Paradise Lost- A Star Wars Fan Fiction

Chapter 13: The Mission- 6 BBY

Yo stared into the dead of space, holding onto the steering mechanism. He gripped it tightly, his knuckles turning white. He heard voices echoing in his head, all the people he had killed for the Empire. He heard the voices of his loved ones who died by the hand of the Empire. And at the center, one loud voice overshadowed them all.

The voice of Darth Vader.

"What's the plan?" Kota asked, sitting next to him. "Are you just going to stare into space or..."

"I'm thinking."

"Thinking about abandoning your boy back there?"

Yo looked over at him. "I'm saving him. From me."

Kota nodded. "He's back there crying to a droid, which is so pathetic it makes me want to cry. Why don't you just talk to the boy, father to son, and explain things? Maybe tell him you'll come back for him?"

"There's no coming back from this. This is my final act, the last mission. I'm bringing my legacy of pain to an end, and I'm taking him with me."

"You are so dramatic. We need to find allies and build a team if we will ever have a chance against him." Kota paused. "You could've killed me. You had the opportunity, yet you decided to spare me. Why?"

"I told you, I don't know."

"Yes you do."

Yo tapped his fingers. "Because you saw light in me in my darkest moment. I thought it had all gone, but you saw it..."

Kota sat back and smiled. "I still do. You are terrible at hiding it."

Yo smirked slightly.

Kota smiled. "What's your name, son?"

"Yosiah Shaha."

"Who was your master?"

"Master Aikeed at first and then Master Windu."

"Two very different Masters. I see you've taken after the latter."

"If I had taken after the former, I'd be dead."

"Don't be too hard on Master Aikeed, rest his soul. He had an... unconventional approach to being a Jedi, but I thought it had some value." Kota stood up and stretched. "Are there any drinks around here?" Yo pointed across the room. Kota walked over and grabbed a drink, taking a big gulp. "This is the good stuff."

"Master Aikeed wouldn't let me use a lightsaber for years. I sat back and watched all the other padawans train with their lightsabers, Skywalker among them. I had enough of it and requested Master Windu instead."

"I've seen Windu do some pretty remarkable things with a lightsaber," Kota stated. "However, I have seen Aikeed do some even more remarkable things without one. Things I can't explain. You should have stuck by him. Maybe you'd end up finding a way to beat Vader." He chuckled and sat back, lifting the drink to his lips. "We don't stand a chance against him as we are."

"What do you propose we do? Sit back and let him continue to torture and kill?"

"No, I say we try to relax and clear our heads a bit so we can come up with a plan," Kota insisted. He handed the drink to Yo, who proceeded to take a swig.

"I remember the first time I saw Vader. He came out of the darkness and I could feel his power. I was nothing compared to him. He may just be the most powerful force user in history." Yo snorted. "The only way to stop him may just be dropping a planet on him."

"You may be right."

Jakeb came storming into the room, looking panicked.

"What's wrong, son?" Kota asked.

Jakeb lifted up a holo-projector. The blue light projected a man, woman, and child on their knees with their hands tied behind them. Behind them was the Grand Inquisitor.

The hair on Yo's neck stood up as flashes of his time with the Grand Inquisitor came over him. "Who are they?" he whispered softly.

"It's my friend Niles and his parents. Listen!"

Jakeb pressed play as the audio began.

The Grand Inquisitor began to speak. "Hello, Second Brother. Our little friend here told us all about your actions here. He also told me his best friend was your son. How funny, through all our time together you never mentioned you had a little one." He smirked. "Here's what is going to happen. If you return, unarmed, and turn yourself in, your son and his friend will be allowed to live. If not, his friend will be the first to die."

Yo stared at him with rage. "What makes you think I care what happens to them?"

"I figured you would care enough to save them! But if not, we have an alternative. By answering our call, your boy has given us your location."

Jakeb's face went white. "Oh no..."

"I'd much prefer to make your death slow and painful, but sending you into oblivion in a single explosion works as well."

Yo heard the howl of tie fighters in the distance. He wasn't bluffing. 

"Okay," Yo uttered. "We're on our way now." He stood up and ended the transmission. He turned to Jakeb. "You should've known better. We're all going to die because of you."

"I'm sorry I didn't know!"

"It doesn't matter," Yo sat back at the controls. 

"So you're just going to turn yourself over? Do you have a plan?" Kota asked.

"I knew him for a long time. He will do anything to torture me. He will want to make it slow and painful, as he said." He looked over to Jakeb. "He will want to make you his new inquisitor. You're my blood, which means there's a good chance you are force sensitive, like me."

"Still waiting to hear that plan," Kota said.

"He thinks you're dead, General. Let's keep it that way. He will take us into custody and bring us to their fortress. Hopefully I'll be brought before Vader, where I will catch him by surprise. In the meantime, you get Jakeb out of there and as far as possible."

"That's risky and careless. I think we should try to take on the Grand Inquisitor together and make him tell us where Vader is."

Yo shook his head. "He will never talk. He'd sooner die. This is the only way for me to get to Vader."

Kota stood up. "You're willing to risk your son's life for a fraction of a chance at getting revenge? How do you even know he won't kill you on the spot!"

"You said you trusted my rage. I trust his. Vengeance makes people predictable. We have to use that against them." Yo turned to Jakeb. "Do you want to save your squealer of a friend?"

Jakeb straightened his back and puffed out his chest in an attempt to seem brave. "I can handle it. I need to save them." His face fell. "They may be the closest thing to family I have left."

Yo felt a twinge of guilt, which was immediately drowned by his rage. He looked over at Kota. "Are you in?"

He sighed. "I don't like it... We will most definitely be dead by the end of the night, but I owe you a debt for sparing my life. I will help you."

Yo nodded at him and turned back to the controls, turning the ship and flying toward Nular, the howl of tie fighters close behind.