His own black heart beat fast in his ears, the slightest of gratified smiles tugging the corners of thin, bloodless, breathless lips as he waited, transfixed...
His Jedi's blade lifted just slightly, weight shifting...
"Leave him..." Palpatine grated voice low and even, equal parts confident coercion and oppressive threat.
Still the boy didn't move.
"Step back, Jedi," Palpatine ordered, caught up in this strained battle of wills, the ultimate opportunity to pitch his own inflexible resolve against Skywalker's volatile, headstrong temperament. To bring his will to bear against this Sith he had created, as wild and dangerous and unpredictable as the wolf which haunted his visions.
Skywalker wavered long seconds, the scarlet saber blade weaving before Vader's face with every labored breath...
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The burning compulsion to push the blade home seared through every fiber of Luke's body, cramping taut muscles to strained paralysis, his Master's words a distant abstraction no more substantial than a whisper whilst driving forces tore at him, screaming in chaotic contradiction, driving him to distraction, his heart pounding so heavily that it shook his whole body with every beat.
Harsh, uncompromising reality bled slowly back in about him, cold and clammy, as the intense burst of Dark clarity fired by the heat of battle abandoned him to a chilling, crushing confusion.
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Palpatine watched his Jedi blink; blink again...and back a step away, deactivating his saber. Frustrated and stormy and murderous, driven to distraction...but controlled now. Perhaps this wolf would yet walk to heel.
Skywalker stumbled another step back, sense boiling as Palpatine remained still and resolute, not allowing his triumph to show in his face as the boy wheeled away--
And Vader launched up, incensed, saber high, slicing down...
With no time to turn, Skywalker brought his hilt up and over the back his head, igniting it as he did so to block the attack from behind. He twisted around, using the momentum to carry Vader's blade with him as the turn pushed it away, his eyes wild and feral and outraged--
The blow was incredibly fast, absolutely faultless: Skywalker pulled back and swung in high but as Vader moved to intercept, he brought the base of his hilt around in the palm of his hand so that Vader's blade met empty air as Skywalker's swung in horizontally towards his father's head. Vader ducked and twisted away as the blade snicked against the edge of his helmet, missing the killing blow by less than a blade's breadth. He spun his saber back in a desperate defensive arc but Skywalker caught it with his own, his blade looping about it to rob it of any power and drive it to the side--
And he was inside Vader's guard, batting his ruby blade back with a final twist--
Perfect strategy, incredible speed, flawless execution. No defense...
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Luke kicked out hard, the blow landing solidly against Vader's ribs. He fell back, landing heavily, the breath knocked from his lungs in a gasp--and Luke was there, one knee on his father's chest, back arching as he held his lightsaber high above that hated black faceplate to deliver the killing blow, hilt up, blade pointing straight down.
Palpatine shouted out, the speed of the final attack unanticipated. "Skywalker--STOP!"
Luke stabbed the blade down, ignoring his Master's shout of "NO!"
All that revulsion and rage and resentment, that driving desire to destroy this creature and so free himself of that which reminded him every single day of his own inherent weakness... Into a single blow was compressed all of that bitter, grievous hatred and loathing...
Of his father...and of himself.
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Too far away to intervene Palpatine reached out with the Force, lifting his hand as the saber came down. But his attempt to stay the blow was knocked aside by the surge of savage power hurled out from his feral Jedi, batting away any hindrance--
The scarlet glow of the blade disappeared without visible resistance as he drove it down, stopping with a solid thunk only as the hilt finally hit resistance.
Skywalker cried out in frustration as he wrenched himself up and away, stalking from the huge hall without stopping, a shadow lost in the darkness--
Leaving his saber buried up to its hilt in the floor...a hair's breadth away from Vader's head.
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EPILOGUE
Rumor
Conjecture
It's everywhere here in the Rebellion, especially here below decks. Especially now.
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There's a new Sith. That isn't idle talk.
A new enemy who serves the Emperor on Coruscant with as great a commitment as Vader ever did, whilst Vader himself travels with the fleet, dedicated to continuing his life's work of hunting us down for his Master.
He has no name, this new Sith. He has no past.
And Palpatine plays his games; calls him his feral Jedi, his purebred Sith, his fine blade.
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They say there's no solid information as to who he is, though rumor is that there are those here in the Rebellion's hierarchy who know the truth.
The rest of us...we fall back on theories, gossip, second-hand accounts...
There are whispers that this new Sith is Vader's son. There's conjecture that he's Palpatine's son.
There are rumors that he was once a Rebel. There are murmurs that he was a spy, skilled enough to infiltrate the leadership here.
There are theories that he served as an elite Red Guard on Imperial Center whilst he was being trained by Palpatine.
Speculation that he traveled with Vader in the Emperor's fleet, as a combat pilot.
Indications that he grew up hidden away on a Rim world, where harsh lessons are learned young.
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They say he's as cold and heartless as his Master. They say it's good that he's caged within the Core Systems because his Emperor likes him close to heel.
Close, because it's whispered that this new Sith has his own mind and his own will, reluctant to tender the same blind servitude that Vader offers Palpatine.
That he builds his own power base within the Emperor's Palace.
Still, it's this new Sith who leads the Emperor's forces in the Core systems, now.
This new Sith who stands at the Emperor's right hand and dispenses his will with such cool, detached diligence.
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They say that Palpatine describes Lord Vader as his attack dog--and this new Sith as his wolf.
That's what they call him now...even here, behind close doors: The Wolf.
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They say he'll rule the Empire within a decade.
They say that isn't conjecture.
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Continued in
In Shadows and Darkness
(Also complete - check back on my bio page for the link)
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As ever, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jedi-2B for betaing my considerably less than perfect grammar and grasp of American English. She's written endless great stuff herself and always encourages me no end to get my ass in gear and post!