Sorry for the delay in updating. I've joined SwinAngel's RPG forum and am two of my original characters. Lord Xarkun, and Xen so I've been writing out their parts on the forum. Moving on to one of the most complicated fights I believe that I will ever do…. It just involves too many people so I'm taking some out right away, remind me never to have a group of like 7 Jedi/Sith break into a star destroyer to attempt to kill 1 Sith Lord plus his apprentice who has not yet arrived. Oh and you get to see what happens with Leia so that's a plus too. As the name indicates there will be more dead people… who die in this chapter.
Chapter 18: The Clash with Death
The darkness was promptly invaded by a flash of crimson. What the Force was going on? It took several moments for the scarlet light source to come into focus, Leia found she was lying on her back and staring straight up at a light, about twenty feet above. Her mind was foggy and her judgment was cloudy, her vision was slowly returning to normal, and she had an overwhelming pain in her stomach. Slowly Leia's hand fell on top of her abdomen. A cauterized gash was ripped through it and jaws of pain locked around her the moment she touched the wound. Suddenly it all became clear. Lumiya had critically wounded her, and she had planted bombs on the main reactor!
Leia called upon the Force for an aid, she stood up painfully.
The Executor could explode in seconds! Leia reached out with her senses to search for Lumiya, all was not lost, it was not too late. The Sith Lady was currently sprinting towards a hanger bay in order to steal a ship and escape. Leia realized she had to get to an escape pod, now.
XxX
Chimaera, Bridge
Sidious spun on his heel as the prisoners were led onto the Chimaera's bridge. He smiled widely as they were ordered to a halt a few feet before him. The group looked into the eyes of the evil dark lord coldly; this simply increased Sidious's smiled and strengthened him.
"Welcome my friends." He greeted. "I want your executions to be public. Your men will look upon your deaths and their morale will decrease, my men will laugh as you die, and then it will be over. I will conquer each and every one of you pathetic rebels, and rogue Imperials! Grand Admiral, order a cease fire, ensure that the rebels and the traitors comply."
"Yes sir." Thrawn said from near the crew pits. He relayed the order to the proper officer. As it was being carried out Anakin, Mace Windu, Luke, Obi-Wan, Siri, Mara, and Raz all contemplated their fate as they stood before the Emperor. Here they would make their last stand, or they would die.
They're gazes, as well as the Emperor's, shifted to space where numerous capitol ships and thousands of tiny star fighters fired upon one another. Suddenly, and rapidly, the laser blasts began to let up, and soon they no longer existed, every capitol ship and star fighter had ceased fire.
"Is the channel ready?" Sidious asked.
"Yes," Thrawn replied.
"Begin the broadcast."
"Of course sir." said Thrawn.
Seconds later a holographic image of the Chimaera's entire bridge appeared on every capitol ship, in every room that there was a holoprojector, whether they be Imperial or rebel, it appeared in every star fighter, before every pilot. Everyone would witness the destruction of the Rebel Alliance, and the traitorous Imperials in the form of execution, the slaughtering of their leaders. The Emperor turned to face the camera which was now everyone's eye.
"Pathetic rebel scum, traitorous Imperials," he addressed. "Now you witness the death of your force using commanders! Gaze upon the destruction that awaits you… and die."
In a swift movement Sidious extended a blood red lightsaber and strode up to Mara Jade first. She spat at his feet but he paid no mind.
"You my dear will be the first to die. Your betrayal of me was a foolish, unforgivable mistake. Look where it has gotten you… prepare to die my Hand."
"Wait!" cried Raz Vena. Sidious snarled angrily, spinning to face her viciously.
"You are in no position to demand anything Raz! You've long outlived your useful life; I should have killed you long before Korriban."
"Then kill me now, before Mara." Raz requested.
"You're a hero now aren't you Raz? Very well, you shall be the first to die. Know that your sacrifice will be in vain, and that Mara will now suffer greatly at my hand!"
Sidious raised his saber for the killing strike, he brought it down fast, it was his intention to slice a gash in Raz's head, however he found himself cutting through her bindings. She had spun so fast he did not even notice, and before he could stop himself she was free. In a flash Raz held her own activated lightsaber high. The Emperor was still reeling from shock, he could do absolutely nothing to prevent a kick from Raz's foot contacting with his chest. Sidious fell backwards into the crew pit, amidst the confused and frightened officers.
Raz then turned and cut all of her comrades free before any armed crew members on the bridge could move to stop them, there were now seven enemies instead of one. The bridge of the Chimaera erupted in chaos as the squad of Jedi, former Sith, and assassins moved to slaughter everyone on it. Plus all of this pandemonium was being broadcast to every ship in both fleets, including the fighters. The battle in space began again shortly after the one on the Chimaera's bridge started.
XxX
A small, gray hulled escape pod blasted out of a bay in the Executor's blue-gray hull. Leia occupied it. She had called upon the Force to aid her escape from the ship and she now directed her escape pod towards Admiral Ackbar's ship, Home One,which was nearby. At this Leia looked back out of her view port at the Executor, Lumiya had already blasted off, she was just waiting for it to explode.
XxX
Piett gazed in confusion at the screen over the officer's shoulder. Apparently Leia and the intruder were no longer near the main reactor… odd.
"Oh FORCE!" the officer cried.
"What?!" Piett asked in alarm.
"I just intercepted a signal sent to several bombs on the main reactor!"
Piett's eyes widened… they were all dead.
"Abandon ship!" he cried but it was far too late. The Executor jolted violently as the main reactor exploded. It blew off the entire back side of the ship and incinerated the bridge tower; the remaining part of its dagger like bow began to sink down towards the planet Yavin IV. At this it seemed all hope was lost for the Rebel Alliance, and their new, rogue, Imperial allies.
XxX
For a slight moment the chaos on the Chimaera's bridge ceased, every face was drawn to look outside of the view ports as the Executor exploded into a furious red and orange cloud of superheated gasses. Anakin's eyes widened in horror, Leia had been on that ship! Frantically he searched for any sign of his daughter after cutting down a crew member that had the audacity to run up right in front of him and shoot at his head with a blaster pistol. His mind probed the battle area with the Force, mostly near the useless, triangular bow which had once been part of Obi-Wan's command ship. There he found Leia, safe in a minuscule escape pod. He was now able to breathe easier and focus on the task at hand.
The carnage on the bridge continued, with more an more crew members falling every second to the hands of either Obi-Wan, Siri, Mara, Raz, Like, Mace, or Anakin himself. For several long moments this continued while the Emperor lay temporarily disabled and a deserted crew pit.
Obi-Wan sprinted across the slab of metal that formed a bridge over the two crew pits, cutting down officers as he went, his peripheral vision caught movement from the Emperor who stood up slowly and leapt out of pit. By this time most of the officers on the bridge were dead including Captain Pellaeon whose body lay strewn across control panels in the left hand control pit. Thrawn was backed up into a corner with the lightsabers of Mace Windu, Luke, and Raz angled at his blue neck.
As the Emperor's feet touched the ground of the bridge Obi-Wan turned promptly as Mara, Siri, and Anakin rushed up next to him. Each of the four angled their blades at the Emepror's neck. The sense of victory from the side of the rebels overwhelmed them, the entire spectacle of the events on the Chimaera's bridge were, after all, being broadcast potentially to every combatant in the battle.
"Surrender Sidious," Obi-Wan commanded. "Or we will be forced to kill your precious Grand Admiral."
"Go ahead, execute him. It is of no consequence!" Sidious spat. Everyone looked at him with disgust, he had once again proved that he was the heartless, evil, conniving monster they had all thought. Thrawn used this distraction to draw a blaster pistol, before he could fire, however, Mace's amethyst blade sliced cleanly through his neck. This created another distraction as everyone glanced at the Grand Admiral's blue head when it fell to the floor. It was the Emperor's turn. Before they could prevent it Sidious stuck his hand outward toward Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mara, and Siri. They then found themselves flying toward the opposite side of the bridge. Before they hit the wall Sidious drew his crimson weapon and launched himself at Mace, Luke, and Raz who were simultaneously charging at him.
By they time they reached each other Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mara, and Siri had all hit the wall and slid down its side, effectively rendering them disabled, at least for the moment.
Raz was the first to slash at Sidious, followed by Mace and Luke, the Emperor deflected both of their blows while dodging Raz's concurrently. As he hit Windu's and Skywalker's weapons out of the way he slashed at Raz's neck so fast that he could hardly see it. Raz's saber went up to meet his but it was too later, the crimson blade cut through her neck, beheading Raz like Mace had beheaded Thrawn. As her body fell to the floor Sidious turned to face his remaining opponents. He slashed at Mace who back stepped to avoid having a gash torn in his chest, the Emperor then turn to Luke, the young Jedi attempted an overhead strike, however Sidious's saber flicked to the left and Luke found that his hand and saber were now clattering to the floor.
He grabbed the charred stump that had once housed his hand and screamed in agony. Sidious's upper lip curled into a toothy smile, he snarled viciously and kicked Luke into the right hand crew pit. The Jedi fell on his back and groaned loudly, he then passed out from the pain. The Emperor then directed his attention back to Mace Windu.
"I've waited a long time for this moment." Sidious snarled.
"Wait longer!" Mace cried as he viciously struck at Sidious's arm. The dark lord parried the blow, spun and directed a cut at the Jedi's neck. Mace swung out of the way and pulled his saber arm back which then fell to the floor, along with his deactivating violet blade as Sidious severed it. Mace gritted his teeth, somewhat from pain, mostly from surprise. Sidious followed up by spinning, his robes swirling like a cyclone of black, he stopped, his back facing toward the Jedi, flipped his blade three times and stabbed back. The crimson weapon pierced Mace through the chest, and exited his back side. The dying Jedi master gulped as the saber exited his body and Sidious spun to face him.
The man fell to his knees, his hands gripping at the fatal wound. He glanced up at Sidious one last time.
"You go to hell!" he grunted, before falling backwards and tumbling into the crew pit.
"You first," Sidious sneered. He then turned to focus his attention on the four remaining enemies, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Siri, and Mara.
XxX
As Leia's escape pod neared Home One she grabbed a comlink from her pocket and keyed in Admiral Ackbar's frequency. Seconds later an image of the Calamarian's head materialized on the communicator.
"Padawan Leia, what is it?" the admiral asked in a gravelly voice.
"Get someone to landing bay R-2019… I'm landing."
"You don't look well…" Ackbar replied.
"I'm wounded… need medical attention."
"Alright," Ackbar said urgently. "Padmé has just landed in that hanger. I'll alert her."
"Thanks," Leia replied meekly, abruptly ending the transmission. With her last ounce of strength she directed her escape pod on the proper course. Several long, painful moments later it shot into the hanger bay, skidding across the ground before crashing into the opposite wall, luckily nothing was damaged but the paint job. Padmé was just debarking the small rebel transport with her modest escort while deactivating a comlink in unison when Leia's escape pod flew by. She had come to this ship since the previous one she had been on exploded.
Padmé gasped as her daughter's escape vessel crashed into the wall. She and her escort ran in alarm toward the pod which opened right before she got there. She found her daughter lying down on her side in the small pod, a grievous gash ripped across her stomach, cauterized as if cut by a lightsaber.
"Get me a medical team quickly!" Padmé commanded to one of her escorts who promptly ran off for help. She looked back down at her daughter who was gravely wounded, but alive.
XxX
Anakin, Obi-Wan, Siri, and Mara all surrounded Sidious, angling their blades at him. He spun slowly to look all of them in the eye.
"Surrender," Anakin commanded, he was absolutely enraged after what the Emperor did to Luke, Mace, and even Raz. He resisted the urge to simply stab the Sith Lord now, although he knew it would never be that easy. "We outnumber you."
At this the Emperor let out an insane cackle.
"That's what your friends thought, look what happened to them." he scoffed.
For a small fraction of a moment Anakin contemplated this, and then he looked to his left to find that Mara was no longer standing there. Briefly he thought:
What the hell?
He then noticed Mara's motionless form lying against a control panel in the left crew pit amongst dead officers, a trickle of blood ran down her forehead, stemming from the spot her head had contacted with the panel, she had been rendered unconscious, and thrown into the pit from a kick delivered by Sidious that was so fast Anakin did not notice it. Distracted by this he barely had time to block the crimson blade flying at his head.
Sidious attacked them all in unison. For him it was like facing some sluggish Jedi with three lightsabers, for Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Siri it was like they were each facing their own individual opponents, all of whom were moving at the speed of light, or sound perhaps. Sidious, on average, exchanged moves with one of them at least three times in intervals of less than three seconds. He struck here at Obi-Wan, turned and stabbed at Siri, spun while slashing at Anakin, then went back to Obi-Wan with a chop to the leg. This continued randomly, the Sith Lord moved so fast that the group barely had time to parry his blows. Obi-Wan had initially been infuriated about what happened to Mara, but he was forced to move so fast he could not even think about his furiousness.
They exchanged strikes and blocks like this for several minutes before the door to the bridge shot open and the entire thing was put on hold. Everyone half expected storm troopers to barge in and attempt to save their Emperor, however with the lack of command from Thrawn, Pellaeon, or Sidious the Chimaera was in complete chaos, troopers ran around haphazardly, looking for away out of the commander-less ship that was taking an increasing number of hits from enemy vessels.
Instead of storm troopers stepping onto the bridge however, Lady Lumiya sprinted on. She charged at Siri who abruptly turned to face the new enemy. Before she could get a strike in however, a lightsaber plunged into her left shoulder. She dropped her own weapon and cried out in pain.
"SIRI!" Obi-Wan bellowed in horror as Lumiya's saber was pulled out of his wife's shoulder and the cyborg Sith kicked her to the floor. The battle began once more.
Not much of a cliffy, but… I'm sure you'll be waiting eagerly to see what happens next. After all I killed off Yoda, Mace, and Raz, as well as Tarkin, and Piett. Who knows if Mara will die from the injury she sustained? What if Lumiya just stabs Siri?! Find out in the next and last chapter! Yes, the next chapter will be the last, and I'm going to be nice at tell you what it shall be called. The last chapter of The Fall of the Sith shall be titled… The Fall of the Sith! So stay tuned and await chapter 19: The Fall of the Sith! Oh and if you could review I would appreciate it. Also does this chapter seem short to anyone? It is about 2700 something words I think… it just seems shorter.