Mos Espa was in the grips of an evening sandstorm by the time Luke and his friends arrived. Every window and door were closed up and save for the occasional brave and tightly bundled citizen, the streets were empty. Han regretted turning his shirt into a tourniquet as the sharp sand grains buffeted his bare chest. Leia was in an even worse situation until Han commandeered the cloth top of a collapsed peddler's stand to cover her.

"You know, Artu," said Threepio, "I am glad Master Luke cleaned the sand from my joints but I'm afraid that this storm has undone his hard work."

"Luke," Han called out, receiving a mouthful of sand. "I hope you know where we're going."

"The harbor's not much further. How's everyone holding up?"

Han spit, trying to clear some of the grit from his mouth. "I'm back to not being able to see anything."

Leia grunted. "Yeah, we're all in the same boat there."

Lando held his free hand over his eyes, hoping at any second to see masts in the distance. He kept his other hand on Chewbacca's back, helping the injured Wookiee walk. "How are you doing, Chewie?"

Chewbacca roared softly, opening his mouth as little as possible.

"After this left turn, it's a straight shot to the Falcon," Luke explained, speaking over the wind as it kicked up. "I'll meet you back at the fleet."

Han squinted. "You aren't coming with us?"

"I've got to get Red. Besides, I have a promise to keep... to an old friend."

Leia hugged Luke. "Try not to take too long. The Alliance should be finished assembling soon."

The two of them broke the hug and Luke began to walk away with Artu following behind.

"Hey, kid!"

Luke turned and walked back to Han.

Han smiled in an almost embarrassed way. "Thanks for coming back for me."

Luke smiled back. "Think nothing of it."

"Nah. I'm thinking I owe you one." Han hugged Luke and his eye twitched as the fabric of Luke's robes made him realize that between sunburn and sand, the skin on his chest was extremely tender. "I'll see you back at the fleet."

"I won't be long," Luke said as he turned and started to walk away again.

Han had never been happier to see the Millennium Falcon. Once on deck, he ran his hand along the smooth wood railing, almost as though it was the skin of a lover. "Hey, old girl. How you doing? Lando and Chewie been treating you well?" He chuckled and looked to Lando. "Once you get Chewie below deck, can you get her ready to go? I need a shirt real bad."

"You're not the only one," Leia called out from the deck hatch.

Luke's arcwing, Red Five, waited in the air stables a short walk from the harbor. Luke inspected the damage the bullet had done to his hand as he and Artu made the journey. Nothing critical was bent or broken, but the casing for the back of the hand had been severely dented and one of the screws holding it in had sheared. He made a mental note to remove it once he was away from the sand.

Red Five lifted his head as Luke entered the stable. He was glad to see his master, but knew that he would soon need to be out in the storm.

"Ready to go, Red?"

The arcwing flared his nostrils and blinked his inner set of eyelids.

Luke patted the lizard's flank. "Yeah, I know. It's nice in here. Tell you what, I'll give you some moa jerky after we get to Dagobah."

Red Five immediately perked up.

"And as for you, Artu," Luke said, lifting the nautomaton into place on the back of the saddle with the Force, "I'll make sure you get a nice deep clean back at the fleet."

Artu chirped happily as Luke buckled his straps.

Outside the Death Star, perfect formations of ties circled the fortress' equator. Hundreds of stormtroopers stood at attention in flawless rank and file in the main hangar. An army band in full parade dress held their instruments nervously. A large shuttle with scales as black as night slipped from a Hyperion gate. The band began to play the Imperial anthem as the fortress ward lowered to allow the shuttle through.

As planned, the anthem's first horn crescendo started just when the shuttle entered the hangar. A sextet of red armored Elite Imperial Guardsmen were the first to descend from the saddle. Darth Vader approached and knelt as his Dark Master came down the steps. The anthem reached its climax when his foot touched the polished hangar floor.

Emperor Palpatine, clad in his black hooded robe looked around the hangar with his stern grey eyes as his wrinkled hands rested on the head of his gnarled ebonwood cane. He looked down at Vader and smiled. "Rise, my friend."

Darth Vader stood and walked beside the Emperor as he strode past the assembled stormtroopers. "The Death Star will be complete on schedule."

"You've done well, Lord Vader. I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker."

Darth Vader paused. His failure in Bespin had been a major disappointment to the Emperor. "...Yes, my Master."

"Patience, my friend. In time, he will seek you out. When he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. It will take both of us to bring him to the Dark Side of the Force."

"As you wish."

"Everything is proceeding as I have forseen." Emperor Palpatine cackled.

Artu waited next to Red Five in a clearing near Yoda's home while the arcwing munched on his moa jerky. The sounds of frogs and singing beetles filled the trees while the moons made the ever present fog of Dagobah glow with an eerie light. By all accounts, it was a beautiful night.

Luke watched with concern as Master Yoda limped around. The ancient Jedi laughed weakly. "That face you make... Look I so old to young eyes?"

"N-no, of course not."

"I do." He turned to face Luke. "Yes, I do. Sick, I have become... Old and weak."

Luke frowned.

"When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not, hmm?" Yoda chuckled and limped towards his bed. "Soon, I will rest. Yes. Forever sleep." He pulled his covers back and grunted as he sat down. "Earned it, I have."

"Master Yoda, you can't die."

"Strong, I am with the Force, but not that strong. Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall." Yoda stretched out on his bed and pulled his covers up. These simple actions seemed to take a great deal of effort. "That is the way of things... The Way of the Force."

"But I need your help. I've come back to complete my training."

Yoda coughed once. "No more training do you require. Already know that which you need."

"Then... I am a Jedi."

"Ohh!" Yoda started to laugh, but it quickly turned into a coughing fit. "Not yet. One thing remains: Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi, will you be. And confront him, you will."

Luke sighed and nodded solemnly. "Master Yoda... Is Darth Vader my father?"

Yoda was silent for several seconds. He rolled into his side, facing away from Luke. "Rest, I need. Yes. Rest."

"Master Yoda, I must know."

Yoda's face scrunched up in shame and he sighed. "Your father, he is."

Even though Luke knew what Yoda's answer would be, hearing it confirmed hit him like a hammer to the gut.

"Told you, did he?"

Luke nodded slowly. "Yes," he whispered.

"Unexpected, this is. And unfortunate."

Luke balked. "Unfortunate that I know the truth?"

"No." Yoda rolled back over to face Luke. "Unfortunate that you rushed to face him. That incomplete was your training. That not ready for the burden, you were. Obi-Wan would have told you long ago, had I let him. Now a great weakness, you carry. Fear for you, I do."

Luke sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Remember... a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware anger, fear, aggression- the Dark Side of the Force are they. If once you start down the Dark Path, forever will it dominate your destiny." Yoda coughed violently. His breathing afterwards was very labored. "Luke... do not... do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor or suffer your father's fate, you will."

Luke nodded. He could sense that Yoda was beginning to fade.

The wise Master looked his last student in the eye. "Luke... when gone, am I, the last of the Jedi, you will be. Luke... the Force runs strong in your family... Pass on what you have learned... Luke... there is... another... Skywalker..."

Yoda's eyes closed and his head slowly sank into his pillow. Luke sat stunned as the full gravity of Yoda's passing hit him. His death meant the end of an age.

Luke sat in reverent silence for several seconds, mulling over the Jedi's final words. He sensed something unusual and watched as Yoda's body faded away, leaving only empty clothes in an empty bed.

Luke made his solemn trek back to the clearing where he had left Red and Artu. He turned and looked at Yoda's home one more time. Artu looked away from picking tiny scraps of moa from between Red Five's teeth and beeped with concern.

Luke knelt next to the nautomaton who gave a mournful warble. The Jedi shook his head. "I can't do it, Artu. I can't go on alone."

"Yoda will always be with you," said the ghost of Obi-Wan, emerging from the shadows.

Luke looked at him with a mix of relief and confusion. "Obi-Wan... Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father."

"Your father was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father died and Darth Vader was born. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view."

Luke frowned. "A certain point of view?"

"You are going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view." Obi-Wan sighed. "That said, I do wish I could have told you directly, but Yoda was worried that the knowledge would extinguish your desire to follow the Way of the Force. Anakin was a good friend. When I first met him as just a boy, he was already a great rider and sailor, but I was amazed by how strong the Force was with him. It was my master's dying wish to teach him and so I took it upon myself to train your father as a Jedi."

Obi-Wan's face fell. "I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong."

"There's still good in him."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil..."

"He's been trying to reach out to me. He may try to conceal the good, but I can feel it."

"You cannot escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again."

"I can't kill my own father."

Obi-Wan hung his head. "Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope."

"...Yoda spoke of another."

"The other he spoke of is your twin sister."

Luke knitted his brow and cocked his head. "But I have no sister."

"To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew, as Yoda and I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous."

Luke's jaw dropped. That strange feeling of familiarity he had when he had seen her distress message and when he rescued her from that prison cell in the Death Star - it all made sense now. "Leia! Leia's my sister!"

Obi-Wan smiled. "Your insight serves you well. Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor."

Emperor Palpatine had taken up residence in the observation tower at the pinnacle of the Death Star. The Emperor had personally designed it and intended it to be his throne room from which he could directly rule his Empire.

Darth Vader strode up the hexagonal corridor leading to the elevator. He expected the Imperial Guards that stood to either side of the elevator door, but he did not expect the man who was standing in front of the door itself.

Jerjerrod had a defiant, stony expression and held out his hand to stop the Sith Lord. "You may not enter."

Vader stopped and looked at the hand, then looked back to Jerjerrod. Such insolence would not be tolerated. He raised his own hand. Two things happened simultaneously: the Imperial Guards brandished their phrik spears and Jerjerrod's hands flew to his throat as he started to choke.

Jerjerrod looked Vader dead in his eye lenses even as his face turned red. "It... is... the Emperor's... command!"

Darth Vader lowered his hand slowly. The Guards relaxed.

Jerjerrod straightened himself. "The Emperor has seen fit to bestow upon me the title of Moff and as such, so long as you are in this fortress you answer to me."

Vader clenched his fists. "And he has also seen fit to bar me from meeting with him?"

"Until such time as you deliver results with regard to the search for Skywalker, you are not to be allowed entry into the Emperor's Tower. He said it wasn't as much a punishment as a motivation. If you have a message for him, I shall deliver it."

"Jabba the Hutt is dead. Seeing as he was in possession of Captain Solo, I suspect that Skywalker was involved. There can be no doubt now that the Rebels are preparing to act."

"Very good. I will relay the information." Jerjerrod entered the elevator and turned on his heel to glower at Darth Vader until the door closed. The Moff let out a deep breath and looked at his shaking hands.