CHAPTER EIGHT
Darth Sidious' blazing, sinister yellow eyes focused carefully on Luke as he meditated. Apparently, the Jedi Knight did not seem to notice the Sith Lord at all as he paced back and forth.
"You will turn," Sidious said telepathically to Luke's mind. "I am sure of it."
"Six years makes no difference," Luke responded. :It didn't work the first time. What makes you think it will now?"
Sidious chuckled. "You know you are no match for my powers. Besides..."
The Emperor ceased his pacing and grinned. "Don't you want to know why your father turned to the dark side?"
Luke quickly opened his eyes. "What did you say?"
"Don't you wish to find out how and why the great Anakin Skywalker fell and become Darth Vader?"
Luke eyed Sidious suspiciously. "How do you plan on telling with my trust for you?"
Sidious laughed. "Tell you? My dear boy..." A sinister grim crawled onto his face. "I'm going to show you."
Before Luke could inquire, Sidious placed his bleached hand on the Jedi Knight's forehead and for a while, he saw nothing but white.
When he awoke, Luke found himself on Tatooine, inside what he immediately recognized to be the garage at the Lars' Homestead. The same place where he first saw the hologram of Princess Leia...where his journey began...
Inside the garage were two beings. One was a young man, who wore dark brown Jedi robes, and had dusty blond hair and blue eyes, not unlike Luke himself. The other person was a young woman, wearing a blue dress and with brown hair and eyes quite similar to Leia's.
The man was shaking; whether it was with anger or sadness, Luke could not tell. "Why did she have to die?" the man asked, to either himself or the woman. "Why couldn't I save her? I could have!"
The woman looked sadly at the man, whom Luke soon realized was his father. "Sometimes there are things we can't fix," she said to Anakin. "You're not all powerful, Ani..."
"Well, I should be!" Anakin cried. His voice seemed to shake the earth and nearly distorted the scene in Luke's head. "Someday I will be! I will be the most powerful Jedi ever!"
He turned to the woman, his face contorted in anger. "I will even learn to stop people form dying!"
Luke heard a faint laugh in the air as the scene changed. This time, his father was now sitting in a dimly lit chamber, across from the elderly, green-skinned Jedi Master Yoda.
"Premonitions..." Yoda murmured, rubbing his wrinkled chin. "Premonitions..." He turned to Anakin. "These visions you have...?"
"They are of pain..." Ankain replied darkly. "Suffering...death..."
"Yourself, you speak of?" Yoda asked. "Or someone you know?"
There was a small pause before Anakin said, "Someone."
Yoda leaned forward. "Close to you?" he asked almost skeptically.
Anakin bowed his head. "Yes..."
"Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin," the Jedi Master said firmly. "The fear of loss is a path to the dark side..."
Anakin rose his head. "I do not want these visions to come true, Master Yoda."
"Death is a natural part of life," Yoda said. "Rejoice for those who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is."
Once again, the scene shifted, this time into nothingness.
"Confused?" the voice of Palpatine asked "Yes, I believe you are. Your father joined me to protect his wife, Padme Amidala."
"But he didn't, did he?" Luke asked.
The reborn Emperor chuckled. "No," he replied. "In fact, he killed her. And since the Jedi had betrayed him, I was the only family he had left."
"Family?" Luke questioned.
"Yes," Palpatine muttered, as he began to materialize in front of Luke. "He was like a son to me...perhaps almost literally."
"What do you mean?" Luke demanded, jumping to his feet.
The Emperor smiled. "Well, thanks to the manipulations of my master and I, we indirectly influenced the Force to create your father."
As shadows began to engulf Luke, Palpatine laughed. "You may call this a small family reunion..."
* * *
"This is a fine mess we got into," Han muttered as he, Leia, Toah, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were forced into a cell on board a Star Destroyer.
"Keep your mouths shut!" one of the Dark Jedi growled. "Or at least until we reach Byss!"
Sedriss came up behind the Dark Jedi, startling him. "Get this ship running, Katth," he snapped.
"Y-yes, Lord Sedriss," Katth whimpered, running to the bridge.
Once the Dark Jedi was gone, Sedriss turned to his prisoners. "I;m sure you're wondering what's going on."
"Like heck we are!" Han shouted, forcing Leia to silence him.
"We want to know who this 'Lord Sidious' is," she said to Sedriss.
The Dark Jedi smirked. "Lord Sidious is now the ruler of the Empire. And the true Dark Lord of the Sith."
"You mean there are more of them out there?" Toah asked.
Sedriss' eyes snapped to him. "Lord Sidious simply wishes to avoid any confusion. Getting the facts straight, if you will."
"Oh, he's got it straight all right..." Han muttered, receiving a warning glare from Sedriss in return.
"Right then," he said. "Now stay silent until we reach Byss. Lord Sidious will defiantly wish to speak with you..."
* * *
"Still no sign of Morin Tharr," Kyle said to Aqinos, slowly rising from a mossy patch of swamp. "Not even any footprints."
Aqinos got to his knees and traced his finger across the ground. "Someone was here, though," he said. "They covered up their tracks. Obviously they don't want to be followed."
"Obviously," Remker muttered with sarcasm. The Zabrak Jedi Knight began heading back towards the landspeeder when he heard a snap. He quickly looked around, but saw no one except Kyle and Aqinos, who were right behind him.
"You seem nervous," Aqinos noted. "Are you all right, Remker?"
"I'm fine," Remker said. "I just thought I-" The Jedi Knight's voice trailed off, his eyes focusing on something behind the other two Jedi. Aqinos and Kyle turned around to see a hooded, dark-robed being. The same who had attacked Xanus moments earlier. Kyle and Remker quickly activated their lightsaber while Aqinos stood still, staring at the stranger.
"Who are you?" the Sunesi Jedi Master asked calmly. "And what do you want?"
"I am Darth Nemesis," the being replied. "And I want the holocron."
"Holocron?" Aqinos said. "There is no holocron-"
"Don't lie to me, Jedi fool," Darth Nemesis spat. "I know it's here. The holocron of Bodo Baas."
"I'm sorry, but there is no such holocron. And I know no one by the name of Bodo Baas."
Nemesis held up a gloved hand, forcing the air out of Aqinos. Kyle and Remker made their move and attacked the Sith Lord. Nemesis raised his other hand-which held an ignited lightsaber-and pushed the two Jedi away with the Force.
"I'm in no mood for a fight," Nemesis growled, releasing Aqinos. "All I want is the holocron, and I know you have it."
Aqinos coughed. "Why do you want it?"
"It belongs to my master," Nemesis said. "Now, you will give it to me or-"
"Not on your life," a voice said, and the sound of an igniting lightsaber followed it. The three Jedi and the Sith Lord looked up to see a bearded man in brown robes, covered by blueish armor. In his hand was a double-bladed yellow lightsaber.
"Morin Tharr," Nemesis muttered. "I shall enjoy this..."
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