Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Star Wars. And I still don't own Ewan McGregor...
Note: This is the sequel to Legacy of the Sith. Sorry it took so long to post it.
Legacy of the Jedi
Chapter 1: Not the Beginning, Not the End
Darth Vader sat before a holographic screen, trying his very best to process the information flashing before him. The Death Star's whereabouts are still unknown. The Imperial Fleet surrounding the Endor system is just sitting there, probably as stunned as the Rebel Alliance Fleet that the huge space station suddenly disappeared!
Vader wondered, very briefly, how Palpatine would have reacted to this news, if he had lived long enough to hear it...
With the death of Darth Sidious, Vader had become the Master Darth. Incidentally, he was also now Emperor, according to Palpatine's Last Will and Testament, which was left on a tiny hard drive left in a secret safe. One would think that Vader was, at that moment, the most powerful man in the galaxy. Ironically, he'd never felt more helpless in his entire life.
At Palpatine's insistence, a new Death Star had been constructed. The plans had been purposely leaked by the Empire to the Rebel Alliance, in hope that they would try and attack the station, thinking that it was defenseless. But all along, the laser aboard the Death Star was operational, and a trap was supposed to sprung for the rebels.
However, there were unforseen developments that have hurled those careful plans into total chaos. The most significant development had been Palpatine's unexpected terminal illness. It had prevented the once-mighty Master of the Sith from even making it to Endor, where the Death Star was being constructed. Despite this, Palpatine struggled to keep his condition as secret as possible; not even Vader was told. It was only by the will of the Force that Vader happened to return to Coruscant to find the dying Emperor in his chambers...
Vader recalled what he had done when he found the frail, pathetic form of Darth Sidious with his old lightsaber in hand, ready to attack him. Some would have called it a mercy killing, but others would have called it murder... He put Palpatine out of his misery. So, even though, among the Sith, Vader's lightsaber blow would have been considered more than fair, indeed, was considered an honor, most people do not understand the ways of the Sith. Including Grand Admiral Thrawn...the one who had been entrusted to to oversee the final stages of construction of the second Death Star
Vader's very first act as Emperor had been to order Thrawn to evacuate the Death Star so that the Imperial Fleet, under his order, would destroy the station. Thrawn had decided that he would keep it for himself, since Palpatine had given him separate orders, long ago, to protect the station at all costs, even from Darth Vader. So, in the midst of the Battle of Endor, he took the Death Star into hyperspace, shocking everyone.
Though he could ill afford it, Vader smirked; all the plans that the Rebel Alliance had made to try and destroy the Death Star were in vain. From what Vader had heard, Rogue Squadron hadn't even gotten within a kilometer of the station before Thrawn pulled out of Endor's orbit. That news had come from his old Jedi Master, General Obi-Wan Kenobi. It appeared the Rebel Alliance had welcomed him, and Jedi Master Yoda, to take part in the attack.
Master Kenobi, who Vader had killed four years ago on the first Death Star, was now alive again. Darth Vader had found out the secret of manipulating the midiclorians to create and sustain life, a trick that only one of the most legendary of Sith had been able to perform. So, as revenge for appearing whenever the hell he wanted and gnawing on Vader's conscience whenever he did, Vader pulled Obi-Wan from the netherworld of the Force back into the living realm.
At least, that was Vader's official reason for doing it. The opposite of killing! Quite a switch for him, "Death Incarnate." The unofficial reason? Well, maybe, just maybe, Vader missed Obi-Wan. A little. Very little. He was a judgmental, persecuting, nasty intellectual, in Vader's opinion. But he was also a damned good teacher. And Vader's son was still lacking proper Jedi training, and though apparently Luke had found Yoda on Dagobah and did some training with him, his obligations to the Rebel Alliance made it difficult to remain in seclusion so long. Worried that any number of calamities could befall the young man, Vader demanded that Obi-Wan Kenobi complete Luke's training.
Vader could not ignore the maddening voice inside him that always reminded him of his nightmares. Yes, Luke had trained with Obi-Wan, and his skills were supposed to be complete. With his newfound confidence in the Force, Luke had himself and Master Yoda smuggled aboard the Death Star by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Thanks to the efforts of the tiny party, the laser that was capable of blowing up entire planets aboard the Death Star was not operational at the moment. They sabotaged the laser, with the idea of keeping Thrawn from using it against the Rebel Fleet or possibly the forest moon of Endor itself. But now, because the team had not managed to leave the Death Star before Thrawn blew out of there, they were trapped on the station.
He hadn't gotten that story from Obi-Wan. No, the only way he knew any of that information was because his secret new Sith Apprentice had told him, through the mental bond the Master and Apprentice develop over time. It was far more powerful than a communicator, and virtually undetectable, except possibly by the Jedi nearby. According to his apprentice, Vader's son, along with Yoda and the Wookiee, were trapped in a ray shield. At this very moment, his apprentice was on his way to central control to shut the ray shields down.
Han Solo had been alone before. It never used to bother him. Back before he'd rescued Chewie from Imperial officers hell-bent on killing him for trying to escape a lifetime of slavery, he'd lived up to his name. He had been solo. It was only very recently that he learned that, even in moments like this one, he was never really alone.
He was aboard the deadliest superweapon ever created, one lone rebel, among thousands of Imperial stormtroopers and officers, some of whom he might actually know from his own days as Lieutenant Solo of the Imperial Navy. Boy was he worried one of them might run into him! So far, he'd been lucky--no. According to his master, there was no such thing as luck. At first, Han thought that was ridiculous; how many times had Han relied on luck to get him out of trouble, to get him money, to be in the right place at the right time?
But Darth Vader had shown him, one fateful night on Tatooine a few months ago, just how little luck really had to do with Han Solo's survival, and how much the Force was responsible...
Han now had a blaster in one hand, and a lightsaber in the other. And if his master had his way, Han wouldn't carry the blaster at all.
From the details of the Death Star plans that he'd memorized, Han knew that Central Control was only a few stories up from his current location. He wished that Luke had thought to bring Artoo with him; the astromech droid might have been able to deactivate the ray shields that held Luke, Yoda, and Chewie trapped a few floors down. As it was, he had to get to the central control to free them before troopers arrived to retrieve the Jedi and the Wookiee.
But even if he gets them free, they still can't get out of the Death Star until it drops out of hyperspace! And even if they get out of the Death Star, when the hell would they be? Would the Rebel Alliance be able to find the Death Star in time? What if Thrawn repaired the laser before that? Han had a sinking feeling that there was a repair crew already hard at work down there.
Han also had a sudden, horrible thought that Leia might not be safe. He was not happy that Kenobi had stayed down on Endor with her. It turned out that Leia was feeling a lot more for Obi-Wan Kenobi than just respect for the Jedi Master. The spark for the seething hatred, the fuel Han needed to get himself at his peak of power, was the memory of seeing Obi-Wan and Leia in a passionate kiss. In that moment, Han had found out what was most important to him in this entire galaxy, and just how easily he could lose her! To this end, he decided to confront the one who had set this entire chain of events into motion: Darth Vader! And it was during that confrontation that Han's life completely changed forever...
Up ahead, he saw a line of troopers marching down the endless corridor. Swiftly stowing the lightsaber and blaster out of sight, Han played it cool. After all, he was dressed in Imperial uniform. And the troopers were to always obey anyone in uniform... A sneaky smile crossed his lips, and he called the Force to his aid.
Stepping out ahead of the line, Han cleared his throat. The Force has a strong effect on the weak minded, indeed. "Troopers, we're needed in the central control room. Follow me," he ordered them. All the clones turned to the other Imperial officer, a captain. He was the one who needed the Force mind trick...
"Oh, what, um, Lieutenant...?" the captain stammered.
"Lieutenant Draygo, Captain. We're needed in central control as a guard in case of attack. Grand Admiral Thrawn beleives that the rebels that infiltrated before we took off might try to gain access."
"Oh, yes, of course, please, lead the way," the young captain stammered, eager to please. Han smirked slightly as he took control of the clone stormtroopers and led the way...
Luke Skywalker, new Jedi Knight, was trapped in what Master Yoda called a "ray sheild." Luke had never heard of such a thing. Chewbacca and Yoda, however, both informed Luke that it was, indeed, a weapon that was used against Force-sensitives to imprison them. He would not be able to bust out, even with his lightsaber.
"Chewie, can you get out?" Luke suddenly asked.
Chewbacca growled, then Yoda glared at Luke. "If he cared not about getting burned to death, he could," Yoda snorted.
"Sheesh, it was just a thought," Luke grumbled. He hated being immobile. Even as a child, Aunt Beru's worst punishment for him was to make him sit still in his bedroom. He got bored easily. "How come Han wasn't able to blast the controls?"
"Effective, ray sheilds are, as long as no allies of Jedi could blast the controls, yes? In days past, Jedi had Clone troopers as allies. The Seperatists learned quickly to keep the controls sheilded from blasters," Yoda explained.
"Clone troopers, a lot like the stormtroopers the Empire has now...it must have been such a different galaxy back then. I mean, who would have even thought that this Thrawn fellow would have been smart enough to put ray sheilds in the Death Star to begin with?" Luke moped.
"Use this time to meditate, you should," Yoda reminded Luke. And he followed his own advice. Luke watched Yoda settle into the serene state of concentration on nothing. It served to inspire Luke to do the same thing. Finally, his meditation skills had sharpened. He could now manage to shut out virtually all distractions for at least ten minutes. He had been taught, by both Yoda and Obi-Wan, than a Jedi can only truly transcend through deep meditation.
What was transcending, though? Luke closed his eyes and cleared his mind of his concerns about Han, Leia, and even his father. He found himself thinking about where he'd like the new Jedi Temple to be. He hadn't discussed this with either Obi-Wan or Yoda yet. But he didn't want it to be on Coruscant. No doubt, if they even went for the idea of having the New Temple somewhere else, they'd want to know where it would be. An amusing vision of taking over Jabba's Palace, which was also where the B'Omarr Monks dwelled, made Luke smirk in his meditation.
The image of a jungle then took over. Luke thought he recognized the place. There seemed to be some buildings there, but they were vine-covered to the point of being nearly invisible. then in a flash, Luke remembered the place. It was the fourth moon of Yavin! Where the Rebel Alliance had made their base back when he first joined them. It was where, in a way, he had transcended, from farm boy to pilot extrordinaire...
A slithering sensation crept up Luke's neck. His eyes flew open. Through the hazy ray shield, he thought he could see two short gray shapes. Bipedal, definitely sentient alien beings of some sort. Luke shivered. These beings were not friendly...
"Master?" Luke spoke sharply to Yoda.
"See them, I do. Can do nothing, yet..." Yoda answered. Chewie began growling loudly. It appeared that Luke wasn't the only one who didn't like the looks of those creatures. "Careful, my friend. Know these beings, I do now," Yoda warned Chewie. "Noghri, they are. But why do Noghri walk this ship?"
"Our Clan Brother, to whom we owe an eternal Honor Debt, has us protect Grand Admiral Thrawn," one of them answered in a soft hissing sort of voice.
And with that introduction, a squad of stormtroopers escorted a tall humanoid male dressed in a bright white Imperial uniform. Upon closer look Luke could see the light blue color of his skin and of course, the red eyes. "And so, here we have the notorious Luke Skywalker!"
"Thrawn," Luke responded quietly.
"Yes. You are supposedly the one that even the all-powerful Darth Vader couldn't catch." Thrawn's red eyes scanned all three of his captives. "I'm afraid we haven't met, Jedi..." Thrawn began with a searching tone.
"Jedi Master Yoda," Luke supplied.
"Indeed! Well, you can't say that the Rebel Alliance doesn't send the very best, can you? It's an honor, actually, to meet someone of your reknown, Master Jedi. It will be an even bigger honor to execute you later." he grinned tightly. "Chewbacca? Yes, I noticed you all on the video feeds. Which makes me wonder where Captain Solo is. Yes, I know he's here..."
As if on cue, the ray sheild dissolved around the three rebels. The stormtroopers closed in around them, even as Chewie roared and aimed his blasters. Luke's and Yoda's green lightsabers lit up the corridor. "Well, looks like I got my answer. Fire!"
The stormtroopers began shooting, and over the blasterfire, Thrawn called to the two Noghri. "Follow me back up the central control!" After all, it was looking much more like Solo was going to be a bigger problem than he'd first thought...
Luke wanted to follow Thrawn as he made his retreat, but first, he'd have to cut through all these troopers. Yoda fought valiantly, and Chewie was taking down as many as he could, but Luke couldn't, in good conscience, leave them behind. t was all the Jedi could do to keep from getting hit. In the meantime, Thrawn slipped away, taking his two Noghri bodyguards with him.
Another ship was in hyperspace at that moment, but headed in the opposite direction as the Death Star. Obi-Wan was ordered to take Princess Leia back to Coruscant. They left Endor in his ship, the Phoenix, a Nubian passenger cruiser that Vader had given him when he first agreed to take Luke on as a Padawan. Obi-Wan had trouble figuring out why he was still taking orders from Vader. Surely he didn't still owe him any allegience, especially how he'd tried (more than once) to undermine what Obi-Wan had tried to do for Luke. Especially after Vader had admitted that he'd tricked Obi-Wan in a most cruel fashion to compel him to do his bidding!
Every so often, the moment of Obi-Wan's painful re-entry into a living body played in his mind. Vader's power in the Dark Side of the Force was surely complete! Anakin Skywalker now knew how to lie. He told Obi-Wan that he had the ability to kill Obi-Wan's new body and keep his soul trapped inside, make him into a rotting corpse, if he didn't obey his orders. A nasty lie, designed to keep Obi-Wan down at heel, using fear to control him. But was it really a lie?
Had Vader really changed his mind? Had he really forgiven Obi-Wan for what happened on Mustafar? Was Anakin Skywalker really restored under all that armor? Obi-Wan watched Princess Leia, who looked deeply depressed and sullen in her seat nearby. If those things were true, then it would also mean that Obi-Wan really was free from that evil threat of becoming a living corpse. It also meant that Darth Vader had a new apprentice after all; his apprentice Sith had attacked Obi-Wan in the cave on Dagobah. Unbelievably, it was Han Solo! With a Lightsaber? And he was damned good with that lightsaber! Nearly killed Obi-Wan in an impromptu duel!
Just wait until Princess Leia found out about that!
But had it all been a weird dream? After all, when he last saw the space bum that Leia was in love with, Obi-Wan had tried, in vain, to sense the Force was with him! And if Han Solo wasn't really a Sith apprentice, then all of the other things that had happened in that cave were false. This was why Obi-Wan was in such a conundrum. And this was why, when Vader ordered that Leia be brought to the captial of the Empire, he still obeyed.
The uncertainty was gnawing at Obi-Wan. But if he made one bad move, a painful death awaited him. A bad move would be considered: disobeying Vader, bringing back the Jedi order, and acting on his feelings for Leia. That would be considered an especially bad move! And he hated it, because he wanted to go over to Leia, to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be alright.
At his other side, Obi-Wan sensed the Force at work. He glanced to his left, and there was Qui-Gon, the infamous "netherworldjedi" who began texting Luke just to tell everyone that he was still dead. The Jedi Master who, accidentally, had found the path to true immortality. Which was ironic, since he, more than any other Jedi that Obi-Wan had ever known, was attuned so very much to the Living Force.
/I know that look on your face, Master. I think I'm about to get a lecture.../
"How many times must I tell you, Obi-Wan Kenobi? You must stop worrying!" the ethereal Jedi Master admonished him.
/If you encountered Vader's new apprentice like I had, you'd be worried too! Especially if you couldn't prove he even is a Sith/
"Obi-Wan, get a midiclorian count on your rival, if you're not certain. That's all I can say about that subject..." Qui-Gon advised him cryptically. Out of the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan noticed Leia perk up.
"Obi-Wan, is there...something...here?" she asked.
"It is a presence you are sensing, Leia. My Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, sometimes appears to communicate with me."
"Oh, like you used to do with Luke?" Leia asked. "I wonder why you never tried to communicate to me that way."
"I..I don't know why I didn't. Well, it's obvious that you will need to be trained in the ways of the Force, Leia," Obi-Wan dithered.
"I want you to train me!" Leia decided instantly. Obi-Wan had a sudden bad feeling that this was another one of the things Vader would put on Obi-Wan's NOT-TO-DO list. In spite of this, Qui-Gon was nodding enthusiastically on Obi-Wan's other side. The idea of Obi-Wan and Leia together seemed to oddly appeal to the late Jedi Master.
Well, that was nice, Obi-Wan supposed. After all, everyone else seemed dead set against it. Were they right?