A/N: Liberty-taking zone, remember? :)

Chapter 9

"Fast work you made of my creature, Jedi. Now see how you fair against me."

The voice came from inside the anti-chamber and echoed off the walls of the corridor. Chewy and the Republic fighters were still preoccupied with the Imperial guards, but Han, Leia and Luke heard him. They drew their weapons and walked hesitantly into the room, not really knowing what to expect.

Luke could sense that the Emperor was in the large retreat on the other side of the anti-chamber, so he steered them through the room toward the door. The door was slightly ajar, and they could see an eerie red light coming from the room as they inched closer.

"Han, you should wait out here for us," Luke said just as they got to the door.

"Like hell."

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Luke would have laughed. He knew Han wouldn't leave him or Leia, but he had to try. He knew what was on the other side of the door and knew what could happen once they got in there. He was afraid for both; he felt like it wasn't their fight. The fight against the Emperor was his that he had apparently lost. He knew that would forever bother him, since he was supposed to have been successful when he joined the celebration on Endor.

Fear tingled through him as the door was pushed all the way open to reveal the Emperor, sitting on a makeshift throne against the far wall. It was next to the large windows that looked out over the cliff of the mesa. What Luke had thought was a kiln, was just a very large fireplace, closed off on this side of the room. The embers were still burning though the fire had long gone out. This cast the red glow he had seen.

"So, feeling confident are you, Jedi? You bested my guards and my creature, so you think you can battle me again?" He sneered at Luke, but as Luke moved aside to allow Leia and Han into the room the sneer turned to interest. "Oh, you brought more Jedi for me to engulf!"

Leia's mouth twisted in disgust as she gazed upon the Emperor for the first time. Han was uncharacteristically quiet, just holding onto the back of Luke's robe while keeping Leia close to him. United, they stood before a man who should be dead, ready to face their fate for the galaxy. Luke almost smiled to himself, thinking of the spitfire Jedi he'd met and what she would have thought of how he was thinking.

"You cannot win, your highness. We three together can conquer you just as easily as we conquered your monster," Luke said, with unfelt confidence.

"You misunderstand, Jedi," The Emperor said, spiting the word Jedi out as if it was an expletive. "I have already won."

Luke pushed the team to the right just as the Emperor fired a bolt of lightning toward them. Han let out a curse as he and Leia tumbled to the ground. Luke angled his lightsabre toward the electric bolts firing toward him and tried to deflect the energy like Master Windu had taught him. He was not as successful as he had been during training, though, but he did manage to reflect the bolts out toward the window.

Glass came crashing down as the bolts of electricity cut right through them. The shock of the sound hit Han and Leia, as they were not expecting it, but Luke's eyes never left the Emperor.

"I've learned a few things since the last time I fought you, your highness," Luke said, putting more distance between him and Han and Leia. Trying to keep the Emperor's focus on him rather than them. Han wasn't thinking along the same lines as he reached out and began firing with his blaster.

The Emperor lifted his hand easily stopping the blasts, then whipped the blaster toward him letting it fall to the floor. Luke stepped in front of them getting the Emperor's attention again.

"We know exactly where Snoke is, and we are going to destroy him and the new Empire you are trying to build. We know of your plan to kidnap children, and we will stop that as well." He had gained the Emperor's attention again successfully, so he began to walk toward him slowly. "You will not win."

The Emperor just laughed and sent a much stronger bolt of energy toward Luke. Expecting it, Luke angled the lightsabre again, but it was stronger than the others had been. It shocked him all over his body, but it burned the worst where it hit directly on his chest. Luke went flying back, skidding to a halt near the door.

Leia gave a shriek and grabbed his lightsabre that had dropped when he was hit. She tried to strike the Emperor, but he sent a bolt toward her as well. Han pulled out the blaster that he always kept in reserve, firing a shot hitting the Emperor on the shoulder. He roared in anger, throwing Han toward the wall, stunning him.

Luke lay on the ground, breathing heavily in pain. Leia made her way over to sit beside him, focusing all her energy on healing him, but not taking her eyes off the Emperor. He laughed seeing the two of them down on the ground. Just as he raised his hands to deliver, presumably, the fatal blow to both Luke and Leia, a rush of energy and fog swept into the chamber.

The Emperor screamed as a small tendril of blue energy came down almost from the ceiling and beveled itself into the ground just next to his feet. It was a sort of twisting, intense light, that was almost blinding when looking at it directly. Whatever the light was doing, it was causing pain to the Emperor. His face was screwed up in pain and he was frantically trying to eliminate the brilliant light.

Luke and Leia were both transfixed by the show in front of them. The light was emanating and reflecting everywhere in the room, and even though it was dark outside, it felt as though the sun were shining directly into the room. As the two watched on, a figure to the right of the Emperor came more into focus. Arms stretched above her head, eyes closed in concentration, was a physical manifestation of Depa Billaba.

More blue shards of light came crashing down, as they started to form a circle around the Emperor. His screaming continued as he attempted to hit those surrounding him with his electricity, but it bounced off and deflected back to him, causing him to almost crumble. A Force energy of some kind kept him aloft, though, because when he crumbled, his feet giving way, he didn't lower to the ground.

To the left of the Emperor, another figure began to solidify. He was posed in similar fashion to Depa, but he had a small smile on his face. Yoda's smile was almost fierce, though, as he brought down more shards of blue.

Leia's healing began to falter as she lost strength, so Luke pushed her out. They both lay on the ground staring up at what was quickly becoming a brilliant blue tomb. He felt Han sit down next to them, capturing Leia in his arms. She sagged against him, completely worn out.

"Who are they?" Han whispered, but neither of them had the strength to answer him.

Luke smiled as he watched the figure next to Yoda begin to take the shape of his old Master, whom he hadn't seen with his own eyes in years. Soon, he was forced to look away from the Jedi, as the wall of blue energy was becoming too much for his eyes to handle.

Looking up but keeping his eyes narrow, he could see that the wall spanned from the ground to the ceiling and was semi-opaque. He could see shadows on the other side of it, but if he hadn't known the Emperor was inside, he would never have guessed. The full shape of him was not clear, but it was obvious that he was still trying to break his way out of the tomb. The wall sizzled when bolts of lightning would hit it from the inside, but it showed no sign of faltering.

With his strength diminishing rapidly, Luke lay down just as the Jedi began to turn toward him, having completed their task. The last thing Luke remembered seeing was the smiling face of his father leaning over him.

A/N: OK, I know, really bad place to stop. Sorry! And I know this one is shorter than most of the other ones, but I really couldn't find a better place to stop. Starting the conclusion next Tuesday, and the fic will be done by next Friday. However, good news to all of you who are reading and enjoying this, Part 2 will be posted just after this is done. More on the name and how/where to find it on Friday!

Thanks to my awesome beta, who I couldn't do this without, Zombiefied419!

There were many things that are sort of reference points for this chapter, but I did primarily use the sources below. This is where I took existing lore and turned it into what I needed it to be. Hopefully you still enjoyed it :)

Chapter Sources:

wiki/Wall_of_light

Star Wars Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force