Chapter 12: Duel of the Fates

When Vader's fighter exited hyperspace, he reached out with the Force to try and find Obi-Wan. It didn't take him long to feel the presence of his old master. It was strong as Obi-Wan was doing everything he could to project it. He wanted his Force presence to serve as a beacon for Vader to find him.

Knowing where to find Obi-Wan, he flew right there. As he circled around the structure looking for a place to land, he could see his former master on the landing platform, waiting for him. The Jedi could have tried to use the Force to crash Vader's ship, but it would have been futile as Vader would have simply ejected from it. Besides, Obi-Wan was the kind of Jedi who believed in fighting fair. He was not going to violate the Jedi code, no matter what.

Stepping out of his fighter, Vader approached Obi-Wan. While the Jedi was not wearing a robe, Vader needed to take the time to remove his. He had brought along both his red Sith lightsaber and his old blue Jedi lightsaber, simply for old time's sake. For a moment, he thought about using the Jedi saber, but he ended up grabbing the Sith one.

"It is fitting that it is just the two of us left. Me against the Jedi who created me." Vader paused to see if his words would get a reaction out of Obi-Wan, but as always, the Jedi remained stoic and unemotional.

"I should have known you would be the last of the Jedi. I would ask how you survived all this time, but I think I know the answer. You were probably hiding out, too afraid to risk your life to do anything to stop me."

"If I was truly afraid of death I wouldn't be here now, facing you," Obi-Wan said as he finally opened his mouth. "If you really think I am afraid to die, why don't you attack me and see how I fight."

Vader took the bait and charged right at his former master. He swung his saber wildly as he neared Obi-Wan. The Jedi was able to block it easily, but he still acted as though the blow forced him to retreat. He wanted Vader to believe he was getting the better of him, so that he would quickly become overconfident.

As they fought, Vader couldn't help but talk. "Your skills have diminished, perhaps they grew fallow while you were in hiding."

Realizing he couldn't be too passive, otherwise Vader might realize what he was doing, Obi-Wan decided to take the offensive. He flung himself at Vader wildly, getting in a couple good shots that Vader was able to block. Obi-Wan's wildness left him vulnerable a few times. Vader tried to take advantage of these openings, but Obi-Wan was able to block each attack. A couple of them he blocked in just the nick of time.

Feeling he had done enough to show Vader he was taking the fight seriously, he disengaged as he took several steps back. Vader failed to go after him as he took the moment to rest.

"For a minute there, it appeared you had a death wish," Vader said with a scowl. That is the last thing I would have been expecting out of you. I would be expecting you to do everything you could to avoid death. I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like for you to rejoin the Force. You will have to face every Jedi who has ever lived and answer for your failure with me. You are the one responsible for the extinction of the Jedi. You are the one responsible for all your friends getting killed. If not for you, I would still be on Tatooine."

"I do not fear any judgement coming my way, but I have no intention of dying. I will be the one to walk away from here, and when I do, I will start rebuilding the Jedi." While Obi-Wan talked he had been walking backwards into the dorm.

Vader smirked at Obi-Wan before he replied. "In all the time I knew you, I considered you to be very grounded. Now, it seems that everything that has happened had caused you to have delusions of grandeur. The Jedi are gone, forever. You need to accept that."

Thinking he had Obi-Wan distracted, Vader charged at him and started attacking. He was able to force Obi-Wan back. The two of them sparred as they made their way through the dormitory and emerged on the other side, sparring along a wide catwalk that circled around the lake of lava.

...

When Padme's ship emerged from hyperspace, she double checked her location to make sure she had reached the right place. According to the coordinates, she was at Mustafar. Turning her attention to the planet, she realized that all she would have needed to do was look at the planet. It was covered in lava, just as Satine had described. There was no doubt she was where she needed to be.

Looking over the map of the planet, it took her a while to locate where she needed to go. Once she found it, she pointed her ship in the right direction and started making her way to the surface. As she did that, she saw a large ship appear out of nowhere as it exited hyperspace. The Empire insignia was visible, and from the look of the ship, it appeared to be a carrier.

A few other ships came out of hyperspace around it. She wasn't much of an expert at ship identification, but from what she could tell, they were all escorts. There also appeared to be a medical frigate among them. It seemed out of place if the fleet was following Vader. She couldn't pay it much attention, as her focus was on the warships. They appeared to be paying her no attention, indicating they couldn't detect the stealth Sith ship. Not wanting to take chances, Padme raced to the planet. As she reached the atmosphere of Mustafar, her ships sensors told her the carrier was starting to launch fighters. It analyzed their trajectory, and calculated they were on the same course she was. When she saw they were apparently going to join the fight against Obi-Wan she knew they were not there at the request of her husband. She knew he would want to face his former master all alone. The fleet must have come from Palpatine, and Vader would not be happy for them to interfere.

For a moment, Padme thought about turning her ship around. It seemed there was just too much happening at the moment for her to get the situation she wanted. She quickly talked herself into staying the course, as she figured this might be the best shot she might ever get for confronting Anakin.

...

As the Jedi and the Sith emerged from the dormitory, Vader started talking again. "Your delusion that you could rebuild the Jedi almost makes me want to lose to you. It would be entertaining to watch you futilely try and rebuild the Jedi order. Even if I were to be defeated, you would have to forever avoid the military might of the Empire that would do nothing more than hunt you down. You will never have a moment of peace to ever train a new Jedi."

As the two continued to spar, they moved closer to a pair of catwalks that extended out to the middle of the lake of lava. "It shocks me that you would ever think of rebuilding the Jedi by training new ones. I would think you would be deathly afraid of getting another me. All the failings you made with me would just be repeated with any new Jedi. I am sure of that."

"My only failure with you was training you at all. I know none of my teachings led you to embrace the dark side. You made that choice all on your own." Vader thought that with Obi-Wan talking, he was distracted enough to make an error. Vader intensified his attacks, forcing Obi-Wan to work harder to block his thrusts. The fury of Vader's assault caused Obi-Wan to maneuver on to the lower catwalk. As Vader continued his assault, Obi-Wan had to back up on the catwalk, moving ever closer to the edge. This maneuver was all part of Obi-Wan's ruse to give Vader a false sense of confidence. He had the fight well under control.

"I am glad I got this opportunity to fight you," Vader admitted to Obi-Wan. "While you just said you don't feel responsible for my to turn to the dark side, nothing could be further from the truth. You see, it was you more than anyone else who made me realize the failings and the hypocrisy of the Jedi. When I met you, you were reeling from failure. Your former master died having to protect you. You almost got blown out of the sky trying to find a safe haven. If it weren't for me, you would just be another name in the Jedi archive of a member who died in failure, proving you never deserved to be a Jedi in the first place. Instead, you found me. Knowing no other Jedi, I let you become my master. You taught me lessons that even most of the padawans could have taught me. It was my own skill in the Force that made me a hero, yet you reaped all the benefits. The whole Jedi order saw you as a marvelous instructor, and a powerful Jedi, when you were nothing of the sort. My heroism put you on the Jedi council, an honor you should have declined were you to have any understanding of your real abilities. The Jedi are nothing more than a con, run by a group of elite council members who get all the glory for the sacrifice of the Jedi under them. Palpatine pointed it out to me, but it was your example that exemplified it for me."

While Vader's words stung, Obi-Wan was able to keep his focus on the fight. He was letting Vader believe he was backing him towards the edge. He was planning to jump over to the higher catwalk to make Vader think he was making a desperate move. He expected Vader to jump right over with him. The jump would leave him vulnerable, and Obi-Wan could take advantage of that to finish him.

Unbeknownst to Obi-Wan, Vader had deduced exactly what Obi-Wan's plan was, as it was the one he tried to use against Darth Plagueis. He had let Obi-Wan lead him up here figuring he could stifle the Jedi's plan in the same way Plagueis had stifled his. As they moved along the catwalk, Vader took several glances at the space between the two, figuring he could straddle them. It was going to be difficult, but he knew he could do it.

When Obi-Wan thought he had an opening, he jumped over to the upper catwalk. He expected Vader to jump over and follow him, but to his surprise, Vader's height allowed him to step across the space. He was able to attack Obi-Wan as he straddled the space between the two catwalks. He attacked Obi-Wan furiously, an attack the Jedi was not ready for. He blocked several of Vader's strikes, but the fury of the attacks were too much. He lost his grip on his lightsaber. It bounced away down the catwalk and towards the edge. He reached for it with the Force, but Vader was quicker and Force pushed it off the ledge. If fell to the lava below, where it met its destruction.

Weaponless now, there was little Obi-Wan could do. Vader was holding his own saber against Obi-Wan's throat. He could have just sliced right through it, but he needed to know if his former master truly was the last of the Jedi.

"I would like to believe that with your death will come the end of the Jedi, but I spent too much time in the Order to trust that. If you wish to save yourself, and avoid the judgement you will face with death, tell me if there are any others. I will spare you to go and kill them."

"And what if I were to lie," Obi-Wan said.

"For years you were a brother to me, a close friend. I came to understand you well. I would know if you were lying, without any need to probe you in the Force."

As far as Obi-Wan knew, he was the last of the Jedi. There was just one possible Jedi who might still be out there. He had gone into hiding to die and might have very well already done so. While Obi-Wan had no idea where he was and would not have given him up if he did, he might be able to tell Vader he knew where he was without being caught in a lie.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes as he thought about a location he could give Vader that would sound believable. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed something he hadn't before. Hanging from Vader's belt was his old Jedi lightsaber. Thinking fast, Obi-Wan reached out with the Force and simply activated it. As it extended, it sliced right into Vader's leg. It didn't take much more manipulation for it to completely cut off the leg. Losing his balance, Vader fell to the lake of lava below. As he did so, Obi-Wan used the Force to call Vader's old Jedi lightsaber to him. While it appeared Vader was falling to his death, Obi-Wan recognized that with his power, he might very well find a way to save himself. He wanted to be ready in case he had to continue the fight.

...

As Vader fell to the lava below, he couldn't believe he had been so dumb. Obi-Wan had done to him the very thing he had done to Plaqueis. There was no time to dwell on his failure as he needed to think of how he could save himself. As he approached the lava, his mind immediately remembered the moment years earlier when Padme had tried to teach him to swim. He had managed to use the Force on that day to create a whirlpool that pushed away all the water and allowed him and Padme to stand on the lakebed.

Right before he hit the lava, Vader pushed it away to create an open whirlpool. He fell through it and hit the bottom. The stone was hot and burned the boot he landed on. The stump where his leg had been seared with pain as it was pressed against the hot stone. Looking up to see how far down he was, Vader quickly realized the lava was too high. With just one leg, he would never be able to jump out of the whirlpool. He needed to find a way out quick, though. The hot stone he was standing on burned through his boot. When his bare foot hit the stone, he winced in pain. He maneuvered his leg so he was kneeling completely. The burning stone started eating away at his pants. He knew it wouldn't be long until it burned through his clothes and would start burning his leg as well. All this time, the stump where his other leg had been was pressed against the hot rock. The burning he was feeling from that was so intense it almost caused him to lose consciousness.

Knowing he had to find a way out of the bottom of the whirlpool, he called on the Force. He was barely thinking about what he should do, he was going completely on instincts. Just as with so many other moments in his life, his instincts kicked in and saved him. The burning sensation he was feeling disappeared as he used the Force to levitate.

Looking around, Vader could not believe what he was doing. He did not know of any stories where Jedi had been able to use the Force to levitate. Calling on all the Force power he could muster, he ascended even higher. The top of the whirlpool appeared closer and closer as flew he straight at it. He started to brainstorm what he could do once he was out of the whirlpool. His power in the Force appeared to be unlimited, and he wanted to use that power to destroy Obi-Wan. With the power in the Force he was channeling, his old mentor didn't stand a chance.

...

Padme took the Sith ship in low over the surface of Mustafar. She had the nav computer set to guide her to the location Satine had told her she could find Obi-Wan. The dormitory appeared after she flew over a small mountain. She slammed on the brakes and brought the ship to a quick halt. She didn't want to give herself away just yet. As she landed, she could see the fighter that she guessed Anakin had arrived in. She knew he and Obi-Wan must be in the middle of their duel, she just hoped she was not too late.

After exiting the ship, she tried to figure out where the two of them might be. She saw a singed mark on a wall of the dorm nearby, indicating a lightsaber had cut through something. She walked through the dormitory, and upon coming out the other side, saw Obi-Wan at the edge of a pair of catwalks that extended out over the lake of lava. She noticed he was looking at a particular spot in the lake. When she looked at the spot, she noticed the whirlpool in it. She instantly remembered the whirlpool Anakin had created all those years ago back on Alderaan. She knew he had to be inside there, and he most likely was in trouble.

While the galaxy might be better off with Vader dead, she couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to him. It had been a long time since their connection had been active, but if there was any time to re-establish it, it was now. Padme did her best to push away all the fear she was feeling so she could concentrate on what she needed to do. She soon felt the touch of Anakin's mind through their connection.

...

Vader could feel the power flowing through him increasing. He was continuing to keep the lava at bay as he levitated himself further up. It was taking a lot of concentration for him to do the two things at once, though.

Out of nowhere, he felt the familiar sensation of Padme in his mind. He couldn't believe it, she was supposed to be dead, but he remembered what the touch of her mind felt like, and this was definitely it. With their minds connected, he was able to see her thoughts. Numerous images flashed through his mind, but there was one that stood out, he saw Padme with a child. There was more to it than just an image, there was a certain emotion connected with the image. The emotion was the love a mother feels for their child. He was stunned to learn the two of them might have a child together. The very thought caused him to lose his concentration. With that loss of concentration, the whirlpool of lava came crashing down on him. He felt an indescribable amount of pain as his entire body was on fire. Every thought he had been seeing of Padme's disappeared from his mind as he was no longer able to feel her through their connection.

He tried to create another whirlpool to push the lava away but found himself lacking the power to do so. He couldn't understand it, but the pain he was feeling and the damage the lava was doing to his body was sapping him of his power in the Force. He could feel the flow of the lava carrying him along and figured he might be able to use its natural flow to his advantage. He figured might be able to guide it. He called on the Force to push the lava towards the shoreline. He could feel it working. He called on one more surge from the Force, creating a wave that launched him in the air before depositing him on the shore.

When Vader landed, he was relieved to feel the rocks he was on were cool. Any relief didn't last long for him, as his entire body burned red hot. While his vision was blurry, he could see every inch of his skin was scorched black. Even his lungs hurt, and his breathing was labored. He could feel the he was dying, but he had no intention of doing so. The Force had always been his ally, it had saved him on numerous occasions, and it could do so now. He called on it to heal himself and help him breathe. While his entire body still felt like it was burning, breathing became easier. He could feel his heart rate slowing as well.

Vader tried to move but found the limbs he had left were unable to obey his commands. He was stuck where he was but felt no fear over the situation. He was stable and could use the Force to keep himself alive indefinitely. Something was telling him that help was on the way, and he would be rescued soon.

...

When Padme first connected with Anakin, she tried to talk to him. He was so stunned by her presence that he seemed unable to listen to her. She could feel him probing her mind. He was able to see an image of her with one of their babies. She didn't want him seeing that, so she tried to break the connection. She was unsuccessful at first, but it soon disappeared. She could tell it was not her doing, though. Something had happened to Anakin to cause him to break it.

Padme looked out over the river of lava and was no longer able to see the whirlpool. She was filled with fear over what must have happened to Anakin. She tried to reach out with Force to feel him but couldn't connect with him. She continued to scan the river, looking for any sign of him. She noticed a patch of the river surging along harder compared to the area around it. She knew that was the doing of Anakin and watched the spot closely. She saw a wave form and crash against the opposite shoreline. When the lava receded, she could see the body of Anakin on the shore.

The shore where Anakin was lying was far away, but Padme could see enough of him to be horrified. Anakin's entire body was black, the same color as the rocks around it. He was not moving and looked dead. She knew that couldn't be possible, he was keeping himself alive, somehow. He just needed help.

Looking around on how she might be able to get across, Padme saw a bridge in the distance. She started running along the catwalk. As she did so, Empire fighters appeared in the sky above her.

...

When Obi-Wan saw Padme appear on the walkway, he was absolutely stunned. He initially had no idea how she would have found them, but he soon deduced that she must have been on Alderaan when Satine reached it, and it was she who told Padme he was going to be fighting Vader here.

Obi-Wan was looking at Padme when he heard a wave of lava crash against the opposite shore. He turned to see Vader deposited upon it. The man looked dead, but he could feel through the Force he was still very much alive, although he might not last much longer.

Turning back to Padme, he saw her running along the railing that overlooked the river. He could guess she was running towards the bridge in the distance to try and make it across to Vader. He wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not and considered running after her to try and stop her. Before he could do anything, he heard the sound of fighters swooping past. They made a quick pass over the river before turning and circling back around.

The two fighters made their initial pass close together, but after circling around, they put distance between each other. It didn't take Obi-Wan long to realize the fighters were coming after him and Padme. He started running down his catwalk towards the shore as he looked over at Padme. She seemed oblivious to the fighter heading in her direction. He tried to yell to her, but she was too far away to hear him.

Both fighters opened fire on their respective targets at the same time. The one approaching Obi-Wan tried to hit him on the catwalk. It disintegrated the area behind him but didn't manage to hit the Jedi himself. When he was close enough to the shore, he leapt from the catwalk to the ground. The fighter had expected him to jump on the railing and fired at it. The catwalk above Obi-Wan disintegrated, but he was unhurt. As the fighter flew by, he managed to grip it with the Force and change its direction, it almost crashed into a mountain, but avoided it at the last second. The sudden maneuver made the pilot lose control of the ship, and he needed to fly away to regain it before he could turn back around.

Safe for a moment, Obi-Wan looked over to see how Padme fared. He turned his head just in time to see the fighter taking out the legs of the catwalk she was running along. The walkway fell to the ground with her landing on top of it. Obi-Wan was terrified. He could feel that she wasn't dead, but he knew she had to be greatly hurt. He ran over to her as he kept his eyes towards the sky looking for the fighter. He expected it to try and make another pass at the two of them to finish them off.

When Obi-Wan reached Padme, he could see she was unconscious. A cursory inspection showed no major injuries, but that didn't mean she couldn't be bleeding internally. He knew he was going to have to get her to the Sith ship and away from the planet.

Turning his attention back to the sky, Obi-Wan watched as the two fighters, flying side by side, headed straight for them. While Obi-Wan didn't want to use excessive force with them, the situation was desperate, and he needed them taken out. As they neared him, he used the Force to push them apart. One fighter crashed into the ground, but the other pilot righted his ship as he flew over the lake of lava. Obi-Wan followed it and waited for it to turn around, but the pilot appeared to decide that instead of challenging the Jedi, he should tend to Vader. He landed on the shore next to his blackened body.

Obi-Wan picked up Padme and ran to the Sith ship. He was thankful she had brought a ship he was familiar with. At the moment, he wasn't even thinking how much its stealth capabilities would help them. All he was thinking was he was glad he knew where all the medical supplies were on the ship. Working fast, he carefully placed Padme in the ship's medical bed as he instructed the droid built into the wall to hook itself up to her and assess her. He then hurried to the cockpit to get the engines started.

Figuring that more fighters would be coming to join the first two, he lifted the ship off the ground the second the engines were ready to do so. While the ship would be invisible to the sensor's of other fighters, it was still visible to the naked eye, and with every fighter descending upon their location, they were certain to be spotted unless they flew away. His plan was to fly low over the surface before ascending for the jump to hyperspace.

While flying over the surface, Obi-Wan contemplated where to run. He had originally punched in the coordinates for a secret Jedi hideaway. Knowing it was one hundred percent safe, he had figured on just making a quick stop there to figure out what his next step should be. He reconsidered that idea as the medial droid gave him its assessment of Padme's condition. She needed to get to a Bacta tank as quickly as possible. He had to get her to civilization. The nearly desolate planet containing the Jedi hideaway would never do. There were only two places where he knew they could flee. He crossed Alderaan off the list. The nascent leaders of the resistance were there, and he didn't want to put them in danger. That left one option, Naboo. As he started ascending, he punched in the coordinates so the computer could navigate the route.

When he started ascending, the ship's sensors were able to pick up several ships from the Empire's fleet entering the atmosphere a great distance behind him. According to the readings, it was a medical frigate and a fighter escort. He knew he had nothing to fear as they would not discover the stealth ship. For a very brief moment, he considered turning the ship around to shoot down the medical ship. He knew it was going to try and save Vader, and that if he destroyed the ship, he could guarantee that Vader would die. He quickly put that thought out of his mind, as ensuring someone's death in such a manner was not compatible with the Jedi code.

The stealth ship sailed past the Empire fleet in orbit. The computer had the calculations right as they cleared the planet's gravity well. Obi-Wan sent the ship into hyperspace, relieved they were away safely.