Star Wars: Duel of the Fates

Chapter 56

It felt as if the monastery was getting further away.

Slowing down she walked as quickly as she could along the flat plane.

She stopped at the distant sound of a fighter and spun around. An old imperial TIE was flying towards her just above the ground, kicking up a trail of dust behind it.

Inhaling slowly, she tried to settle her nerves before igniting her lightsaber.

Her heart calmed as she opened herself to the force and turned her back to the incoming fighter.

The sound of it grew louder, the eerie whine of it changing pitch as it approached.

As soon as it was close enough she started sprinting away as fast as she could along a parallel line to its path.

The moment before it was level with her she somersaulted up into the air, sailing straight over the wing pylon, severing it clean off with her saber blade.

She landed gracefully in the clearing cloud as the TIE rotated violently over the dirt and collided with a huge rock face up ahead.

Running towards it, she picked her way along the deep trench it had carved into the planets floor and stared at the flaming wreckage.

A figure rose from the embers, a figure from a nightmare: Darth Vader.

Rey retreated as he marched towards her, his red saber lit and held across his body.

He swung a wide blow towards her midriff, which she just managed to block. Again and again he made violent, angry slashes at her which she dodged or parried.

Rey force pushed him away.

"Impressive," he said, his deep voice modifiedthrough the helmet. 

Her breathing became more rapid, "I don't want to fight you."

"That is a very common sentiment amongst the people I have killed."

"You are Anakin Skywalker...not this."

"He was weak and I destroyed him."

"No he was always there and at the end he brought balance."

He tilted his head and relaxed his stance, "I became this...but who will you become? You've seen your true self...how powerful you could be."

"I never wanted that."

"And yet you are here."

"To stop Kylo Ren."

"You won't be able to."

"You're wrong: I will stop him and the Resistance will win this war."

"The First Order are immune to your disrupter and have created one of their own. The war will end today with their total annihilation."

Rey looked at him in horror, waiting to see some trace of a lie but could feel the truth of his words.

He went on, "The only way to win is to get there first and take the power for yourself."

"I will do everything I can for my friends but I will never take that power for myself...I know where that choice leads."

"And that is why you will lose," he said, moving into a shadow.

Stepping forwards she held her saber out into the darkness but he was gone.