Topic: In My Father's Footsteps

[Phatty]

    





 "You found this one in the cargo hold," asked the Dark Lord of the Sith?  His menace loomed over the white clad Stormtroopers in the hallway of the Tantive IV.  The white robed female, unconscious and in captivity, seethed with the Force.  Vader hadn't felt a presence this powerful since his days at the Jedi Conclave on Coruscant.  "Take her to my chambers upon my Star Destroyer immediately.  Edit the logs to show she was left on Tatooine and that all aboard were killed, no survivors.  I want all traces of this girl erased from this ship.  Do not fail me, or you will face my wrath.  Once you have accomplished your task, come see me in my chambers.  Tell no one of the task I have put upon you."

     "Yes, Lord Vader," echoed both Stormtroopers as they drug off the young girl to a fate unknown.  They did not know what Lord Vader had in store for her, and they definitely didn't want to find out.

Hours Later in Lord Vader's Chamber:

     "Who do you think you are, Vader?," screamed Leia, as she sat restrained in her chair, unable to move.  "I am a representative of the Galactic Senate, you have no right to-"

     "I know who you CLAIM to be, but I am more interested in who you are really," said Vader.  "Who are your parents?"

     "I am the daughter of Bail and Breha Organa of Alderaan," said Leia defiantly.

     "That is what you may have been told, but I sense the presence of others in you, young one."  Vader stood over Leia and stared, deep into her eyes and into her soul.  The Force emanated from her in powerful waves, but yet Vader could see that the girl had no idea how powerful she truly was.  Was she unaware of the power that resided inside of her?  As Vader searched deep into the mind and soul of the alleged Princess Leia, a fleeting aura graced his psyche; a presence in the Force he hadn't felt since....could it be?  Yes, it was!  He could feel Padme, his long lost love, somewhere in the pit of Leia's soul.  Was it possible that Padme had given birth before she had died?  Could this be his last link to the life he had left behind?  Her presence in the Force was stronger than even his own, a formidable opponent-or ally-if she were to ever realize her true potential.

     The door to Vader's Chamber buzzed.  It was the Stormtroopers who were charged with hiding Leia's presence upon the Tantive IV.
    
     "Lord Vader, your command has been carried out, there is no trace of the girl on that ship, and logs show she was jettisoned to Tatooine before we overtook the ship."

     "And you have told no one," asked Vader?  Even as he asked it, he searched their minds for traces of lies, which he had found none.  Their fear, fear of Vader, kept them true to their task.

     "No Lord Vader, no one but the two of us know, just as you asked," said one Stormtrooper, full of pride in his service to the Dark Lord.

     "Then no one will know of what has transpired here," said Vader as he reached out with one arm, closing his hand into a grip as both Stormtroopers reached for their throats, struggling to breath against an invisible assailant.  It was Vader's favorite use of the Force, to take a person's ability to breath away from them.   It provided a great deal of fear to instill in others, and erased loose ends that Vader wanted to be rid of.  He turned to look at Leia, reveling in the horror on her face.

     "Do you enjoy watching others die in this way, Leia,"  asked Vader with a measure of humor?  "I ended your mother's life the same way.  She betrayed me to the Jedi, showed her weakness, and I crushed the life out of her.  I initially thought I had sensed a spark of her life remaining after she had collapsed, but I imagine it was your life I sensed in your mother's husk."

     "What are you talking about," stuttered Leia, obviously shaken by the words that echoed in her mind.  "That can't be possible!"  Yet deep down, in Leia's mind, Vader's words resounded with truth.  How she knew this to be true was a mystery, but she knew it to be truer than any words she'd ever heard before.

     "Ah, I sense great turmoil in you, Leia.  You know what I say is true.  You don't want to believe it, but in time, you will come to know it as gospel.  Would you like to know who your parents are, my dear," asked Vader?

    Slowly, with shock still evident on her face, Leia nodded her head.  She didn't know why she wanted to hear what came next, but she felt compelled to hear Vader's words.

     "Your mother was Padme Amidala, of Naboo.  I met her when she was Queen, I loved her when she was Senator.  But she betrayed me, and for that she had to pay just like the rest of them."
 
     "I know this to be true, though I don't know how," said Leia through tears as they streamed down her face.  It was amazing to Vader to see her keep her composure, to control her feelings in the light of such turmoil.  If the Jedi had gotten to her, they may have had one of the greatest allies against the Sith in a millennia.  Fortunately for Vader, he now had with him the last link to his former life, and now the path to his future to overthrow his Emperor.  "Then who is my father?"

     "I, am your father, Leia."

     The look of terror, horror, and avulsion on Leia's face was rich with feelings, ripe with hatred and fear.  Vader would cherish that thought forever.

[Project-Durge]

great job phat!

[wraithnine]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! awesome story awesomely written!

[hangarbay94]

Dude, that is HUUUGE! I love it, and as always I love your style.

A great idea so well executed. (also love the image...sheesh, it sure beats the Slavwe Girl costume)

[TheCloneCommander]

brilliant Pat!!! this has to go on the front page!!! your writing skills are top notch buddy is there any more to this story or is it a one off?

[Clonehead]

Nice job, Pat!
How about some more?

[Phatty]

I have a busy day ahead of me today, but as soon as I have the chance I'll get the next chapter up and running. Thanks for the kind words!

[Irish Ninja 97]

Good read, Pat!

[Phatty]

The air was thick with emotion.  Rage and anger were as palpable as the floor and walls.  Leia picked herself up off of the training floor for the umpteenth time today.  It's been six years since Leia discovered her true lineage.  Six years since Vader took it upon himself to train his daughter in the ways of the Sith.  They have been brutal lessons, filled with hate and cruelty.  Vader blamed Leia's life on her mother's death, so he took pleasure in punishing Leia for every slip up, every miss of her blade, every hesitation. 

     "Perhaps I was wrong about you, my daughter," said Darth Vader in all his malevolence.  "You are weak.  You do not give into your anger, your hatred.  I can feel your emotions raging inside of you, yet you continue to keep them deep inside of yourself.  You will learn the true power of the Dark Side, or you will perish trying."   And with that, Vader grabed Leia in a Force Grip, lifting her high above the ground, suffocating the precious air from her lungs.  Vader's cruel laughter rang out loud along the walls of the training room, echoing in Leia's fading conscious.  As her body began to go limp, Vader threw her body across the room, crashing loudly against the wall, crumbling to the floor.

     Inside the darkest recesses of Leia's mind, something stirred.  All of her rage, her anger, her hatred, and her fear culminated into one, destructive being, building fire as it grew larger and more powerful in her mind.  Vader could feel the build up in the Force as he approached his seemingly unconscious body, which gave him pause.  He could sense the impending Force Storm, but was certain he could weather it easily enough.  The Dark Lord of the Sith...was wrong.

     Leia sprang to her feet, swelling with energy and strength, a twisted smile graced her black lips, her dark eyes shone bright with blazing Force fires.  Ozone erupted in a sea of lightning and fire all around her, burning the floor all around her to a charred black.  Leia thought it apt, as it was the same black as her father's hideous armor - and her blackened soul.  Leia focuses her attention on her father, as he slowly tried to approach his pupil.  The fires and lightning now combined with gale force winds, easily slowing Vader to a stop dead in his tracks.   Darth Vader tried in vain to utilize his affinity in the Force to push the Force Storm back, to make further progress, but even his great might had paled in comparison to the devastating evil that now resided in his protage's heart.  For the first time since he had left his mother all those years ago on Tatooine, the man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker knew fear, and it's name was Leia.

     "Your thoughts betray you, Father," sneered Leia.  Her lips, black as the blackest hole, twisted into an evil smile that made Vader's blood run cold.  Never before had he seen such raw Force energies being used in such overwhelming destruction.  He knew, if the Emperor was to be overthrown, Leia would be the one to do it.  "I can feel the fear inside of you Father.  It tastes delicious!"

     "Strike me down, Leia.  Strike me down if you are so confident that you can do so.  However, you have much to learn yet, and if you are to rule as the Dark Lady of the Sith, to rule the galaxy, you will need my help yet.  I am proud of your awakening."

     With a sudden explosion, Leia sent her immense Force Storm hurtling towards the fallen Sith Lord, thrusting him backwards and against the wall with enough force to crumple the wall like a piece of flimsi.  Her eyes still teemed with fire, as if her very soul was aflame, and she floated across the floor, not even taking a step, as she went to her father.  "Was that to your liking, father," asked Leia?

     "You have much to learn, Apprentice," shouted Vader as he ignited his lightsaber to life, making a reposte at the black clad Sith apprentice.  The initial thrust caught Leia off guard, but not enough.  In the splinter of a mind's eye, Leia felt the battle come to life before anyone even had reacted.  The thrust by her father was easily parried asise as she ignited her twin short sabers.  A back flip carried Leia back several meters and into a defensive stance.

     "You are slow, Father.  Your overpowering stance is no match for my speed and agility!"  Leia had designed her twin lightsabers from the very same hilts her father had built many years ago.  The blades were jet black in color, yet glowed with an eerie light all it's own.  They were shorter than a standard lightsaber, which meant that Leia would have to move in closer to her target to deliver the killing blow, but as she said, her speed and agility more than made up for that.  Several Force Acolytes had fallen to her blades over the past couple of years, each trying to prove their worth to Darth Vader.  Each finding nothing but their own deaths at Leia's hands.

     Vader rose to his feet, standing tall in all his splendid glory.  His armor was in tatters, his biomechanics were in tatters, sparking and dripping molten metal.  Yet Vader was more than his armor.  His affinity for the Force was greater than any Jedi or Sith before him, and he knew how to use it well.  Vader moved in to his pupil's range, swinging with all of his power, in an attempt to subdue his daughter.  Each swing of his lightsaber crashed against black energy, sparking and sputtering each time.  Each powerful thrust and swing drove Leia backwards a step at a time.  However, each step backwards was a feint.  The battle unfolded before Leia's eyes, ever before it unfolded on the training floor.  The Force had taken her, and she was open to it all.  Each attack was met easily enough, and each step back focused more and more Force potential, gathering it in her arms as she focused it into her blades of her lightsabers.  Suddenly, Vader came down with his lightsaber in a viciously powerful downswing.  Leia crossed her blades, pushed the attack down to the floor, and came up with both sabers crossed in front of her, hurtling a burst of flaming energy out at her father, enveloping him an a conflagration of Force Fire.  Vader stumbled back, writhing against the flames as he unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the fire.

     And with a mere thought from Leia, the fires were gone.  Vader knelt there, on the ground, gasping for air through his mask as smoke roiled off what was left of his armor.

     "And now the Student, becomes the Master," giggled Leia.

     "No, it does not," gasped Vader.  And with a thought, the loud crack of Leia's bones rung out against the walls of the training room.

[Project-Durge]

Great story pat but it seems like you're molding this story like the force unleashed.

[wraithnine]

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phatty]

I have a vague direction I want to go, but I let each writing session take it's own path as I write it.  I'm not entirely sure where I'll end up yet!

[beige-4]

speechless absolute ! you should send this to lucas saying its another infinities version its great

[Irish Ninja 97]

Good read!

[Phatty]

Pain.  Anger.  Hatred.  These are the only things Leia feels now.  Deep within her mind, buried in her Healing Trance, Leia seethed with these emotions.  The incredible pain she felt from all of her bones being shattered, combined with the sheer magnitude of rebuilding her body with the Force, racked her body and consciousness with agony.  The anger was aimed at herself.  Angry for letting her guard down, for not finishing her father when she had the chance.  Blind ego had caused her failure, a failure that she would not repeat again.  The hatred was for Vader.  Hatred for twisting her into what she had become.  Hatred for her injuries.  But her body was healing.  She would rise again.  She would take revenge against Vader.  She would destroy the Dark Lord of the Sith, as well as his Master, Emperor Palpatine.  She would come to rule the galaxy in her cruel grip.  Leia's body pulsed with Dark Side energies. 


8 months later...

The violet energy dripped off of Leia's sweaty body as she swung her sabers in deadly arcs, slashing armor and flesh.  Her garrison of specially trained Stormtroopers were a cacophony of destruction, their orchid blaster fire shimmering off of their distinct armor.  The violaceous markings on their black armor were easily recognized as the most bloody, destructive troopers in the Empire's Armies.  Their mere presence sent hardened soldiers running.  Now, their fierce tactics and hugely precise blaster fire decimated the Rebels protecting their base on Orion IV.  Leia and her army, the 818th Feartroopers, had tracked a Rebel freighter to Orion IV and launched an attack as soon as they let down their defenses.  The Dark Lady of the Sith was pleasantly surprised to find out just how large this base was, and how many Rebels were stationed here.  Her victory would send a crushing blow the the pitiful Rebel Alliance, and that thought made her grin an evil grin as she continued her onslaught.  Each swing, jab, parry, thrust, and foil of her newly constructed amaranthine blades sent another Rebel scum to their grave, and each life taken gave Darth Leia more power.  It was intoxicating!  "Press on Troopers!  I want only one Rebel puke left alive so that they may spread our tale.  The rest must be slain, or you will face my wrath!"

From a distance, a Rebel sniper took aim at Leia, encapsulating her in her scope.  Her position well hidden, the sniper named Thena Skyblade had been awaiting this opportunity since the assault began.  She may die at the hands of the Feartroopers as they decimate the Rebel forces, but she would snuff the flame of the Sith Witch here and now.  The wind was coming lightly from the East, steady enough to play accurately.  The light from the sun glinted off of the woman's raven hair, though not enough to hinder the sniper's view.  The sniper drew in a deep breath, holding it to steady her aim.  The Sith paused, looking for more prey.  Thena squeezed the trigger, sure of her shot like she was sure the sky above Orion IV were a beautiful sea green.  The searing hot bolt of energy sizzled out of the barrel of the sniper rifle and hurtled towards the dark woman with the speed and voracity of a hungry Kath hound.  The bolt was dead on target, due in a mere microsecond to splatter the insides of the vile girl's head all over the landscape.  And yet, the unthinkable happened; With a speed unrivaled by any experience Skyblade had ever witnessed, Leia easily pushed aside the blaster bolt with her lightsabers and turned to face the skilled sniper, staring right into her soul.  The distance was great enough that no mere human could see, yet Leia did.  The stare from the Sith burned into Thane's psyche.  It was horrifying.

"Commander, I want that woman taken alive," purred Leia.

"What woman, Mistress?  I see no women on the battlefield," voiced Commander Arvyn through his eerie helmet.

"Then you need to broaden your view, Commander.  She sits atop that outcropping along the hilltop to the North.  Capture her alive, and do not fail me!"

"Yes Mistress, your will be done!"

With that, Darth Leia turned her attention back to the task at hand; the ultimate slaughter of these Rebels!  Her blades again arcing in glorious heliotropic fireworks, like a Mon Calimari aqueous light show, she continues to cut down Rebel after Rebel, spilling their blood and entrails onto the ground without impunity.  Leia could not help but giggle all the while...

"Troopers, guard quadrants 79er and 353.  No one escapes from those routes.  You three protect the escape perimeter at the Southern exposure of the hillside.  Theta-Squad and I will head through the Rebel bunker into the tunnels of the Hillside.  Mistress Leia wants this Rebel captured alive at all costs, so set your weapons for stun," ordered Commander Arvyn.

"Sir!" shouted the Feartroopers in unison.  Beneath his helmet, Arvyn smiled a wicked smile. His Feartroopers were the absolute best of the best, minus the special troops selected by Palpatine himself, that is.  No one escaped his troops.

WHOOMP!!  WHOOMP!!  WHOOMP!!  Shots rang out, and just like that three of his troops lay dead on the ground at Arvyn's feet.  "Take cover, initiate attack pattern 6-8-Zulu!"  Arvyn took Theta-Squad and hurried into the bunker while the rest of his crew dove into cover.

"Well, that's three down, only seven remaining," thought Thena Skyblade to herself as she slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder, hurrying into the tunnels.  She hoped the Empire's troopers weren't able to follow all of the tunnels inside of the base.  She raced down one tunnel in a full on sprint, her breathing as controlled as ever, her peak physical conditioning fueling her flight.  She made a right, a quick left, followed by a second left.  The tunnel ahead uncurled into a straight run, with the final leg of the tunnel at the end where it opened out into the North of the hilltop.  Thena put her head down and braced the rifle against her back as she sprinted even faster down the tunnel.  Suddenly and ferociously, Thena felt a dull thud against her skull, and the already dark tunnel got darker, her consciousness fading rapidly.  The last thing she saw before she succumbed to the encroaching blackness was the terrifying visage of the black and purple helmet of a Feartrooper, staring hollowly down at her.