust for Anakin's right side.

In a classic Shien maneuver, Anakin swung hard and slammed his blade on top of Palpatine's sword. Anakin then used a Force push to send the Emperor falling down the stairs.

Han was the first Rebel in a line of prisoners walking out of the bunker, followed by Stormtroopers and officers. He felt his stomach clench when he noticed just exactly what the Rebels were up against: an entire legion of Stormtroopers, AT-ST walkers and one AT-AT walker. With such a ragtag group of Rebels, they did not stand a chance against the garrison.

Suddenly, Threepio shouted, "Hello!" from the underbrush. "I say, over there! We're you looking for me?"

"Great," Han grumbled as the droids drew the attention of everyone in the area.

"Bring those two down here!" the bunker commander ordered.

A group of Stormtroopers rushed to retrieve the droids. Han noticed Threepio exchanging a few words with Artoo before the soldiers arrived.

"Freeze!" one trooper commanded. "Don't move!"

"We surrender," Threepio said.

Just as the soldiers moved to take the droids captive, a group of Ewok's dropped from above to assault the Stormtroopers, catching them by surprise. Not far away from the droid's location, an Ewok in a tree blew into a war horn, sounding a call to attack. Hundreds of Ewoks came out of hiding, yelling primitive war cries before joining the fray. They attacked, unafraid of the Empire's superior technology.

Kyle and Kyp took advantage of the situation and called their lightsabers back to their hands with the Force. Two glowing blue blades emerged upon contact with their hands. "Let's go," Kyle told Kyp before he fell into Vaapad. The older Jedi caught the Imperials off guard, but they still were disciplined enough to hold together and open fire.

Kyle's blade soared like a cyclone as the Jedi expertly deflected the blaster bolts in his charge towards the enemy. Kyp followed closely behind the older Jedi, relying on the standard Shii-Cho style to support Kyle.

Not only were the Stormtroopers firing on the Jedi, but on the attacking Ewoks. The battle for the surface had begun. Han and the other Rebels retrieved their weapons and joined the fight. Biker scouts flew by, trying to take down the attacking Ewoks. But the bikers found themselves either crushed by rocks thrown from above or clotheslined by Ewok traps.

"Han, we need to get into the bunker!" Winter shouted as she fired her blaster rifle at a Stormtrooper. "Kyle and Kyp can handle themselves out there!"

"Right!" Han said as he made the dash for the door to the bunker.

Kyle leapt into the air, landing on the head of the lone AT-AT walker. He drove his lightsaber downward and flipped a switch on his hilt. The blade nearly doubled in length and sliced completely through the walker's neck. Kyle quickly returned his blade to normal phase before leaping off the head as it crashed to the ground.

Kyp squared off against an AT-ST walker. The walker fired its cannons, forcing Kyp to dodge and roll away from the blast. The Padawan crouched and hurled his lightsaber at the cannons, using the Force to guide it in a motion that sliced through the barrels. Kyp then called his lightsaber back to his hand and shoved hard with the Force. The walker toppled over backwards.

"Good one, Kyp," Kyle said as he approached the Padawan from behind, using his lightsaber to deflect oncoming blaster bolts.

"Thanks," Kyp said before he stood to rejoin the battle.

Winter joined Han at the Bunker and tried to input the security code to open the door. When her access was denied, she shouted, "The code's changed! We need Artoo!"

"Great!" Han growled as he fired his blaster to cover Winter. "Where's a Jedi when you need one?"

Winter pulled her comlink from her pack and contacted the droids. "Artoo, where are you? We need you at the bunker right away."

Artoo received the message and rolled away from the log where the droids were taking refuge from the fighting. Threepio ran after the astromech, panicking.

"Going?" Threepio asked. "What do you mean you're going? Artoo! This is no time for heroics!"

Kyp and Kyle joined a group of Ewoks in the trees overlooking the battle. The Jedi observed an Ewok catapult launching boulders at an AT-ST walker. The attack did little to faze it, but the walker turned to attack the catapult, firing its guns just as the Jedi helped the Ewoks release the vines restraining two giant logs. The logs collided with the walker's head, smashing it.

Mara flew beside Wedge as they maneuvered through the swarm of Imperial fighters around the Rebel cruisers. There was no time to pick and choose every target. With the Force as her guide and her innate piloting abilities, she blasted the Imperials into debris clouds. Her danger sense flared long enough for the Jedi to check her radar.

"Heads up, Wedge," Mara called. "Three from above!"

"Copy, Rogue Leader," Wedge said.

Both X-Wings broke formation and dove to evade the TIE Interceptors. The Imperials descended after them, but were blasted into oblivion by blasts from the Millennium Falcon.

"Thanks, Gold Leader," Mara said.

Hobbie said, "Three of them coming in at twenty degrees."

"Cut to the left," Mara ordered. "I'll take the leader."

Mara locked her quad lasers and fired. The leader disappeared in a debris cloud just as shots from Wedge and Hobbie took out the other two fighters.

"They're heading for the medical frigate," Wedge said.

"Rogue Two, Rogue Three, come with me," Mara ordered as she accelerated to her target.

In the Millennium Falcon, Lando was doing all he could to remain in the battle. The Rebel pilots were receiving reinforcements from ex-Imperials under Thrawn, which was starting to even the playing field, if only slightly. Nien Numb said something to him, calling Lando's attention to the Imperial Star Destroyers lying in wait.

"You're right," Lando said. "Only the fighters are attacking. I wonder what those Star Destroyers are waiting for."

Admiral Loz overlooked the Battle of Endor from the bridge of the Lusankya. Having recently been promoted, he was proud to watch the destruction of the Rebellion, even if he was itching to participate. He was born on Kuat and became a star cadet at the Carida Academy. He was a man of the Empire, through and through.

A commander approached Loz and informed, "We're in attack position now, sir."

"Hold here," Loz ordered.

Confused, the commander clarified, "We're not going to attack?"

Loz grinned and smugly told the commander, "I have my orders from the Emperor himself. He has something special planned for the Rebels. We only need to keep them from escaping."

Anakin jumped from his position and joined the Emperor on the lower level. He held his lightsaber in a high guard as the Dark Lord paused during the fighting. The two combatants circled each other, neither one making a move.

"You know the secret of this battle station, Lord Vader," Sidious said.

Anakin kept his hard gaze locked on his former master. "But can your sniveling underlings fire without your order?" he asked.

"The order has already been given," said the Emperor. "Never assume nothing happens behind closed doors, my old apprentice."

Moff Jerjerrod directed the technicians in the Death Star control room, prepared to carry out his Emperor's orders. "Fire!" he commanded.

Death Star controllers relayed orders to the firing stations and soon concentrated beams of light traveled down the shafts towards the exit. They coalesced into a single concentrated superlaser over the disc on the hull of the half-completed Death Star. The superlaser blast rocketed towards an unsuspecting Rebel cruiser, annihilating it with a single shot.

Nien Nunb's mouth remained open as the Millennium Falcon rocked from the explosion. The Sullustan gasped and Lando checked the integrity of the shields. "That blast came from the Death Star!" he exclaimed. "That thing's operational!" He quickly activated the fleet frequency.

"Home One, this is Gold Leader," Lando said.

"We saw it," Ackbar said. "We need to organize a full retreat."

"We won't get another shot at this, Admiral," Lando argued.

"We have no choice, Calrissian!" Ackbar said. "We can't repel firepower of that magnitude."

"There will be no retreat," Thrawn communicated.

"We won't get another chance at this," Lando said, agreeing with Thrawn. "Han will have that shield down. We've got to give him more time. Head for those Star Destroyers."