5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

The dark side coursed through his veins, and Darth Vader waded in again.
The crowded corridor kept the fight at closer range than Vader would have liked, but no matter,
there was no doubting who the master of the Force was in this battle ... he knew it, and could feel that
Obi-Wan Kenobi knew it too.
That his former Master was alive at all had stunned Vader when he first made the connection of
the long-buried presence in the Force hours before in the Death Star's hangar. To feel someone besides
he or his dark Master drawing on the mystic energy field was so foreign ... it had been so long.
Through the Force, Vader felt Obi-Wan's presence, calm yet scattered, the old Knight's attention
darting from place to place. It was a puzzle to Vader that Obi-Wan's focus would not be fully on his fallen
pupil, who even now threatened to extinguish his life force.
Vader smiled cruelly under his black mask, grimacing at the pain the use of those muscles
caused him. Perhaps the years had simply overwhelmed Master Kenobi's finely-honed sense of the
Force. The Sith Lord pressed his advantage again, forcing Obi-Wan back again and again.
"Your powers are weak, old man." Vader taunted, as Obi-Wan circled around, redirecting the fight.
Like a homing beacon, Obi-Wan's focus suddenly seemd completely back on the fight, his voice
calm and clear, as it had once been during many a lesson.
"You can't win, Darth," the bearded Jedi replied, refusing to use Vader's former name. "If you
strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
Obi-Wan went on the attack this time, but his thrusts and stabs were feeble, nothing like those of
the man who had first put a lightsaber in Vader's once-human hands so many years ago.
Pushing Kenobi back, Vader shook off his former Master's ominous proclamation of power. The
dark side offered the only true power. He had seen it, he had bathed in its black light as he had tracked
down and slain the last of the Jedi Knights in the years since his Master had usurped control of the
Republic and become Emperor.
This duel with Obi-Wan brought forth memories of those early days of the Empire, when he had
been charged by his Master with the elimination of the few Jedi who had escaped the Great Purge. The
Emperor had put bounties out on them, but Vader took pride in beating the greatest of the galaxy's
hunters to the prey, giving those he found the choice -- a duel to the death or an execution.
Some of them, feeling Vader's presence in the Force had been overwhelmed with fear, losing
their faith in the Force when the apparition in black emerged from the shadows of their supposed secret
bases and hiding places. Some chose to flee, others, who knew who Vader had been before his rebirth,
tried fruitlessly to speak to the weak, dead man they believed still alive inside the suit of black armor.
Those were destroyed quickly and without mercy. Others had fought bravely, among them the
master swordsman Plo Koon, who had engaged Vader in a battle across hours and nearly three square
miles of dense forest on the fourth moon of E'Daym before succumbing to the Sith Lord's crimson blade.
Wherever Obi-Wan Kenobi had been hiding all these years, he had clearly not kept up his skills
with the laser sword, and Vader intended to make his former Master see the error of his ways once more.
Some Jedi had died with honor, some had begged, others had simply lost all emotion and stared
up as Vader destroyed them. None had made anything resembling the bold claim Obi-Wan had -- power
in death was something religious fanatics believed in. Kenobi was up to his old tricks, clearly trying to buy
time until he could escape the duel.
Vader would not allow it, pushing Obi-Wan back again.
"You should not have come back." he gloated.
The old man backed down the hallway, keeping his blade extended out, to keep Vader at arm's
length and unable to strike a killing blow.
Vader could sense Kenobi's hopes rise as he neared the open doors at the end of the corridor
leading to the hangar where the captured Corellian frigate sat under the guard of stormtroopers. Just as
quickly as Obi-Wan's emotions rose, they plummeted back down as the stromtroopers, fascinated by their
Lord engaged in battle, moved from their posts near the ship to a better vantage point, effectively cutting
off any escape route for the Jedi.
He felt Kenobi's attention flutter again, and the Jedi's gaze shifted somewhere past the
stormtroopers. Vader refused to follow his glance, mindful of a trick from his former Master. Through his
perceptions augmented by the dark side, Vader felt the presence of a new group of minds entering the
hangar, a mixture of excitement, fear and anxiety rippling from them ... the Rebels who had no doubt

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

accompanied Obi-Wan in the bold rescue attempt of the young Alderaanian Princess.
Vader paid them no mind, nor did he feel the need later to discipline the stormtroopers for not
recapturing them. The homing beacon aboard their ship would lead the Imperial Navy to the Rebels'
hiding place ... and the Death Star would soon follow to lay waste to the pitiful uprising.
The Sith Lord kept his focus on Kenobi, as the older man returned his gaze to Vader and for the
second time in so few hours, Dath Vader felt the odd tinge of surprise, something that seldom surfaced in
his dealings inside the Empire's bureaucracy.
Fully focused on his fallen pupil, Obi-Wan Kenobi smiled.
____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________
Immediately, Vader steeled himself for the ruse to follow, but instead Kenobi raised his blade
toward his body, closing his eyes and assuming a classic resigning stance of a sparring partner. But what
might have worked as a noble gesture in the long-dead days of the Jedi Order would not save his old
Master now. As Obi-Wan held his blade parallel to his frame, eyes closed, Vader could not resist the
ripples of hatred and dark lust for revenge coursing through his body. He took a massive cut with his
sword, cleaving the crimson blade straight throught Kenobi's Jedi robe ... striking down his former teacher
with the awesome power of the dark side.
Or ... so he thought, until he recovered the temporary blinding of his senses as the hatred
overwhelmed him to find Obi-Wan's cloak dropping to the ground, flat and in a heap, with no trace of the
aged Knight's body inside. Kenobi's lightsaber clanged to the ground next to his robe, and despite his
heightened awareness from suspicion of another trick, Vader was still caught off-guard as he felt a surge
of anguish through the Foce, accompanied by a horrified scream coming from the hangar.
He heard the stormtroopers turn and begin to fire on the escaping Rebels, and stepped forward,
planting one great black boot on Kenobi's robe, unable to fathom where his body had vanished to. In that
moment, Obi-Wan's words echoed in his mind "more powerful than you can possibly imagine", but before
Vader could contemplate this further, a laser bolt hit nearby and his attention snapped up to the firefight
occuring at point-blank range.
Three of the stormtroopers had already fallen to the floor, their white armor now tinged with black
scorch marks from laser bolts. It appeared none of the Rebels had been wounded as they fled back
toward the Corellian frigate, but that was per instruction once Moff Tarkin had approved Vader's plan to let
them escape and lead the way to the secret base the young Princess had so fervently kept secret from
them.
Even now, Vader could see the Alderaanian youth darting up the ramp of the frigate, with a large
brown Wookie right behind her, blaster in hand, leaving two younger men still in sight, peppering the
stormtroopers with cover fire for their young Princess.
As Vader stretched out with the Force, he could feel the anguish and rage coming in waves off
the younger of the two, no more than a boy really, and the Sith Lord was surprised to find the rage
directed squarely at him, the anguish coming from the vision of the fallen Jedi Knight. Vader strode
forward now, intrigued by this youth and his obvious emotional connection with Kenobi.
As he neared the blast door, however, the youth fired a shot directly into its control bank,
activating the automatic lockdown sequence. The heavy durasteel doors spiraled together in front of
Vader, cutting him off from the drama inside the hangar.

45
____________________________________________________________________________________
________________
50

55

A major came and found Lord Vader bent on one knee in the hallway, and quietly observed that
he had never seen the monstrous dark warrior in anything resembling a contemplative pose before. Vader
straightened as he spotted the officer, and his deep, artificial command snapped the Imperial back to
attention.
"Report?"
"We have engaged the Rebel frigate with a detatchment of TIE Fighters, m'Lord," the major said
crisply, hoping to end the conversation as quickly as possible. "Grand Moff Tarkin asks that you join him to
begin discussions concering the attack on the Rebels' base."

10

15

20

Vader merely nodded, and the major felt a bit relieved. Giving Darth Vader an order, as indirect as
it had been, was never something any officer wanted to do.
The Dark Lord turned to leave, then spun back on his heel.
"Major."
The Imperial tensed, fearing the worst, his mind calling up horror stories of other crew members
who claimed to have seen Vader kill a man without touching him.
"Yes, m'Lord."
"Have Intelligence send a crew to secure these items. Then send a coded all-station alert to
check every sector for intruders. Any reports are to be made directly to my private comm frequency."
"Yes, m'Lord, at once!"
The major strode away, thankful to have survived the encounter. He keyed in both orders to his
superior officer, advising the Intelligence team that there was both a brown cloak and a lightsaber to be
recovered from the hangar aft hallway. A more discrete transmission then filtered across every comm unit
on the Death Star, demanding instant searches for intruders. Under the comm signature of Darth Vader,
the search procedures began immediately.
Barely 10 minutes after the major had issued the order, three dark-gray garbed Intelligence
officers walked briskly down the hallway leading to the hangar. They were all anxious to get back to their
posts and begin plotting a plan of attack against the Rebel base, which even now the mighty engines that
powered the Death Star were firing up to advance on, and the prospect of collecting a dead man's
personal effects, even if they might truly contain a rarely-seen lightsaber, simply did not compare.
As the colonel in charge calmly collected, folded and secured the brown, dingy robe, all three
men received a call-back from their commanding officer to report at once, the Rebels' hidden base had
been confirmed by their homing beacon. In their haste to get back, none of the three men ever noticed
that the fallen Jedi's lightsaber was nowhere in sight.

25
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________
30

35

40

45

50

55

His own thoughts completely drowning out the thrum of the Death Star's hyperdrive as it moved
toward Yavin IV and the end of the Rebel Alliance, Darth Vader sat in his meditation chamber, his stare
fixed on the metal cylinder in his hands. In his mind's eye, he again saw himself lurking in the shadows in
the hallway to the hangar, waiting for the nervous major to clear the corridor before he slipped silently
back to the spot where he believed Obi-Wan Kenobi had fallen.
For a long moment, Vader had stood there, then manipulating the dark energies around him, had
called the Knight's lightsaber to his hand. After another long moment, Vader had hooked the saber on his
belt, safely out of sight, before returning to the conference room to discuss strategy with Tarkin.
He had not told Tarkin what had happened with Obi-Wan, merely that the Jedi Knight was gone.
He had also not mentioned his retrieval of Kenobi's blade. Subterfuge and deception were nothing new to
the Lords of the Sith, but keeping information from his superiors was something Darth Vader could not
remember ever doing.
Now he was here, eyeing the weapon he had not seen in a lifetime, waiting for the report that
never came, that Kenobi had used some Jedi mind trick on him to slink away while giving the illusion that
he had been destroyed. When the report finally did come in, it was to inform him that the "all clear" had
been given. There was no one on board the space station that should not have been there.
Vader pondered what he would tell his Master, when the Emperor inevitably asked what had
become of Kenobi's body. Ignorance was a weakness his Master despised, and Vader had no answers for
what had happened less than an hour ago. Seeking perhaps to clear his mind, or perhaps simply needing
a distraction from the doors his dark-side knowledge kept failing to unlock, Darth Vader flipped the switch
on Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber and watched the blue-white blade gleam to life in front of him.
He stared deep into the shimmering blue light for a moment, and found his mind tracing down its
path toward a long-buried memory of the sword and of his first true Master.
____________________________________________________________________________________
________
The shimmering blue light from a beautiful night on Coruscant filled the room, and, Anakin
Skywalker had decided, made the sleeping face of Padme Amidala, that much more beautiful.

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Padme Amidala to the rest of the universe, of course ... Padme Skywalker when they were alone
as they were tonight, with Anakin given leave from the Jedi Temple to protect the Nubian Senator upon
her first return to Coruscant since spectral rumors of Separatist Battle Crusier sightings less than a parsec
from Naboo had sent her rocketing home to quell the emotions of her constituents.
The rumors had been just that, and Anakin had impatiently waited for his bride's return, carefully
manipulating his words around his Jedi Masters to keep them from discovering one of his greatest secrets
-- that he had broken his vows and taken a bride.
It was not the only vow he had broken of course, and had his Masters, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Mace
Windu, not been so involved in the struggle against Count Dooku's separatist movement, one of them
likely would have paid more attention to Anakin's mental state. One of them might have uncovered the
dark truths he kept tucked deep inside himself. His all-consuming love for Padme ... and his vengeance
against the creatures who had murdered his mother.
The dark dreams that sometimes lurked in his mind in the dark had come to him this night,
awakened him even from the peaceful slumber that came from feeling Padme's body next to his own. The
dreams had roused him, but seeing her sleeping peacefully, he could not bring himself to wake her,
preferring to gain solace and peace from watching her innocent face lost in dream.
Padme had told him to wake her if the dreams persisted, but he kept them mostly to himself, not
willing to show her that weakness, or make her lose faith that their love was stronger than the constraints
of a Jedi and a Senator, constantly fearful that her love pledge given just before the outbreak of the Clone
Wars on Geonosis had been made by woman seeking comfort before dying.
For a time after his mother's death, Anakin had simply blocked out the pain of losing her ... being
so busy had made it easy. Marrying Padme had been foremost in his mind when he escorted her home to
Naboo after his fateful battle alongside Obi-Wan with the traitorous Count Dooku. Even now, Anakin
looked down at the circuitry and wiring that now comprised one his arms. He flexed it ponderously, the
medical droids who had attached the cybernetic replacement limb had told him it would function better
than his original, without fear of pain or exhaustion, yet even now he believed he could sense a dull ache
in it.
In the silence of Padme's bedroom, Anakin quietly contemplated that pain. It was much the same
ache his heart held for his mother. She had been severed from him, and the hurt remained, where no one
could see it, where Anakin himself could lose track of it for a moment or two, only to have it rush over him
again like a tidal wave.
In moments alone, when the pain of his loss struck him, Anakin could not help remembering what
he had done that morning in the desert. He could remember with exquisite detail the way he had torn
through the Tusken camp with his blade and the Force. Could remember the screams of terror from
Tusken women as they tried to shield their children from the monster come to life in their midst.
Padme alone knew what he had done after watching his mother die. He had not retold the story
to the Larses, even though he felt Cliegg would have understood the rage he had felt. The old man had
nearly spat in hatred when he talked about the Sand People and how they had abducted Anakin's mother
in the first place. Still, Padme had suggested he keep the details to himself, and allow Shmi's adopted
family time to deal with the grief of their lost loved one.
On their flight from Tatooine to Geonosis to try and save Obi-Wan from Dooku's forces, Padme
had comforted Anakin, explaining to him that he had lashed out with anger, much the way anyone would
at the murder of a loved one. The fact that he had the powers of a Jedi had allowed him to channel his
rage into something destructive, something a normal person could not do. It had been wrong to slaughter
innocents, but he could learn from this mistake and realize the awesome power he wielded and how it
must be controlled.
Anakin had listened and nodded to Padme's words, but in truth he had trouble hearing their
meaning. Even now, months later, when he thought back to those few moments after he stepped out of
the tent that held his mother, all he could remember was the rush ... the exhilaration ... the sheer
magnitude of the power that had coursed through him.
The power was like nothing he had ever known in his Jedi training. Not from sparring with a
lightsaber, not from levitating objects across rooms, not from his joyous free fall through the night-time
traffic of Coruscant in pursuit of the bounty huntress who had tried to kill Padme.
The power he had tapped while dismantling the Tusken camp was something new altogether. It
was horrible, but he could not deny his attraction to it. He could not deny his desire to wield that power
again.

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

So lost in thought was Anakin, that it took him a moment to realize Padme had awakened and
was watching him. His concentration broken, he offered a smile, but she clearly knew better.
In a hushed tone, she whispered, "Another dream of your mother?"
Anakin nodded mechanically, technically that had been the reason for his awakening, but
certainly not the reason he was staring distantly off into space and failed to sense her momentary
confusion when she had reached for his arms in the bed and found nothing but air.
She started to sit up, but he came to her instead, moving his arms around her and holding her
tight, kissing her lips and feeling his love for her wash over him as she kissed back. Her beauty, her
undying sense of compassion, Anakin could feel them as clearly through the Force as he could feel her
warmth in his arms. The hatred of the Tuskens and the dark thrill of the moments that passed after his
mother's death drifted away, back down into their hiding places deep inside him as he sank his head
against the pillows and kissed Padme again.
Here was what he needed. Here was where he felt whole and pure, here with Padme, or out with
her as her escort as she visited the impoverished on Naboo, always lending a hand and a smile to those
in need, those whose lives she had sworn to make better. Through her passion for her work and her
compassion for those in lesser situations, Anakin saw the man he could be, the man he wanted to be ...
with Padme by his side to encourage him, to support him and to love him as he loved her.
The children he had met while visiting Naboo's schools and few refugee centers took to the tall
Jedi so easily that Padme teased him by calling him "Dad" every time she came back to find him wrestling
with the little ones or thrilling them with tales of Jedi heroics across the galaxy.
Anakin was amazed by the joys he found in the children, and his emotions equally buoyed by
some of the elderly refugees he met, star pilots and warriors of generations past, admiring his Jedi robes
and the lightsaber on his belt, giving him instant respect for who he was, something his Masters rarely
seemed able to do despite his exceptional skills.
That he was on Coruscant at all was both maddening and relieving to Anakin. The Clone Wars
raged on, but with his severed arm, Anakin had been left behind when many of his contemporaries had
gone on a host of missions across the galaxy to aid and command the massive Clone Armies of the
Republic. Anakin had wanted to take up the fight again as soon as possible. He hungered to test himself
against Dooku again, to prove how much he had learned since their confrontation in the Sith Lord's secret
hangar.
At the same time, he was happy to be here with Padme, knowing she was safe, knowing she was
under his personal protection. He felt that if he were half a galaxy away on a battle cruiser, he would
spend far too much time seeking her presence out in the Force, and failing his tasks at hand.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________
Padme's Senatorial duties over the next few days left her little free time, save to retire to her
chambers for rest. Anakin snuck out of the Jedi Temple each night through a service entrance he had
broken the codes to in order to be with her for a few stolen hours.
While in the middle of a training exercise with Master Fisto, Anakin picked up on a familiar
presence in the Force, and looked up to find Obi-Wan watching him from one of the room's observational
windows. His Master wore a smile on his face, one Anakin was happy to see and happy to return, given
their disagreements on Geonosis and in the events leading up to the all-out start of the war.
Constant reprimands from Obi-Wan, especially in front of Padme, had Anakin fuming, and eager
to prove himself. His assault on Dooku had earned him scalding burn marks across his torso from the
dark-energy lightning bolts, but Obi-Wan could not deny that Anakin had made amends by saving his
Master's life before Dooku could strike the older Jedi down.
Obi-Wan nodded for Anakin to continue his sparring session with Fisto, and watched intently as
his Padawan's movements matched the tentacled Master's, eventually driving him back toward the far
wall.
Eventually, they came to a stalemate, and both Jedi lowered and shut down their weapons as
Obi-Wan entered the room, applauding lightly but earnestly for the display Anakin had put on despite
having one artificial hand and forearm.
"Well down, Anakin, your technique has improved dramatically," Obi-Wan said as he clasped first

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

his Padawan, then Master Fisto on the back.

"How long have you been back?" Anakin inquired eagerly. "How goes the War?"
Obi-Wan smiled, Anakin's eagerness was commendable, although it often got the best of him.
"We continue to make strides against the droid armies, they are overmatched in skill, but their
sheer numbers often forestall our advances," Obi-Wan, now a full General of the Republic, replied. "But
even our best Intelligence agents cannot pinpoint a viable home base for Count Dooku, it's almost like
he's vanished."
Anakin took all this in, and launched into his next series of questions.
"When shall I be allowed to fight, Master? I am fully healed, Master Fisto can agree to that, I am
ready to return to active duty."
Obi-Wan frowned a bit. "Master Yoda thinks it would be best for me to resume my teaching with
you here on Coruscant, Anakin. The war goes well without two additional Jedi. He feels your inability to
follow my lead on Geonosis needs to be corrected before you are put in a position of responsiblity again."
Anakin felt the anger welling up inside, but even as he opened his mouth to speak his mind, a
tapping on the floor and a overwhelming aura of calm filled him. Along with Master Fisto and Obi-Wan, he
turned to the doorway to see tiny Master Yoda standing there, gazing at him intently.
"Disagree with my meditation, do you, Young Skywalker?" the wizened green Master said plainly.
"In that, the truth should be clear that more training do you require."
Anakin bowed his head to Master Yoda, Obi-Wan and Kit Fisto make similar motions.
"Of course not, Master, I only want to help us win the war as soon as possible," Anakin verbally
retreated. "I would never question your judgement."
The greatest of the Jedi's deep stare unnerved Anakain, but Yoda only shook his head slowly as if
frustrated by the answer he felt rather then the one he heard.
Yoda's big eyes then focused on the lightsaber in Anakin's hands and he glanced back up toward
the tall Padawan.
"The blade you use, it is of the Temple's own, is it not? Where is the blade you crafted, young
Skywalker?"
Anakin was taken aback by the question, feeling guilty without knowing why, but this time ObiWan spoke up.
"Master Yoda, both Anakin and I's blades were taken from us by Dooku's forces during our
imprisionment on Geonosis. We were given replacements by Master Windu's task force, and in the time
since we have used those as our own."
Yoda closed his eyes and opened them, his face showing disappointment.
"Unable to retrieve them, I see. But should a Jedi not always carry his own blade? A lesson you
both have forgotten, it seems. It shall be your first assignment now that Master Obi-Wan has returned to
the Temple. Master and apprentice, construct your new blades, remember the way of the Jedi is patience,
your haste has seen you stray from the path."
Both Obi-Wan and Anakin were humbled by Yoda's strong words, and both spoke a quick "Yes,
Master" as Yoda moved to confer with other Jedi Masters and Knights using the sparring facilities.
Relieved to be free of the critical eye of his Master, Anakin tenatively glanced at Obi-Wan, who
appeared deep in thought, then at Master Fisto, who surprised him with a wry smile.
"I imagine that's part of the good thing about being Temple swordmaster," Fisto said in his slightlygurgling voice as he replaced both he and Anakin's sword hilts on a huge rack that folded out from the
near wall. "I made almost every one of these, he's unlikely to ever catch me without my blade."

45
____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
50

55

In sharp contrast to the first time he had made a lightsaber as a young teen, Anakin Skywalker
held little reverence for the art of the blade. He had found it to be long, detailed and largely boring work,
and the only thing that drove him as a boy was the thought of actually using the sword and wearing it on
his belt, letting all those around him know that Anakin was a Jedi, proving all the doubters in the Temple
who felt him too old to begin the training to be wrong.
This time around, he knew it would cut down on his training sessions and on his time with Padme,
for Obi-Wan was bound to notice if he retired to his quarters obstensibly to work on the saber only to be at
the same spot of progress the next day. With thoughts of nights without Padme plaguing him, he made

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

himself appear eager to Obi-Wan's idea to leave immediately to secure rare gems for their new blades.
Taking a two-man Jedi Starfighter, and allowing Anakin to fly rather than hear his complaining of
his piloting skills throughout the flight, Obi-Wan set course for the third moon of Utopden, where he knew
that the crystals they both sought could be found with relative ease.
They were hard rock creations, not the soft kind from which jewelery could be made and thus
coveted, and apart from a few raised eyebrows as two Jedi arrived in the spaceport, they would have no
interference in their search.
Renting a landspeeder, the pair sped out into the foothills of the Utopdenian city of Krye, and set
up a small camp, so they might enjoy a night of rest before beginning the search in the morning.
Not surprisingly, Anakin had found a large, bluish gem in the first hour of their search that he felt
would make a fine blade. But much to Anakin's annoyance, Obi-Wan continued to scour the hillside,
turning over rock after rock and carefully setting back into place those stones he examined but did not
want.
Several times Anakin nearly lost his temper as his Master carefully handled and gazed at a
perfectly-acceptable gem, only to place it back where he had found it. After the ninth time this had
happened, he finally spoke up.
"Master? You seem to be bypassing many gems that could easily be cut into a lightsaber hilt."
While he expected a quick chiding from Obi-Wan, Anakin instead got a nod from his Master. ObiWan did not seem put off in the least, and his face remained quizzical as he stared at the next stone in his
path.
"I agree, my Padawan," Obi-Wan said in a distracted tone. "There is something else at work here,
however. Last night as I fell asleep I had a most peculiar vision. This blade I will make, I feel very strongly
that it will be used for a great cause one day. None of these gems feel right, I must continue searching."
His curiosity piqued, Anakin now watched Obi-Wan with renewed interest, even as Utpoden's twin
suns sank below the horizon. Finally, Obi-Wan stumbled in his search, only to turn over that which he
tripped on and suck in a surprised breath of awe.
Even Anakin, once more bored by the tedious search and meditating with his eyes closed against
a tree, looked up, then jumped to his feet to close the distance.
Obi-Wan had lifted the stone he had nearly fell on and revealed a large gem, so brightly blue it
almost seemed white. He held it for a long time in his hands, staring deep into it, before nodding and
turning to Anakin.
"This is what I was looking for."
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
Anakin saw little of his Master over the next few days back on Coruscant. Obi-Wan had been
eager to begin work on his blade, but he was repeatedly called away as a consultant in strategic planning
sessions at the Republic's gleaming new military headquarters building located a few miles south of the
Jedi Temple.
When he did see Obi-Wan, usually over meals, his Master looked weary and worried, but seldom
divulged what knowledge he had gained from the meetings.
The increasingly focused tone of Obi-Wan and his other Masters had just the opposite effect on
Anakin, he stopped worrying so much about the construction of his lightsaber, and begun sneaking out to
see Padme more and more, even appearing with her at a diplomatic banquet on one of Coruscant's
satellite moon as her adviser from the Jedi Council.
As the days stretched into a few weeks, Anakin spent less and less time in his own quarters, and
his half-finished lightsaber hilt gathered a fine layer of dust atop it -- the cleaning droids were programmed
not to touch the Jedi weapons, lest there be an accident.
One morning, Anakin returned from a night at Padme's where he had held her close in the
moonlight as she fretted over the rumors of Confederate troops massing less than a parsec from her
home system. Naboo had begun a military build-up after its nightmarish enslavement at the hands of the
Trade Federation, but even a dozen years later, its forces were woefully incomplete next to a full-scale
army.
He had killed the lights in his quarters and lay down on his bunk to get a few hours sleep when

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

the door chimed and slid open to reveal Obi-Wan, fully dressed in his Jedi robes, a poorly-hidden look of
frustration on his face.
"You're still asleep? Did you not get my message yesterday evening?"
Anakin jolted up, pressing his wrinkled tunic down as his mind raced.
"I ... I'm sorry, Master, I felt ill yesterday after dinner and went to bed early, I have been asleep
since."
Obi-Wan appraised Anakin up and down, finding it odd that his Padawan would still be completely
dressed if he had come here seeking rest more than 12 hours ago.
"Are you better now?"
"Yes, yes, Master, thank you. But you look upset, Master, what is it?"
"Bureaucratic nonsense. Palpatine is courting an Outer Rim supplier of duracrete today, and the
corporate president is apparently the great-nephew of a Jedi Knight. He told Palpatine he wished a tour of
the Temple and to meet some of our order to convince him the ideals of his great uncle's generation are
still those of the Republic."
Anakin's face screwed up at the mention of an unknown civillain inside the Temple. "Master,
civillains aren't allowed inside the Temple! If word gets out that this person has received a tour, we'll have
those Holonet News droids beating down the door again."
Obi-Wan nodded, "I made the same argument to Master Windu when he told me of it yesterday,
but then he showed me the resources that President Nupro has to offer, and it's hard to argue that an
hour inside the Temple is worth more than that kind of relief to our own strained factories."
Anakin had no argument, he had visited one such mech factory with Padme during the early days
of the Wars, and had been horrified by the conditions that both sentient beings and droids were working.
As one who grew up treating droids as equals, Anakin believed the idea of working them non-stop until
they short-circuited was a despicable act.
Obi-Wan continued.
"Master Windu has asked that the two of us accompany him on the tour, Nupro is a bit of a Jedi
history buff, and knows both of our names from Geonosis and Naboo. Master Windu suggested we test
our new blades in a sparring match to showcase the 'Jedi prowess' to Nupro."
Anakin had mostly been nodding along with the boring idea of acting as a glorified tour guide for
some star-struck Outlander, but his nerves jangled when Obi-Wan mentioned the lightsaber. Anakin
glance toward his workbench was one of guilt, where the blade lay in three pieces, the gem still not
completely cut from its rocky prison.
He glance back at Obi-Wan, and noted that the hilt on his Master's belt was new and polished.
Clearly, Master Kenobi's exhaustion from long days discussing plans of war had not prevented him from
completing the task laid out for him by Master Yoda.
By the time he returned eye contact to Obi-Wan, he was filled with shame to see Kenobi staring
directly at the incomplete saber on the bench, his eyes widening in surprise, then narrowing in a mixture
of sadness and anger.
"Master, I ...." was all Anakin got out before Obi-Wan cut him off.
Obi-Wan strode to the table and lifted a piece of Anakin's incomplete blade, turning it over in his
hand.
"Anakin, this isn't even halfway finished. What have you been doing all this time?"
Knowing that telling the truth would doom both his future as a Jedi and perhaps Padme's as a
Senator, Anakin was frantic for an answer. Suddenly, his mind seemed to cool, slowly, and an answer, a
lie, but an answer nonetheless formed within him.
"I ... I had hoped we could work on them together, as we did when I was a boy, Master. It's been
so long since I made my first, I was hoping perhaps you could advise me on some of its finer points."
Anakin said this with such a touch of the innocent boy he had always been during their early
years together that Obi-Wan lost a touch of his frustration.
"Very well, but Master Yoda will be most displeased if he sees you bladeless." Obi-Wan hesitated.
"Here, take mine, I will tell him I have been too consumed with the intelligence sessions to finish mine in
time. I will start working in time for our lessons at night, so you can keep up with your trainings. Don't feel
bad about your saber, Anakin, they are not built easily."
He handed his new saber to Anakin, who took it wordlessly. But instead of relief, feelings of
resentment flooded him. Don't feel bad? Not easily built? He had said the lie to get out of a potentiallynightmarish explanation, but here was Master Obi-Wan, treating him like a boy again, like Anakin the

Padawan who was too old to be trained, who was only on Coruscant in the first place because Qui-Gon
Jinn loved a lost cause.
He managed to quell his anger deep inside, keeping his face neutral and walking a step behind
Obi-Wan as they headed for the training facility.
5
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

The training floor was largely deserted. Most of the Padawans had various lectures in the
morning hours, and nearly every available, able-bodied Jedi who was not a teacher was away assisting
the military in the ongoing war against the Separatists.
Master Fisto was waiting for Obi-Wan and Anakin, polishing the handles of his stock. Half a dozen
other beings stood in a semi-circle as the Jedi Master spoke of the difference of grips, handles and
blades.
The others listened, all seemingly interested in Fisto's exposition. Next to the rack, Master Yoda
nodded sagely as Fisto explained that there was no one true lightsaber design, but that a Jedi's bond to
the Force led him or her to build a blade that best fit his or her style of swordsmanship.
Across the main chamber, Jedi Master Mace Windu, who deferred only to Yoda on the Jedi
Council, was programming two dozen remotes to help him showcase the incredible reflexes and agility a
Jedi could command against multiple attackers.
On the other side of Master Fisto stood Chancellor Palpatine, robed in cobalt blue attire and
flanked by two of his red-clad, visored Royal Guards, nodding his head at Fisto's key points and turning to
ascertain the reaction of the alien who Anakin felt must surely be President Nupro.
Nupro was not really what Anakin had expected -- his idea of a industrial leader was that of a
stern elder, not the almost spritely turquoise-hued alien who stood excitedly in front of him, bobbing his
head atop a longer slender neck back and forth between Fisto's presentation and Windu's preparations.
Nupro's species was unknown to Anakin, whether that was from a lack of interest in the archives
pronounced sociological and anthropoloical sections or simply that he was a rare breed, and at the
moment, Anakin did not care, his attention focused solely and amazingly on the person standing to
Palpatine's immediate left, a person who was staring directly back into his face in wonder and
astonishment.
For Sen. Padme Amidala had been taken by surprise when the Supreme Chancellor had
suggested that both she and Sen. Bail Organa of Alderaan join him and President Nupro on the tour of
the Jedi Temple. For a long moment she suspected her secret was out, and that Palpatine might try to
sway her vote on key issues under the threat of revealing she and Anakin's forbidden union.
But even as she stood in front of the viewscreen unspeaking, the Chancellor had begun to speak
again, saying that Nupro had mentioned her as an impressive person he would be interested in meeting,
and that she might enjoy the tour of the Temple, giving how often crossing paths with the Jedi had been
fortuitous for her.
Padme could not deny her curiosity to see the inside of the famous Temple. Anakin very rarely
gave details of his life inside his walls, always focusing his energy and attention on her, and what she was
doing as she strove to make the lives of the masses better.
She had accepted Palpatine's request, reasoning that the Temple was a massive structure, and
the likelihood of encountering Anakin, who she had not seen in an official or public capacity in more than
a year, were slim.
And yet, there he was, handsome and tall, failing miserably in his attempts to not stare at her as
he came a step behind Master Kenobi, whose smile for her was earnest and honest, little did he know of
his Padawan's nightly deceptions.
She smiled back, striving to note Anakin with only the same pleasantries she gave Obi-Wan as
they filled in the semi-circle around Fisto. Organa exchanged a firm handshake with Obi-Wan and nodded
respectfully to Anakin, perhaps wary of gripping the other's cybernetic hand.
When Fisto concluded his presentation, Nupro lightly applauded and Fisto gave the industrialist a
small bow. Palpatine swung his attention to Windu and spoke in his calm, polite manner.
"Master Windu, are you ready to demonstrate your prowess to our friend?"
Windu looked up, a bit of tightness in his face.
"There appears to be a malfunction in the slave rig on the remotes, Chancellor. A few more

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

moments and I should be able to repair them. Perhaps the fencing demonstration should take place first."
Obi-Wan watched Nupro's face light up at the idea of seeing the sabers lit, and Palpatine nodded.
"Excellent, but perhaps we should watch from the observation blister above, from what Master
Fisto has told me, trainees tend to use this entire facility when they engage in a full workout, and I would
hate for us to get in the way."
Nupro looked slightly dismayed that he would not get to watch the display at point-blank range,
but Organa pointed out that the view from above would be superior given the Jedi penchant for acrobatics
and movement at great speed.
Fisto escorted the civillains out the entry way and up the spiral staircase to the observation
window, while Anakin and Obi-Wan took their over-robes off, while Yoda appraised the pair in silence.
Obi-Wan casaully walked to the rack of lightsabers as if he was perfectly in the right to do so
when Yoda's voice piped up from behind and below him.
"Master Obi-Wan? Where is your new lightsaber?"
Obi-Wan turned, forcing himself not to look at Anakin as he did and exhaled slowly. To stand
before the greatest Master he had ever known and lie, even if were to protect Anakin, still felt very wrong.
"I am sorry, Master, but with the strategy and planning sessions, I seem to have lost track of time
as of late. Anakin had to proceed without me, but I promise I will finish my new sword soon."
Yoda stared hard at Obi-Wan for a moment, then emitted a disappointed sigh.
"Too much to do? Not enough time? Master Obi-Wan, a Jedi without his blade is not complete,
without harmony he is. Even your Padawan, recovering from his strife on Geonosis has fashioned a new
blade for himself."
Anakin blanched at that "even", once again he felt belittled by one of his teachers. Yoda might be
reprimanding Obi-Wan, but it was Anakin who felt as though Yoda was directing the disappointment
toward him for his rashness in attacking Count Dooku alone.
Upon his return from Naboo to the Jedi Temple following his wedding to Padme, Anakin had
idolized by most of the Temple's Padawan residents, even by a few of the younger Knights, for daring to
confront the dark-side powered Dooku. His Masters however, had thought differently, sometimes caught
in discussion speculating if the war would already be over if Anakin had heeded Obi-Wan's advice and
attacked the Separatist leader in tandem.
Even as he began his training anew with Master Fisto, Anakin knew others were doubting his
ability to ever overcome his aggressiveness and rash tendencies. Not to mention he was now fighting with
one real arm and one largely made of gears, levers and mechanisms.
He had proven his skill with the sword to Master Fisto, but he suspected others, Obi-Wan
included, doubted he would ever be as promising with the blade as he had been in the months leading up
to the Battle of Geonosis. He decided that this opportunity, sparring with his own Master, would be a
perfect opportunity to show those who still doubted.
He was also thrilled to be showing off for Padme. While she had seen him do battle in the droid
foundries as well as the arena on Geonosis, he knew her last vision of him in combat was lying broken
and battered by Dooku's superior swordsmanship and mastery of the Force. He was determined to show
Padme that he was not destined to be a crippled veteran of the Clone Wars.
Yoda had now worked his way slowly up the staircase and as Anakin and Obi-Wan looked up,
saw his wizened face nod, signaling them to begin the demonstration. President Nupro, Anakin noticed
was dangerously close to scalding the top of his head on the light fixtures at the top of the observation
deck, so eagerly was he bobbing his neck up and down in anticipation.
Obi-Wan had selected a simplistic hilt from Fisto's rack of blades and now he and Anakin stood
some 10 feet apart from each other. They bowed in the classic repose and lit their blades at the same
time, Obi-Wan's humming brilliant green, Anakin's, although he still thought of it as his Master's blade, a
pristine blue-white glow.
Respecting the rules of engagement, Anakin held his blade in a purely defensive poise. Intensive
instruction from Master Koon had taught Anakin and every other Padawan learner that one always defers
the first offensive to one's superior.
While Anakin might have believed he was a better overall swordsman than his master, Obi-Wan
Kenobi was the only Jedi of thousands in the galaxy who had defeated a Lord of the Sith in single
combat. As brash as Anakin may have been, he knew when to show respect.
So he stood patiently as Obi-Wan, adjusting to the different feel of the green-bladed saber,
approached him. Obi-Wan went through the first basic set of attacks, with Anakin meeting each with

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

precision and ease. Clearly Obi-Wan was as uninterested in this showcase as Anakin had been upon first
hearing of it.
But when Obi-Wan finished his offensive, Anakin surprised his Master by launching into an
aggressive response, pushing Obi-Wan back across the chamber with a combination of upper cuts and
spinning maneuvers.
When they finally locked blades near the far wall, Obi-Wan locked eyes with Anakin, and the
younger man saw the confusion and surprise in his Master's eyes.
Whether Obi-Wan had realized that Anakin was attempting to prove himself as a showman, or he
just assumed the Padawan wanted to make the show as spectacular as possible for Nupro, Obi-Wan
proved he was up for the task.
Assuming the offensive, Obi-Wan faked a lunge, then cartwheeled over Anakin, whirling around
with a one-handed swipe that the Padawan blocked with a two-handed maneuver.
The duel intensified as both Jedi left their feet, soaring through the air in a display that at times
was as much a display of gymnastics as it was of sword play.
As Obi-Wan's endurance waned a bit, Anakin waded in, with hard combinations that forced his
Master to backpedal to keep his feet. Obi-Wan bumped against the rack of hilts and lost his concentration
momentarily. Anakin seized the opportunity to deliver a massive down cut which Obi-Wan barely blocked,
but lost his footing.
As he rolled back to his feet, Anakin used the Force to wrench the blade from his Master's hands,
sending it careening across the chamber to bounce off one of the walls.
Reacting on pure instinct, Obi-Wan executed a forward flip over his Padawan, then cartwheeled
and called his saber back to his hand, barely beating Anakin's next flurry of cuts and slices.
Driven backwards again, Obi-Wan resorted to parrying Anakin's blows, then counter-attacked, but
felt his strength ebbing from the late hours he had been keeping, and his growing exhaustion from the
spirited duel.
Feinting with one move, Anakin again ripped the blade from Kenobi's grip and threw it against a
weapons table. Obi-Wan ducked under an attack and flipped himself up onto the table, whirling again.
Anakin had not followed him this time, and from his raised vantage point, Obi-Wan found himself looking
up at the occupants of the observation booth.
Nupro, not surprisingly, was beside himself with glee, obviously believing himself a witness to an
exhibition that would make any HoloDoc on legends of the Jedi Order pale in comparison.
Padme and Master Yoda, rather surprisingly, shared a look that mixed disbelief, concern and a
slight touch of humor, as if neither could quite believe what they were seeing was real, and was sure that
the Master and Padawan were about to throw down their swords and embrace to celebrate a wellorchestrated performance.
The look on Chancellor Palpatine's face was one Obi-Wan would remember to his dying day. The
former senator from Naboo was staring directly at Anakin, his eyes wide and blazing, and the look he
gave, was, Obi-Wan had no other word to accurately depict it, predatorial.
All of these thoughts burned barely 10 seconds of time however, as Anakin attacked again,
pursuing Obi-Wan up to the table, then back down off it. Feeling they had done more than enough, ObiWan parried another barrage of attacks, then lifted his saber parallel to his body and bowed his head,
symbolizing his deference to a superior effort, and calling for an end to the duel.
With his head down and eyes closed for a brief meditation on his inferior skills, Obi-Wan never
saw what happened next. With the overwhelming surge of energy coursing through his body as Anakin
sought to best his Master and prove wrong anyone who had doubted him, all the Padawan's eyes saw in
this moment was an opening in his opponent's defenses.
Sensing victory, feeling another immense surge of power wash over him, Anakin stepped forward
and swung his blade to end the duel ...
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
Anakin's blade stopped short of its target, but not by his will, nor by a sudden defensive manuever
by Obi-Wan. As the blue-light energy arced toward Obi-Wan's mid-section, a brilliant line of bright violet
intercepted it, and Anakin was knocked backwards by the strength behind that light.
As if coming out of a dream, he blinked his eyes to see Master Windu standing there, staring

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

back at him in disbelief, the Jedi Master's lightsaber extended in front of Obi-Wan's defenseless form.
Startled by the sound of another clash of blades, Obi-Wan had looked up in time to see Anakin
stumble backward. He was surprised by Master Windu's proximity to him, but later remembered Windu
had not joined the others upstairs, having been determined to fix the slave rig on the remote units.
For a long moment, none of the three Jedi spoke, but finally Master Windu, eyes still bright and
fixed on Anakin, whispered in a hoarse tone, "Anakin, what in the galaxy are you doing?"
Anakin had no answer, no answer at all, as he stood trembling, his still-human arm suddenly
hanging limply with the blade clutched between cold fingers.
"Disarm yourself, Anakin." Windu spoke in the same ragged whisper,that rose as Anakin made no
sign of having heard him. "Dis-arm, NOW."
Anakin, looking again as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, absently flicked the switch on
the lightsaber Obi-Wan had made and given to him. The muscles in his hand spasmed and he dropped it
to the floor with a clatter.
Anakin's eyes were wet as he met Obi-Wan's gaze, with his Master slowly lowering and
extinguishing his own blade.
"I'm sorry, Master .... I'm so sorry, I ... I."
Anakin bowed his head and Windu shot a glance to Obi-Wan, who nodded. Pulling his cloak
around him, Windu moved abruptly to the door and exited, where he was met by the observation party.
Mace Windu knew Yoda had seen the truth in Anakin's eyes, but for the remainder of the delegation,
particularly President Nupro, the cover story that Skywalker's cybernetic hand had malfunctioned, leaving
him powerless to control his actions, would hold for now.
Obi-Wan let Anakin weep briefly before addressing him.
"Do you know what happened to you, Anakin?"
His tall Padawan finally summoned the courage to look up, and he nodded humbly.
"The Dark Side."
Obi-Wan nodded slightly.
"Yes, remember what Master Yoda has always taught, the Dark Side is quick to join you in a fight.
But a Jedi never loses control of himself or his actions, Anakin. The Force is his ally, not his Master. You
have to be able to keep your feelings in check, lest the Dark Side tempt you again."
The words stung Anakin, as much as when he had vowed in the weeks after avenging his
mother's death that he would never touch the Dark Side again. But here in this chamber, surrounded by
the beings he most respected and the woman he loved, it had nearly consumed him, and directed him
toward murder.
He took a deep breath, bent at the knees and picked up the fallen lightsaber, presenting it handle
first back to Obi-Wan.
"Here, Master, the blade belongs to you. I shouldn't have let you take the blame for not
constructing my own."
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Thank you, Anakin, we'll have to start your new sword soon as well, or Master Yoda will have us
dusting the archives in place of the maintenance droids."
The joke brought a light smile to Anakin's face, but he just nodded and put the blade back on his
belt. Obi-Wan stood still another moment then broke the silence.
"I'm going back to my quarters for a nap before my next strategy session, we can talk about what
lesson to pursue when I return for dinner tonight."
Anakin gave a quiet "Yes, Master." and watched Obi-Wan leave the chamber, leaving him quite
alone. He wandered over to the remotes that Master Windu had been working on, and in less than a
minute, located the problem, quickly restoring the remotes to working order.
With nothing to do and Padme probably still among the tour group led by the Chancellor and
Masters Yoda and Windu, Anakin picked up another of the training facility's sabers and lit its blue blade as
the remotes rose to life in complex shapes above, around and behind him.
Anakin Skywalker stared deep into that blue-white light ...
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________

55
The chime sounded again and Vader looked up, shaking his stare into the lightsaber's glow and

activating the comm switch at his side, deactivating Kenobi's sword at the same time.
Moff Tarkin's voice came harshly over the comm, "Lord Vader, are you there."
"Yes."
"We have exited hyperspace and are approaching the Yavin system, a sensor sweep is in
progress to determine the Rebels exact location, please come to the control center."
"As you wish."
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Time passed.
The Rebel base was located and the Death Star began its ponderous orbit toward the moon
where the base was so cleverly hidden inside an ancient temple.
Tarkin felt confident that the Rebels would either flee or entirely or launch a small fleet of capital
ships to try and take out the super-laser before it could strike.
Vader's intuition told him otherwise, and sent him inexplicably from the control center toward the
lower levels of the Death Star.
It was there that a Lieutenant encountered him and told him of the single-man Y and X-Wings
barreling toward the space station, easing their way through its magnetic field and heading for a long
trench.
Vader did not know the full details of the battle station, but he had no doubt the Rebels had
discovered or believed they had discovered a flaw in the design that could be exploited. He had said as
much to the Emperor when the construction had begun and again at its conclusion, but when the
Emperor's mind was made up, no being in the galaxy could change it.
Vader led the Death Star's two TIE squadrons into space and engaged the enemy. The Dark Lord
had not engaged in this type of dogfighting space combat in years, except in his private simulator on
Coruscant, but he led the charge, eliminating 17 ships as the Rebels now found their assault limited by
both the attacking Imperial vessels and the massive amount of fire coming from the Death Star's
defenses.
Vader and his wingmates zoomed down the trench time and again, now fully aware that the
Rebels' objective was to fire a missile into a miniscule exhaust port. One pilot nearly made it before Vader
picked off his starboard engine.
He and his wingmates chased the three last X-Wings. One pulled out with damage, the second
met death at Vader's hands.
The third ...
Reaching out to the third pilot through the Force set Vader's pulse racing. Here was an opponent,
here was a being drawing on the Force itself to make himself a better pilot.
The X-Wing dodged and danced, and Vader tracked it relentlessly. His heart pounded at the
chase, so long since any opponent had been any more the slightest of challenges to the Lord of the Sith.
Without even realizing it, Vader spoke aloud.
"The Force is strong in this one."
Idle chatter was not something Vader engaged in, he spoke only when necessary, preferring to
allow his actions dictate his intent. His mind suddenly connected the pilot ahead of him with the boy
whose rage he had felt after striking down Kenobi onboard the Death Star? Might they be one and the
same?
The X-Wing lurched as one of Vader's lasers pierced its astromech, and again Vader spoke
aloud, the thrill of the hunt overwhelming him.
"I have you now."
He centered his targeting-sights on the X-Wing and slowly squeezed the laser triggers.
A flicker of motion and a feeling of death distracted Vader's concentration. To his right, one of his
TIE escorts exploded in a ball of flame.
"What?" Vader demanded.
The other TIE pilot broke radio silence with a terse "Look out!". The two elite TIE pilots handpicked to fly wing duties to Darth Vader knew their place was to follow orders, never interfere and speak
only if absolutely necessary. Neither pilot has spoken as much as a syllable since they had launched out
of the Death Star hangars.

A check down to his sensors indicated another ship angling down toward the trench, mostlyobscured from view by the blazing Yavin sun. The ship fired again and clipped Vader's remaining
wingmate, who panicked, jerking his ship laterally in the narrowing trench and clipping Vader's own wings,
sending him into a uncontrolled vertical spin out of the trench.
5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Time passed.
Vader righted his ship after only two moments of spinning, but angled his TIE away from the
Death Star, feeling the tension from the battle station mounting to a fever pitch.
Despite his distance from the Death Star, Vader's craft was still rocked by the shock wave when it
exploded, and the light was enough to singe his tired eyes, even incased in his dark helmet.
A normal TIE pilot, alone in his single-man ship and in the middle of nowhere, would have died
there, either running out of air, dying of thirst or hunger or simply drifting, unable to contact help without
the use of long-range communications.
Darth Vader was no normal pilot ... and this was no normal TIE.
After running a diagnostics check to ensure all systems were functioning within their normal
parameters, Vader used the navigation computer to find the closest Imperial base, and activated the TIE's
hyperdrive.
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________
Darth Vader's eyes were transfixed on the blue-light white reflected on the polished floor of the
Emperor's throne room on Coruscant. Vader was bowed on one knee, head bent at the neck, and had
been for some time.
He had come to the Imperial Palace at once, after arriving in-system aboard the Imperial Corvette
Nighthawk. He had made contact with the Emperor from the Nighthawk when he first docked there a
week earlier. The Emperor had been short, commanding Vader to file his report in person, rather than
sending it ahead of him.
Vader had expected one of two reactions from the Emperor. Outrage over the Death Star's
destruction that likely would have resulted in severe punishment from Vader on down, or the
scapegoating of Grand Moff Tarkin, who had boldly eliminated the political threat of Alderaan with the
push of a button and as the ranking military officer, had accepted Vader's plan to track the Rebels by
letting the Princess and her comrades escape and take out their hiden base.
Instead, the Emperor sat on his throne-like chair and said nothing, eyes closed in meditation, and
Vader, stayed on one knee, taking controlled, mechanized breaths and trying to ascertain what his Master
was thinking ... or plotting.
Abruptly, the Emperor's pale yellow eyes opened, and Vader could feel the stare boring into him.
"Lord Vader, where is Kenobi's lightsaber?"
It was perhaps the last question Vader had expected, and the last he had an answer for. His
mention of the duel with Kenobi and the Knight's utter vanishing had not seemed to faze his Master as he
related the entire tale more than hour ago.
"My Master?"
"You stated that Kenobi's blade and robe were all that were left of him after you struck him down.
Imperial Intelligence reports they secured the robe, but found no trace of any weapon."
"I ... I secured his blade myself, Master. I felt it would be safer in my care."
The Emperor stood and walked slowly until he stood just in front of Vader.
"Did you now? And were you able to unlock any mysteries of the Force or save the Death Star
from complete annihilation with it, Lord Vader?"
"No, my Master."
"You disappoint me, Lord Vader."
"I am sorry, I was surprised by Kenobi's appearance on the Death Star. I thought him long dead. I
thought my Master's weapon might provide some insight into where he had been hiding."
It was a weak lie, but again the Emperor seemed to ignore it, although Vader was sure he felt
some surge of anger from the Emperor when he mentioned Kenobi by name.
"Perhaps I can succeed where you have failed, Lord Vader. Give the weapon to me."
Vader once again felt surprise at the Emperor's knowledge that not only did he have the weapon,

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

but he had it safely hidden away on his belt. Before his surprise could look like hesitatition, Vader
unsnapped Kenobi's blade from his belt and handed it to the Emperor, keeping his head down out of
respect all the while.
The Emperor tucked the blade inside one of his own dark robes and walked past his servant.
Vader could hear the two red-clad Royal Guards snap to attention and activate the turbolift as the
Emperor approached.
"Lord Vader, there is one more issue, rise."
Darth Vader stood and turned to face his Master, whose eyes gleamed as he stared at his pupil
from just outside the turbolift car.
The Emperor raised his hands and from his fingertips, pale blue lightning erupted, closing the
distance between the two Sith Lords in a fraction of a second, hitting Vader's entire body and knocking
him off his feet.
The Emperor walked forward as Vader's body shook involuntarily, the raw electricity wreaking
havoc on his largely-cybernetic frame like a droid shot by an ion cannon.
The Emperor stood over the fallen giant and unleashed another volley of Force lightning into his
helpless pupil, smoke rose from seared cloth and flesh as Vader twitched uncontrollably and his breathing
came ragged and weak.
Vader's helmet seemed incredibly heavy as he lifted it to look up into the controlled but deadly
stare of the Emperor.
The Emperor's voice was barely above a whisper, but to Vader it sounded as loud as the roar of a
docking cruiser.
"Never forget, Lord Vader. You have but one Master."
Vader's head slumped back under the weight of his helmet. His muscles spasmed as he remotely
heard the Emperor turn and walk back to the turbolift, then heard the doors close and the car speed away.
Vader's mind reeled from the pain. He had felt it once before, a lifetime ago when he had first
battled Count Dooku on Geonosis. It scalded his flesh then and Dooku had severed most of his arm.
When he fought Dooku a second time, the former Jedi Master had still been the stronger of the
pair at the beginning of their duel, and the Force lightning had again pierced him, stabbing like a thousand
daggers and nearly-rendering him unconscious.
When that battle had finally ended, the Emperor had promised him that his loyalty to the Dark
Side would prevent him he from ever having to endure that sort of pain again.
The Emperor had lied.
Several moments passed as Vader lie on the floor of the throne room, his breathing slowly
returned to normal as his artificial circuitry corrected itself, and he was slowly able to stand.
Limping badly, Vader made his way to the window and stared out into the brightly-lit Coruscant
night.
"No," Vader whispered to himself, unevenly but with a undertone of defiance.
"I shall never forget."