Master and Padawan/Chapter 1

Part One
The decompressing air hissed around him, as the meditation chamber opened with a whiny hum of the servomotors. He breathed in heavily, feeling the metallic aftertaste of the mask's filter, while he dragged his heavy, artificial limb to full stand. In such moments his primal fears sometimes returned, where he could not draw a distinct line between the human and the machine and it made him loose his balance and give a threatening feeling of not being a part of the Force. As the years of his mechanically suspended near-death progressed and more and more tasks arose for him to deal with, he felt less and less of that fear, but it was still there, somewhere at the back of his skull, just below the black, shiny plates of the helmet that sustained a proper environment for the tormented head of who was once expected to be the greatest of Jedi knights.

Yes, indeed he was the greatest, though the Dark Side turned out to be his preferred choice after all he cherished and valued fell apart and all his friends, mentors and colleagues betrayed him while his teacher and brother in Force left his mutilated body for sure death and the infernal shores of a lava river on Mustafar.

Lord Vader took first step, then next. Upon leaving his chamber his steps gained power, fuelled both by the wonders on cybernetic prosthetics and the inner strength of the Force, driven by the Sith way. He left his quarter and entered the bridge, where his underlings, a mess of human ants sporting various uniforms swarmed around the control heart of this devastator-class star destroyer.

"Any reports, general?" he demanded in his low, raspy voice, escaping his burnt throat with some difficulty. The soldier jerked uncontrollably upon being surprised with the question and promptly turned toward the Sith master.

"We got mixed signals, Lord Vader. Nothing that we could have sorted out yet, but there seems to be some kind of possible extraordinary life form activity on the planet that just might be more than the usual animal life."

"I am at times so fed up with your incompetence and disability to come up with a clear data, general. Don't disappoint me" the eyes of a the terrifying, black mask pierced the soldier through or at least so he felt. Even though he could not catch the gaze of the terrible Lord, he felt some overwhelming urge to whine and yelp in front of his statuesque figure.

"We've just finished preparations to send out probes, Lord Vader. They should be reporting within an hour and I shall be able to provide and more definite answer to your question then."

"Fine" the dark lord barked, as he turned sideways to the general, seemingly loosing all interest in his underling. He peered through the dark vacuum behind the panoramic windows of the bridge, trying to see across the space and penetrate the surface of the planet they orbited.

It was just a little more than a rock barely large enough to hold an atmosphere and with enough soil to sprout a jungle that covered all of it. That piece of cosmic debris didn't even deserve a name yet in the imperial archive and it haven't deserved it's own intelligent life to name it. The records based on a sole probe visit of decades before only mentioned small herbivores and a plant life. There has been some change to the planet's ecosystem though in the past decade or so it seemed.

Lord Vader came across this curiosity quite by accident. It has been some time already since he last felt a disturbance of the Force indicating a presence of a Force-wielding creature. The Great Jedi purge practically eradicated anyone that could ring such a tone and a large-scale hunt helped wipe out all those who survived. There was, however, a slight chance someone might have escaped the imperial hound dogs even now, a decade after a young Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, slayed the whole of the Jedi Academy and the ever-obedient Clone Troopers carried on with Order 66.

Only slight, but not impossible.

He closed his eyes behind the black face of the grotesque mask and concentrated. His will darted across the empty space toward the surface of the space debris and he searched for any sign of a disturbance in the Force. Time after time he examined the small planet, but there was nothing definite. All he received was just a static, nothing clear, nothing he could grasp and stick to. Yet it was not just an empty background echo. There was something or someone in there.

And he felt it was once familiar. This distant, meaningless lack of anything definite bore some long forgotten vibe he could not identify.

"Lord Vader" he heard over his shoulder "Lord Vader!"

He turned round to face the general.

"We have located signs of activity and well concealed structures that local life forms should not be able to come up with. The search party is ready. Should we deploy?"

"No" he said after a slight pause. "Prepare my shuttle. I'll take care of it personally."

Part Two
The starfighter entered the atmosphere leaving a trail of light exhaust gas. Lord Vader re-checked the coordinates fed into the computer and turned off the automatic tracking. He pulled the throttle open and darted fast over the plant coverage of the small planet. Nowhere within sight or in the range of instruments he could spot anything extraordinary, yet his hunch was now far stronger than onboard the star destroyer.

He took a slight turn and lowered the fighter observing the surrounding jungle for any place convenient to ground it without making too much mess, wanting to avoid premature revelation of his presence. He decided to do it the cunning way this time instead of brute force so popular in imperial undertakings. Something told him that if this was a survivor Jedi, this one will be special and different than all the other Purge refugees he has slain over the years.

Nearing the coordinates the fleet gained from the probe droids he spotted a little clearing by the shore of a small, dark lake. Almost completely shutting down the engines he lowered the craft, folded the wings and set it down on the soft soil. The maneuver went through without a slightest problem. It was for a reason that he was once called the best pilot of the Republic. Back then when the corrupted and diseased institution still existed. Back before he was betrayed and tormented. Lord Vader rose and left the fighter without further ado.

The jungle was a cacophony of voices. Among the flourishing undergrowth local fauna lived their life only slightly disturbed by the appearance of a stellar ship and this strange black clad figure. Some of the animals sensed the angry feelings of the arriving human and retreated to their hideouts but for most this guest from space come unnoticed like rain or wind. He listened to the voices of the forest filtered through the helmets audio systems and scanned the trees and bushes with through the cybernetic lens. Nothing drew his attention so far.

He estimated the distance and direction and entered the jungle. He slowly but steadily worked his way through the undergrowing bushes and midget trees startling herbivorous animals hiding on the ground and on the branches of tall deciduous trees. His powerful artificial body pushed forward like a bulldozer and where he needed he carved out his path with a lightsabre.

Although the march was almost effortless thanks to his cybernetic limbs, the dark lord got nervous as he walked. He started to suspect he made an error calculating the route and the distance to the structures supposedly created by an intelligent life.

There was also the opportunity that his officers failed and it was all in all only a false alarm. But even though the instrument could be fooled, his senses could not. The Force told him someone was there. Someone well shielded, defensive, in hiding. A Force user that didn't want to be noticed, didn't want to be felt.

It was the sole explanation to what he felt, that strange tingle that was not a disturbance and not a response. A mere static, one erroneous note in the great symphony of the Force. Not even a note, more like an omission. A lack of sound where there should be one. If it was a Force user but he tried to shield himself, hide his legacy - it had to be a survivor Jedi knight. Probably the last one that got alive from the Great Jedi Purge. And soon enough he won't be a survivor anymore.

Lord Vader breathed in heavily. The helmets filters deprived the air of anything that belonged to this small planet. For sure it reeked. A vegetation like this one unavoidably had to rot and that sure did stink. He didn't, however, miss the old days when he could so easily feel all the stink. Not that much anyway. Maybe the thoughts of the old days would be more welcome if they brought anything more than pain.

The "good old days" were long gone. His mentor and friend a traitor. His only love reportedly dead. His mother dead. All he ever cherished corrupted and falling apart. Had there not been Emperor Palpatine, he might have fallen. The Chosen One of the ancient prophecy and yet fallen.

He breathed heavily again and shook his head. Something was wrong. Something disturbed him greatly on this forgotten rock full of rotting plants. He lurched forward and stepped into a sudden clearing. In an instant he stepped back and remained in the shadows.

There was a hut in front of his eyes.

Part Three
The Dark Lord stepped back a bit more to remain in the shadows. What he saw in front of his eyes was a simple hut, yet it was surely not made by animals. The report was right then at least about one thing - an intelligent life form lived here. Judging from the size it was some kind of humanoid roughly the size of a human. Might have been anyone in fact - a pirate, a hermit or... Yes, a survivor Jedi.

Vader shook his head and tried to listen to his inner intuition. It was a Jedi, he knew it. He started forward to step in when some whisper in the force held him back.

A woman left the hut. She was tall and slender, wearing a traditional Togrutan headpiece on her lekku. For a second there, the dark lord though of Shaak Ti, but he knew she was long dead and gone. This girl, however, was a Togruta too and looked much like the deceased Jedi mistress.

She wore boots and a skirt as well as a loose, brownish blouse, all of those the color of soil that made her blend into the environment. She took a few steps and stopped, looking around until she finally faced the direction he was. Then he saw her face for the very first time.

He breathed in heavily, a low growl escaped his burned throat and filtered through the mask died out. There was no mistake about it. Not a moment he hesitated when he identified the face ornament, surrounding the eyes and forming fangs on the cheeks.

The girl stepped forward and he noticed two lightsabers dangling by her belt. She faced him and spoke.

"Come out, dark one. I knew some day someone will finally come and I am ready to face you. My name is Ahsoka Tano."

Lord Vader walked forward and left the shadow cast by the jungle. He took his time marching toward her, tall, dark, horrible, the blackness of his cybernetic armor glistening in the rays of light filtered through the foliage. As he progressed, he notices a faint grimace of disgust and a fainter one of fear dash through her face. She clenched her teeth and reached down to put her hands on the hilts of her weapons.

"Hello there" he growled, standing in from of her, away just a few meters. He headed over the girl, overwhelmed her with his cruel might. She felt the crippling urge to stand back, get away from this personification of had-dead terror, run from the Force emanation of the Dark Side that seemed to crawl around and cast shadow on everything. She proudly brought her head up and addressed him with the honor of the Order.

"Who or what are you?" she demanded. "I thought Grevious was the ugliest of Dark Side's lackeys and I hardly believe someone might have conceived and abomination like you."

"Watch your mouth, Snips. This is no way to address your Master" he snapped at her.

"No…" she stepped back, struck down with utter horror. "No, I don't believe it. It's not true."

"Search you feelings, girl. You'll know it to be true. Look at me" he demanded, shouting out a challenge. "See what I've become! There has not been a Force endowed user before me as powerful, as mighty as is the Darth Vader."

"No, no, no, this cannot be happening. You're not Anakin anymore. The Skyguy would never surrender to something so atrocious, would never kneel down and take on this... this..." she could hardly form her thoughts into words, shaken and distraught by the cruel revelation of the fate of Skywalker she had no idea of.

"Look at me girl" he demanded. "This is what you damned Jedis did to me! Your master Obi-wan brought me to this. All of you have betrayed me and tormented me. All of you - the cursed Kenobi, the Jedi Council, those cowards and traitors, even the woman I once loved" he started to shout, his voice turning into a roar of a tormented, wounded predator.

"All of you brought that fate upon me" he growled, his mind overcome with rage when he confronted probably the last of the traitors that destroyed his life. "Look at me and accept me."

Ahsoka stepped back, she bit her lower lip till a thin dribble of blood streaked her chin. She clenched he fists on the hilts of her lightsabers.

"Look at me and see my might" the dark lord overcame his fury and spoke calmly again. "See me. Embrace me as you master once again. Come back to my side. Together, we can rule the Galaxy" he extended his hand toward her.

"Never" she shouted, her voice distorted, stuck in her throat, tears rolling down her face in an unstoppable streak. "I'll never join you!"

"Then, young padawan, you will die" he said and drew his lightsaber. Red, ghoulish light lit up her dark face, fighting for better with the green glow of her two light blades the she drew up forming a protective barrier.

Without one more word Darth Vader lurched forward and struck down on Ahsoka, aiming to break her defense and to kill.

Part Four
Vader's furious attack caught Ahsoka only half-ready. She expected it and managed to cover herself with the humming, shining blades of her two lightsabers, but she didn't expect the might of the strike. It was no longer this tall, slender Anakin that she fought with side-by-side.

Here she deal with a monster, a human machine, heavy and powerful beyond normal human capabilities. Only the ultimate struggle and the power of Force let her stop the deadly blow of the red blade. The sabers sizzled and hummed as they met violently and she had to give under the sheer weight and savageness of his hit. Kneeling down of her right knee she managed to find a stable base and push back his hit. Hilts grated and she almost lost the grip on her right weapon.

She quickly ducked in a swift, trained movement, to avoid the returning saber that only missed her lekku by an inch and promptly rolled over, away from the black-clad predator that stepped forward again, aiming for another crushing blow. She barely escaped it again this time and jumped back gaining distance and breath. With a powerful hit of her long, strong legs she jumped high in the air and made a salto over Vader head, landing behind his back. Her body moved faster than her thoughts, lead by training, instincts and the Force and she struck a blow as he was in a mid-turn. The Sith Lord seemingly effortlessly blocked one of her blades with his bloody one and hit her on the wrist with his armored hand with the force of a machine.

Ahsoka lost her balance and fell back, struggling to regain her composure. With a quick gesture she retrieved her lost saber with a Force pull and jumped further back trying to catch a breath and gain salvific distance from the imperial butcher.

"Resistance is futile" he growled as he slowly walked toward her, his saber drawn up, the lens of his cruel mask seemingly piercing her through. "Give in and join me."

"Never" she whispered. "Never will I become what you allowed yourself to be. You killed the Anakin I knew and I'll have you pay for that."

"Always the same cheeky Snips, aren't you. Never able to judge your situation, always taking risks, always unthoughtful" he ridiculed her. "No other knight has survived. We killed all of them."

Ahsoka's head jerked as if she was slapped. She knew, she felt it, but she still had hope. When the hell unleashed she was away on a mission and upon learning the ghastly fate of the Order she fled and hid. "Those who fight and run away live to fight another day" she told herself. She waited. Now she knew – what for.

"You don't stand a chance, kid" Darth Vader's voice was raspy, echoing, as if it came from a distance, distorted by the mask's filters.

"Look at you, see what you've become" she shouted. "How could you turn yourself into a monster you are now?" tear rolled down her face again as she furiously jumped forward and drew a double hit from both sides aiming at his ghastly head.

He swiftly circled his saber over his head and lightnings clashed - the green and a red one with what seemed to be a clasp of a thunder. The Sith Lord took a backstep and drew a blow with his armored forearm, hitting her hard on the chest and chin, throwing her away, having her land on her back breathless, painful.

"Give it to me" he taunted. "Give in to your hate. Strike me down. I killed all of your friends. I killed all those who survived Order 66" he hissed, seeing dark rage in the slits of her eyes as she followed him life a snake gazing at a victim.

"You're the last one there is" he stopped, confronting her. "I even killed all the brats in the Academy. Slayed those snots with my own hands..."

With a deafening shriek of despair, rage and sorrow Ahsoka jumped forward and hit him with a crossed blow from both sides. One blade slid down to his hilt and she felt the tormenting pain of flesh being cut and burned as the lost the grip in her hand. Her other sword however managed to break through his defense and she heard a roar of pain as the green rod of light pierced through his armor and reached the human flesh of his torso.

She had little time to ponder the achievement though as she felt a deadly, suffocating grip on her throat as Vader lifted her up with Force grip and broke the wrist of her healthy hand with a crushing blow of his heavy, black fist. She lost grip of her other saber and only struggled to remain conscious in this vile, evil duel of will between a once mighty master and a padawan worthy of the prophesied Jedi savior.

"Almost there" he said with a raspy voice. He breathed heavily. "You are quick, young and well trained. I see you didn't waste the time you won escaping us for so long. But you need to give in to your feelings. Let the rage guide you. Forget the rubbish Yoda and that bastard Kenobi have fed you."

"Unleash your might" he demanded, throwing her in the air. She landed painfully hitting a nearby tree and fell forward like a rag doll. Her right wrist was crushed but she could still use it. Her left hand was burned and cut but she felt she could still keep the hilt firmly.

She retrieved her swords and took a position, a last stand in this deadly battle against a man she once admired, obeyed and maybe even deep in the core of her young, fierce hear - loved.

Part Five
Darth Vader stood there, humming saber in his hand. That fight was a tough ordeal for him. The initial shock of finding out his former padawan was still alive gave way to a repulsion and hatred when he remembered the treason of the damned Jedis. Then his memories came back and for just a split second he toyed with the idea of going back, taking her in as his apprentice again. But that was just a dream, a mirage to be pursued but never attained. She made it clear.

"This is your last stance" he warned. "Nothing else was spared from what you once believed."

"Then I will die an honorable death" she spit out with fervent conviction. "Honor thrives even after the life burns out."

"Young fool!" he shouted. "Only now at the end you will understand. Your honor is no match to the power of the Dark Side. Now you will pay the price for your lack of vision and perish" he jumped forward gaining momentum. Like a machine, like a droid, a mass of flash and metal, a speeding bullet - he struck down on her, crushing through her defense, breaking her sabers apart, cutting and burning.

Ahsoka managed to try a dodge but she was to weak. Blood drain and her injuries made her too slow, too weak to avoid the killing hit of the Dark Lord and she failed at saving herself. With a massive wound opening up her torso she convulsively breathed in, struggling to remain conscious.

"You will not succeed with your abominations" she whispered and spit blood. "Someday, someone, somehow will bring you down" she wheezed.

The one who used to call himself Anakin came over his victim and looked down on her. He drew his saber back and put it back on his belt. He knelt on one knee beside the dying Togruta.

"You put up a good fight. And although you are a fool, Ahsoka, but a brave fool you are and you will receive a knight's funeral."

"There is still good in you" she managed her last whisper. "I know it..." she coughed up more blood and fell limp on the ground.

Vader reached over and closed her glassy, blind eyes. Then he effortlessly lifted the mutilated body and moved aside, collecting her lightsabers with Force pull.

It was an hour later when he turned his back toward a small funeral pile and the fire that already died away. Last smoldering charred branches sent a column of faint smoke in the air. He meditated a bit as he walked back to his starfighter. He lifted it up and reached orbit piloting the craft automatically. His mind was preoccupied with more than this ordinary task.

As he landed an officer approached saluting him.

"We have noticed a smoke on the surface, my Lord. Have you come into any trouble? Should we make a report to the Emperor now?"

"No" he growled. "It was just a crazy old hermit" he lied with a sour grin so well hidden by his helmet. "I burned his hut right down together with him. Nothing more than just an accidental extra training. Forget it and leave me alone" he demanded harshly. "Have my meditation chamber ready immediately."

He marched forward, not paying any more attention to the soldier. His heavy steps echoed in the empty docking bay and his tall, dark, ghastly figure moved on toward the bright rectangle of the elevator lit up at the end of the walkway.