While on Jabba’s barge, the astromech droid had penetrated the Hutt’s data system, and alerted the goons who’d remained in Jabba’s palace that the Imperials were coming for them with death warrants. The Imperial ships could hardly ignore the flotilla of smuggler ships, corsair gunboats, and slave transports that lifted off from the Hutt’s compound en masse; and in the battle that followed, they failed to notice the single X-wing starfighter and Corellian freighter that rose away from Tatooine by a more discreet route.
Luke was piloting his X-wing and R2-D2 was plugged into the astromech socket behind the cockpit. Han was once again behind the controls of the Falcon, which he’d won from Lando Calrissian in a game of sabacc some years back. After leaving Tatooine behind, the two ships veered off in different directions across space.
“Meet you back at the fleet,” Luke said into his cockpit’s comlink.
“Hurry,” Leia answered from the Falcon. “The Alliance should be assembled by now.”
“I will,” Luke said.
Then Han broke in: “Hey, Luke, thanks. Thanks for comin’ after me. Now I owe you one.”
Luke smiled, then angled his ship for a distant star. Behind him, R2-D2 beeped, and Luke glanced at one of his scopes to read the droid’s message. Luke replied, “That’s right, Artoo. We’re going to the Dagobah system. I have a promise to keep…to an old friend.”
R2-D2 had previously accompanied Luke to Dagobah, so the droid knew Luke was referring to the Jedi Master Yoda. The artificial skin on the back of Luke’s right hand had been blasted away by the hit he’d taken on Jabba’s sail barge. He pulled a black leather glove over his damaged hand and thought, Why did Ben tell me Darth Vader killed my father? Does Yoda know the truth? If he does, why didn’t he tell me?
Or…is it possible that Ben did tell me the truth, and that Vader was trying to deceive me?
Filled with uncertainty, Luke plotted the course to the Dagobah system, then made the jump into hyperspace.
In a great display of the Empire’s might, a parade of thousands of TIE fighters traveled in orbit of the Death Star to mark the arrival of Emperor Palpatine. Like Darth Vader, the Emperor traveled in a Lambda-class shuttle. Vader stood in a large docking bay and watched the three-winged spacecraft approach his position.
He was not alone. The docking bay was filled nearly to capacity with Imperial troops in tight formation. Commander Jerjerrod, the beleaguered officer in charge of the Death Star’s construction, stood near Vader and tried not to tremble. Glancing at the black-helmeted dark lord of the Sith, Jerjerrod wondered if Darth Vader had ever been anxious about anything in his entire life, then dismissed the thought as ridiculous.
In fact, Vader was feeling uneasy. Not about the Emperor’s arrival, but about finding Luke Skywalker. Luke defeated me at the first Death Star. He evaded me on Hoth, and escaped at Bespin. I cannot lose him again. The longer I remain on this space station, the more he exceeds my reach.
The shuttle entered the docking bay and landed on its gleaming black deck. The landing ramp descended and Vader watched six Royal Guards disembark; handpicked for their fighting prowess and loyalty to the Emperor, all wore blood red helmets and robes, and carried two-meter-long pikes. After the Royal Guards took their positions at the base of the landing ramp, the Emperor himself emerged. Darth Vader and Commander Jerjerrod genuflected.
Hunched and walking with a gnarled cane, Emperor Palpatine’s ghastly, withered features were barely visible under the hood of his heavy black cloak. He was followed down the landing ramp by several Imperial dignitaries. Stopping before Vader’s kneeling form, the Emperor said, “Rise, my friend.”
Vader rose to walk alongside the Emperor, who moved slowly past the long rows of troops.
“The Death Star will be completed on schedule,” Vader reported.
“You have done well, Lord Vader,” the Emperor replied, his voice a decrepit rasp. “And now I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker.”
“Yes, my Master.”
“Patience, my friend. In time, he will seek you out. And when he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the Force.”
For a thousand years, the Sith had maintained their order by never having more than two Sith Lords: a Master and a single apprentice. The few attempts to expand their number beyond two had always led to the Sith Lords conspiring to kill each other. Vader did not question why the Emperor dared to challenge the long tradition. He said, “As you wish.”
The Emperor leered and said, “Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.” Then he cackled to himself, and the evil sound echoed across the docking bay.
Luke’s arrival on Dagobah went much smoother than it had on his first visit, when his inexperience with navigating the swamp world’s dense mists and towering trees had led to a crash landing. Now, his X-wing rested on a muddy knoll, just a short distance from Yoda’s small cottage.
R2-D2 stood beside the starfighter and beeped disconsolately to himself; he didn’t like to complain, but he found nothing appealing about Dagobah’s climate, terrain, or wildlife. The tightly clustered trees were so thick with foliage that sunlight rarely reached the rainforest’s floor, and it sounded like there were creatures lurking everywhere. R2-D2 looked to Yoda’s house, a mud-packed structure that was partially framed by the roots of a massive tree. The droid saw warm golden light in the oddly shaped windows, and wondered how long he and Luke would stay this time.
Inside the low-ceilinged structure, Luke sat and watched Yoda move to warm himself beside the flaming scraps of deadwood in the fireplace. Luke couldn’t help but notice that the aged Jedi Master moved more slowly and carefully, and was more dependent on the twisted gimer stick he used to steady himself. It was hard for Luke to imagine Yoda using the stick to playfully whack R2-D2 as he had in the past. He’s aged so much since I last saw him.
Yoda turned his wrinkled green head to gaze at Luke’s concerned expression. “Hmm. That face you make? Look I so old to young eyes?”
“No…of course not,” Luke said, offering a feeble smile.
“I do, yes, I do!” Yoda said. “Sick have I become. Old and weak.” Pointing a crooked finger at his guest, he added, “When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?” He chuckled to himself at this, then hobbled slowly across the room, each movement a struggle, and climbed onto his small bed. “Soon will I rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it, I have.” He was so weak, he could barely manage to pull his blanket up over himself.
Luke moved beside the bed to help cover the aged Jedi. He said, “Master Yoda, you can’t die.”
“Strong am I with the Force…but not that strong! Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall. That is the way of things…the way of the Force.”
“But I need your help. I’ve come back to complete the training.”
“No more training do you require. Already know you that which you need,” Yoda sighed and settled back against his pillow.
Luke looked away. “Then I am a Jedi.”
“Ohhh,” Yoda said, then shook his head. “Not yet. One thing remains: Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be. And confront him you will.”
Luke was silent for a moment, trying to build up the courage to ask the question that had plagued him since his duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City. I have to ask. I must know the truth!
“Master Yoda…is Darth Vader my father?”
Yoda’s eyes were full of weariness. A sad smile creased his face, then he turned painfully on his side, so he was facing away from Luke. “Mmm…rest I need,” he muttered. “Yes…rest.”
Luke looked at the back of Yoda’s head. Why won’t he tell me? Why?
“Yoda, I must know,” he insisted.
Yoda sighed and finally said, “Your father he is. Told you, did he?”
“Yes.”
Yoda’s brow furrowed and h
e frowned with concern. “Unexpected this is,” he said, “and unfortunate…”
“Unfortunate that I know the truth?”
“No,” Yoda said. Gathering his strength, he turned over again so he could look at Luke. “Unfortunate that you rushed to face him…that incomplete was your training. That not ready for the burden were you.”
“I’m sorry,” Luke said.
“Remember, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” Yoda’s breathing had become strained, his voice a faint gasping whisper. “Luke…Luke…”
Luke moved closer to Yoda. In the nearby fireplace, the burning wood crackled.
Yoda said, “Do not…do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor or suffer your father’s fate, you will. Luke, when gone am I…the last of the Jedi will you be. Luke, the Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned, Luke…” Yoda closed his eyes. With great effort, he spoke his last words: “There is…another…Sky…walker.”
Luke was stunned. Another Skywalker?! But who? And where?
Yoda caught his breath, then his facial muscles relaxed and all his breath left him. Luke stared at Yoda’s body. He simply could not believe that the Jedi Master was gone. Come back. Without your help, I’ll fail. Don’t go.
To Luke’s amazement, Yoda’s body then began to fade…until it had completely disappeared, leaving an empty space between the bed and blankets. From outside the mud-packed house came the sound of distant thunder. The blankets slowly collapsed upon the bed.
Luke was stunned. He’d already lost so many friends and loved ones that he’d wondered if the loss of one more would even hurt. Now he had his answer: The pain was tremendous. And all that was left of Yoda were his few belongings and Luke’s memories.
Luke looked away from the empty bed, then looked back at it. He wasn’t sure what to do. Ducking under the low ceiling, he moved away from the bed and headed for the door, leaving the fire burning in the fireplace.
Emerging from Yoda’s home, Luke wandered back to his X-wing. He’d never felt so alone and apart from others, so lost and far away.
Luke and R2-D2 prepared to leave Dagobah. R2-D2 was under the X-wing, using his extendable torch to make a minor repair to the ship’s lower starboard thrust engine. Luke looked to the windows of Yoda’s house just as the firelight flickered and died. The windows went dark.
The droid beeped to Luke, but he remained silent, thinking. Perhaps Yoda and Ben were right when they warned me not to try rescuing my friends on Cloud City. I didn’t rescue anyone. The only useful thing I did was travel to Bespin with Artoo; if he hadn’t wound up fixing the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive, everyone on board might have been captured by Vader.
Good ol’ Artoo.
Luke knelt beside the astromech to inspect his work. Reaching up to touch the X-wing’s repaired engine, Luke realized he was still wearing the black glove that concealed his damaged mechanical hand.
Yoda and Ben were also right about Darth Vader. I wasn’t ready to confront him then. But without Yoda, how will I truly know I’m ready?
Luke lowered his hand. “I can’t do it, Artoo,” he said, shaking his head. He rose to stand beside the droid. “I can’t go on alone.”
Unexpectedly, from a nearby grove of trees, came a familiar voice: “Yoda will always be with you.”
Luke turned. “Obi-Wan!”
And there he was: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Old Ben. More precisely, a shimmering semi-transparent apparition of Ben. He moved out from behind some nearby trees to stand facing Luke.
Approaching Ben’s spirit, Luke asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father.”
“Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force,” Ben answered. “He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told was true…from a certain point of view.”
“A certain point of view!” Luke repeated derisively.
“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” Ben’s spirit eased himself down to sit upon the length of a fallen tree. “Anakin was a good friend.”
Luke realized Ben really did think of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader as two separate people. Listening, he sat beside Ben, who continued, “When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot. But I was amazed how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong.”
“There is still good in him,” Luke said, not just hopefully, but as if he knew it to be true.
Ben believed just the opposite: that Anakin was dead, and Vader was beyond salvation. “He’s more machine now than man,” he said. “Twisted and evil.”
Luke shook his head. “I can’t do it, Ben.”
Ben’s gaze flicked to Luke. “You cannot escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again.”
“I can’t kill my own father.”
Ben looked away. “Then the Emperor has already won,” he said with a sigh. “You were our only hope.”
Maybe not, Luke thought. He said, “Yoda spoke of another.”
Ben returned his gaze to Luke, studying him, trying to decide whether the young man was ready for another revelation, or if it were best for everyone if Luke remained ignorant. Ben made a decision, and said, “The other he spoke of is your twin sister.”
Bewildered, Luke said, “But I have no sister.”
“To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew, as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous.”
Incredibly, Luke was suddenly aware of his sister’s identity. “Leia! Leia’s my sister.”
“Your insight serves you well,” Ben said. “Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit. But they could be made to serve the Emperor.”
Luke nodded, agreeing with Ben. Yes…I must bury my feelings. If the Emperor learned about Leia, he’d want her, too.
But what about my father? What would he do if he knew Leia were his daughter?
Luke looked into the distance, as if he might catch some glimpse of what the future held. But all he saw was a heavy mist flowing over the swamp and past the trees. He glanced back to the figure that had been sitting beside him, but Ben was gone.
The planet Sullust was a volcanic world in the Outer Rim Territories. It had a highly toxic atmosphere, but beneath its rocky surface lived millions of humanoid Sullustans. They had jowled faces with wide, black-orbed eyes and large ears, and their technologically advanced subterranean cities were highly regarded for their beauty. Sullust was also home to SoroSuub, a prominent corporation that manufactured starships, weapons, and droids. Because an influential SoroSuub executive remained grateful to the Alliance for rescuing him from Imperial captivity, the Rebel fleet had been allowed to rendezvous in the Sullust system.
The vast Rebel fleet included several small Corellian battleships, many single-pilot starfighters, a few Gallofree Yards Medium transports, and a Nebulon-B frigate that had been converted for medical duty. The blimp-shaped Mon Calamari Star Cruisers were the largest and most unusual-looking ships, their fluid exteriors covered by bulging protuberances that gave the vessels an organic quality, as if they’d been grown, not built.
One of the Mon Cal cruisers, the 1,200-meter-long Home One, had been originally designed as a peaceful exploration ship; refitted with recessed weapons batteries and shield generators, it was now the personal flagship for Admiral Ackbar. Like other Mon Calamari, Ackbar was an amphibian with salmon-colored skin, large, bulbous yellow-orange eyes, and webbed hands and feet.
Ackbar stood with his Mon Calamari officers i
n a holographic ampitheater that had been transformed into a briefing room. Staggered rows of white plastoid seats encircled a central console unit that resembled a wheel lying on the floor; the console housed a retracted holographic projector. Ackbar watched the military leaders and a few dozen pilots file into the ampitheater and take their seats.
Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were present, as was the X-wing pilot Wedge Antilles. Among the other pilots were several aliens, including a Sullustan named Nien Nunb. Thanks to Chewbacca, C-3PO’s right eye was repaired and the golden droid could again see clearly; he thought Leia looked splendid in her Alliance-issue uniform.
As Chewbacca took a seat, Han spotted Lando, who was wearing a floor-length dress cape with an impeccably tailored Alliance uniform. Glancing at the rank plaque on Lando’s tunic, Han said, “Well, look at you, a general, huh?”
Lando grinned. “Someone must have told them about my little maneuver at the Battle of Taanab.”
Han knew all about Lando’s skirmish with the notorious Norulac space pirates in the Taanab system. Han said sarcastically, “Well, don’t look at me, pal. I just said you were a fair pilot. I didn’t know they were lookin’ for somebody to lead this crazy attack.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t ask you to do it.”
“Well, who says they didn’t?” Han asked. “But I ain’t crazy. You’re the respectable one, remember?” Han took a seat beside Chewbacca. Lando smiled broadly.
As Leia sat down beside Han, a human woman in a white gown entered the room. She had auburn hair and pale blue-green eyes, and wore a gold medallion around her neck. As a young Senator from the planet Chandrila, she had been one of the founders of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. She was now the leader of the Rebellion. Her name was Mon Mothma.
Return of the Jedi (Junior Novelization) Page 5
