On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CLX

Get up, Anakin. Get up.

You must get up!

Get up you must.

Master, get up!

There were voices swimming in and out of Vader's mind. The suit was giving out around him, warnings flitting across the screen in front of his eyes. It was like when Cylo shut down his suit, except this time the suit was both aware of the issue and was not the only thing that was failing in its function. Electrocution damage tore through internal organs, often having long lasting effects if not immediate.

This time, Palpatine had hit Vader with something that would have immediate effects on what few organs still performed their proper roles. The Sith Lord had attempted to block the barrage with his lightsaber, but the Emperor's power had been far too great.

It was a miracle Vader wasn't already dead.

Get up, Anakin!

"Obi-Wan?" he half gasped, searching for the voice's owner with what limited vision the mask allowed while lying prone on the floor, half wondering if he was already dead. Had it not been for the fact he had to actively force himself to breathe, the Sith would have likely given the possibility some serious thought.

You must get up!

That one sounded almost like Master Qui-Gon. Or perhaps was in fact Master Qui-Gon.

Master, please.

Luna?! Vader questioned, suddenly desperately searching the Force for her presence, praying she wasn't near, that she had obeyed him and remained outside away from Palpatine and from the danger the Emperor presented. His apprentice gave no answer, but her Force presence was far away and weakening by the moment. It took only a moment of study for the Sith to realize the reason.

Just as had happened on the Executor with Cylo, just as had happened on Naboo, on Earth, on Shu-Torun, Luna's life force was being drained away by their bond. She, perhaps, was the only reason he had not fallen unconscious, energy flowing to and through him, providing the strength needed to remain aware, to breath. The longer he lay there the weaker the both of them became. And that was ignoring the fact the girl was likely lying unconscious in the middle of a battlefield surrounded by enemies!

Luna, however, was not the only one in danger. Luke's presence was also fading at a rapid rate. The sound of lightning was wandering into Vader's awareness now, and very little imagination was required to figure out what that must mean.

He needed to move.

The Sith's arms and legs rebelled, spasming uncontrollably at electricity that seemed to still be coming to him through the floor, attracted by the metal of his limbs. When Vader had finally, through no small effort of will, managed to make it to a kneeling position, Luke and the Emperor landed in his sights. The young Jedi was no longer moving, barely present in the Force.

"Look upon your failure!" Palpatine ordered, as lightning continued to pour out of his body, like the unending flow of a waterfall.

Get up, Anakin!

Obi-Wan again. The Emperor's former apprentice could barely kneel, but stand? The Force around him belonged to Palpatine, was flooded with the darkness of the Sith Master's presence and completely under his control. Without its aid Vader was powerless.

The light, Qui-Gon suggested.

Use it you must, Yoda agreed.

But if he drew it, anything really, from the Force, Palaptine would notice. Taking action in such a way would not save Luke, simply delay the inevitable in the seconds it took for the Emperor to momentarily turn his attention away from the boy to keep the elder down.

Conduct. Dagger, Luna's voice stated, weaker by the moment. Confusion flitted through his mind. He didn't know what she meant by the first part, but the latter was easy enough. The dagger she'd give Luke lay abandoned on the floor several meters from his position. He could possibly drag himself to it, but that would take time his son didn't have. His lightsaber was far closer

He wasn't given a chance to think. Through him, Luna called to her dagger, and it flew to his hand, as though a dog called back to its master. The strange weapon shifted in his grip, becoming a parang at yet another whim of his apprentice's—the shard of soul held within providing the energy required for the shift, though the glow was growing fainter by the minute. It would likely shatter the moment she died, not that Vader planned to wait that long.

Conduct, he repeated to himself, connecting the dots. He could pull on the Force through Luna, that way the Emperor wouldn't realize he was gathering power as she was a distance away and out of his sight. The parang would be a silent weapon unlike a lightsaber, and he wouldn't even need to stand as the ancient Sith weapon was made to be thrown.

He closed his eyes, reaching across their bond to Luna and the Force surrounding her. With no small effort of will, he gathered the Force into her, trying to have it to take over the energy drain that was coming about as a result of his injuries. The darkside did nothing to help her (he tried that first, being far more familiar with it), and the light did little though it did slow the progression.

He could only pray it would be enough. He didn't have time to be careful, to try to figure out how to reject everything else but the Force's strength that was pouring across their bond, and thus could only trust Luna was strong enough to keep it up for just a little longer.

Gathering his strength and will as lightning continued to travel through the floor and attack him, he threw the parang. It would have been a poor throw under other circumstances as he had never used such a weapon before, but the Force was with him, guiding him. The weapon spun through the air, cutting through the rippling dark energy that was swirling around the Emperor. Even some lightning was attracted to the parang, but be it the weapon's strange properties or the Force's own will, the weapon did not alter course. If anything, it gained momentum and speed.

In what could have been no more than the space between two heartbeats, there was a thud as the parang embedded itself in the back of Palpatine head. The Emperor froze, the lightning dying. The Force seized around him in agony as all at once darkness seemed to pour into the Emperor from all across the galaxy, much like earlier when Palpatine had drawn in the life force of his hands, except this time he wasn't doing it on purpose. The Sith Master toppled to the floor, darkness still swirling about him as his life force was continuously restored by those of his abominations until there were none left to sacrifice and the Emperor lay dead on the stone floor.

The only conscious person left in the dark throne room forced a breath through unwilling lungs as his eyes landed on the prone form of his son. He didn't have the strength to move, the prosthetics seemingly seized in place by Palpatine lightning.

But he could still feel the Force. Luke's presence was brightening, now out of danger and returning to consciousness.

Luna's, however.... Luna's was fading. Fast.