Judgment Day

Chapter 14 - Ways of the Sith

It's hard to believe it's only been a couple weeks since he went back to the past. Luke sits in the pilot's seat of his fighter, waiting for it to come out of hyperspace, though his thoughts are far away.

He misses everyone he used to know, so much. Leia and Han and Chewbacca and even his versions of Threepio and Artoo. He knew there was a high chance he would never go back to the future when he came here but that doesn't mean he doesn't miss them. So much.

He can't imagine never seeing any of them again. They were his family in every way, and Leia was... a part of him in a way he's never felt about anyone. Except for his father, but that's different because Leia was his twin sister. His bonds with both of them are too different to compare.

Could he go back to them even if he could go to the future anyway? What he's doing now... Leia would never stand for it. Maybe she would understand – she probably would – but she would still be so disappointed. The same is true for Han and Chewbacca.

He won't see them again, though. He's certain of that now.

And if he did leave, he would be going back to a world where his father is dead, too.

Luke reaches down, unclipping his lightsaber, turning it over in his hands. The crystal screams of wrongness, but it's a sensation he's getting used to. Sidious taught him how to bleed his crystal almost immediately. The red blade felt wrong, but at the same time, it looked so right. He can't carry the blade of a Jedi anymore. He's not a Jedi and never will be again.

The Dark Side is powerful, and it will give him the strength to destroy Sidious he will never have otherwise. Now he can see why the Sith say that the Light Side is weak. (The guilt is still drowning him, and it only makes the Dark Side call to him stronger. He doesn't have the strength or reason to refuse it.)

All he can do now is keep following Sidious' orders, because he has to find a way to destroy him, and he never will if he leaves. He's learning more, slowly, and when the time is right, he'll finally be able to act.

At least Anakin is far away from here, and no one has seen or heard anything of him since. He doesn't know if the twins – Leia and another version of himself – are born yet, but he... thinks he would feel it if his mother had died. Maybe. He doesn't know.

Regardless, he has a mission to carry out now. More Jedi were located, and Sidious wants him to deal with them.

Tracking down the Jedi when he lands on the surface is a lot easier than he was expecting. The Jedi there look like Knights or maybe older padawans, which is... good and bad. He's skilled, but both of them have much more training. (But at least they aren't young children.) The Jedi may not deserve this fate, but they... had it coming. He has to do this to prove his loyalty to Sidious. It's the only way he'll be able to destroy him, and until then, people everywhere will be dying.

He attacks the Jedi without wasting a moment, throwing himself into the fight. It's a fight to the death, and he will come out on top. He has to. They move in a constant blur of motion, red against green and blue. It's even harder than fighting Ahsoka, because there's two of them, though individually, he's not sure they're as skilled as him.

Luke takes the first opportunity he can find, stabbing one of the Jedi in the side. He draws on his anger and determination to finish this, stubbornly ignoring the ever-shrinking voice inside of him that screams at how wrong this is, about how there has to be another way.

Obviously realizing this isn't a fight she'll win, the other Jedi makes a run for it. He chases after her, but she's skilled, and she's able to shake off his trail soon enough. He spends some time longer searching, but she's... gone.