CHAPTER 15:
Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, and the Emperor's apprentice (though not for long), watched his son as he was led away by two of Vader's storm troopers. He stared down Luke as he stood in the elevator. Luke met the Dark Lord's black orbs. Vader noted the disappointment touched by a sliver of hope in his son's bright blue eyes. Vader grit his teeth together and focused on building a wall against Luke's words. How naïve Luke Skywalker was. Like Vader was in his youth before he was betrayed by the Jedi and his beloved Padme, like when he was Anakin Skywalker. Vader was no longer naïve, no longer good. He was no longer Anakin Skywalker. When Luke had come to the Dark Lord, Vader was not quite sure what he was going to do: obey the Emperor or keep his son for himself so he could turn Luke into a weapon against the Emperor. But when Luke talked of the good he believe that was still inside the Sith Lord, Vader had to turn Luke over to the Emperor to prove to his son how wrong he was.
Vader felt a shadow of surprise and disappointment ripple through his son as he ordered the guards to take the boy to the Emperor. This astonished Vader. His son truly thought the Sith Lord was merciful, or would be merciful toward his own blood. Luke truly believed that his father would not turn him over to the Emperor. But in the end, the Emperor was Vader's master, and the power of the Dark Side was all-encompassing. It made Vader more powerful than he was when he was just a Jedi fighting for good, for what was right. Vader still believed he fought for what was right, but now he used any means necessary, including means denied by a Jedi, to reach his goal. Luke Skywalker was as powerful as the Emperor believed. He was no longer the boy Vader battled on Cloud City. The boy was dangerous; his idealism was dangerous. Perhaps the Emperor was right; the son of Luke Skywalker could eliminate the former Chancellor. And Vader, if he wasn't careful.
Once the elevator doors closed, Darth Vader turned away from it, braced himself against the rail of the catwalk, and gazed upon the tree line that stretched up to the stars. His son would be a great ally, like the Emperor foreseen months ago. The Emperor saw Luke Skywalker as his ally, but Vader believed that Luke's attachment to him—for that's what drove his son to find him here on the moon of Endor—would never swear loyalty to the Emperor. Luke Skywalker would be Darth Vader's apprentice, if the boy could be turned.
Vader's breath came out as a mechanical sigh. Luke's heart was sincere, his beliefs idealistic, and he clung on to hope. Luke Skywalker truly believed that there was still good inside the Lord of the Sith.
You have accepted the truth.
I have accepted the truth that you once were my father, Anakin Skywalker.
That name no longer has meaning to me.
Was that true? Had he completely forgotten who he once was?
It's the name of your true self. You've only forgotten.
No. Vader turned Luke's new lightsaber in his gloved hands. He had not forgotten. Knowing he had a son, facing his son down at Cloud City—his son who was a part of his beloved Padme; who was a part of Anakin Skywalker—had reminded him. Luke had his blue eyes, but they were wide and hopeful like Padme's once were. Luke's idealism—much the same as Anakin's when he was young, before he was betrayed by the Jedi who asked him to spy on the Chancellor, who tried to kill the Chancellor instead of arresting him as law demanded—sparked nostalgia for who Darth Vader once was.
But that was a long time ago.
I know there's good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you.
Good in him. Vader chuckled inside. His son knew of the atrocities Vader committed on innocent civilians, on Luke's own friends. How could Luke believe there was any good left in him? Vader looked down at Luke's light saber, activated it again, and turned it in his hand.
That is why you couldn't kill me.
Darth Vader did, indeed, have the chance to kill his son on Bespin. Why did he not?
We have a new enemy, Luke Skywalker, The Emperor had said to him before Vader had lured Luke to Bespin. He could destroy us.
He is just a boy.
The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.
If he could be turned, he could be a powerful ally.
Why had Vader suggested that? Was it that the Emperor called Luke "The son if Skywalker"? Did that change things for him, knowing that Luke was his son?
He will join us or die, Master.
Did he really mean it? Darth Vader pressed the switch on Luke's light saber, and the blade swished closed. Perhaps Vader did mean his words, "he will join us or die" at the time. But at the time he also believed Luke would be easily turned. Luke was inexperienced, sloppy, impulsive. He had no control over his emotions. Vader thought that made Luke vulnerable. But when the Dark Lord faced his son for the first time and the good in him was strong, his son would not be turned easily. And Vader had the chance to kill him right there on Cloud City before the boy became a Jedi.
But Vader did not; he could not bring himself to do it. Cornering Luke after he cut off his hand, Vader did give him only once choice: join Vader to save his life. Vader was certain Luke would choose him; Luke had nowhere to go. But Luke did something the Dark Lord never expected; Luke let go of the pipe he clung to and allowed himself to fall to his death. Vader could have used the Force to catch his son midair, but he did not. He had to admit that he was disappointed in Luke's choice—maybe even saddened just a touch, but only a touch. However, the boy managed to survive. Vader did not know how, but he felt Luke's presence in the Force. He was on the Millennium Falcon. All Vader had to do was capture that ship.
But the Imperials failed, and Darth Vader could not deny his relief.
There's good in you. There is good in you. The good in him made him weak. The Dark Side gave him power, made him powerful, and Darth Vader had no conscience left.
Or did he?
It is too late for me, son.
Darth Vader had a duty to the Dark Side, and to the Emperor for the moment. Vader had chosen his past a long time ago, and there was no turning back. What was Luke thinking?
Come with me, father.
So naïve. Where would he go with Luke? Darth Vader had chosen the Dark Side, had done horrible things that he cannot say he regretted. Did Luke think Vader could just join society? Become a part of the rebellion?
Darth Vader hung Luke's light saber from his belt and walked over to the elevator. He must fulfill his destiny, and there was no room for good in that.
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Han Solo was elated that the Ewoks, Wicket and Palpoo showed them the back door of the shield generator, and he could not believe it when he watched the Ewok Palpoo climb onto one of the bike trooper's speeder bike and sped away. That little Ewok managed to get three of the bunker's guards to follow him. Only one guard left. These small creatures were more intelligent and helpful than Han originally thought they'd be. It did not take long for him to trick the single guard left and gain access to the back door of the bunker.
Han punched in the code and the door slid open. No guards were posted inside, and there was no sign of any storm troopers or Imperial staff in sight. Han led Leia, Chewie, and his team of commandos down a corridor lined with support beams.
"That way," Leia directed him after consulting her wristwatch.
Han and Chewie led the commandos with Leia taking up the end down the corridor in the direction Leia had indicated. They ran down a short length of stairs only to find a formation of storm troopers crossing their path. Han cursed. They seemed as if they knew the rebels were coming. Where did Han mess up? Han and the band of rebels took cover behind the support beams and began firing on the troopers. The storm troopers, being caught without cover, returned fire, and the firefight lasted until the last storm trooper had fallen. Han glanced back at his troops and exchanged a look with Leia. They had lost one of their own, but there was no stopping now.
They ran down a short corridor and turned left. Han nodded to one of the rebels, and the rebel raced down the hallway, stopping at the end. He signaled to Han and the rest of the group followed him into the control room of the shield bunker.
Things were going Han's way, but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Han and Leia hovered over the shield controls and began to shut it down. It was too easy, and he was right. A door slid open behind them and an Imperial Sargent with a rather large squad of storm troopers flanked the rebels. Leia's heart fell. The rebel fleet would be in place soon, and they failed their mission. Their greatest chance to destroy the second Death Star was lost, and the fleet would be flying into their deaths.
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When the Millennium Falcon exited hyperspace, Lando Calrissian returned to the cockpit to take his place as the pilot. It felt good to control the Falcon again, once his beloved ship. It felt like the old days when he was running from Imperials or being chased by pirates. The ride was still as smooth as it was when he owned it, and he fought the urge to do some fancy flying. Anyhow, the time for that would come soon.
Lando trusted that Han would have the shield around the incomplete Death Star down—if anyone could pull that off, it was Han—but that did not calm the biliflies in Lando's stomach. Lando also knew that if Han failed, the entire fleet would be sitting doolocks. This would be a battle Lando would not survive.
The image of Han frozen in carbonite flashed before Lando's dark eyes, and a pang of guilt stabbed his stomach. Although Han had forgiven Lando, had even let him fly his beloved ship, Lando had not quite forgiven himself. Luke and Leia had been generous with their forgiveness, and Chewie, too. They held no ill will against him, though Lando could not understand why. If the tables were turned, could Lando forgive so easily?
The time he spent with Chewbacca when they were searching for Han reminded Lando of the friendship the he had with Chewie and Han back in the day. Not a friendship like Han had formed with Luke and Leia, one based on trust (Lando did not even think it possible for Han to trust anyone as much as he trusted Luke and Leia before Lando saw him with Leia and Luke), but Lando and Han did have a friendship, and Lando trusted Han more than he trusted anyone else. Well, Lando trusted Han as much as he could; all of them being smugglers made it difficult to fully trust anyone. But Lando could say he trusted Han enough and called Han a friend. Until the Battle of Ylesia, this was, when Han's girlfriend Bria Theran betrayed the smugglers she recruited—Lando included—when they helped her with a mission on behalf of the Rebel Alliance.
Lando pressed his lips together as he pondered the irony. Here he was involved with the Alliance—he was a general in the Alliance—pulled into the rebellion's fight against the Empire because of Han and a girl. Again. And here Lando was leading a mission that was much more dangerous than the Battle of Ylesia. If his old smuggler buddies could see him now. They'd probably kill him on the spot. Lando bit back a smile.
And what was Lando getting out of all this?
Revenge for what Darth Vader did to Cloud City. And redemption.
Chewbacca's forgiveness, behind Han's, meant the most to Lando. Wookies are known to hold grudges, and they often held those grudges to then end of their long lives. Chewie did not blame Lando for what happened to Han. Lando may have invited Darth Vader into his city when the Imperials arrived, but in reality, if Lando had resisted or fought against Vader's invasion, he and many, many people would have died. From Chewie's perspective, Lando did not betray them; he was left with no choice.
Lando had a new lease on life now. There were people in his life that were his friends without strings attached. They wanted nothing from him like most people in Lando's life. And they had invited him into their lives despite his sins. Lando now had a purpose in life, other than acquiring wealth and power, something believed in and he would fight for. And die for. Lando just hoped it would not come to the die for part.
Nein Numb pulled Lando from his musings.
Lando's brow furrowed. "We've got to be able to get some kind of reading on that shield."
Nein Numb shook his head and repeated his statement.
"How could they be jammin' us…if they didn't know we were coming?" Lando flipped a switch. "Break off the attack! The shield is still up! All craft pull up!"
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The Ewoks proved to be fierce in their fighting. Their primitive weapons, surprisingly, stood up against the technologically advanced weapons of the storm troopers. The traps the Ewoks had set up, the use of tools made from only the resources found on this moon, had taken out many of the Imperial forces. Han and Leia were able to get back to the bunker with no problem thanks to the Ewoks, but things weren't going well for them. Artoo was hit by blaster fire, Leia had been wounded, and another blast shield door closed upon the first when Han tried to hotwire it.
Leia had dismissed her wound, but Han saw the amount of blood leaking from her arm. His hands were covered with her blood. If it was not for Chewie capturing an AT-ST, Han would not have known what to do. Try to hotwire it again with Leia bleeding as she covered him? Did she have the strength left? Could he have successfully hotwired the blast doors while worrying about Leia? Chewie's arrival was nothing more than perfect timing.
"Did you happen to keep the drivers, or did you toss them out?" Han asked as he went over to Chewie.
Chewbacca rarruuffed and gahooed. He lifted one of the dead AT-ST drivers up and slid him down the side of the AT-ST until the corpse was in Han's control. Not wanting to disrespect the dead, Solo tried to ease the man to the ground, but his weight proved too much for Han to handle. The dead man pulled Han to the ground. The smuggler wasted no time stripping the man's clothes and helmet off. He held up the shirt, and with one eye squinting, he sized it up.
"Dolfer!" Han called into his comm. "Get over here."
The rebel Dolfer ran across the open field as Han provided cover.
"Here. Put this on." Han handed Dolfer the Imperial uniform.
As Dolfer dressed, Han turned his attention to Leia. A sheen of perspiration covered her pallid face, and she held her hand over her wound to control the bleeding.
"You're outa the game, Sweetheart."
"But—"
"That's an order."
Chewie sidled up to Han and cooed at Leia.
"Really, it's not so bad," she said as she started to stand.
Han caught her before she fell. "Really?"
"I'm just a little lightheaded. I stood up too fast."
"Right."
Chewbacca grumbled.
"Yeah, you've lost a lot of blood." Han guided her over to Chewbacca. "Take care of her."
The Wookie picked up the princess.
"This isn't necessary," she protested.
Chewie's growl was firm and unrelenting.
"Fine," she grumbled.
"Great." Han hustled over to Dolfer and shared his plan.
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Chewbacca helped Leia remove her holster and camaflouge poncho before ripping part of the poncho into strips. Leia twisted her arm to get a good look at her blaster wound and grimaced. The blaster fire was a direct hit, and blood that flowed out of her injury and covered her arm.
Chewie groaned at her in an I-told-you-so tone, and she rolled her large brown eyes.
"I'll survive."
The Wookie pressed a piece of Leia's poncho against her wound, and she winced in pain.
Chewbacca's growl rose at the end.
"It barely hurts."
It was Chewie's turn to roll his eyes. He warfulled.
"You have a suture kit on you?" Leia asked, and Chewie shook his head. She sighed. "Then there's nothing more we can do about it."
Chewbacca grumbled under his breath as he began to wrap strips of her poncho around her arm, making it tight enough to control the bleeding. Not too far away from their secluded spot amongst the bushes that provided them cover, an explosion caused both of them to jump.
A wide smile stretched across Leia's face. "He did it!" She exclaimed and threw herself into Chewie's arms. The great Wookie whooped.
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The tension in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon could be cut with a dull vibroblade. The shield was still up, the Death Star was fully operational, and the Star Destroyers had joined their TIE fighters in this epic battle against their enemy. Despite the tense atmosphere, Lando's voice remained cool and controlled, but his insides felt as unstable as grelic gelatin. Han could not fail him, would not fail him, but….but there was always a chance that Han Solo's famous luck could have run out. What if Han had failed? What if he and his team were captured? Or worse; what if Han was killed? Leia and Luke were capable of carrying on the mission, but if the shield was still up.
Lando could not take the luxury of worrying about what went wrong on the Endor moon, nor should he be borrowing trouble when he was in the middle of trouble himself. That shield was still up; the rebel fleet would be destroyed. And as fast and nimble as the Falcon was, it was not invincible. They had lost so many already, a couple of frigates and a handful of cruisers, and too many Starfighters. They would be wiped out. It was Lando who urged Admiral Ackbar to continue on with the battle when the Mon Calamari wanted the fleet to retreat. These deaths were on Lando's head.
Nevertheless, Lando would not let his dire musings interfere with his job, and he did not falter in leading this battle. He continued to give orders—confident and self-assured—giving no indication of his uncertainty that sat cold in the pit of his stomach. The Falcon weaved and spun and slipped between Star Destroyers and TIE fighters, shooting down every enemy in his path.
And after what seemed like forever but maybe not as long as it felt, Admiral Ackbar's voice filled the Falcon's cockpit. "The shield is down. Commence attack on that Death Star!"
General Calrissian gave out orders then shut down the intercom. He expelled a hearty laugh as he looked at his co-pilot, Nein Numb. "I told you they'd do it!"
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Back at the rendezvous point on the moon of Endor, Han Solo had just finished stitching up Princess Leia's wound and was now binding it with bandages. She watched his work until a bright explosion up in the sky caught her attention. Han looked up as well as whoops of victory and cheering broke out all around them. He gazed at Leia's profile and saw worried relief.
"You sure Luke was on the Death Star?" he asked as he finished bandaging her arm.
Leia nodded. "He wasn't at the bunker. Vader would've taken him to the Death Star. That's where the Emperor was."
"That doesn't mean he didn't get off that thing before it blew." Han offered her hope, but his voice lacked conviction. Vader or the Emperor could have killed Luke well before Lando and the rest of the rebels took out the Death Star.
Leia bit her lip and dropped her eyes. "I still feel him."
"That's good. He's alive."
The princess nodded again.
"So…." Han started but found he had no words. He pressed his lips together.
"There's…something I have to tell you."
"What?" Solo asked, but he knew what was coming. Leia wanted to be with Luke, not him. Luke and Leia had a closer bond than he had with her. Maybe he could never have such a close bond with her. It was not like Han had not lost a woman he loved before. Most of the time it was him walking away, but he had had his heart broken a few times before. He just had never lost a love to a close friend.
"Luke…." Leia inhaled. "He's my brother, my twin brother." She looked into Han's hazel eyes, searching for understanding.
"How…?"
"Yoda told him. And Obi Won Kenobi."
"Before the ol' man died?"
She shook her head. "Luke still….Obi Won appears…to Luke…through the Force."
The smuggler rolled his lips between his teeth. Leia braced herself for the next question, the one she was not ready to answer: who are your parents?
But Han did not ask. He knew little about his own parentage and that was not on his mind. The Force, something he did not really believe in, was something Leia believed in, more so now than before he was frozen in carbonite. That was what was on Han Solo's mind. He, himself, did not know how he felt about the Force. He had seen Luke do things that seemed impossible, and he believed Luke could communicate with Leia because of it. How else would Leia have known where Luke was on Cloud City? Chewbacca told Han about how Leia seemed as if she was in a trance. The Wookie initially thought she was in shock, that what happened to Han had finally broken her. Then Chewie related to Han how she just knew where to find Luke. They turned around and found him. Han could not deny the existence of the Force anymore, though he remained wary of it.
"How come you didn't tell me before?"
"I didn't know….not until Luke told me last night."
"He wanted to keep it a secret?"
"No." Leia sighed. "Yes. But not from you."
"You wanted to keep it from me."
The princess looked away. "I was processing it all myself. I just wasn't ready."
"Why?"
"He…there was more. I-I just wanted to forget."
Han put his forefinger under her chin and turned her head toward him. "Somethin' bad."
She kept her eyes downcast.
He dropped his finger from her chin and put his hands on his thighs. "Okay." He studied Leia's face. Whatever it was, it was worse than bad. "You know you can tell me anything….tell me when you're ready."
Leia lifted her large brown eyes and met Han's. His own eyes held concern, but his expression spoke of patience. She leaned toward him, placed her hand on the side of his face, and kissed him. He wrapped his hand around her head, pulling her closer. When they parted, Leia weaved her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. Han returned her embrace, tightening his hold on her. She held him tighter in return.
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Luke Skywalker watched the flames engulf his father. No, they engulfed the shell of his father, not his true self but that of Darth Vader. Luke had laid his eyes upon his father's face for the first and last time before he barely escaped the doomed Death Star unscathed. Well, not unscathed. It wasn't the Death Star's explosion that marred him, nor was he physically maimed; emotionally, maybe even mentally he was scarred. Facing the Emperor, battling his father….their marks were forever etched inside him.
Luke watched the mask of the Alliance's enemy—once his own enemy—melt under the heat of the flames from the pyre. A grim closed-mouth smile stretched his lips. How metaphoric. Burning Darth Vader, the dark mechanical shell in which his father had been trapped for all these year, burning away the Dark Side using light. His father did not die consumed by the Dark Side, Luke reminded himself. The Jedi had saved his father, albeit too late. Luke would never know the man under the grotesque mask that had haunted his dreams for too many years—haunted Leia's dreams— who was Anakin Skywalker. Luke would never have the chance to know his true father.
And Leia would never know the good that was inside the monster who tortured her. She would never understand how the power of the Dark Side corrupts, that Luke was able to save their father from its clutches before their father died, now that their father was dead. Would Leia have accepted the man who was once Darth Vader and now Anakin Skywalker, her father, had he lived? Would she ever accept him?
It felt as if a needle pricked his heart. Luke tossed the torch he used to light the pyre onto the burning flames. He could not imagine she would. Leia held such hatred toward the cyborg she only knew as Darth Vader. She did not, could not, or would not believe that there was good in him. His sister did not say so, but Luke felt it in her heart. She felt Luke was chasing ghosts, ideas…hope…when he told her he was going to seek out Vader.
Leia's hatred scared him now. Luke knew that this hatred which burned hot inside her kept her warm, drove her forward after Han had been frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader. It worried Luke then, but now it was terrifying knowing that this hatred could drive her to the Dark Side. Luke would have to train her to be a Jedi, or at least teach her how to calm her hate, to keep her safe. Leia was his only family.
No, Leia was not. Han, Chewie, Wedge, and Lando were part of his family. Even the droids. They seemed sentient to him. Luke dropped his eyes to the ground for a moment as memories of those times he was isolated from those who loved him when he had only Artoo to talk to, to keep him company. There were others in the Alliance that Luke had grown close to, the Rogue Squadron for instance, and he thought of them as his extended family.
But Leia was his only blood left, and for some reason, that blood connection was important to him. Luke always felt drawn to her and became close to her almost instantly when he opened her cell door on the first Death Star. Luke was closer to her than anyone else in the galaxy. Luke attributed this closeness to their bonding experience escaping the first Death Star. His feelings over the years—before he knew Leia was his sister—had been confusing, perplexing. Romantic but not romantic. Love but not desire. These contrasting feelings conjured up discomfort, a guilt he did not understand. Maybe it was because of Han's feelings for Leia. Luke knew the smuggler was uncertain about Luke's feelings for Leia, that Han had suppressed his jealousy over the closeness between Luke and Leia over the years but more often in recent times. Han was still trying to get a grasp on the time he had lost and how things had changed when he was gone. Nevertheless, Luke could not separate himself from Leia, though he did not want to hurt his friend. Luke needed Leia, maybe as much as Han needed Leia.
Now things were clear to Luke, his feelings about Leia no longer the puzzle that he troubled himself over on long nights when he could not get her out of his mind. And Luke was right about Vader. All things were right in the world. He was triumphant, but Luke did not feel victorious. He felt lost and alone as he mourned the man who was nothing more than a monster to the rest of the galaxy. To Leia. Luke would be the only one to mourn the loss of his father, and that made him feel like the only person left in the galaxy.
As the flames died down on the pyre and the stars and formations of zooming X-Wings filled the sky that hung over the silhouette of the trees that surrounded him, Luke was, indeed, alone. It was time to rectify the situation. Luke studied the burned corpse of Darth Vader, the melted and twisted mask, one last time before beginning his journey to the Ewok village where he knew his friends, his sister, would be.