Episode VI, Part II
Luke had had his new lightsaber taken from him when he was captured.
He languished in prison on Alderaan for some time, and there was tortured, suffering the first ordeal of the Sith. But he had not yet submitted, and he knew, from what Leia had told him, that death loomed before him if he remained obstinate.
Yet suddenly, he was taken from his cell, and brought by shuttle to Condawn. Here, on a craggy mountaintop overlooking the searing fields of lava, Darth Vader had built his castle, on the site of his victory over the old order.
Luke was taken to Vader’s throne room, with its highly polished Dwarf-wrought floor of stone, and its giant glass windows overlooking the lava fields. On one side wall hung the lightsabers of Jedi whom Vader had defeated: trophies of victory. On the other side stood a large glass mirror, also of Dwarven make, whose purpose even Darth Vader did not fully understand.
The two unusually well-armored stormtroopers who had escorted Luke into the room remained standing by the entrance, guarding it. But they advanced no further.
Upon the dais before the central window there was a brass gong, which was used to orchestrate proceedings during meetings of the Sith Order.
At the center of the room, seated on his throne, was Vader, still wearing his mask with the pride of a fierce knight. And by his side, in a newly installed throne, there sat one other: his new consort, and co-ruler of the Sith Order. Leia.
She was dressed in a black leather jumpsuit. The red Mark of the Sith, the honor of the twice-recalcitrant, was tattooed upon Leia’s forehead.
TENNO
She had taken the tonsure given to the hardiest of Sith women—a half-shaved head, with one side of her golden hair left long and flowing.
Her blind eye had been extracted and replaced with a false droid prosthesis, outwardly normal except for its purple iris. In fact, her damaged eye been used to make her own Kiber Crystal, which she kept in a secure crypt, deep below the throne room.
The Sith knew the secret of the Crystals’ making, as the Jedi never did. It was a dark secret, and had they known, the Jedi would have found other ways to open their minds to the Force. For there were, in fact, other ways.
But unlike the Jedi, who viewed the Kiber Crystals as a necessary evil, the Sith, who craved absolute power, never relinquished their Kiber Crystals—except at need.
To cement her status as a Sith Knight, Leia had willingly undergone further wounds: her teeth were extracted (replaced with golden ones), and her right hand was removed (replaced with a silver prosthesis).
/TENNO
TOMOE
She had taken the tonsure given to the hardiest of Sith women—a half-shaved head, with one side of her black hair left long and flowing.
Her blind eye had been extracted and replaced with a golden prosthesis. In fact, the eye been used to make her own Kiber Crystal, which she kept in a secure crypt, deep below the throne room.
The Sith knew the secret of the Crystals’ making, as the Jedi never did. It was a dark secret, and had they known, the Jedi would have found other ways to open their minds to the Force. For there were, in fact, other ways.
But unlike the Jedi, who viewed the Kiber Crystals as a necessary evil, the Sith, who craved absolute power, never relinquished their Kiber Crystals—except at need.
To cement her status as a Sith Knight, Leia had willingly undergone further wounds: her teeth were extracted (replaced with silver ones), and her right hand was removed (replaced with a silver prosthesis).
/TOMOE
(Think of a combination of Emma Peel from the old British TV Avengers and Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise.)
And, at last, Leia had built her own lightsaber, which she wore in addition to the one Ben Kenobi had willed to her.
--
She had drunk of the Red Sleep (or Red Draught) of the Sith, the drink that brings madness and ecstasy in equal dose, and she was now a willing participant in the deeds of Vader and his ilk.
She told Luke that Han was a better lover than he would ever be; for Han had slept with her as well, during their desperate flight from Yavin, and again after Luke’s capture on Alderaan. And Leia further said that she was now Vader’s willing mate—and, she already knew, she was pregnant.
But Leia would be gracious in victory. She asked him now to join them. She offered him one-third of the Empire for his own.
Luke refused. But some part of him, deep down, wanted to accept.
Leia and Vader taunted Luke by dangling his lightsaber in front of him. He did not take it via the Force, for he did not think he could master his own anger. But he was tempted to try.
Next, they held before him his father’s lightsaber, lost years ago on Kashyyyk. They offered it to him freely, if he would only join them. His urge to seize his rightful heirloom by the Force grew much stronger. But again he feared to fall to the Dark Side.
Then they linked into the secret Imperial military HoloNet, to show him how the battle was unfolding over Ton-Muund.
The Emperor and Vader had withheld a secret: the Death Stars were fully armed and operational!
And now Luke’s fury could no longer be borne.
--
TENNO
Tapping into the Force, Luke summoned his father’s red-hued lightsaber, and his own white blade. He lashed out at Vader with them.
Leia blocked the blow, using Ben Kenobi’s lightsaber with its new purple crystal.
Vader too drew his red lightsaber to defend himself.
Luke used the Force to take control of the two guards at the entrance to the hall, the ones who had escorted him in: elite Stormtroopers.
Vader had begun training this cadre of well-disciplined troops at the Emperor’s request. Even Lord Pestage had begun to fear that the Sith might turn against him one day, and that Vader might, in the fullness of his power, seek to supplant him. But Vader knew this; and the Emperor knew that he knew it.
Now the two well-armored stormtroopers, doing Luke’s bidding, advanced and drew their own blue lightsabers.
In response, Vader fetched down Ben Kenobi’s original white blade, long dormant, from where it rested on a wall of the throne room, as a trophy in a place of honor.
Then Leia activated her own new-built lightsaber. Its blade was golden.
(Perhaps there was a reason for the fact that GL appears to have sought a blanket ban on yellow lightsabers?)
Battle was joined.
/TENNO
TOMOE
Tapping into the Force, Luke summoned his father’s red-hued lightsaber, and his own golden blade. He lashed out at Leia with them.
Vader blocked the blow, using his own red sword.
Leia in turn ignited Ben Kenobi’s lightsaber, with its new golden crystal.
(Perhaps there was a reason for the fact that GL appears to have sought a blanket ban on yellow lightsabers?)
Luke used the Force to take control of the two guards at the entrance to the hall, the ones who had escorted him in: elite Stormtroopers.
Vader had begun training this cadre of well-disciplined troops at the Emperor’s request. Even Lord Pestage had begun to fear that the Sith might turn against him one day, and that Vader might, in the fullness of his power, seek to supplant him. But Vader knew this; and the Emperor knew that he knew it.
Now the two well-armored stormtroopers, doing Luke’s bidding, advanced and drew their own red lightsabers.
In response, Vader fetched down Ben Kenobi’s original white blade, long dormant, from where it rested on a wall of the throne room, as a trophy in a place of honor.
Then Leia activated her own new-built lightsaber. Its blade was green.
Battle was joined.
/TOMOE