"This fixation on Kenobi—that is a part of you that is still Skywalker. You must purge it from yourself. Anakin Skywalker is dead, only Darth Vader remains." Those words, spoken to him nineteen years ago, rang in Darth Vader's head as he approached Emperor Palpatine's throne room. Those words had been the after effects of another time when Vader had let his anger over his suited condition and anger at Kenobi get the best of him. The events were still fresh in his mind; the secret Jedi meeting on Kessel that almost cost him his life. Sure the first Jedi went down easily, a Jedi that looked strangely familiar to him, but the others kept on coming. Vader tightened his right hand into a fist. It was because of that battle that the last vestige of Anakin Skywalker was purged. His right arm, a formerly golden creation, had been severed by the Aleena Jedi Master Tsui Choi. It was then replaced by the dull, uniform gray that was the trademark of his other prosthetics.
As he was admitted entry into the chamber by the red-robed guards, Vader was slightly worried as to how this next meeting would go. "Greetings Lord Vader," he heard Darth Sidious say as he walked into the dark chamber. The Dark Lord of the Sith sat in his throne, the window behind him showing the lights of the city and the aircars as they flew past. Beside him stood a cloaked figure. "The events of Yavin were an unfortunate incident, weren't they?" the deteriorated Sith Lord said.
"Yes, my Master," Vader replied as he bowed. "I attempted to personally destroy the fighters, but I was unable to do so."
"And what of Kenobi?" Sidious asked. "It seems that Tarkin's last report to me included some interesting news."
Vader felt his stomach wound seemingly twinge in pain at Sidious' report. "He was present on the station when Leia Organa was rescued by a group of rebels. I sought him out, and I failed to kill him, Master."
The Emperor sat silently in his throne. Vader's failures that day resulted in one of the more powerful Jedi that had survived the Sith's revenge getting away, with the possibility of him training more Jedi that would one day raise up against him. Vader's failure had also resulted in the destruction of the Death Star, and the rebellion had been allowed to escape once again. "You have let your obsession with Kenobi get in the way of the larger mission, Lord Vader," Sidious replied as he rose his right hand towards his kneeling apprentice. "The Rebellion, insignificant as it is, must be crushed," he added as a low-powered arc of blue lightning rushed from his fingertips to Darth Vader. The lightning, specifically created as to only cause pain, arced around the black armored Sith Lord. The hooded figure next to Sidious smiled as it watched Vader writhe in pain.
After what seemed like an eternity of pain, Vader finally felt the lightning stop racing through his body. Pain still raced through him, yet he knew that the life support system in his suit had not been greatly damaged by the lightning. However, he knew that if Sidious ever wanted to kill him, he could easily do so. Sidious looked at his wounded apprentice and motioned to the two guards that saw Vader in. "Get him to a bacta tank," Palpatine ordered, not wanting to see Vader dead when he was still useful.
The two red-clad guards set their force pikes against the wall and walked over to the fallen Vader. As the medical team removed Vader to the medical portion of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Palpatine turned to address the hooded figure next to him. "He seems distracted by something," he mused. "He seems to be obsessed with the past. Or by something… more elusive," Palpatine added. "Perhaps I should give Vader another chance at destroying the Rebels in their hidden base. He shall lead a strike force to destroy the base on Yavin 4 once he has fully recovered." Palpatine fully turned to the person on his left now. "I want you to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't make any more mistakes," he ordered.
"Yes, Master," the hooded figure spoke in a harsh feminine voice. As she bowed, a lock of red hair fell out from her hood. "It will be done."
"I highly recommend that you join us in training, Princess Leia," Obi-Wan said as he walked beside the young Princess that he had helped deliver years ago. "You are Force-sensitive, you must know that," He continued. Very Force-sensitive, he mentally added. When he had told Bail Organa to call upon him if there was an extremely dire emergency he hadn't counted on something of this magnitude, the only thing he was thinking about was having to watch over both twins instead of just Luke. Now, he was a respected "leader" of a Rebellion against the Empire, as well as the creator of what may very well become a new Jedi Order. A new Jedi Order that needed as many trainees as possible in order to survive.
"I don't think I am," Leia replied as she walked throughout the Massassi Temple. "I haven't exhibited any signs of what Luke and you can do," she added as she entered a large room.
Obi-Wan thought for a second. "Did you ever have any strange childhood dreams?" he added. "If a child is discouraged from using his or her powers, like what Bail probably did to you, most children that were not sent to the Temple put their powers off as a type of childhood fantasy."
"What child doesn't?" Leia asked. "Besides, even if I was Force-sensitive, I couldn't possibly train as a Jedi and help lead the Alliance at the same time."
"In case you haven't noticed," Obi-Wan countered. "All of my other students are members of the Alliance."
"Two pilots and a Special Ops soldier have much more time on their hands than I do," Leia countered.
"That is true," Obi-Wan Kenobi concluded. "Perhaps at some other time, you will reconsider. My offer to train you still stands." Obi-Wan turned to walk away, but the remembrance of several events at the beginning of this new journey forced him to stop. He had seen the way that Luke and Leia looked at each other at the beginning, and he wanted to let them know of their true relationship before things progressed from a simple crush to something far more serious and disgusting in most cultures.
A male officer quickly raced up to Leia Organa, moving as fast as he possibly could. "Princess Leia!" he exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath. "One of our far outposts has sent a distress signal. They've been attacked by Stormtroopers!"
"How is this possible?" Leia Organa asked.
"Survivors, more than likely," Obi-Wan replied. It was a foolish notion to believe that everyone on board of the Death Star was killed, there had to be a few Stormtroopers that had managed to reach escape pods. "They must have spent the past week getting organized."
"Looks like your Jedi trainees are about to get their first combat test," Leia said as she began to walk towards the war room. I'm giving them command of one of our platoons and a temporary promotion to lieutenant."
"I'll let them know," Obi-Wan said as he rushed to gather his students before he lost them in the inevitable rush.
The three of them had already heard of the Imperial assault when they arrived in the classroom, and almost all of them were ready to put their new powers to the test. Obi-Wan stood before them, ready to tell them of the situation.
"A few hours ago," he began, "surviving Imperial troops captured an outpost a few kilometers from here. As both members of the Alliance and Jedi, you've been asked to lead a platoon into battle. Now, as field commissioned lieutenants, all of you are in charge of 36 other lives. All of you are equal in rank to each other, but Keyan, Luke, as Kyle has had more experience in leading ground assaults, take heed of his advice."
"I don't really know about that," Kyle replied. "I only personally led one combat mission, and I did have a senior officer there to supervise," he added, referring to his Omega Exercise on AX-456. "Not to mention only six of us actually survived."
"Six is better than none," Obi-Wan countered. "Not to mention it was still experience in leading a platoon in an actual battle. And, as a leader in this battle, I do believe you need a lightsaber," Obi-Wan said as he placed his own lightsaber in Kyle's hand.
Kyle promptly tossed it to Keyan, who had been wondering how exactly he would fare in a ground battle. "I don't need it," he replied as he drew his Bryar blaster pistol from its holster. "This is all I need…"
"Ben, do you know how many troops attacked the outpost?" Luke asked as he checked his father's lightsaber for any flaws. Of all of the Jedi trainees, Luke was probably the most nervous of the bunch. He had never even fought a land battle, and the Battle of Yavin had been his first military engagement. Yet he was strangely confident that he would survive the upcoming battle. Surely the Force was with him.
"I do not know, Luke," Obi-Wan truthfully replied. "But they were able to completely capture the outpost. I'm sure that Generals Dodonna and Willard will have more information in their briefing than they elected to give me. Remember your training; do not give in your hatred or fear. May the Force be with you."
Just five days previously, the briefing room was filled with pilots ready to defend the moon from the horrific Death Star, now it was filled with numerous squad leaders and various other officers. And, just like a week previously, General Dodonna sat at the edge of a holoprojector. He pressed a button on the projector, causing a three dimensional image of the captured outpost to appear before the gathered crowd.
"Five hours ago," General Dodonna began the briefing by saying, "we received a distress call from one of our outposts in the jungle stating that Imperial Stormtroopers were attacking them. Our sensors were unable to detect any signs of Imperial landing craft, so more than likely, these attacking Stormtroopers were survivors of the Death Star that managed to escape before Lt. Skywalker destroyed the superweapon." For emphasis, Dodonna pointed to the young hero, slightly embarrassing Luke as the majority of the other officers turned around to look at him.
"The outpost was crewed by precisely 30 sentients, all of our estimates based off of those numbers and the loss of communications with the outpost give an estimated size of 35-50 enemy Stormtroopers. We are sending in three platoons: one commanded by Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn, and Keyan Farlander; another commanded by Han Solo and Chewbacca; and the final platoon will be commanded by Kyp Astar. Your mission is to retake the outpost and rescue any hostages that may have been taken."
The briefing lasted for another ten minutes and highlighted the suggested plans for retaking the outpost before the group was finally dismissed by General Dodonna. As Luke clutched his borrowed Merr-Sonn Model G8 blaster rifle, he wondered what exactly a ground-based assault would be like. Other than the escape on the Death Star, he had no prior experience other than using a sporting blaster rifle to pick off Sand People that had thought about raiding his aunt and uncle's farm. And they usually retreated after a few of their number had been cut down. He could also feel the weight of his father's lightsaber on his belt, a reminder of the Jedi powers that would help him survive in the upcoming battle. He could only hope that they would be able to help any of the potential hostages taken by the Empire.