"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone," Ben warned Luke. "I cannot intervene."

Luke paused halfway through getting up.

"...what?" he asked. "Why not?"

Ben blinked at him.

"I'm dead, Luke," he said.

"That wouldn't stop you showing up to distract him," Luke replied. "I imagine you'd be quite distracting – you're still able to give me advice right now."

He pointed. "And Master Yoda over there was going on and on about how 'cannot' is a word that shouldn't exist."

"A point, he has," Yoda said, nodding.

"Oh, don't you start," Ben muttered. "What do you expect me to do, exactly, Luke? Use the Force?"

Luke looked back at him.

"...actually, is that possible?" Ben asked, curious. "I've never tried."

R2-D2 rose slowly into the air, then dropped again, and Ben examined his semi-transparent hands.

"...hold on a minute, please," he requested, and faded out.


Several thousand light years away, the pitch-black rock ceiling of Emperor Palpatine's office creaked, then came free and mashed him absolutely flat.


"Well, well," Ben said, fading back into view on Dagobah. "It appears that what I told Anakin was literally true, I have become more powerful than he could possibly imagine."

"...what?" Luke asked. "Did you say Anakin?"

Ben looked put out.

"Whoops," he said. "Oh well. Leia's your sister. May as well get it all out there now."


AN:


That pretty much wraps it up for Palps.