Star Wars - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Star Wars The Force Unleashed: A Fragile Hope ❯ Only a Sith Deals in Absolutes ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Getting the location of the droid wasn’t difficult. After the destruction of a local cantina and the interrogating of numerous Imperial spies, Starkiller tracked the droids’ location to a hangar in Mos Eisley, where a large piece-of-junk ship was stationed, ready to take off. The apprentice could tear the ship from its position and crush it against the hangar wall, then be done with the mission, but with the chaos that followed the dealing with Jabba the Hutt, he wanted to make whoever helped the droids to suffer. Then he saw them, the bronze-clad protocol droid that nervously hiked up the boarding ramp, followed by a blue-and-white astromech droid. Grinning underneath his mask, he left his clawed fingers to grip them and pull them from the ship’s confines.
“I am afraid I cannot allow you to do that,” came an elderly voice that took Starkiller off-guard, enough that he lowered his hands and faced his opponent. He blinked with surprise when a white-bearded old man wearing a brown Jedi robe stood before him, blue lightsaber drawn and held before him. The robes were familiar as well as the fighting stance. Starkiller then realized who it was: Obi Wan Kenobi, the Jedi master who was able to slip through the Empire’s grasp during Order 66 and the one responsible for fatally wounding Darth Vader. The Jedi who almost killed Vader would now clash with the Sith who finished the job. Igniting his lightsaber and holding it toward Obi Wan’s throat, he replied.
“I have waited many years to face the real Obi Wan Kenobi.”
With that, the two Force-sensitives clashed, locking blades. Ben Kenobi casted him away, then force-pushed the apprentice back into the crate. Landing hard, Starkiller rose to his feet and dodged to avoid a Force-assisted charge by Kenobi. The assassin send arching force lightning into the old man, striking him hard, then gripped him and flung him across the clearing, over his head. Ben Kenobi landed harshly, grunting and coughing. His old age had robbed him of much of his skill, the apprentice realized, and now, he had to face the strongest Sith in the galaxy. Starkiller charged at the Jedi, who stood slowly and dodged swiftly to the side. Starkiller slashed at his neck, but in a blue blur, lightsabers found each other. Lightning then surged through the apprentice’s hand and up the hilt and blade of the saber, catching Ben Kenobi off-guard and letting the apprentice throw him off, allowing some of the bolts of lightning to strike at the Jedi. Kenobi collapsed to the floor, breathing hard and holding his side.
Inside the ship, Starkiller felt feelings of fear and worry. He felt the horrified eyes of a youth gazing at them, at Kenobi as he slowly rose to his feet, holding the lightsaber before him in desperation. Starkiller grabbed Kenobi with the Force and threw him again across the clearing, sending him into the far wall. He charged at the old man, who quickly raised his lightsaber in time to block Starkiller’s attack. In between the blades, the apprentice slammed his forehead into Kenobi’s, knocking the Jedi off-balance. Starkiller gripped him with the Force and smashed the old man against the wall, grinding him up the stone and then sent him soaring into another, the impact leaving Obi Wan with little strength. Starkiller’s lightsaber swung back and forth with anticipation as he leapt through the air. Kenobi tried to raise his saber again, but Starkiller caught his wrist and drove the crimson blade into his shoulder, burying it agonizingly slow deeper into the flesh before pulling it free. Kenobi swung a pitiful attack at him, which Starkiller easily knocked aside. He threw the old man away from the wall, letting him stagger.
Finally, Starkiller gripped Ben Kenobi and lifted him high into the air, in front of the burning blue engines of the ship behind him. The assassin felt disappointed in the fight, but knew he had to end it so he flung Obi Wan Kenobi into the blazing engines, where his flesh, clothing, everything, dissolved into nothing. Inside the ship, Starkiller heard someone shout “NO!” He grinned, lifting his hand to crush the ship and the droids along with it.
The whooshing of an incoming lightsaber strike broke off Starkiller’s attention. Quickly, he raised his blade and locked with…Kenobi?! The old man stood before him, though he was shrouded in a blue aura and was transparent. Starkiller heard of how Jedi could obtain immortality by becoming one with the Force while retaining their personality. The Force ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi stood before him, very much able to strike him down. Starkiller threw him off and stepped away.
“It is a shame you turned to the Dark Side. You could have been a great Jedi.” Kenobi said sympathetically, his voice echoing slightly.
“The Jedi are weak and pathetic! The Dark Side is stronger!” Starkiller clenches his clawed hand and then threw a force-push at the ghost. Kenobi blocked it by raising his lightsaber, easily avoiding the attack.
“If you continue this path, you will lose everything.”
Starkiller growled darkly, “I already have.”
Then he tore at him, crimson blade slamming repeatedly into the ghost’s blue saber. Starkiller continued the barrage of blows, lost in his anger and rage, wanting only to destroy the old man, to destroy the Jedi, to destroy any last remnants of Galen Marek and the terrible deeds he had committed. Kenobi then blasted him away under numerous force-pushes, knocking the Sith away. Starkiller hit the ground hard and groaned, then got to his feet. Kenobi flew across the space between them, blue lightsaber swinging at his head, but Starkiller dodged to the side and avoided it, then struck the ghost with force lightning. Kenobi howled and spun away. So the old man can’t die, but he can be defeated. The apprentice grinned. Starkiller rushed toward Obi Wan, who suddenly struck out at Starkiller with more force-pushes but holding his lightsaber forward as he pressed on, the attacks faded away as the Dark Side surged loudly through Starkiller’s body. With another jolt of lightning, Obi Wan’s ghost form shimmered and faded in and out, then was flung away, striking the ground across the clearing. Kenobi was already on his feet when the assassin suddenly appeared before him. The old man struck out, but Starkiller blocked the attack, then moved the blade upward as though to behead the ghost, but the blade eerily passed through the blue aura, making it ripple and distort. Before the Jedi could recover, one more blast of force lightning took away the last of his strength. The assassin lifted the twitching spirit into the air and renewed the attack with a burst of energy that caused the ghost to dissipate and vanish.
A roar brought the apprentice back to the ship which was now rising from its position in the hangar. The disembodied voice of Obi Wan called out from beyond.
“Run, Luke! Run!”
Realizing that the old man had been a distraction, Starkiller hurried forward, to salvage something as to not label the mission a failure. He jumped high into the air and grabbed onto the edge of the ship as it rose higher and higher. A small device appeared in the apprentice’s hand which he placed on the hull. As the device began blinking red, activated, Starkiller released his grip and fell onto the roof of the hangar as the Millennium Falcon roared off into the sky, departing from Tatooine. The tracking beacon in Starkiller’s hand blinked at the same rhythm as its brother clinging to the ship’s surface. Starkiller looked at the sky, watching the ship disappear into the deep blue.
You can never escape me.
He closed his fingers around the beacon and departed, letting the cowards cling to their fragile hope.