Tales from the Unknown Regions (Collaborative)

Story #7: Despair

"I will not fight you." Luke's calm voice echoed through the pillars, determination underscoring hit intent. He would save his Father....

Even here, Vader's voice boomed. "Give yourself to the dark side. It is the only way you can save your friends." A pause, a note of...triumph(?)...entering his tone. Almost as if he'd already expected this. "Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for your twin sister."

Luke's eyes shot open, panic replacing the calm that he'd tried to maintain. ...Leia...! Luke's thoughts ran rampant as his worry for his sister grew to new heights. Imagined horrors--each next one worse than the one that came before it--inundated him. ...no...NO... Terror gave way to anger, a primal rage that washed away all rational thought.

"NO!" With a snap-hiss, Luke's lightsaber ignited, stabbing towards the hulking shadow that was Vader. Taken by surprise, the Sith Lord's hasty retreat in the cramped pillars caused him to slam the back of his helmet on one of the low-hanging stanchions. It wasn't enough to do much damage but it did disorient him.

Pressing his attack, Luke's offensive was savage, pushing Vader back within the Emperor's Chamber. As Vader's defenses faltered, Luke slammed his lightsaber ever harder against his Father's, green overwhelming red. Knocking Vader's saber wide, Luke's next swing took his hand at the wrist, sending it and the now-useless lightsaber flying.

"You will never again threaten my sister." Luke's pronouncement came from clenched teeth, fury clouding his vision as well as his better judgement.

"Good!" The Emperor's genial voice acted as a balm, soothing Luke's rage. "Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!"

Looking from Vader's excised hand to his own artificial replacement, Luke now saw the Emperor's plan, saw just how close he'd come to succumbing. "Never. I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me." Gripping his saber tightly in his hands and with a burst of Force Speed, Luke's flash step took him within striking distance of the Emperor, the Sith Lord seemingly taken by surprise. As Luke's lightsaber arced through the air, the deadly green blade aimed at the Emperor's exposed throat, he noticed that the Sith Lord's eyes did not so much as blink, the expression on his face one of...amusement?

With a suddenness that shocked him, Luke's lightsaber stopped short of the Emperor, a red blade interjecting itself between the two. Swiveling only his eyes, what Luke saw left him confounded, abject despair overwhelming him. "...no..." He whispered.

In an explosion of movement, his opponent took advantage of Luke's uncertainty and anguish, the red-bladed lightsaber barely deflected as each orbit came closer to striking true. ...But...how...? Luke's utter confusion left him speechless as well as utterly bewildered, leaving him vulnerable to his opponent's swift Force Push. Simultaneously, Force Lightning struck Luke, launching him through the air. Hitting the opposite wall hard, Luke slid down to the floor, his body broken, his mind shattered.

"Excellent, apprentice!" The Emperor's voice lauded as two figures came into Luke's view. Looking down at him, two pairs of yellow Sith eyes stabbing into Luke's perplexed blue, the Emperor placed an almost fatherly hand upon the shorter figure. Having somewhat recovered they were soon joined by Vader, the Sith Lord's massive silhouette framing the two smaller people in front of him. "You see Young Skywalker, as much as I would have liked for you to serve me, I do not need you." Spreading his hands theatrically, he continued. "Besides, thanks to your Father...absconding with her, I have already found a much more willing apprentice."

Turning to the smaller figure, the Emperor's smile vanished, his faux affable tone a thing of the past. "Kill him."

With a nod, a soft feminine voice floated from the figure's dark hood. "Yes, my Master."

As despondency settled over Luke like a shroud, the last thing that he saw before the lightsaber blade fell was Leia's shadowed face, the red light exposing a daemon's mask of hatred belonging to the Emperor's newest Sith Lord, Darth Proditora.