Author's Note: Funny story. I realized recently that, in the last chapter, I wrote that there were six inquisitors and then I described only five inquisitors. I was like "Okay, Twi'lek, Wookiee, Chiss, Togruta, and Mysterious One. That's six, right?" WRONG! I added the description of a sixth inquisitor, but I wanted to mention this because I thought it was funny. I literally wrote five characters, thinking they were six characters.
For those of you who are interested, Disney Princesses: Extermination is near completion. I've already written the last two chapters. I just need to proofread them, add author's notes, and upload.
Also, if you've seen how long Disney Princesses: Extermination is, you might be wondering if Star Wars: The Unending will be just as long. It won't. I'm aiming for Star Wars: The Unending to be around 40,000 to 50,000 words; give or take.
How long has Luke been here? He isn't sure anymore. The Emperor had been keeping him awake for hours, but he finally decided to stop for now and pick up where they left off later. The Emperor has been gone for just a couple of minutes. Luke has been trying to decide what he should do now that he's alone. He could get out of that chair like he did before, but he's so tired. He just wants to sleep while he can. Thankfully, Luke isn't hungry or very thirsty. The Emperor has plans for Luke that require him to not die of hunger or thirst, so he's been fed; not with anything tasty of course. Luke almost wishes he was hungry so he could have another reason to get out of that chair and look around. But he's so tired and miserable. He doesn't feel like walking anywhere in his condition. His torture wounds are fresh and he doesn't have much strength right now.
Luke doesn't think he could get much done, so he decides his time would be better spent trying to figure out a way to get out of this. "Maybe the Emperor would stop torturing me if I pretend to be on his side. But if I do that, he'll probably keep me on a short leash at first. He'll expect me to do things and I might not be able to get out of it. Is that what most people do when they're being brainwashed? Do they just pretend at first until they just get stuck in their ways? I don't know. I probably shouldn't try it either way. He'll be able to sense the lack of the Dark Side in me. He would know that I'm pretending. But wait, maybe . . . maybe if I tap into the Dark Side just a little bit, I might be able to- NO! NO! I can't! What am I going to do? I can't take this for much longer." Luke tries to think of another idea, but he doesn't get very far and drifts off to sleep instead.
How foolish it is that this inquisitor thinks she can best Darth Vader single handedly.
As the Twi'lek attacks relentlessly, Vader doesn't even have to try very hard to block every strike. His mechanical legs might not be able to run as fast as the inquisitors, but his mechanical arms can swing faster than theirs. Vader only defends himself, not actually trying to kill her; not yet.
Vader thinks to himself, "If there is hope for me, there must be hope for her as well. I can turn her as Ahsoka turned me."
Vader tells the Twi'lek, "Your anger and your hatred strengthens your connection to the Dark Side. You think this makes you stronger, but the Dark Side blinds you as it blinded me."
"SHUT UP!" the Twi'lek screams.
The Twi'lek stabs forward. Vader easily knocks her blade off course with a swing to the side and then instantly moves his blade right next to her neck, stopping mere inches away. The Twi'lek gasps and stares at the blade. Vader could've taken her head off. But he chose to keep talking. "Do you not see?"
Vader takes his blade away from her neck. Instead of giving up, the Twi'lek attacks again and Vader says, "Even now you refuse to call upon your fellow inquisitors to help you fight against me. Your judgment is clouded. Your logic is lost as you resign yourself to the false promises of satisfaction told to you by your hatred."
Vader force-pushes her away and then force-pulls her back. He steps to the side and the Twi'lek lands on her feet next to him. Vader moves behind her and grabs her arm. He deactivates his lightsaber and places the emitter to her back. The Twi'lek is frightened by another moment Vader could use to easily kill her. She gets Vader's message clearly. Vader deliberately set up and passed up two opportunities to kill her, illustrating how foolish she's being for not calling for help.
"This path of yours has no hope to offer you. I know because I too have walked that path and found none."
"I'm not like you!" the Twi'lek protests defiantly.
"We were both Jedi and we both were pulled into the darkness. It is not too late for either of us."
"How dare you compare yourself to me? You chose to serve the Emperor. Were you ever tortured?"
"Torture is exactly what this suit is for," Vader answers. "The Emperor refuses many features that would have made my situation more bearable. I can barely sleep. I have no medicine to numb my pain; only medicine to keep me from fatigue. My-"
"SHUT UP!" the Twi'lek screams even louder than before. She tries to strike him, but Vader throws her to the side by the arm. Once she gets to her feet, the Twi'lek says venomously, "I will not join you of all people! You can save your preaching about hope!"
"Even if you have no interest in joining me, you can still run away. Soon the Empire will be defeated and you will need not fear punishment for your betrayal."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! This is who I am now. I am and will always be an inquisitor."
"Are you sure?" Vader annunciates.
"Yes."
It is with no joy or malice that Vader says, "Than I shall do what I hope would be done to me."
Vader steps forward and unleashes a storm of swings at her. She blocks his attacks, but she barely keeps herself from being knocked over as she keeps backing up. Vader slashes her thigh with his lightsaber, sending her falling onto her side as she screams in agony. To make sure she doesn't try to get up or swing at him, Vader puts his foot on her lightsaber along with the fingers wrapped around it. Vader holds his lightsaber upside down and prepares to plunge it into her heart, taking comfort in the fact that he would rather the same thing be done to him than stay in the dark.
But now, as he takes another look at her face, something's different. He didn't recognize her when she was enraged. But now that she looks so scared, so helpless . . . He remembers.
Vader doesn't move; he is stunned by the horrifying truth. He hears the memory replay in his mind.
"NO! Let my daddy go!"
"Kara, run!" the Twi'lek's father had said.
Vader remembers his own voice saying, "I was unaware that you had a daughter, 'master Jedi.' She will make a fine inquisitor."
And then there was the sound of her father's gasp accompanied by the sound of a lightsaber piercing his flesh.
Oh, no.
Vader moves the lightsaber away from Kara. He takes his foot off of her fingers and steps back.
It was his fault. Vader was the one who killed her father and turned her over to the Empire. He did this to her. Vader feels like his heart is decomposing. He was about to kill her because he was comparing himself to her. This is not his kindred spirit; this is his victim.
Instead of killing her, Darth Vader rips Kara's lightsaber out of her hand. It's not hard for him to do since his fingers are mechanical and hers were just stepped on. Vader pulls her up and puts her in a sleeper hold, careful not to crush her head tails in the process. It hurts Vader to do even this to Kara. Hasn't he caused her enough pain? Eventually she goes to sleep and Vader leaves in a hurry, taking Kara's lightsaber with him.
As he runs, he thinks over how she could have been an inquisitor without his knowledge. It comes back to Vader that Kara was transported away in a ship that was reported to have crashed. No doubt the Emperor faked her death so he could have her to himself. Vader might not have trained Kara, but this event reminds him of the others he did train.
Vader finds a room where he can be alone and locks the door behind him.
Vader sits on the floor with his back against the wall, letting the weight of his past swallow him.
"What kind of monster forgets doing that to a person?" Vader wonders, having taken a long time to remember her. "That's what I am; a monster. And I was a fool to think there was hope for me. I have been asking myself if I can change. I should have realized my soul is forfeit either way. The people I've hurt deserve retribution. My mere existence is an insult to them. I have done such terrible things and I should die for them." Vader wallows in despair. He looks with disgust at his black suit, hearing the ever-present sound of his respirator. He feels no sense of hope. He feels so lost. He cries, putting his hands as close to his eyes as his helmet will allow. He hates himself for what he's done. He hates himself for not being a better person. He hates himself just for being alive. A new thought occurs to him, bringing a dark feeling of hope where none other exists. "Why can't I just die?" Vader asks himself as a serious suggestion. "The Rebel Alliance will win the war with this droid army at its disposal. Once I have delivered them, Luke will not need me anymore." Vader holds his deactivated lightsaber in his shaking hand. He moves the lightsaber's emitter to his chest, thinking about how easy it would be. "Yes. One last mission and then my victims can have my long overdue demise. It won't matter if Luke can forgive me. Nor will it matter if the darkness still exists within me. I don't deserve the life I desire any more than I am capable of achieving it. I should die after this mission. I WILL die after this mission! It will be better that way; easier as well. Besides, who would miss me?"
"Hey, Skyguy, is this a good time to talk?" Ahsoka asks over the comlink.
His guilt makes him think he should do nothing to stop his despair. His soul cries out for Ahsoka's kind words anyway. Vader replies weakly, "This is . . . an ideal time to talk."
"Are you alright? You sound miserable."
"I have not been alright since the Clone Wars. Ahsoka, I . . . I think you may have been wrong about me. I think I might be a lost cause."
"Don't say that!" Ahsoka pleads.
Vader tells her about Kara, about how he killed her father and handed her over to the Empire to become an inquisitor.
"Where are you?" Ahsoka asks. "Let me meet you."
Ahsoka enters the room, having followed Vader's directions. She is worried sick for him. The first thing she says upon seeing Darth Vader is, "There is good in you, Anakin. There always has been."
"You say that, not knowing the extent of my crimes," Vader says, choked up as he gets to his feet.
"We've already been over this. I know you've done horrible things. But that's all over."
"And what about my victims?!" Vader shouts. "Do they not deserve justice?"
"Justice, yes. You can give them that. Not by giving up, but by making sure that the same thing that happened to them doesn't happen to others. Anakin, I know . . . believe me; I know it seems easier to just give up. After the Jedi were killed, I went into hiding when I should have fought. I tried to keep my head in the sand and not let anyone know I used to be a Jedi. I didn't really try to make a positive deference as much as I was just surviving for the sake of surviving. It was boring and pointless. Giving up on having any hope didn't help me. It didn't help anyone."
Darth Vader wants to believe every word. He's just not sure if he does. He has a question for Ahsoka; one which might help him if answered. Deep down, he knows she'll probably say "yes," but he needs to hear it from her. He needs to hear a "yes" to this question from someone. "Ahsoka . . . would you . . . miss me if I were gone."
"Yes," she says without hesitation. "I've missed you this whole time."
"You missed who I used to be. You keep calling me Anakin as if you expect me to start wise cracking at any moment just like old times. Would you miss who I am now?"
It's disheartening for Ahsoka to think about how she might never get the version of Anakin she remembers back.
Vader notices her hesitation and says, "Be honest with me, Ahsoka. If the answer is 'no,' I must hear it."
Ahsoka tells him, her voice weak, but not devastated, "I . . . have noticed the difference. Sure, you aren't as snarky as you used to be." Her voice perks up as she says, "But hey; you're still disobeying orders you know are wrong; just like old times. And you're still making sure I'm okay." Ahsoka takes a second to think and says, "You know, the old Anakin didn't trust my judgment the way you do now. And, honestly, I kind of like the way you talk now." Ahsoka freezes as a strange realization dawns on her. She thinks to herself, "Wait, wait, wait. Apart from how sad he's been lately, do I prefer him this way?" Ahsoka snaps out of her stunned state and tells Vader, "I would miss who you are now."
Vader is relieved to hear that from her. It actually means more to him than he thought it would. "Thank you, Ahsoka."
For a few seconds, they just look at each other. Ahsoka's eyes are warm and it warms Vader's heart to look into them. Ahsoka, of course, can't see Vader's face under that helmet, but somehow, she can tell he's looking at her the same way. While she's looking at him, she starts to appreciate the way he looks in that suit a little more. He looks powerful and his helmet is a work of art. Likewise, Vader is even more taken with her revealing outfit than before. Ahsoka has only become more beautiful with age. Everything from the blue stripes on her montrails to her figure has improved.
Breaking the silence, Ahsoka tells him, "On a less emotional note, I made sure they can't call for help. But . . . Long story short, I made sure that shorter range transmissions from one person in this area can be sent to someone else in this area. So the good news is we can still talk to each other, but the bad news is, so can they."
"You have done well. Now we must prepare for the coming battles. There are six inquisitors here, none of which I am very familiar with."
Ahsoka and Vader agree to split up and plant bombs around the facility. An hour after they begin, Valum is informed that Vader has been caught on camera, doing exactly that. It took them long enough to find him. Though it was understandable considering the vast number of cameras they had to check.
When asked if they should send stormtroopers to his location, Valum replies, "No, it's time to use our secret weapon."
As Vader preps another bomb, he sees and hears a large, nearby door slowly rising. The door is still too low to identify the person on the other side, but Vader can see one pair of legs and a red lightsaber. Vader ignites his own lightsaber and stands ready for the challenge. Vader wonders what he'll do this time. Will he try to turn this one, too? Will he not be able to avoid a fight to the death? Will he end up running away like last time? Vader is at least confident that he won't let this one break him. He's had his reassurance from Ahsoka.
The door rises high enough and Vader sees that haunting face. Vader deactivates and drops his lightsaber, shocked by the identity of his next opponent. There is no face he can think of that would have instilled more devastation than this one. Vader falls to his knees, unable to bare it. "No," Vader weeps. "No, no, no. Not you."
Standing on the other side of the now open door, holding a red lightsaber is Luke Skywalker who has come in service of the Empire.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. Please follow and review.
(This next part was added in later.)
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