Rebel Force_ Uprising Part 10

Obi-Wan had tried so hard to convince him it was better this way. That Luke would be their warrior and Leia their spare, their backup, in case anything went wrong. Obi-Wan believed that Luke would be the galaxy's savior, that the risk of hiding the truth would pay off. But Obi-Wan also believed that Ferus should trust his instincts.

And his instincts were telling him that Luke and Leia would be stronger together. That the Force lived within her, and she deserved the chance to know it, to know herself-and to know her brother.

"There's something I haven't told you," he said, aware that after this moment, nothing would be the same. "Something you need to know."

"What is it?" she asked impatiently. "We have to leave."

"Leia, I-" Suddenly, he couldn't catch his breath. His lungs squeezed together as if trapped in a vise. A curtain of darkness descended across his vision. It was as if the air had turned to poison, killing him with every breath.

And, as he reached out with the Force, he heard it, the breathing, heavy and even, wheezing death with every exhalation.

Vader was here.

And he was close.

"I heard something," he said quickly. "Back in the base. Belowground." They were at the mouth of the hangar. "It sounded like a cry for help. I think there might be more prisoners."

"I don't hear anything," Leia said. "And time's running out. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Ferus said urgently. He had to get her out of here before Vader got close enough to sense her presence, They'd met face-to-face before, and Ferus couldn't believe that Vader hadn't figured out the truth. There was no way he was going to risk giving Vader another chance again. Because even if he didn't realize who Leia was, he would surely take her prisoner-or kill her.

"Then we have to go back and help them," Leia said.

"I'll go," Ferus said. He would do whatever it took to stall Vader and give Leia time to escape. It was the only way to make sure she survived.

"I'm not letting you go on your own!" Leia said, indignant.

There was little time to argue. "Leia, please," Ferus said. "I promised your father I would protect you. Don't make me break that promise. If there's anyone back there, I'll help them. I'll be fine. Please-just go."

He could tell it was the last thing she wanted to do. But maybe she saw his desperation.

"All right," she finally said. "But if your s.h.i.+p doesn't take off in ten minutes, I'm coming back for you."

Ferus grasped her hands and gave them a tight squeeze-it was as much of a good-bye as he could allow himself. If she knew what he was about to do-and how it would most likely end-she would never let him go.

Leia boarded the freighter and Ferus ran into the base, back the way they'd come.

Back toward Vader. He didn't have far to run. As he rounded one corner, and then another, the stench of evil grew overwhelming, the air thick with darkness. And then, just beyond the second corner, there he was. Darth Vader, standing still in the middle of the hall, as if he were waiting. As if he knew exactly what was coming, and who.

Ferus froze at the opposite end of the corridor. He couldn't force his legs to carry him any closer.

"I had hoped you were dead," Darth Vader said in a low rumble.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Rage swelled within Ferus. He hadn't come face-to-face with Vader since that day, so many years ago, when the Sith had left him for dead. When Ferus had failed to avenge Roan's death, and left Vader alive, to kill so many more.

Because Ferus failed, Vader lived to strike down Obi-Wan. To destroy nearly everything and everyone he touched. Standing before him, Ferus understood the true nature of hate.

He had told himself that he only wanted to stall Vader, to protect Leia. But that wasn't the whole truth.

He wanted another chance at killing the Dark Lord. He wanted to stand over Vader's body and watch him die.

"I could kill you where you stand," Vader said. "I could kill you with a thought."

"It would probably be easier," Ferus replied lightly. He knew he had to leave behind his hatred if he was going to survive this encounter. He couldn't beat Vader by matching him darkness for darkness. His rage would only cloud his connection to the Force; he needed to stay clear. "And you always were one to take the easy way out. Anakin. Anakin. " "

"Anakin is dead," Vader said.

"So you've told me before," Ferus said. "You killed him. Just like you killed Obi-Wan.

And Padme." He watched carefully, hoping for some flinch, some sign, something something to indicate that the name had some impact. If Anakin really was dead and gone, then Ferus had no chance left at all. Perhaps none of them did. "Erase all reminders of who you used to be, isn't that the plan? Any reminders of what you've done and how much it hurts?" to indicate that the name had some impact. If Anakin really was dead and gone, then Ferus had no chance left at all. Perhaps none of them did. "Erase all reminders of who you used to be, isn't that the plan? Any reminders of what you've done and how much it hurts?"

"You know nothing about pain," Vader said. Then he raised his lightsaber. The red beam glowed in the darkness. "But it will be my pleasure to teach you."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

Darth Vader had come for Luke Skywalker. He had come to find the boy who had caused so much trouble, wrought so much destruction-and somehow, inexplicably, bore Anakin's name.

But he had stayed-even when it became clear that Luke was gone, along with everyone else-because he sensed there was someone else hiding in the bowels of the station. Someone familiar familiar. A presence that evoked strange and unsettling images of the past, of things he hadn't thought about for many years. Images of Padme Padme-her scent, the soft melody of her voice, the myriad details he'd spent two decades trying to forget. It meant there was someone on this station connected to his past, and that someone needed to die.

As he swept through the halls, he had been almost...not afraid afraid, certainly. Fear was beneath him now, useful only as a weapon with which to destroy his enemies. No, he had been watchful watchful, wondering who he might find lurking around the next corner.

Discovering Ferus had been a relief. This was no unknown variable from the past.

Ferus was known, easily dealt with. A loose end he should have tied up long before. Ferus had no power over him; his words were empty. He was nothing but a feeble old man babbling about a dead past. And yet the sight of him-the sound of the name Padme Padme on his lips-was enraging. Ferus should be dead, as all the Jedi should be dead. It was infuriating that he was still crawling around like a Bossuk roach. on his lips-was enraging. Ferus should be dead, as all the Jedi should be dead. It was infuriating that he was still crawling around like a Bossuk roach.

No longer. Vader stoked the rage, let it swell within him. His rage was his power- something the pathetic Jedi had never understood. His rage was bottomless; his power was limitless.

Ferus was nothing in the face of that. Less than nothing. A roach to be squashed underfoot.

Vader crossed the distance between them before the old man even had time to draw his weapon. I could kill him with a single blow I could kill him with a single blow, Vader thought. But there was no hurry.

And he had to admit, he was curious. Ferus had become such a decrepit human specimen, paunchy and sad. Soft. Soft. It would be interesting to let him believe he could still put up a fight. It would be interesting to let him believe he could still put up a fight.

Vader swung his blade down. Ferus met it solidly. There was a dull hum as the red and blue blades clashed.

"Your technique has become lazy," Vader observed. He parried a blow, almost as an afterthought.

Ferus didn't reply. He was breathing heavily, gasping with each lunge and thrust.

Vader deflected every strike with little more than a flick of the wrist.

"And you've gotten complacent," Ferus said, slas.h.i.+ng diagonally. Vader retreated a step, and the lightsaber hummed through empty air. "You think no one can match you, right? Same old Anakin."

"Anakin is dead! dead! " Vader roared, and struck with his full power. Time to end this game. " Vader roared, and struck with his full power. Time to end this game.

But Ferus somehow evaded the blow-and then danced away from the next one, and the next. The blue blade whirled and spiraled through the air, matching Vader strike for strike, blow for blow.

It was that name name. That was the only explanation. Even the sound of it had somehow thrown him off balance.

This was unacceptable.

"You move well for a fat old man," Vader granted. He was more powerful by far, but the plastoid armor made for awkward maneuvering. And he would never reclaim the physical grace he'd had as Anakin.

Vader shook off the thought, disgusted with himself. Anakin had nothing that he wanted, nothing. He let the disgust grow. This This was what he needed. Not grace, not that foul Jedi concentration. Anger. was what he needed. Not grace, not that foul Jedi concentration. Anger.

Darkness. Control.

Ferus leapt through the air, driving the lightsaber down in a chopping motion as he arced toward the ground. The blade came within centimeters of Vader's face plate. Sweat poured down Ferus's face with the effort of continuing the fight. And yet still, he lived.

"No older than you, Anakin," he gasped.

And it was true. They'd once been the same age, young and stupid, easily manipulated by their Jedi Masters. Now Vader Vader was Master of all-and Ferus was this weak, stooped thing. Is this what Anakin would have grown into, had he stayed in that frail, human body? was Master of all-and Ferus was this weak, stooped thing. Is this what Anakin would have grown into, had he stayed in that frail, human body?

This sagging bag of loose flesh?

Vader was furious with himself for entertaining the thought. It didn't matter what Anakin would have become. Anakin was nothing-didn't exist, had never existed.

"There is no Anakin," Vader said.

"And yet here he is in front of me," Ferus countered. "The same c.o.c.ky, deceitful, defiant, scared little boy scared little boy you always were. You killed Obi-Wan because he saw the fear behind the mask. You killed Padme because she saw the monster." you always were. You killed Obi-Wan because he saw the fear behind the mask. You killed Padme because she saw the monster."

Rage blotted out Vader's vision, turning the world to darkness-everything disappeared but Ferus's disgusting, knowing smile. Ferus was the one who had never changed, was still the same insufferable child he'd always been. Vader should have done the galaxy a favor and snuffed him out at the Academy. Better late than never.

Ferus advanced with a dizzying series of strikes and parries. "You can kill me if you want. But you will never kill Anakin. I suspect someday, he'll kill you."

"Someday, perhaps." Vader flicked a gloved hand, and Ferus's lightsaber flew across the hall. "But unfortunately for you, that day is not today." He plunged his blade through Ferus's heart, and watched with pleasure as Anakin's long-lasting enemy dropped to the ground, the life draining from his eyes.

The pathetic old man knew nothing, he told himself. Anakin was dead and gone forever. And now there was no one who could bring him back.

Ferus lay still, as the thundering footsteps disappeared down the corridor. He lay on his back in a pool of blood, feeling his life force trickle away. And he lay with a smile on his face, knowing that he had succeeded.

He would have liked to kill Darth Vader.

He would have liked to save the galaxy.

But it was enough to know he had saved Leia.

He had always thought dying would hurt. But there was little pain. There was little of anything, anymore. The bonds holding him to this world were fraying.

"Be brave, my friend. You have done well." Obi-Wan knelt beside him. Not the glowing, translucent spirit Ferus had come to know, but the real Obi-Wan, solid as he had been when he was alive. The Jedi Master took Ferus's hand. "The end is never the end," he said. "Only another journey."

More riddles, Ferus thought wryly. Leave it to Obi-Wan to be frustratingly vague, even at a time like this. He would have laughed, but he lacked the strength. Obi-Wan smiled, as if he knew.

And then Obi-Wan faded away, and another figure appeared in his place.

Ferus gasped, choking on the blood that bubbled in his throat. His lips formed the name he hadn't spoken aloud in years.

Soft fingers brushed his forehead. "Did you really think I would leave you here alone?"

You left me alone for all those years, Ferus wanted to say. I always hoped you were I always hoped you were waiting for me. I always hoped I would see you again. waiting for me. I always hoped I would see you again.

Roan Lands, dead for nearly two decades, gazed down at him, his eyes full of warmth and humor. Roan, who had found Ferus after he'd fled the Jedi Temple, and taught him what it meant to truly live. Roan, who had been Ferus's partner and friend for the best years of his life. Roan, whom he thought he'd lost forever.

Ferus's fear was gone, replaced by a deep, calming peace. He had done what he could for the people he loved. He had fulfilled the mission Obi-Wan had set out for him, protected Anakin's child until she was strong enough to protect herself. He had fought as best he knew how, for as long as he could. And now Roan was here, and Ferus was ready to go.

"I'll stay with you," Roan said, squeezing his hand. "For as long as you need me."

Ferus let his eyes drift shut. His world narrowed to the sound of Roan's voice, and the warmth of Roan's hand.

"You are not alone," he heard Roan say.

And then he heard nothing at all.

"You are not alone," Leia whispered, squeezing Ferus's hand even tighter, wis.h.i.+ng she could give him her strength.

But she couldn't.

All she could do was kneel by his body and watch as his chest rose and fell with slow, shallow breaths...and then fell still. There was a faint smile on his face, and Leia hoped it meant he had died in peace.

He was dead.

Leia had known Ferus all her life, but she felt she'd only really really known him these last few months. She felt a hole open within her, as if she'd lost a part of her family, or even herself. He was the last connection she'd had to her past on Alderaan, and to her father. It always seemed like he had secrets he was desperate to share with her, if only she'd asked the right questions. But she'd never bothered to ask. known him these last few months. She felt a hole open within her, as if she'd lost a part of her family, or even herself. He was the last connection she'd had to her past on Alderaan, and to her father. It always seemed like he had secrets he was desperate to share with her, if only she'd asked the right questions. But she'd never bothered to ask.

And now he was gone.

If she'd come back for him sooner, maybe she could have stopped it-whatever, whoever it was that had done this to him.

Leia knew she had to go. The sun was about to explode. And whoever had killed Ferus might still be here-might be coming back for her.

But she didn't move. She stayed by his side, holding his hand. Just a little longer Just a little longer, she told herself, and then I'll go. and then I'll go.

She didn't want to leave him alone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

"Leia!" Luke finally spotted the princess, kneeling beside what looked like a body. He hurried over to her, Han following close behind. Luke had a bad feeling as he approached the body, but forced himself to look at the man's face. "What happened to him?"