Star Wars Episode VIII: Rise of the Dark Master
by Jedi Adia
After the Imperials’
retreat, Bespin was liberated and the
Padmé has returned to Tatooine,
to seek guidance from a Jedi Master who had fallen prey to Vader’s wrath, in
hopes that he would know what had happened to Luke and Leia.
Meanwhile, the
Imperials have set up a base on Carida in an attempt
to destroy the
*
The house, the single solitary house was the only standing structure for miles around in the Tatooine desert. It was here that Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the last Jedi, had made his home. And it was Obi-Wan, whom the lone woman had come to seek.
Shielding her face from the swirling sands, Padmé left the ship and went into the house. There had to be something here…something that would tell her where her children were. A lightsaber…a letter…maybe his spirit was here.
“Obi-Wan…Ben…Ben Kenobi,” Padmé whispered, as she gazed around the small, primitive dwelling. Suddenly, her eyes fell on an open book on a nearby table. Going over to the table, she looked down upon the page. She gasped. She was looking at the instructions for building a lightsaber. Padmé turned around. Someone had been here recently. Luke? He must have been here. Who else would need to build a lightsaber? Not Leia, certainly. She probably didn’t even know about her Jedi heritage.
She closed the book, running her hand over the cover. Something told her to take the book and leave. This was a sacred text of the Jedi, with their history, and everything they believed in. She didn’t intend to leave it here so that it might fall into the wrong hands. Why Luke left it, she didn’t know. But she was glad he did leave it. It could help her find him.
***
The Rebel Base hummed with activity, as Leia, Luke, and Panaka hurried toward the palace.
“I’m telling you that she was here, Leia. She was, but now…I’m afraid she’s gone.”
“I don’t doubt you. I know she was here,” Leia said, “I just question why she would leave. You did tell her we were here, didn’t you?”
“Yes I did…but we got here too late,” Panaka answered. “The fleet was leaving just as we arrived.”
It was at this point that Luke stepped in. “Look, we know she left. It’s nobody’s fault,” he looked at Leia, “and now we need to figure out where she’s gone.”
“Where who’s gone?” Han asked, coming up behind them.
“Our mother,” Leia answered, simply. “She was here, Han. She arrived just as we were leaving.”
“Look, I think I might know where she is,” Panaka said, as he turned to head for the hangar. Han reached out and put a restraining hand on his arm.
“Actually, you’re needed here. You can go find her as soon as we can spare you,” Han said.
“Han-“ Leia began, but he cut her off.
“Admiral Ackbar wants to meet with everybody right now. Something about the Imperials regrouping.”
Leia nodded. “I guess this will have to wait.” She looked at Panaka. “I just hope she stays where she is until we can get to her.”
***
Even though it was sparsely populated, the Imperial base on Carida was bustling with activity, as Imperial soldiers and officers prepared for the new arrival.
“The Empire will be what it once was, when Muroth is done here,” Admiral Jule Tarking was saying to Commander Roche, as they sat in Jule’s new office at the base. “Muroth will come and make us into the force that we should be…and then he will sit back and rule the galaxy from his fortress in the center of Coruscant. Think about it, Commander. Once Muroth arrives, we will have all we ever wanted.”
“But what of the Rebels? We still haven’t found their base, And that Padmé woman that you want to destroy. What about her?”
“Muroth will find her. I have great faith in him. He’ll find Padmé and crush the Rebel Alliance so fast that it’ll be over before they know what happened to them,” Jule said, proudly.
“You seem so assured. Just like Vader was about the Emperor. Look where it landed the Empire when the Emperor completely had Vader’s trust,” Roche said, standing up.
“The Emperor was weak, Commander. That old religion of his possessed him. He was consumed by it,” Jule said coldly, rising to her full height.
“What makes you so sure this Muroth will not be the same way?”
“Don’t be blind, Commander,” Jule said, softly.
“Maybe you should consider taking your own advice,” Roche said, coolly, before leaving the admiral’s office, as Jule stared after him in disbelief.
***
Padmé boarded the ship, closing the hatch behind her and leaning against the wall. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of her children as they were now. Leia, a young and proud leader, just as Padmé herself had been. And Luke…a talented young pilot and Jedi Knight, just like his father…or what his father would have been. Padmé opened her eyes and went down the corridor to the cockpit. Anakin…Vader…Anakin…hell. She didn’t even know who her husband was anymore…or even if he was still out there, without an evil entity in his place.
Padmé sat down in the pilot’s seat and started the engines. The ship shook violently beneath her and the engine died. She blinked her eyes in disbelief, wondering why the ship had suddenly stopped running.
The ship suddenly grew cold, despite the intense heat of the Tatooine desert.
“Mother…” a voice, a male voice, whispered from behind her. Padmé stiffened and turned around. She came face to face with the image of Luke Skywalker. The ghostly image continued to speak. “Join me, Mother…it is the only way. Come to the Dark Side, serve the Empire. Surrender, or lose your life…”
“Yes, Mother,” Leia’s image came up beside Luke’s. “You cannot resist. The Dark Side will come to you if you don’t go to it. Surrender…or die.” The images faded and two stormtroopers charged out of the shadows, with their blasters ready to be fired.
“Take her,” one said to the other. Padmé screamed and unholstered her blaster, thumbing the setting from “stun” to “kill”. She shot the stormtrooper who had spoken in the chest, melting his heart. The other stormtrooper started toward her and she shot him as well, hitting him just below the ribs. She collapsed to the floor, dropping the blaster, and buried her face in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably. She lifted her eyes briefly to see the two bodies laying there. And only one thought crossed her mind. Maybe the holograms of Luke and Leia were right, she thought, as she prepared to find out what was wrong with the ship. She would go to the Dark Side. Maybe she was already there.
***
“We got this information from an underground resistance on Coruscant,” Admiral Ackbar was saying. “Imperial forces have set up a base in one of the surrounding systems. They’re worried.”
“They want to stop us from taking Coruscant,” Leia spoke up. “But how do they know that’s what we’re planning?”
“The Empire may have had too much power for its own good, but its leaders aren’t stupid,” Panaka said, rising from his seat. “Did your informants tell you which system the base is located in?”
Ackbar and many others in the room looked taken aback. Finally, Ackbar acknowledged him. “Carida. It’s the next system over from Coruscant. You sound as if you know the Empire better than we do…” The Calamarian seemed at a loss to put a name to a face.
“Panaka. Captain Panaka. And no, I probably don’t know the Empire any better than you do. But I know someone who does. And we need to find her before they do.”
“This person that you speak of…she is Padmé Amidala, is she not?” Mon Mothma asked.
“She’s just Padmé Naberrie, yes.”
“Where is she now? You said that we need to find her. Where is she?”
“I think I know where she is, but I need to go there to be certain,” Panaka said.
“Understood,” Ackbar acknowledged. “You may leave now, if you wish.”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
Leia put a hand on his arm. “Luke and I would like to go with you,” she said, glancing at Luke, who nodded. “Wait outside.”
Panaka only nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.
***
“I’ve sent a ship to Tatooine, Master,” Jule was saying. She watched the holographic projection on the desk before her for a reaction. But there was none, so she continued. “I have yet to receive an update.” At this, the man with whom she was speaking responded.
“When did you last hear from them?”
“They contacted me from the Hoth system. That was late last night.”
“Irresponsible,” the Dark Master said. “They should have contacted you since then.”
At this, Jule began to grow uncomfortable. She felt like he was blaming her. “M-maybe she killed them, my lord,” she said.
“That is for you to ascertain, Admiral. Go to the Hoth system immediately. Take a small ship and a small crew. We don’t want to attract the Rebels’ attention. We don’t want them making the first move.”
“Yes, my lord,” Jule acknowledged.
“I will join you there,” the Dark Master said. “And Admiral – do not disappoint me.”
Jule did not get a chance to respond. The hologram vanished before her. She reached over and hit the comm.
“Yes, Admiral?”
“Commander Roche, ready my ship. You and Lieutenant Savis will accompany me to Hoth,” Jule said.
“Right away, Admiral.” Roche did not dare question Jule’s order, although it did seem odd to him. He could only guess that this was a matter of great importance.
***
Tearing off the cover, Padmé’s eyes quickly roved over the main control panel. It was at this moment that she detected a faint sound, a consistent beeping.
“A countdown…” Padmé whispered, looking up from the controls. “Oh, blast!” Getting to her feet, she grabbed her fallen blaster and rushed off the ship. She got off none too soon, because only a moment afterwards, the ship exploded. Padmé threw her hands over her head and buried her face in the ground, to protect her head and face from smoke, dust, and flying debris.
As everything settled and the desert became quiet once again, Padmé lifted her head and looked around, Everything was quiet, save for the crackling from behind, as the remains of her ship burned. She rose to her feet and turned to survey the ship in despair. There was virtually nothing left of it and now she had no way to get off of the planet, no way to find Luke and Leia, and no way to help the Rebellion. And now that Padmé thought about it, she was pretty much at the mercy of the Empire. Unless she could find someone who was willing to help and not harm her.
“There’s something else,” Padmé
whispered. And then she realized what it was. She had left the book on the
ship. It was most likely destroyed now. She had hoped to give it to Luke and Leia, but now…it was gone. Padmé
shook her head, as tears came to her eyes. There could have been something in
it…something to help the
***
The small ship landed as darkness fell over Tatooine. Luke was the first to disembark and he stopped short as he saw the small house a short distance away.
“What?” Leia said, as she came up behind him.
“I never realized how much I still miss him…miss Ben, you know?” Luke said, turning to her.
Their conversation was cut short as Panaka ran towards the ruins of a ship laying nearby. “Amidala? Amidala!”
“Panaka, wait!” Luke went after him. He caught the other man by the arm. “You can’t do anything now…none of us can,” he said. He looked over his shoulder at Leia, who looked away. “It’s over.”
***
Muroth led Jule to his private ship, which was surrounded by stormtroopers and robed guards.
“Dismissed,” he said to them, and they left in an orderly fashion. “KS-653,” he called a trooper back. The last one in line turned and came back.
“Is my ship ready for departure?” Muroth asked.
“Yes, sir,” the trooper answered in a monotone.
“Good,” Muroth rasped. “Then you won’t have to find out what it would ever be like if you were to disobey me!” The stormtrooper looked at him expressionlessly. “Dismissed.” The stormtrooper walked away stiffly and the Dark Master vanished into the ship in a swirl of black robes.
***
It was a long trek across the Tatooine desert. It was dangerous as well, with all of the sandpeople in this region of the planet.
Padme traveled only during the day and reached Mos Eisley three days after leaving Ben Kenobi’s house. She sat down in the shade of a building near the Mos Eisley cantina. And as she sat there, she was overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia. Mos Eisley was so much like Mos Emeran, that Padmé kept thinking she would see frail old Tamia walking down the street every time she looked up.
“This isn’t fair,” she whispered. “Why does it have to be like this?” She jumped as she heard a voice nearby.
“Why does it have to be like what?”
Padme stood to face the voice. What if he was one of them?
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “Amon Terrik.”
“Sabé Starkiller,” Padmé whispered. There was no way she was going to tell this man her real name.
“Is there something wrong, Miss…Starkiller?” Amon asked.
“Sabé. Please. And I need a ship. I need to get off this planet.”
Amon paused, as he contemplated what she had said.
Finally, he said, “Come. Let me buy you a drink.” He led her toward the cantina. “Then we’ll talk.”
Padmé relented and went with him. “Just one, though. I don’t drink much,” she said.
The cantina was noisy and crowded. It was dark, too, but Padmé didn’t care. She really didn’t want anyone to see her. Amon took her over to the bar and ordered two ruby bliels. When they arrived, Padmé was surprised.
“Ruby bliels?”
“Of course! You really didn’t think that I’d let a nice woman like you have a hard drink, did you?”
Padmé ignored him and sipped her drink. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had one of these.” She thought back to the first time she’d had one. She’d been with Anakin at the time. That was back when things had been simple, when they’d been right.
Padmé shook her head and turned her attention to the matter at hand. “I need a ship. I must leave Tatooine immediately,” she said, looking at Amon.
“I’d be willing to take you anywhere you like if you would tell me why you want to leave.”
“I can’t tell you that,” Padmé said.
“Then I can’t take you anywhere,” Amon concluded.
Padmé paused. He’d backed her into a corner. “All right. I’ll tell you. But not here,” she said. “We must go outside.”
He agreed, and after paying for their drinks, he followed her outside into the heat of the twin suns of Tatooine.
***
Jule stood by the viewport and stared, uncomprehendingly, into space. She was so inert that she didn’t hear Muroth come into the room.
“There is something bothering you, Admiral,” he said. She jumped when he spoke. “Did I startle you?”
Jule shook her head and stared out at the stars.
“Face me,” Muroth commanded, “and don’t lie.”
“We must go to Tatooine, Master.”
“Agreed. I have already ordered that we change our course,” Muroth said. “There is nothing on Hoth. The ship that we sent out left the planet several days ago…we are following the hyperspace trail.”
“Several days ago?” Master, Padmé could be gone by now.”
“Patience, Admiral,” Muroth said, quietly. “We will find her…she will lead us to Skywalker…and Skywalker will lead us to the Rebel Base.”
“Master…”
“The Force will guide us.” Muroth answered the unasked question.
***
Panaka came back from the ruins of the ship, his face covered in dust and ash. “I found two bodies in there,” he said. “Not her, though. There were other people there.”
“She got away?” Leia asked.
“There are footprints leading away from the ship,” Panaka said, “in that direction.” He pointed.
“She’s gone to Mos Eisley,” Luke surmised.
“And that’s where we’re going,” Leia said.
“Leia, it’ll take us three days to get there on foot. Look, she’s going to try and leave the planet. We can track her down then.”
“We have a ship! We can get to Mos Eisley that way!” Leia protested.
“But we have nowhere to land it!” Luke countered. “Mos Eisley’s not exactly the place you want to be sneaking into with a starship.” At this, Leia deflated. Luke bit his lip and went on. “The most important part of being a Jedi is having patience,” he said, softly. “We will wait…we will find her.” He turned to Panaka. “We should leave now.”
“We’ll probably miss her if we do that,” Panaka said, glancing at Leia.
“No, we won’t,” Luke said, heading up into their ship. “I have an idea.”
***
“I’m looking for my children. We’ve been separated for almost twenty years,” Padmé explained as they stood outside the cantina.
“Who are they?” Amon asked. “And where do you want to start? It’s a big galaxy. They could be anywhere.”
Uh-oh. “The truth?” Padmé asked.
“You mean, you’ve been lying to me?”
“Well…not about the children,” Padmé said, taking a deep breath. “But my name isn’t Sabé Starkiller.” She paused, allowing this to sink in. Then she continued. “My son is a Jedi Knight, and my daughter is the Princess of Alderaan.”
Amon laughed. “And I suppose you’re the queen of some sovereignty.”
Padmé was about to say yes, but she stopped herself, as she saw a group of stormtroopers come up behind him. So instead, she turned and ran, but to no avail. They stunned her and she collapsed into Amon’s waiting arms.
“Sorry about this, Your Highness,” he said, “but you’re ours now.”
***
“Luke!” an urgent voice called out, a voice that Luke recognized. He thought he was going crazy when he heard it, though. “Luke! Listen, you’ve got to wake up!” The distant voice called out again, through the shadows.
Luke lifted his head to see a pale apparition standing before him. It was that of Ben Kenobi, his first master.
“Luke, you must return to the Dagobah system with your sister. The threat to the Rebel Alliance is growing. You must leave now.”
Luke opened his mouth to protest, but Ben held up a ghostly hand. “No, Luke…they have your mother. She knows where the base is. And if they go there, they’ll find you if you’re there.”
By this time, Leia had come to sit beside Luke. “They found Mother?”
Luke only nodded, never taking his eyes off of the apparition.
“As Force-sensitives, you are the
last hope for the
Before either of them could say a word, Ben vanished.
Luke turned to Leia. “You go. Take Artoo with you. Panaka and I will stay on Tatooine.”
“Luke, no! We have to get back to the base!”
“You heard what Ben said…they have our mother. It’s only a matter of time before they find the base,” Luke said.
“Fine,” Leia whispered, defeated. “But be careful.”
“We will, we will,” Luke said, hugging her. It was then that Panaka came in. Luke looked at him. “We need to go back to the surface. There’s been a change of plans.”
“What’s going on?”
“It appears that Mother may be in trouble. We’re going to the surface to see if we can find her.”
Leia looked at Luke in disbelief. Luke turned to her. “I have no intention of letting our mother fall into the wrong hands. I know that I usually heed Ben’s advice, – he was my master – but our mother is the only family that we have left. I feel obligated to try and get her back.”
***
As the ship descended through the Tatooine atmosphere, Luke concentrated. The air was filled with confusion, it seemed. And chaos. Silently, Luke willed the ship to go faster. It barely registered in his mind that he was steering the ship himself. In the periphery of his mind, he heard a startled noise issue from Panaka, as Panaka was forced to yield control to a force greater than himself.
Panaka shrugged and released control, as Luke came forward, trance-like, his eyes half-open. “I don’t know how Padmé ever got used to things like that,” he said to himself.
Buffeted by winds and swirling sand, the ship sank to the ground. All was quiet, as Luke started to come back from within himself. Without warning, his eyes snapped open. Both Leia and Panaka involuntarily jumped.
Panaka looked around. “Where are we?”
Luke looked around, as if noticing his surroundings for the first time. With a start, he saw the burned ruins of the place where he had lived with his aunt and uncle. There were days when he wished none of this had happened, that he was still home with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, only dreaming of what he could be doing out there, among the stars.
“Luke?” Panaka asked. “Luke, are you alright?”
Luke shook his head to clear it. “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine. We’re, um…this was the home of our aunt and uncle, before they died at the hands of the Empire,” he explained. “This is as close to Mos Eisley as we’re going to get without being noticed.” He stood up and started toward the back, where some provisions were stored. “Take only what we absolutely need. It’s going to be a long walk.”
He came back in with some water for all of them, and some different clothes. It was necessary that they travel incognito. Panaka felt an odd sense that he had done this before. //Except it wasn’t me,// he thought. Padmé had been the one that had gone out there, in search of parts, but instead had found…
Anakin.
Not that they hadn’t still gotten all of the parts, but Anakin came aboard in the process. But that was the past, mused Panaka, as he pulled on a jacket. Nothing could be done now. They had to save Padmé.
“Are we ready?” Luke asked. When his companions nodded, they sealed the ship and set off.
***
Amon hefted the unconscious woman in his arms. Admiral Tarkin would be so proud of him. And this Dark Master…Muroth, of her. He was proud, for once. to do a service for the Empire, although sometimes, he still wasn’t sure, Amon mused, as he walked among the stormtroopers to his ship. They were going up into a parking orbit to wait for the Dark Master. Amon could taste the impending victory. He saw the impending doom for the rebels in the eyes of the people who watched along the roadside. They looked haunted, some of them. He was glad that these people knew. He was glad they knew that it was all over for them.
***
Muroth’s shuttle came into orbit, where Amon’s ship was waiting. They docked, and Muroth and Jule walked down the ramp.
“Amon, my brother…” Jule reached toward him, and he backed away. “Jule, the money.”
“Fine…it’s all waiting in an account on Coruscant.” At the look he gave her, she asked, “What, you don’t believe me?”
“Of course I do, Jule, but…isn’t it enough that I do your dirty work for you? I never asked to be a part of this, you know. I always felt that Father’s schemes were too much…” At this, a leather-clad hand came across his cheek.
“Don’t you dare blaspheme Father’s memory! He died for the freedom of the galaxy!”
“Yeah, I’m sure he did,” Amon said under his breath. Aloud, he said, “Now, if you’ll no longer be needing me, I’ll be going.” He started back toward his ship, when he heard Jule behind him. “Yes…you may go.” And then he felt a burning in his back, as he fell to the floor.
“Put him in the cell with her,” she ordered them. “I had hoped that he had had a change of heart, but we can all see that that wasn’t the case.” She watched as the troopers carried away Amon’s limp form. Allowing herself a small smile, she turned to Muroth. “The galaxy is at your beck and call, Master,” she said.
Muroth said nothing. He had risen. And so had the Empire. The conquest would soon be complete.