Back on Dagobah, Han, Leia and Chewbacca all stood outside Yoda's hut.
Han had been seriously close to falling asleep after listening to Yoda endlessly go on about hokey religions, and ancient weapons, but he had been stunned to learn that Chewbacca and Yoda had served together in the Clone Wars. However, he soon received another shock when he realized that Leia actually intended to stay here to be trained as a Jedi. As soon as the rain stopped, Han had promptly asked her outside for quiet, private word.
"You can't be serious!" Han exclaimed, "You never said anything about training to be a Jedi Knight!"
"Luke sacrificed himself to give us this opportunity, Han." Leia asserted, "I have to finish what he started."
Han wasn't dissuaded, "Leia, this is crazy! Your place is with the Rebellion! They need you!"
But neither was Leia, "There isn't any choice! The fate of the galaxy may rest on this!"
"Leia..." Han felt his resolve cracking, "It's not safe here."
Yoda suddenly appeared at Han's side, and gave the smuggler a poke in the arm with his walking stick.
"Safer with a death-marked smuggler than she would be with a Jedi Master, hmm?"
"Hey!" Han exclaimed in indignation, "Wait, how did you know about the price on my head?"
"Jedi, I am. Remember?" Yoda pointed out.
Chewbacca grunted in amused agreement.
"Who's side are you on anyway, fuzzball?" an incredulous Han asked, "And speaking of which, why didn't you tell me that you served with Yoda during the Clone Wars?!"
Chewie just shrugged with nonchalant growl.
"Because I never asked?!" Han shook his head in exasperation, "Is there anything else you haven't told me that I should know?"
"Han!" Leia said sharply, before continuing in gentler tone, "Please, just trust me. I have to do this for Luke. In fact, not just for Luke, but for the whole galaxy. It'll be all right."
Han clearly didn't like it, and he clearly wanted to argue further, but he could also see that nothing was going to change Leia's mind, for she truly believed that this was the right course.
"But the Rebellion..." Han finally said.
Leia nodded slowly, "Yes... Send me R2 and 3PO; I'll have a few...things to get in order. In the meantime, you and Chewie should get to work on getting the Falcon out of the swamp."
After a long moment of hesitation, Han ultimately acquiesced. But as he and Chewbacca headed back to the Millennium Falcon, Han couldn't but feel like the whole galaxy had gone topsy-turvy.
"Okay, let's recap..." he asked Chewbacca, "The Rebellion is on the run again, Luke has fallen into the hands of the Empire, and Leia is gonna stay in this slimy mudhole to be trained by a Jedi Master who was apparently old pals with my best friend! Did I miss anything?"
After sending the droids to Leia, Han and Chewie promptly got to work on their ship.
In the end, it had taken all night, but they finally managed to get the Millennium Falcon out of the swamp, and then fix the entrance ramp that Luke had jammed back on Hoth. At last, in spite of some heavy lifting and banter, the ship was now on dry land, and in full working order once again. At the very least, Han and Chewie wouldn't be stuck here on this mudhole themselves.
It was then that Han noticed Leia, Yoda, C-3PO, and R2-D2 making their way towards them, and the smuggler promptly turned to face them. For a moments, Han and Leia just stared silently at one another
Leia finally broke the silence, nodding towards the ship, "Are you sure this rust bucket is space worthy?"
"Are you kidding? I have the hands of a surgeon, your worship." Han said proudly.
"I'm sure you do." Leia snarked.
But they were quickly brought back to the situation at hand. It couldn't be put off any longer.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Leia?" Han asked, though he already knew what she would say.
Leia nodded, "Yes."
Han sighed, "And I guess there's nothing I can say that'll change your mind?"
"That's correct." Leia replied in the affirmative.
"Figures." the smuggler mused, "So what should I tell the Alliance?"
Pulling out a data pad, Leia held it out to him, "I had R2 record a message for Mon Mothma, and the others rebel leaders on this data pad. Just have it transmitted to the others at the rendezvous point, and it'll explain everything."
Taking the data pad, Han nodded, "All right. And I guess we'll leave the droids here with you. I mean, you'll need some company other than the pond-hopper, huh?"
Leia actually found herself trying to stifle a giggle at that crack. Yoda however, just acted as though he hadn't heard it.
C-3PO chimed in, "We remain at your service, mistress Leia."
R2-D2 beeped in agreement.
"But Yoda was right about me." Han added, "I need to get rid of this death mark, for my sake. And for yours, princess..."
"Oh, Han..." Leia breathed as she stepped forward to embrace him.
"You take care of her, okay?" Han told Yoda.
"Worry not." the Jedi Master assured, "Safe she will be."
At last, Leia broke the embrace, and looked Han in the eye, "Take care of yourself, Han. You wouldn't want my life to get boring, would you?"
"So you admit it." Han found himself grinning, "Every now and again you do think I'm all right?"
Leia smirked, "Occasionally. Maybe. When you aren't acting like a scoundrel."
"Scoundrel? Scoundrel?" Han chuckled, finding her choice of words endearing, "I like the sound of that."
Yoda rolled his eyes at what was playing out before him.
Leia held up a hand, "I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves just yet, Han. But there will come a time when I will need you. And when that times comes, you'll know it."
"Count on it." Han assured, "And Leia, we'll find Luke. I promise."
Chewbacca barked in agreement.
Leia smiled warmly; "May the Force be with you."
With that, Han and Chewie headed up the entrance ramp into their ship; within just a few moments, the engines fired up, and the ship began it's take off.
As Leia watched the Millennium Falcon climb into the atmosphere, she couldn't help but feel deep sense of longing.
"It took everything I had not to go with him..." Leia mused as the ship disappeared into the stars.
"Mark this moment well." said Yoda, "Your first victory over the Dark Side, this is. But many more such battles to come there are. Much we must do. Train hard you will. Difficult it will be. Darkness and trial you will face. But strong you must be, for all now rests on your fate."
Reaching into his robe, Yoda took out a small, cylindrical item, and held it out to Leia. Leia let out a low gasp when she saw that it was a lightsaber, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she reached out, and took it in her hand. Activating the weapon, Leia found herself almost entranced by the glowing blue blade that shot out of the hilt.
The weapon of a Jedi Knight...
Yoda's eyes gleamed in bluish light, "The next time you see your friends, a Jedi you will be."
On the distant volcanic planet of Mustafar, Fortress Vader imposingly loomed over the black sands, and lava flows that made up most of the planet's surface.
It was here, on this remote, near-inhospitable planet where Darth Vader had been reborn from the ashes of Anakin Skywalker, that the Dark Lord had built his great citadel, and it was here where he would hide, and train his son. It was the will of the Force that Luke be reborn a Sith in the very place his father had, and the planet's strong Dark Side aura would keep him hidden from the eyes of the Emperor.
Lost in thought, Luke stood before a large window overlooking the lavafall that the castle had been built on top of. He was now clad in an all black outfit, his rebel flight suit having been discarded. It had been several days since his father had brought him here, and ever since his arrival, Luke could feel the strong pull to the Dark Side in this place.
And he couldn't deny that the feeling was intoxicating...
Gazing out at the fiery landscape, Luke flexed his new mechanical hand, and once again found himself contemplating the choice he'd made to join Darth Vader.
What would his friends think of him now? Could they ever understand what had happened? Did they even know he was alive?
Luke quickly pushed these thoughts away, deciding he'd rather not to think about it.
It was then that he heard the sound of his chamber door opening behind him. There was no need to look, as the sound of heavy mechanical breathing announced his father's presence.
"I trust you find your accommodations adequate?" asked Vader.
"They're fine." Luke stated simply.
"I have something for you, Luke." Vader added.
Turning to face his father Luke saw Vader hold out a small, cylindrical item out towards him, and he quickly recognized it, for it belonged to him.
"My lightsaber...!" Luke exclaimed, accepting the weapon without pause.
"It once belonged to me." Vader pointed out, "Obi-Wan gave it to you?"
"Yes. He... He told me that you wanted me to have it when I was old enough." Luke said.
For a long moment, Vader was silent, until at last, he said, "Perhaps..."
Luke pressed the lightsaber's activation switch, but to his confusion, the bright, blue blade failed to materialize! He pressed the activation switch again. Still nothing. Luke promptly opened the crystal chamber and discovered that the blue kyber crystal had been removed. Looking back up at Vader, Luke gave his father an inquiring look.
"I have taken the liberty of removing the old crystal." Vader said.
"Why?" asked Luke.
"That crystal was meant for the weapon of a Jedi, my son." Vader beckoned his son to follow as he turned leave the room. "Come with me."
After brief moment of hesitation, Luke followed his father's lead. Making their way through the dark corridors, and into the grand hall of the castle, Vader led his son to a spiral stone staircase leading downward. Descending into the bowels of the castle, they finally came to door leading to a small, dark chamber.
Upon entering, Luke's attention was instantly drawn to a display stand in the center of the room, upon which lay a blood-red kyber crystal, providing light to the chamber with it's a crimson glow. At his father's prompting, Luke carefully took the red crystal from it's display stand, and studied it intently.
He understood now; the blue crystal had been for the weapon of a Jedi, but now he was to become something more than a Jedi.
Luke inserted the crystal into his lightsaber, briefly plunging the chamber into darkness. Then, the room was one again bathed in a bright crimson hue as Luke activated his new blade for the first time.
"This, my son, is your first step into a much larger world." Vader declared.
For a long moment, Luke stood mesmerized by the the sight of the weapon, it's blood red plasma reflecting in his eyes. It was in this moment that he knew that his path was truly set, and that there would be no turning back now. He would challenge the Dark Side from within, penetrate it's power, and learn it's secrets.
This was the path he must take.
The ONLY path.
At last, Luke turned back towards Vader and said, "Thank you, father."
Leia panted as she climbed up one of the many vines that grew in the swamp before grabbing hold of another vine and swung back down to the ground. Taking a very brief moment to catch her breath, she ran on through the dense foliage of the planet's jungle, leaping over logs, and dodging roots.
This was the latest in a series of endurance tests that Yoda was putting her through, and the Jedi Master had insisted on observing the progress of his apprentice from a pouch strapped to Leia's back.
"Run!" Yoda urged as she changed direction, racing in and out of the heavy mists.
By the time Leia had returned to the clearing where C-3PO and R2-D2 were waiting, she was completely out of breath, and bent down with her hands on her knees, gasping for air.
"Yes. A Jedi's strength flows from the Force." Yoda said, " But beware of the dark side. Anger. Fear. Aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."
"Vader..." Leia mused, before asking, "Is the Dark Side stronger?"
Yoda shook his head, "No, no. No. Quicker. Easily. More seductive."
"But how do I know the good side from the bad?" Leia asked.
"You will know when you are calm, at peace." Yoda assured, "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."
Leia pondered this for a moment before finally saying, "I understand, Master."
"Mmm..." Yoda grunted, suddenly deciding he had another test for his pupil.
Once Leia had put him back on the ground, Yoda picked up a large branch with the Force, and without any warning whatsoever, launched it directly at his pupil. Leia instantly ignited her lightsaber and swung frantically at it. But she wasn't fast enough, and the branch struck her in the shoulder. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another branch flying toward her. This time, she just managed to cut it in two, only for the top half to hit her in the face. Before she could recover, a rock hit her in the stomach, taking the air out of her.
At last, just barely keeping her balance, Leia stumbled, and went down to a knee in exhaustion.
"Were you a Jedi, not one touched you would have." Yoda bluntly stated.
"Clearly..." Leia gasped out, "I'm not a Jedi yet."
"It wouldn't appear so, your highness." commented C-3PO.
She ignored the droid's comment, "With all the fighting, and running from the Empire I've done, I thought I'd be in good shape."
"Yes, but by what standard, ask I?" Yoda asked, "Put aside your old measures, you must. You must unlearn what you have learned."
Leia could only think that Yoda sure hadn't been kidding when he'd told her that her Jedi training would be difficult. But whenever she felt doubt or frustration, she remembered Luke, and how he'd sacrificed himself for her. So that she could be here, and train to be a new hope for the galaxy. When she thought about that, all of her doubts melted away, and determination filled her being.
She was ready to unlearn all of her old ways, and willing to learn all this Jedi Master had to teach her. She was ready to do it all for Luke, and for the good of galaxy.
Yoda spent long hours lecturing her about the ways of the Jedi; all the while she listened intently, and patiently to all of his tales, and lessons. These would often be followed by more physical training. There would be plenty of slip-ups sure, but Leia was not about to give up. She was determined to become a Jedi, and no matter how foolish she may feel in the attempt, she would pass every test Yoda set up for her. That, she promised herself.
It was indeed rigorous training, but as time passed, Leia's strength, and abilities steadily began to increase.
On the desert planet of Tatooine, it was business as usual in Mos Eisley as the Millennium Falcon landed inside one of the spaceport's hanger bays, with Han Solo and Chewbacca making their way down the entrance ramp a moment later.
The smuggler however, had no intention of staying longer than absolutely necessary; once their business here had been taken care of, he and his co-pilot hoped to stay away from this planet for the indefinite future.
"Well, Chewie..." Han said, "It took longer than I thought, but we finally got Jabba's money. Now all we have to do is transfer it over to him."
Chewbacca let out an apprehensive growl.
"No, of course we're not gonna walk right up to him." the smuggler assured, "I've arranged for a courier. After all this time, there's no way I'm settin' foot anywhere near Jabba."
Exiting the hanger bay, Han and Chewie made their way through the streets of Mos Eisley as discreetly as possible. At last, they came to a backstreet where a small building stood, and Han gave the door three brisk knocks. After moment, the door opened to reveal a hooded figure, who quickly beckoned them inside.
Once the door had close behind him and Chewie, Han asked, "Are you Vilmarh Grahrk?"
The figure lowered their hood, revealing an aging Devaronian with a one broken horn.
"You can call me, Uncle Villie."
"Okay...Uncle Villie." Han said dryly, "I'm Solo. You'll take my money to Jabba as we agreed?"
"Follow me." the Devaronian instructed.
Vilmarh Grahrk led Han, and Chewie out the back door, and into an alley, where to their shock, they found themselves confronted by a group of bounty hunters working for Jabba! Instinctively, the smuggler and Wookie reached for their weapons, but quickly realized it was futile, for they could see they were both outnumbered by the group, amongst which they recognized the bounty hunters Dengar, Bossk, and Boba Fett.
"I'm afraid there's been a change of plans." Vilmarh Grahrk said, "You see, I've decided to sell you to Jabba instead. Uncle Villie thinks that would be far more profitable."
Han glared at Vilmarh Grahrk, raising his fist in a fury, "You slimy, piece of...!"
But before Han could get any farther, he and Chewbacca were promptly restrained, and disarmed by the bounty hunters, who proceeded to slap binders around the pair's wrists, and drag them towards a nearby landspeeder.
Vilmarh Grahrk, "My apologies, Solo. It's just business."
And so, before Han and Chewie even knew it, they on their way towards Jabba's palace.
"Master Jabba, we have visitors!" Bib Fortuna announced to his lord, "They have arrived with a pleasant surprise!"
"Excellent! Bring them in!" exclaimed Jabba The Hutt.
Dismissing the Twi'lek dancer he'd been watching preform, Jabba watched with glee as Vilmarh Grahrk, and the group of bounty hunters came into his throne room with Han Solo and Chewbacca in tow.
"Mighty, and benevolent, Jabba..." Vilmarh Grahrk greeted, "I come bearing you a gift."
"Oh, and what a gift it is!" Jabba replied.
"Jabba!" shouted Han, "Jabba, listen! I've got your money!"
But Jabba just laughed, "Han, my long-lost boy, it's too late for that. Not only did you fail to pay me on time, but according to our friend Uncle Villie here, you couldn't even be bothered to deal with me in person! You may have been a good smuggler, but I simply cannot allow that to go unpunished."
"Jabba, just wait minute-" Han tried again, just before a stun rod was jammed into his back, sending him to his hands, and knees.
Chewbacca roared at seeing him friend harmed, and briefly tried to struggle against his captors, before he himself was incapacitated by a stun rod.
As the guards removed the stunned captives binders, Vilmarh Grahrk turned to address Jabba.
"I trust that Uncle Villie shall receive his cut?" he asked.
"Oh, you shall be most handsomely rewarded for your services." Jabba assured, "In fact, I may even let you keep the Millennium Falcon as a bonus."
Upon hearing this, Han struggled to rise.
"Over...my...dead body!" he gasped out, not noticing that everyone was backing away from where he and Chewie were.
At this, Jabba's Kowakian monkey-lizard, Salacious B. Crumb, let out shrill cackle.
Jabba just smiled, "As you wish."
"What...?" Han started to say.
It was only then when Jabba slammed his fist down on a button next to him that Han suddenly realized where he and Chewie were standing, just as the trapdoor beneath their feet opened.
The next thing they knew, Han and Chewbacca were falling, sliding down a chute into the bottom of a large dungeon-like cage 25 feet below Jabba's throne room. Everyone in the throne room gathered around the pit to watch the coming spectacle, including Jabba, who laughed heartily as his throne scooted right up to the edge.
As Han and Chewie recovered and got their feet, they began to notice that the pit was littered with bones; needless to say, this was quite alarming.
"Jabba!" Han shouted up at the crime lord, "I'll pay you triple! You're throwing away a fortune here! Don't be a fool!"
"Han, don't take this personally." replied Jabba, "I liked you, I really did. But as our friend Uncle Villie here said, business is business. Besides, I've grown rather bored these past few days, and watching you die shall be quite entertaining!"
Suddenly, there came a loud rumble as a large iron door situated in the side of the pit slowly began to open. Chewie barked in agitation as it steadily rose upward.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Han said.
Han, and Chewie's dread quickly proved to be very justified, as from beyond the darkness beyond the iron door, a giant, fanged rancor emerged, the hideous beast letting out a deep, loud bellow as it lumbered forward. Chewbacca howled in terror as Han's eyes darted about, hoping to find some means of escape. Up above, Jabba and the rest of the audience laughed, and cheered at their plight.
Eyeing it's new prey, the rancor closed in on the smuggler and Wookie, saliva dripping from it's massive jaws. Scrambling away, Han picked up a long arm bone of a previous victim as a makeshift weapon, though it looked pitifully small compared to the monster before them.
"Come on, Han!" he said to himself, "Think! Think!"
The rancor began to reach for them, with Chewbacca just managing to scramble away from the beast's swipe. Han swung the bone at the rancor's hand, but unsurprisingly, it did little more than anger the massive creature.
This was NOT a good idea! Han thought as the rancor grabbed a hold of the smuggler and began lifting him up towards its slathering mouth. Chewbacca roared and leapt up onto the massive hand that clutched his friend, trying to pull Han free, but the Wookie was no match for rancor's grip. Overhead, the crowd watched in anticipation as the rancor opened its mouth...
But at the last moment, Han managed to wedge the bone in the beast's jaws, propping its mouth open. Bellowing in rage, the rancor began to flail about in disorientation, dropping Han to floor in the process, with Chewie following suit a moment later.
As Han struggled back to his feet, he again looked around for any chance of escape. Then he saw it; past the rancor, there was a utility door on the far side of the holding cave beyond. If they could get to it...
"Chewie! There!" Han shouted.
The smuggler, and Wookie darted past the rancor as they made a run for the holding cave. Behind them, there came a loud CRACK as the beast crushed the bone in its jaws. They had perhaps a minute.
Reaching the utility door, Han quickly pressed the control panel, but nothing happened. The door wouldn't open. After frantically pressing the switch a few more times, Han realized with dismay that it was probably locked from the other side. A loud howl made him, and Chewie look back; the rancor was approaching, and it would be on them in a few moments. In desperation, Han ripped open the control panel, and began working with the wires.
"Maybe I can hotwire this thing!" he yelled to Chewbacca, "Think you can keep it busy?"
Chewie was way ahead of him, for the Wookie was already charging back towards the rancor, roaring a challenge at the beast.
As the rancor reached for him, Chewbacca leapt to the side, dodging the creature's massive hand. Scrambling around the beast, he ran back towards the other end of the pit as the rancor slowly turned to follow. As he reached the spot where he and Han entered the pit, Chewie let out another defiant roar, goading the rancor toward him, and away from his friend.
As the rancor closed in, the Wookie picked up a large boulder in his hands, and threw it with all his might, striking the beast in the head. This only succeeded in making the rancor angrier, and with a bellow of rage, it charged.
But this was exactly what Chewie had intended; lunging forward, he dived between the rancor's legs as it crashed into the stone wall behind him, the impact shaking the whole chamber, and leaving the monster stunned. Now was the Wookie's chance and he didn't hesitate. Grabbing a large broken shard of bone, Chewbacca scrambled up the rancor's back and onto it's head. Raising the sharp bone shard above his head, the Wookie thrust it down into the rancor's skull.
Bellowing in pain, the rancor began wildly failing about, but Chewie held on, pulling back on the bone shard now lodged in the beast's head.
Rearing up, the rancor swung one of it's arms upward, it's massive hand effortlessly smashing through the grating that the crowd was the watching through, causing the spectators to scream, and jerk backward. Jabba himself began to panic, and called for his guards to aid him, but then, the rancor's other hand rose up through the broken grating, and found the Hutt's slug-like body. Before anybody realized what had happened, Jabba was jerked off his throne, and pulled into the pit.
And then, before the eyes of the shocked spectators, the enraged and hungry rancor began to lift the Hutt towards it's gaping mouth. Jabba began to scream as he squirmed uselessly in the rancor's grip. He didn't understand; how had he lost control of the situation so completely? Even Chewbacca, who had by now dropped down from the rancor's back, couldn't believe what was happening.
Then, Jabba's screams were suddenly silenced as the rancor's huge jaws closed around the Hutt's head, biting it clean off.
At last, Han's hot-wiring finally paid off, and as the utility door slid open, he shouted to his friend, "Chewie! Come on!"
As the smuggler and Wookie ran through the door, Han stole a final look back at the headless body of Jabba the Hutt, still clutched in the beast's massive hand, and couldn't help but smirk at the irony of Jabba being eaten by his own rancor.
"Nice knowin' ya, Jabba."
With Jabba's demise, the palace erupted into pandemonium. While most of the guards' first instinct had been avenge their boss's death on Han Solo and Chewbacca, they quickly found that they had another problem, as Jabba's slaves now saw a golden opportunity to rise up and escape. Then, in the midst of the uprising, someone opened up the holding cells, releasing all of Jabba's prisoners, adding even more to the chaos.
In all this confusion, Han and Chewie managed to slip away with only a little difficulty. Commandeering one of the desert skiffs, the smuggler and wookie sped away from the late Jabba's palace and raced back to Mos Eisely as fast as they possibly could. Han only hoped that Millennium Falcon would still be in the hanger bay where they'd left it, and that Vilmarh Grahrk, or one of Jabba's thugs for that matter, hadn't gotten to it first.
Upon reaching the hanger bay, Han, and Chewie quickly set the desert skiff down in the sand just outside the building, and ran for their ship.
"Oh, please be there...!" Han prayed as he and Chewie entered the hanger, "Please be there! Please be there! YES!"
It was there! The Falcon was still right where they left it! The ship still belonged to them!
Letting out a big sigh of relief, the smuggler and Wookie practically flew up the entrance ramp, and into the cockpit, eager to get off this planet as soon as possible.
"Well Chewie..." Han said as they strapped themselves, "I guess our debt to Jabba has been erased, huh?"
Chewbacca chuckled a little as he barked in agreement.
"Still, after a stunt like that..." , continued Han, "I think it'd be wise if we didn't come back anytime soon. Let's get outta here; if it's all the same to you, I'd like to find someplace to lay low for awhile."
Chewie couldn't agree more as the Falcon's engines fired up.
But as Han and Chewie began their final escape from the planet, they both failed to notice the armored figure that entered the hanger just as the ship began to lift off. Activating his jetpack, Boba Fett leapt into the air, and flew up to the rising Millennium Falcon. Gripping the side of the ship, the bounty hunter quickly planted a homing beacon on its hull before lowering himself back down to the ground.
As the Falcon climbed into the atmosphere, Fett looked down at the transceiver he now held in his hand. An electronic beeping confirmed that it was receiving the homing beacon's signals, ensuring that the ship wouldn't be able to stay hidden for long. Satisfied, Fett began to make his way back to his own ship to begin his pursuit, for he had no intention of losing his target.
Even with Jabba dead, Han Solo was still worth a lot to Fett, for the Hutt had not been his only employer. And this was one reward that the bounty hunter fully intended to collect.
Back on Dagobah, Yoda sat silently on a large root next to a wide pond, when suddenly, there came the sound of loud rustling of someone approaching through the vegetation.
Suddenly, Leia appeared on the other side of the pond, coming towards the water at a run. As she approached the waterline, she made a running leap towards Yoda, rising high above the water with a gazelle-like grace as she hurtled herself through the air. Landing on the opposite shore in a perfect somersault, Leia rolled to her feet, and ignited her lightsaber.
Levitating a bunch of rocks into the air, Yoda launched them one after another at his student, slowly increasing in speed as he did so. But by this time, Leia had to learned to relax, and fully open herself to the flow of the Force.
Using her lightsaber to deflect the rocks, not a single one touched her body.
Pleased, Yoda smiled at Leia's accomplishment, "Good! The Force you feel!"
"Your progress has been wonderful, Princess Leia!" C-3PO congratulated as R2-D2 gave a series of enthusiastic beeps and whistles.
Smiling, Leia deactivated her lightsaber.
But her smile did not last, for it was then that she noticed a strange, foreboding aura coming from somewhere nearby. Turning about, Leia began to scan the surrounding area, trying to find where it was coming from.
"Mistress Leia?" C-3PO inquired.
At last, Leia's gaze suddenly came to rest on a large, dead, black tree. It's base was surrounded by a small pond of water, and gigantic, twisted roots had grown to form a dark and sinister cave on one side. Leia stared into the black opening; she could sense something on the inside. Something dark, something evil.
"Something's not right." she said, "I feel cold... Death."
Yoda finally looked up, "That place... is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go."
A stab of fear coursed through Leia, "What's in there?"
"Only what you take with you." Yoda replied cryptically.
For a long moment, Leia just stared warily at Yoda, and then at the tree. Again, she thought of Luke, then silently resolved to take courage, and face whatever darkness that awaited her. Gripping her lightsaber, Leia stepped through the shallow waters of the pond, and toward the dark opening between those massive foreboding roots.
"Your weapon." Yoda's voice suddenly stopped her, "You will not need it."
Leia paused, gazing into that black abyss. In the end, she decided that she could NOT go into that cave completely unarmed. As skilled as she was becoming, she did not feel quite ready for that kind of test. Gripping her lightsaber more tightly, she shook her head at Yoda.
The Jedi Master shrugged, and placidly poked the ground with his Gimer stick.
Reaching up to brush aside some hanging vines, Leia cautiously stepped into the tree cave.
Inside the cave, the darkness was so thick that Leia could feel it against her skin, and could barely make out the edge of passage. As she slowly moved forward, she felt slimly, dripping things brush against her face, and moisture seep into her boots from the soggy cave floor. Then, she was startled when she noticed a lizard crawling up the side of the cave wall right next to her.
For a moment, she considered heading for the exit, but then she thought about Luke again, and her resolved stiffened. Taking a deep breath, she pushed deeper into the cave.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Leia saw a corridor before her, and moved toward it, bracing herself as she ventured deeper into the cave. She could feel the space widen about her as she stepped forward. Straining to see in the blackness, Leia tried her best to listen for anything that could be there, but she heard nothing at all. Everything was absolutely still, and deathly silent...
Leia suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, and jerked her head up in a alarm at the sound of heavy footsteps from somewhere up ahead. And with that realization came the next; they were getting louder. Closer.
Someone was coming...
Leia froze, her heart stopping in mid-beat as there then came the sound of heavy, mechanical breathing. She found herself backing away, her legs almost moving of their own accord as a huge shadow moved in the dark toward her. Then, Darth Vader stepped directly into view, looming before her like a dark wraith from her nightmares.
Almost unconsciously, Leia ignited her lightsaber, it's glow radiating out to illuminate the surrounding darkness. At this, Vader ignited his own laser sword, it's red, crimson light mingling with the blue of Leia's.
Then, the Dark Lord raised his weapon, and lunged towards her. But Leia had been ready and raised her own lightsaber to block Vader's attack. Without missing a beat, Vader lunged at her again, but again, Leia managed to parry the blow. Raising his lightsaber above his head, Vader swung down at her for a third time. This time, Leia sidestepped the attack, before raising her lightsaber, and swinging with all her might at her opponent.
With one powerful stroke, Vader's head was severed from his body. Crashing to the ground with a metallic thud, the helmet-encased head rolled about the cave floor before coming to rest directly at Leia's feet as Vader's body seemed to simply fade into the darkness. For a moment, everything was still.
Then, Leia stared in shocked disbelief as the helmet cracked, and split open, the facemask falling away to reveal, not the mysterious, and unknown face of Darth Vader, but the face of...
Leia gasped, horrified at the sight. No, she thought, No. It's not possible.
The face staring back at her...was the face of Luke Skywalker...
And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the decapitated head faded away, as in a vision.
Outside, Yoda was still sitting on the root, calmly poking the ground with his Gimer stick.
END OF PART 3