Chapter 22 – "Look out for yourself, anything else is weakness" - Cad Bane
(In the past timeline - flashback)
"Again" that cursed voice said from above, removing the lightsaber from his throat.
Sand coated Luke's sweaty skin on his face and stuck there when he managed to push himself up. Luke looked up at the other and never had he wanted more than to strangle a person. The thought of it tasted sweet, strangling the life out of that bastard!
The so-called Battlemaster was a demon in human skin.
"Up!" the man ordered. Luke stared up at him for a long moment, considering refusing to comply, but he did not want to be shocked again by the guards lining the arena.
It was nauseating how much of a spectacle these 'training sessions' had become. The last Jedi the galaxy had to offer was reduced to an amusement in his forced role as helpless battle-slave. The humiliation of it made his eyes burn.
Grakkus had already made a fortune on him these past months, and each fight Luke had been thrown into had been consistently worse. He won most of the fights but not all, but even when they cast him in front of unnamed monsters, they not been allowed to kill him.
Luke was too valuable of a slave. When he fought in the arena there were full seats. There was no other spectacle that could outshine his matches- a Jedi, the last of an extinct order.
At his worst he had prayed for death, but he had not been allowed to die. Win or lose, this nightmare never stopped.
He grit his teeth, swallowing the frustration and the humiliation burning in his eyes. If he at least could get the mercy of being beaten up without witnesses – but no! Servants and staff had taken it to be a treat to watch the daily humiliation. They were there at the edge of the arena in the seats and lining the walls, places they would never have afforded on an official battle day.
To his sheer mortification, he even saw a group enjoying lunch. The gall! The arrogance! His blood boiled at the sight. How could this ridiculous scene be what he had been reduced to! He was a Jedi! Not this. This humiliating existence could not be the rest of his life.
Please.
"Up, slave."
Luke thought of a thousand curses at the man as he pushed against the sand and stood. Every part of his body felt like it had been broken and his lungs burned. He knew he could not continue for much longer, but he had no say in it.
He had been pushed past his limits before, so many times in fact that he did not acknowledge the boundaries anymore. They no longer mattered. None of this entire catastrophe was within his control.
That had been made very clear.
"Good. Slave." The Battlemaster said while Luke's absolute rage at being called that vile word suddenly brought an amused smile on the bastard's face. Luke tried to put the rage down, it always worked against him, but it was so difficult.
He was not a slave, he was the first freeborn in his family-line. Beru had told him that both his father and his grandmother had been born into slavery. How that fit into the narrative of his father eventually becoming a Jedi was still a mystery to him.
Perhaps he would never learn it? Maybe he would live out the remainder of his life as a battleslave in Grakkus Grand Arena, however long or short that life might be.
He is a better fighter now, better than he had ever been. He knows he is faster now, stronger now, yet somehow it was never enough to beat the battlemaster, the infuriating force-null.
He breathed in
Breathed out
The man in front of him was nothing. Luke would survive this and find a way to escape somehow.
He had been born free
He would die free
As he was about to force himself to move, to lift the lightsaber into a guard that would always, always, be too weak to stand against the demon in front of him... something moves. His attention drifts carefully outward at the corner of his eyes.
One of the many hooded servants lining the walls had stopped suddenly as if something had pulled her back with a sharp tug on her shoulders.
She freezes and something about her demands his attention.
There is something moving in the Force, bright and kind. She lifted her head minutely, giving him a glimpse of her face.
Luke blinked a few times, convinced it had to be a hallucination, another trick played by his exhausted mind. It couldn't be her. Not here. Not now.
His body screamed for rest, and though he was still standing, it felt as if every ounce of strength had been drained from him. Six months. Six long months of endless battles, blood, pain, and the slow suffocation of hope.
The last thing he expected was to see her here—in this hell, disguised as a nameless servant in Grakkus' cursed arena.
But it was her.
He could feel it.
Leia.
She risked herself for him.
His heart suddenly pounded against his chest, as if trying to leap back to life after months in useless hopelessness. For a moment, he forgot where he was and who stood in front of him. The infernal Battlemaster still loomed, his gaze cold, cruel, and filled with that same hateful intensity.
"Attack, slave!" the man commanded, impatience dripping from every word. The restless moves of the lightsaber in his hand speaks of an eagerness for violence that Luke had experienced many times before.
Luke's heart stuttered, not from exhaustion or pain, but from the terror now coiling in his heart. He couldn't let on. He had to pretend he hadn't noticed Leia, had to hide the wild surge of hope that now threatened to give them both away.
The Battlemaster would show no mercy.
If he saw even a flicker of recognition on Luke's face, if he had any inkling that the hooded figure across the arena was more than just a servant—Leia's life would be forfeit. This man was a monster, a brute who relished in suffering. Luke had seen what he did to those who dared to defy him.
Leia couldn't be caught.
Luke forced his gaze down, biting back the desperate urge to look at her again. The Battlemaster's eyes bore into him, as if sensing something had happened suddenly. Luke swallowed hard, his mind racing. He needed to act—now—before the Battlemaster caught even the slightest hint of his distraction.
"Attack, slave!" the man snarled, his patience running out.
Luke could feel the tension in the air, every second feeling like a lifetime. He had to move, had to do something before suspicion crept into the Battlemaster's cruel mind. But the weight of Leia's presence pressed against him, the knowledge that she had risked everything to come here—for him—was nearly overwhelming.
Slowly, he raised his hands into a firm guard, holding the lightsaber steady in one hand, the Force collected around him in the other hand. Every fiber of his being screamed to run to her, to protect her from the hell he had been trapped in. But he couldn't. Not yet. If she were discovered, if they knew she was here…
He couldn't even let his mind go there.
Luke clenched his fists, forcing his body to obey. He wouldn't give them a reason to look her way. He had to make it through this—just one more round, one more beating. He could get through it as he had so many times before.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leia's slight movement, the finger pressed to her lips in a plea for silence, the blaster hidden beneath her sleeve. She was ready, waiting for the right moment. But it had to be perfect.
They had to be careful.
The Battlemaster sneered. "Slave. Show me what you can do. Maybe you might actually hit me this time."
Luke's stomach twisted at the word, his hatred for the man burning through him. But he swallowed the rage. He couldn't afford it. Not now. Not with Leia watching, with her life in danger.
He straightened, breathing shallow, every sense attuned to both his captor and the figure at the edge of the arena. The Force around him was tinged with something, it felt colder than it should but Luke did not deny it to curl around him. He needed all the power his weakened body could amass and to his surprise there was a strength there that hadn't been there moments before.
This might be the only chance!
The Force snapped around him and Luke blasted the explosive power of it ahead of him like a storm of blades.
:
(Coruscant – present)
"Welcome Vader, I have been expecting you," the bounty hunter said evenly with entirely too much confidence. The stance, the complete stillness of it, it looked sinister. Luke had seen killers before, he knew the look of them well, even if this was another age.
It was clear in the Force that death lay heavy on this newcomer that stood before him. He was the harbinger of so much suffering that the dark side of the force collected around him, even as a force-null. It was a quiet form of destruction though, old and cold.
Luke didn't dare to move his eyes from him after Fives words earlier, but he knew that time was running out. They had practically been sprinting here to keep ahead of the clone troopers following at their heels. Every moment that gap would close, but the path forward was blocked by this Cad Bane.
He breathed out between his clenched teeth in annoyance.
This was all pointless.
All this accomplice was slowing him down, a little. Cato should have played her cards better. This little ambush was nothing, it would not stop him. These two bounty hunters clearly didn't know who they were dealing with.
The darkened figure did not speak further. The stillness of his body suggested a familiarity and experience that Luke had seen many times before in the arena. To most of them, it had done little good.
It was years ago, but he remembered it clearly. It was where he had learned to fight as he did now.
There was a simplistic cruelty to the arena, that had taken a part of him that he had never managed to regain. He felt tainted by it still, to have been forced to dance to another tune. If not so much misery had followed in the last days of the war, he would say that the arena was his darkest memory.
If only he had been so lucky.
In the arena-fights the difference between confidence and arrogance usually played out in the same manner, with the latter as the defeated. Most of the fighting had been death battles, after all, unless the gladiator was expensive enough- as Luke had been.
So, which was this one in front of him now?
The confident or the arrogant?
...It didn't matter really any other way. The stranger, Cad Bane, stood like a warrior, and soon he would fall like one, just like so many others had before when they met Luke in battle.
Luke would not show mercy.
As things were, he could not afford to.
It was a long time since he had the upper hand.
"That is Cad Bane," Fives spoke behind him. There is a heaviness to the words an unspoken foreboding as if the identity of the bounty hunter actually meant anything of significance. Luke tried to remember ever having heard the mentioning of a person called Cad Bane, but he found nothing in his memories.
Fives hand holding the blaster was just within Luke's vision out of the corner of his eye. Fives hand was deadly still, his finger heavy on the trigger. Luke did not miss the nervous look in his eyes. Suddenly, unbidden, Luke felt his anger rise.
"Never heard of him," Luke says provocatively loud to make sure the bounty hunter hears it. There is no immediate reaction but a further tensing of the man's posture. Good, Cad Bane's anger would work in Luke's favour.
"A bounty hunter is not a problem," Luke whispered to Fives, to assure him. The clone must have taken Luke's words earlier about being useless in a fight to heart. Luke had meant it, he could not face another Jedi as he was, but a mere bounty hunter was still within his ability.
Even in this wretched state, a bounty hunter was nothing but dirt beneath his boots!
He didn't care how infamous this bounty hunter was. Luke had fought Darth Vader and survived.
"You never heard of Cad Bane?" Fives spoke, the disbelief making his voice lighter.
"Am I supposed to remember every random Bounty hunter?" Luke asked and to his pleasure noticed the further tightening in the bounty hunter's shoulders.
"He can take out Jedi," Fives said, like it was a curse. "He has defeated both General Obi-wan and General Skywalker in the past." There is a pause. "Other Jedi he has killed."
"What!" Luke resists looking at Fives for confirmation, barely. What the trooper said had to be a mistake. But then... Luke had too been bested by a force-null.
'That can't be right,' Luke thinks to deny the words, but Fives sounded deadly serious. The shadowed man in front of him was nothing like the battlemaster though. That man had been a warrior in a way that one could immediately tell he was dangerous by merely taking one look at him.
Should he see similar skill in this Cad Bane, bounty hunter?
Unlikely.
Besides, even if Luke had been facing the battlemaster now, their situation would have been reversed. Luke was no longer a fledgeling warrior-slave, he was a battle-hardened admiral of the Rebel Alliance in full command of the Force!
"You are not the usual Sith Lord I've come across," The man, Cad Bane, says in a wondering way, and Luke does not miss the carefully measured tone. Seemed like he reined in his anger, Luke noted with regret, not a beginner then.
"There are not a lot of men like me," Luke replies trying to get a feel of the man through the Force, it is only the same frustrating nothingness looking back at him. The man is so focused on the moment right now, that nothing else has an effect on his Force signature.
"You have killed Jedi?" Luke asked, digging in with his Force to catch even the slightest lie. "How ever would you manage that, as a force-null?"
The response was dry. "Asking questions like that, you give away more than you think."
That was not an answer, and there wasn't anything either that could be sensed through the Force. His reaching senses simply didn't reach. The man was blocking him. But how?
There was a slight grin now, underneath that odd looking hat. "Jedi mind tricks don't work on me."
That was a sobering reminder. It hadn't worked on Obi-Wan either, back at the beginning of all this. He had relied heavily on these mind tricks in the past because they had always worked, but here in this time-line it was no longer a guarantee.
A Jedi resisting him, he could understand, but that a force-null could do that as well was worrisome.
What was this age really?
"A man of many talents," Luke offers, shifting the lightsaber in his hand to another guard, suddenly having to take the man seriously. "And what have I done to get this honour then?" He asked, keeping the condescension out of his voice.
He needed to know more. "Who put my name out?" It couldn't be Sidious, not officially. Who led the Separatists now that Count Dooku was gone?
"My client?" Cad Bane asked wonderingly as if it was a curious thing to enquire about. "Unfortunately, I do not have time to discuss this with you. But don't worry, you will meet him soon."
"You think so?" Luke shot back, making no effort to mask his condescension.
"You can count on it," Cad Bane says with eerie finality. "You are not much of a challenge."
Cad Bane looks him up and down, and something makes him pause. "One thing I can't figure," he continued, leveling Luke with an unblinking stare. "Makes sense that you are no ally to the Republic, but the Separatists too?" He narrowed his eyes. "What is your angle?"
"Why would I answer that?" Luke says and adds, "What do my motivations matter to you?" he stalls. "Unless, that is something your 'client' wants you to know?"
Bane, at first, has no immediate reaction.
Then Cato, a few paces away motioned at her armguard with the control pad. Something passes between them at the look they share. And Cad Bane's almost pleasant tone turns dangerous.
"You should both consider yourselves to be in my power." The hand hoovered deathly close to the blaster. "As long as you behave this should be quick and painless. You are lucky they want you alive."
Luke notices he only looked at him when Bane spoke that final part. He tensed, his eyes locked on Bane. Was he a quick draw? He must be, if he wasn't, he would be a fool not to have drawn his blaster before he made his presence known.
The time for talking was over, clearly.
Good, they were running out of time as it was.
He tightens the grip on the lightsaber; red light bathing his hand in the Sith red colour.
"I am faster than you," Bane warns, unmoving where he stands. "This isn't the first time I have beaten a Force-user, and that is going to happen now too." Then he adds, "There is no shame in it."
Luke scoffs in response. Bane was about to get a nasty surprise. Luke was nothing like the Jedi of this soft past. Whatever Luke had become had been forged in the fires of war. Bane had never faced anything like Luke before.
This double-cross of Cato's might have worked had he been a Jedi from this time. A Jedi of this age would have moral barriers to fighting back in such a small space given the likely fatal consequences.
Luke was never a Jedi.
He was backed into a corner, desperate and Luke had absolutely no reservations about killing the man in front of him.
He was a war-criminal and a mass-murderer long before this endgame began.
A bounty hunter was nothing to him.
"Stay behind me," he whispered to Fives.
Then he moved.
Luke threw his arm forward and a massive Force blast unleashed from his open palm. The power of the blast thundered forward and the ground twisted and turned underneath them like a beast in pain while the sound seemingly came from everywhere as the sharp sound was flung against the metallic walls.
The blast at impact was deafening for a moment, and Luke experienced being both blind and deaf. The pressure of the explosion slammed back at him and ripped back his hood along with his cloak. The light above flickered and broke, shoving the room into complete darkness.
The pull of it was so strong that he was forced to stop until seconds later then the assault died away, and the Force faded between his hands.
He hissed and moved his hand carefully, the sting of the drained forcepower felt strongly there.
He really was at his limits.
Good that there had been no need for more. His fingers hurt in a sharp way as if they had been broken and for a moment he was sure the ground moved under him. He coughed and shook his head to dispel the feeling of vertigo.
The world shifted, but then he felt a warm steadying hand on his shoulder. "You're all-right?" Fives asked, keeping his hand there and Luke was wordlessly grateful for it. For a moment there, it felt like he would have fallen.
He breathed out, still feeling nauseous.
"It's fine." He lied easily, but forced himself to add, "I can't do that again."
"Don't need to." Fives said and if he had any reservations about killing the bounty hunters in cold blood, he didn't say. But he did not put down his blaster. His hand lingered a moment longer, as if assessing that Luke would not collapse the moment he let go.
"Let's clear out," he said and stepped in front of Luke, still with the blaster lifted, heading where the door had been visible when the lights were on.
'That was that,' Luke thought and followed. The room was pitch black, but he didn't need to see the result of what he had done. That blast would have killed a rancor.
He knew that for a fact.
Nothing living would have survived that.
His heavy unsteady steps echoed in the empty room as he was steeling himself to stomach the sight of what was left of the criminals.
Instead, he almost walked straight into Fives who had suddenly come to a dead stop.
"Fives what are you-" then he saw it-a force field. A force field between him and a very alive bounty hunter.
"What-" Luke strangled the denial.
"Nice try," The bounty hunter said.
Then he moved.
Luke did not see the blaster shot, but he felt the sharp sting of it as it slammed into his shoulder that ignited in blinding agony. The pain was intense. He flung against the floor at the same time he threw a shield around himself.
It had only been up for a moment, but the shield was already flickering.
Luke had no more energy to spare.
He used a split-second to palm at his wound, trying to measure the damage in the complete dark. The hand came away wet and warm, but the wound was blessedly minimal in damage. It was just flesh-wound.
The floor was unyieldingly cold beneath his other hand as he tried to push himself up, fighting against the dizziness trying to drag him down to the floor again and the pain in his shoulder screaming at him to stop moving.
Bane had shot him.
Luke could not remember the last time he had been shot, and Bane wasted it with a stun. If that had been live ammo Luke would be bleeding to death right now! Why hadn't Bane just killed him? It would have been easy. Luke had been wide open.
If Bane had aimed for his head or his heart-
Wait, what had Bane said earlier.
'You are lucky they want you alive.'
Kriff!
Luke tried to reach for the Force, to find where Bane was, but his shield flickered dangerously. He could keep the shield up and locate the bounty hunter at the same time. Suddenly a sharp red blastershot slammed into the shield and it was all Luke could do to keep it up.
Barely.
Luke couldn't see the bounty hunter. In the complete darkness there was nothing he could make out, but Bane clearly didn't have that problem.
Cad must have night vision goggles.
Kriff.
Luke was blind here.
Then another round of blaster-fire came from the other end of the room. Leaving red trails of light after each that was gone in the next moment.
Fives.
Damn it.
He had to help him!
The shield fell at the same time Dooku's lightsaber flared to light in his hand.
The room was quiet.
"Fives?" He whispered, knowing he had made himself incredibly visible when he lit the saber, but if both Bane and Fives had night vision goggles, then it was only Luke that was blinded by the dark.
He cursed himself for killing the light.
Fives didn't answer.
Where was he? Had Bane managed to get to him?
:
Anakin felt the wind whip against his face, tearing through his hair as he pushed the speeder to its absolute limit.
The cityscape of Coruscant blurred around him, a whirlwind of flashing lights and towering buildings, but his focus was singular—Vader.
His hands gripped the controls tightly, his knuckles white, as he weaved effortlessly through the endless stream of traffic, guided by instinct and desperation. Nothing would slow him down. Not today.
His target lay ahead, a dark presence that loomed in the distance like a storm on the horizon. Rex had found Vader—that was all he needed to know. The other Jedi would arrive soon, but he had to get there first, they couldn't be allowed to intervene. Not this time. T
he Jedi didn't kill their enemies, it was against their code. The same that he followed.
He knew that.
But Vader had to be an exception.
Anakin clenched his jaw, his heart pounding in his chest. Vader wasn't just a threat to the galaxy—he was a threat to his family. Padmé. His unborn child. A future he had only just begun to dream of. And yet, the very thing that could destroy it all was out there, walking in the shadows.
Sith Lord Darth Vader.
He couldn't let the Council find out about Padmé, about the child. They'd strip him of everything. Jedi weren't allowed attachments, and if anyone found out, his entire life would unravel.
The thought sent a cold shiver through him. He had to kill Vader before the Jedi arrived, before they could take him prisoner, interrogate him, and expose everything!
His breath came faster, shallow and urgent. The thought of Padmé, so radiant with hope, believing they were safe, believing he could protect them... he couldn't let her down.
He wouldn't.
Not after everything.
His stomach twisted with guilt; he hated keeping this from her, hated that his life had become corrupted with lies. But this was the only way. Once Vader was dead, they could move forward—together. No one would ever know.
He would tell her then, once the danger had passed.
Stretching out with the Force, Anakin felt Vader's presence, sharp and cold like a dagger in the distance. He was getting closer. His hands tightened around the controls. Rex was there, closing in on Vader, there was still time but how long? If the Jedi arrived first...
The clock was ticking.
If only the speeder could move faster!
:
Finally, he was closing in on the scene. It had taken much longer than he had hoped.
He opened his holocom. "Rex?"
"Infiltration is going well, sir, but there is no sign of Vader yet," came the clone captain's crisp reply.
"Good. Alert me the moment you have Vader within your sights," he said, his voice steady but edged with urgency.
He closed the holocom and pulled the hood of his cloak lower over his face, shadows concealing his features. The city around him buzzed with activity, but he moved with purpose, blending into the throngs of beings that paid him little attention.
As he approached the building where the intel indicated the targets were, he could feel the remnants of a powerful presence in the Force where he stood. It was a strange mix of light and dark.
The presence was familiar, but not exactly the same presence he had felt possessing Skywalker. That presence had felt like a void but this one was more... muted? It might just be because it was a while since Vader was here and his signature was therefore faint.
He entered the dimly lit lobby, the flickering lights casting long shadows. Whoever had been in this bar previously had cleared out. Glass cracked beneath his boots, a testament to the windows that had been broken, most likely by the residents clearing the scene when Rex arrived with his command.
He moved through the room, heading towards the backdoor that Rex had informed him of. As he progressed, he reached out with the Force, sensing the echoes of a recent confrontation. Blaster scorches marked the walls of the corridor when he stepped through the doorway.
Kneeling beside one of the marks, he touched it lightly. Still warm. They were here not long ago.
Footsteps echoed from around the corner. He stood, hand inching towards the hilt of his lightsaber hidden beneath his cloak.
A squad of clonetroopers appeared, halting abruptly at the sight of the cloaked figure.
"You there! Identify yourself!" the lead trooper demanded.
He remained silent.
"Wait," another trooper whispered. "Is that... The General!?"
The first trooper hesitated then threw up a sharp salute.
He took a step forward, allowing a sliver of light to catch the lower half of his face—a stern jaw set with determination.
"Apologies, General. We didn't expect you here so soon," the trooper stammered. "We are holding the exit in case reinforcements come," he added as to offer an explanation.
He nodded slowly. "Carry on," he commanded in a deep, authoritative tone.
"Yes, sir!" The troopers said, relieved at being forgiven for almost firing on a superior.
He continued down the corridor, leaving the two clonetroopers behind, following the faint traces in the Force. The presence was stronger here, it felt largely untrained but strong. It resonated with potential.
It was truly a pity that Vader had chosen the dark side. Wasted potential.
A door at the end of the hall stood ajar. He pushed it open cautiously. The room was empty save for a few scattered data pads and an open window, curtains billowing in the breeze.
He approached the window, looking out over the sprawling cityscape. His communicator beeped softly. "Sir, we are closing in on Vader," Rex's voice warned.
"Understood. I'll join you shortly," he replied.
He paused for a moment, letting the breeze from the open window graze his skin. The Force stirred around him, growing faint as the presence he tracked moved further away. He closed his eyes and focused, sensing the ripple of energy left behind by Vader. But something was off.
The darkness wasn't as suffocating as he remembered.
Vader felt weaker.
And not as dark.
His brow furrowed as he considered the implications. The Sith Lord was notorious for his raw power, a force of destruction. But now... it was as if that terrifying presence was diminished somehow, like a flame guttering low. But that should not have made is presence feel… light as if the taint of the dark side had diminished too.
Still, Rex and his troopers wouldn't stand a chance against even a weakened Vader. They might have a tactical advantage, but against the Sith Lord's skill with the Force, it was only a matter of time before they'd be overwhelmed.
He couldn't afford to linger.
Mace turned from the window, his boots tapping lightly against the floor as he retraced his steps through the empty room. His instincts told him that following directly in Rex's wake wouldn't get him there in time. The fight was fast approaching, and if he was going to make a difference, he would need to get ahead of them.
His eyes swept the room once more before he headed back down the hallway. The shortcut. He knew of an alley that circled around to where the Force was strongest. He would intercept them there, where the surge of power vibrated in the distance like a low hum in his mind.
Mace slipped out of the backdoor, his movements purposeful but calm. Outside, the evening air was cooler, and the streets were quieter. As he walked, he stayed cloaked within the Force, concealing his presence from any nearby onlookers.
Rounding a corner, the alley opened into a narrow street that ran parallel to the building. He could feel it now—Vader was closer.
The oppressive weight of Vader's dark presence was returning. But Mace also felt the weakness still lingering, the flicker in the dark side's power. Something was wrong with Vader.
Without breaking stride, Mace tapped his communicator. "Rex, hold your ground. I'm coming. Stay out of close quarters. Vader feels weak, but he's still dangerous."
"Yes, General!" came Rex's strained response
Mace increased his speed, a dark blur against the city's neon glow. The surge of Force energy was closer now, the disturbance one Mace Knew very well.
Vader was fighting someone, and it wasn't Rex.
What was going on in there?
Mace picked up the pace, laying his hand on the lightsaber.
It was time to end this, and get some answers from Vader.
:
The kick sent his lightsaber flying from Luke's fingers.
Luke fell back, his blaster already in hand as he pulled the trigger at the advancing Bane. Bane sidestepped the shot, ducking under it, and suddenly the bounty hunter was behind him, with a hand clamped around Luke's wrist.
A blast of electricity flared from Luke's free hand. The purple lightning crossed so close to his own face that he felt the sharp sting of it, but it rushed straight at Bane, who released his hold to avoid it.
"Clever," Bane said, then vanished into the dark
"Coward!" Luke yelled, trying to provoke him. "Come out and face me!" The lightsaber rushed back to him through the darkness, landing securely in Luke's open palm. The blaster returned to his belt—he needed one hand free to wield the lightsaber.
the red light of his lightsaber flared to life giving Luke at least a little sight in the endless darkness
But Bane was going
Then something moved out of the darkness, and Luke almost swung at it before he recognized who it was.
"Fives," he breathed in relief. Bane hadn't shot him after all.
"Holding up?" Fives asked, slipping behind Luke so they stood back-to-back.
"A bounty hunter is nothing," Luke replied, feeling his confidence rise. "Cato?" he asked.
"Dealt with. She's not as good as she thinks she is," Fives said dryly, his posture almost relaxed despite the fear he had shown earlier.
It must have been because he realized Luke was still able to fight. Why else? Bane was still out there. "I took care of the others. Only Bane's left."
Luke felt relief uncoiling in his shoulders. Only one left? He could manage that now that it was the two of them.
"Can you see him?" Luke asked, remembering that Fives had an advantage with his night vision goggles. The yellow lenses were barely visible in the dark. Fives said nothing at first, his eyes likely scanning the dark for the last bounty hunter.
"It's a big room," Fives said neutrally, probably hiding his disappointment. "I can't see far with these."
"Glad you're okay," Luke said, despite himself, feeling the relief as he spoke the words. For a moment, he had thought he was alone again. He hadn't realized how much he had come to depend on the clone, even though they had only just met.
He felt secure with Fives at his back, they would get out of this, together.
Fives turned his head and nodded. The yellow of the night vision met Luke's eyes for a moment, then he looked back into the dark, his blaster raised high. Looking out for the threat that was no doubt watching them in the dark.
The darkness was complete, effectively hiding Bane. Luke strained his ears, but he could not hear anything aside from his own quickened breathing. Cad Bane was surprisingly good in a fight. Like all he ever did was fight force-users.
Luke cursed his own arrogance. If Bane had not wanted him alive, then this fight would already be over and Luke lying dead on the floor.
Worse, capture alive, if not for Fives taking care of the other bounty hunters.
He was owing Fives more and more.
Luke glanced back to where he had last seen Bane. He strained his ears to catch any sound. Still nothing but silence. He tried to call on the Force but he could not connect. He breathed in, suppressing a sound, the pain only lessened when he again let go of his attempt to call upon the Force.
It was a gnawing unnatural pain that felt rooted in his bones. He knew what it meant – he had felt it so many times before but not this strongly.
He had gone over his limit.
He could no longer call upon the Force, he was too weak, too overspent.
The devastating realization felt like cold needles down his back. What was he without the power of the Force?
His nerves steeled with the knowledge that he was not alone now, as he had been before, Fives was with him, guarding his back against the attacks from the pitch-black darkness surrounding him. Whatever Bane was planning, one of them would see it coming.
This would be over in a moment, as soon as bane revealed himself it would be over. It was two against one. Bane had no chance against the.
But something was nagging at him.
A thought he couldn't quite catch.
What was it?
The darkness was deadly silent, but he knew Bane was still out there. The only way out of the room was the door at the far end, and that would have been impossible to miss if it had opened.
Wait... Fives' night vision goggles were yellow?
...yellow…
Weren't they red before?
Then he felt it—Fives' presence in the Force wasn't right. It was difficult to feel, the force was almost outside his control but Fives presence felt off. It was... other.
Luke put in a painful effort, clawing enough control back to understand what he was feeling. With a shock the force bared the presence behind him
Red
Hostile.
Deadly.
Not Fives
Luke threw himself to the side, away from Fives.
It wasn't a moment too soon.
The blaster shot flew so close to his jaw that he felt the heat rush past him. Luke's heart leapt into his throat, and he swung the lightsaber up in a high guard between him at the figure that wasn't Fives.
But how? Who could make such a perfect disguise—
"Alive!" someone yelled. Bane.
Heavy footsteps rushed towards him.
A kick struck his hand hard, sending the lightsaber flying. Luke formed a fist, ready to fight. He was close enough to hear Bane's surprised gasp as the lightsaber dove for the bounty hunter on its own, guided by Luke's desperate command of the Force.
It felt like knives digging into his fingers.
He couldn't hold on.
Luke didn't like how much willpower it took to bring the saber back to him. He couldn't do that again—the Force felt weak in his grasp, like he couldn't close his will around it.
Blaster shots whizzed wildly around him, trying to pin him down. In the red glow of the lightsaber, he caught a glimpse of Fives—or was it Cato?
What?
Cato was a shapeshifter!
He realized it just before she disappeared back into the oppressive darkness. Then he stopped, lifting his blaster at Bane, who stood a few steps away, very still.
Where had Cato gone? Luke tried to keep his eyes both on the darkness surrounding him and Bane. Cato was out there somewhere.
But wait, if Cato was here….
His heart dropped, despair crept coldly and painfully up his spine.
What happened to Fives?
Was he-
He reached for the Force, but nothing responded.
He couldn't grasp it.
"You should never have come here," Cad Bane said, infuriatingly calm, not sounding as out of breath as Luke was.
"You already used that trick," Luke sneered, hiding his weakness as best he could.
He closed his hand firmly around the lightsaber, the red light bathed the two still combatants. No show of force though, Luke could no longer manage it, everything hurt, every breath he took felt like burning fire.
It was blood in the water, and Bane could sense it, because this time, he didn't retreat into the darkness.
He stood only a few paces from Luke, visible even in the dim light.
"Don't you have anything else?" Luke asked provocatively, condescendingly, as if he had nothing to worry about.
"Maybe, but I'm pressed for time," Bane said. "No sense hanging around here."
Then he moved.
Bane, the fool, charged straight for him.
Luke was going to make him regret it.
A shot blasted out of the dark, forcing Luke to throw himself to the side, now within arm's reach of Bane. Luke twisted, dodging a punch, and caught Bane's wrist, executing a throw he had learned a lifetime ago.
Bane hit the ground hard and stayed down. Finally! Got him. Luke pulled his blaster from his belt, ready to fire at the sound of footsteps in the dark.
There was still another enemy—Cato. He could hear her steps
His finger hovered on the trigger when he sensed movement below him.
He glanced down. Bane had one hand locked around his ankle. Why would he—
Then there was pain.
In a haze, Luke saw a surge of electricity flare from Bane's gloved hand. His vision flickered, and then everything went dark.
:
Vader was down.
Finally.
Cad Bane pushed his gloved hands against the floor and rose to his full height, his chest heaving with exertion. Vader lay motionless at his feet, the glow of his yellow eyes extinguished beneath heavy lids, hiding their corruption.
His fall had been sudden, almost anticlimactic after the brutal exchange, and yet... Bane felt a cold knot in his stomach. There was something unsettling about this, that even unconscious, Vader was somehow watching him.
More corrupted by the dark side than Maul, Bane thought, glancing down at the fallen Sith with something almost like regret.
It was strange. Never before had Bane seen a Sith with eyes so deeply tainted by the dark side, yet this one had fought with the precision of a sharpshooter. A talent for blasters? In a Sith? That was... unusual.
Every trick Bane had tried during the battle had only worked once—Vader had adapted to his fighting style as if he could read his mind. It was almost like the man was learning from him, turning his own tactics against him.
Bane shook his head.
Almost a shame to hand him over now. In his prime, this one would have been a formidable opponent. Even now, weakened, he'd proven resourceful, using the environment Bane had carefully prepared against him. And Vader had seen through Cato's disguise. That alone was no small feat.
But no matter.
Sith were like vermin.
Kill one, and another would rise to take his place.
Bane bent down and snatched up the red lightsaber at Vader's side, slipping it into his belt with a quiet click. The saber that killed Grandmaster Yoda. It would be worth a fortune to the right collector.
The lights flickered on, bathing the room in a harsh, sterile glow. The scene looked more clinical now, less ominous, but the tension was still thick in the air. Bane couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him.
"That wasn't easy," Cato said, stepping up beside him. Her voice was light, almost playful, but Bane could hear the strain underneath. He said nothing, still catching his own breath, grateful he hadn't faced Vader alone. The man had been stronger than either of them expected.
"The bounty says alive," Bane remarked dryly, his eyes narrowing at the unconscious Sith. He wasn't entirely sure how alive Vader was right now.
But he was breathing.
Good enough.
The bounty said alive, not unharmed.
"I got a little carried away," Cato shrugged, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. Bane let it go. Fighting wasn't her expertise—she was good at slipping into shadows, not confronting enemies head-on.
"What about the clone?" he asked.
"Dead. Got him in the heart," Cato said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the crumpled figure of CT-5555 that Bane could barely make out int the dark. That was regretful that the clone died, he was worth more breathing. No matter. What significance had another dead clone?
"We should get out of here. The troopers are on their way, and they've got a Jedi with them." Cato said, throwing a look over her shoulder even though nothing had revealed itself in the hallway leading to this room.
It was impossible to tell how long that would be, but probably not for long.
Bane's stomach twisted at the mention of a Jedi. He'd tangled with enough of them to know they were trouble, especially when paired with an army of troopers.
No sense in pushing their luck.
"No sense in outstaying our welcome," he agreed, unclipping a pair of binders from his belt. He glanced once more at the clone's body, lifeless on the floor. "Leave the clone. We've got the prize."
As Bane moved to secure Vader, he couldn't shake the unease creeping up his spine. The room felt too quiet, too still. His instincts were screaming at him that something wasn't right.
He glanced sideways at Cato, who was still eyeing the door with nervous anticipation. "We need to move. Fast."
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