Eight - The Emperor
And so he came for them all, one by one he found them, whether they hid in shadows or lived in plain sight. He found them and brought them back to themselves and their true paths as servants of the Force. All followed him away from the lives they had managed to make for themselves. All abandoned these lives that meant so little when compared to what he offered. They could be Jedi again, unashamed and openly. They may die for it, they all knew, but to the last they all knew it was a better path to tread than the ones that they had begun to walk down with the rise of the Empire. Better to die as they had lived than simply survive in a galaxy where every man, woman and child was an enemy because any one of them could betray their secret if found out. But to live openly, to live free meant there was no secret to be found.
The Jedi were few in number now, none could deny it. Where once the Temple halls were filled with beings who could be strangers but still recognised as brothers and sisters, now all those that remained knew the names of all their brethren. They looked to each other now and they looked to him, the man who raised them up.
The rebellion grew, its success down to the men and women who fought valiantly; but all their strength lay at the heart of one man. He had no name, at least not to those who had not known him before the great fall, he was known simply as the Jedi, referred to as such by all, this man who walked among them but not part of them. This man who led them in hope and Light. This man who even the other Jedi could not fathom. This man whose name was a blessing to the Jedi, a name they almost jealously guarded as their secret, as if speaking it to those not already in the know would somehow break the spell he had somehow weaved around them all. Afraid that if spoken, the Empire would hear and come for him. They protected him, by never speaking his name; guarding him the only way left to them.
Until the end.
Finally, after victories and battles, that name was shouted out into the galaxy, shouted in defiance at the remains of the Empire. It was a shout picked up by those who heard it, echoed in cities, deserts and oceans until it reach the ears of the Emperor; that single name, a word that had come to mean rebellion and hope. The Sith lord heard this name and recognised it for the man who had claimed his first apprentice many, many years ago, in a time lost in blood and death. The Sith know no fear, only anger and hate. When Darth Sidious heard the name, fury consumed him, but he did not fear, confident that this man could be conquered also. He turned to his apprentice with a sneer, but did not see what he had expected. Vader was gone and in his place stood Anakin Skywalker, the boy lost to Darkness for so many long years, had emerged with that name, taking up the shout. And hearing the name Obi-Wan Kenobi on that boy's lips, Darth Sidious at last knew he was lost.