Chapter 27: The Enemy, Unmasked

Luke stood bathed in the light of the Zanthodine Maelstroms shining in the firmament, and Veryx backed away, still recovering from the shock of the sudden turn. Luke lowered his hood and assessed Ben's and Kira's conditions. Veryx lunged forward with his lightsaber ignited and attempted to stab Kira's unconscious body. Luke reached his hand out, and Kira flew away from Veryx. She floated through the air and past Luke, coming to a gentle landing in the cockpit of the X-wing. The two lightsabers she had dropped in the battle flew from the ground and across the river, landing lightly next to Kira's unconscious body within the cockpit. The cockpit window closed, and Luke signaled to Artoo, who was now controlling the ship from his socket. The X-wing shot forward, flying up and away from the confrontation as it carried Kira to safety.

Luke walked casually toward Veryx, who backed away in a defensive position. Ben had also regained his feet, and limping on his injured leg, backed away from Luke toward the still intact speeder that Veryx had used to escape. Luke eyed Veryx for a moment, sizing him up, before he turned to Ben.

"Ben, come home," Luke implored, his voice gentle.

Ben stared at Luke, conflicted. He stared back to Veryx who stood still, extinguishing his lightsaber, apparently content to let the exchange play out without disruption. Ben turned back to Luke, and feeling bitterness and anger rise in him despite the pain and loss of the last few hours, said, "You lied to me."

"Ben, your mother and I…" Luke began to explain, but Ben cut him off.

"You lied to everyone! The Jedi, the galaxy. . . Kira," Ben continued, working up his anger to begin unleashing the resentment he carried.

"I don't deny it," Luke said, attempting to both de-escalate and console at the same time. "However, there's more you need to know."

"More lies?" Ben scoffed.

"More context," Luke corrected, looking to soothe Ben's anger.

Veryx interjected, speaking directly to Ben. "Context? What context is there? He lied to the galaxy about who he really is, and he trained a girl who attempted to kill me using Darth Sidious's power. What context do you need?"

"Ben, he's attempting to seduce you," Luke said, his voice becoming more urgent.

Ben looked at Veryx. Luke could see that Ben had little respect for Veryx after being tortured, but when Ben turned back, he also appeared angrier, "No, he isn't. He said he had a different use for me. Why would he lie?"

"Ben, please. I will explain everything. Your mother is wounded. There's still danger. Come home with us, and give us a chance to make this right," Luke implored.

Ben looked at his uncle, torn between a desire for comfort, but pulled in the opposite direction by anger, betrayal, and the pain he experienced. The memory of his father dying flashed before his eyes, spiking his anger again. "My father is dead," Ben said, his voice icy.

"I know," Luke acknowledged, and he allowed some of the emotion of the loss to show. "I couldn't get here in time to stop it."

"You kept me weak," Ben accused.

"What?" Luke asked, confused.

"You kept me weak because you feared how strong I could be, didn't you?" Ben accused. Luke began to speak, but Ben cut him off, his voice rising. "Don't deny it, and don't lie to me. You feared I would become like my grandfather. You kept me weak, and now my father is dead because I wasn't. . ." Ben choked on the last word, feeling deeply ashamed about admitting his weakness.

"You weren't strong enough to save him," Veryx completed the sentence.

Ben turned his head toward Veryx, hatred burning in his eyes. Luke interjected before Ben could lash out, recognizing that Ben was in danger of losing control. He held his hand out to Ben in a gesture of reconciliation, and he said, "Ben, this is not the Jedi way. . ."

"Lies? Training dangerous people? Is that the Jedi way?" Ben interrupted, accusation in his voice.

"Ben, there's so much more to it," Luke said, sadness in his voice.

"Then come to Coruscant. Explain your actions. Show accountability," Ben commanded.

Luke sighed and hung his head. Ben understood from the gesture that Luke would not come to Coruscant, and he would not allow himself to be held accountable. Believing his uncle to be lost to him, Ben pulled his injured leg over the speeder's saddle and fired up the engine. With a last burning look at Veryx, followed by an equally burning look toward Luke, Ben spoke to his uncle, his voice cold and hard. "The Jedi will come for you. Please don't make us hurt you."

"Ben, please," Luke implored as he reached his hand out toward Ben.

Contempt flashing across his face, Ben turned away and gunned the speeder's throttle, which shot him over a ledge to the left of the waterfall. Luke turned to watch him go, his hand falling limply by his side. For a moment, Luke stood silent, looking to the spot where Ben had just vanished and hearing only the rumble of the waterfall. A sense of loss and failure fell over him, recognizing that Ben had just announced himself in opposition to his own family. Then, Veryx approached him slowly, and he interrupted the silence.

"How far the mighty Skywalker name has fallen," he taunted with relish.

Luke turned toward Veryx and began to walk toward him. The two men stood ten meters apart. Veryx continued his taunting, "And now here you stand, unarmed and forsaken."

Luke ignored the taunt and responded, "Whom do you serve?"

"I? Serve?" Veryx asked, amused.

"No Sith master does his own business. Whom do you serve?" Luke insisted.

For a moment, Veryx seemed to hesitate, and Luke could feel a distant echo of pain that Veryx attempted to hide. Veryx rebounded, saying, "You should have left the Jedi Order dead as it was. It would have been much less painful for you."

"You are going to tell me who is behind all of this. I will find him, expose him, and defeat him," Luke stated, calm and unaffected by Veryx's taunts.

"No," Veryx said, raising his hands toward Luke. "I am going to kill you, and then your failure will be complete." The purple-white lightning manifested from his fingertips and arced toward Luke. In the millisecond before the lightning reached and engulfed the Jedi Master, Luke withdrew a silver cylinder from his robe and ignited it. With a snap-hiss, the blue-white blade emerged from the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker, which caught the lightning cleanly, preventing any harm to Luke.

Veryx lowered his hands, taking a tentative step back. His mask hid his surprise at Skywalker drawing an unexpected weapon. He regarded the blue-white blade as Luke settled into a relaxed, defensive position. Veryx attempted another volley of lightning, but Luke deflected it easily.

"As I said, no Sith does his own bidding," Luke stated calmly. "Surrender your weapon, and we can talk about your Master while we wait for the Republic to arrest you."

Veryx turned toward his ship, which sat ready and waiting for him on a flat, rocky shelf at the edge of the forest, and then turned back to Skywalker. After calculating his odds of escaping and concluding that confrontation was the more prudent course, Veryx unhooked his own lightsaber and ignited it. He settled into his own posture of readiness as Skywalker waited patiently. For a long moment interrupted only by the sounds of rushing water and the hum of their weapons, the two faced each other, waiting for the first sign of movement. When it became clear that Luke would not strike first, Veryx lunged forward, slashing at the Jedi with his weapon.

Luke blocked the attack then countered with his own attack. The force of the Jedi's blow knocked Veryx off balance, and Luke pressed his advantage, swinging and stabbing with his blade as Veryx struggled to keep pace with the speed of the attack. Veryx flipped backward to evade the Jedi's attack, landing ten meters away from Luke on the other side of a stream. He unleashed another volley of Force lightning, but Luke leapt over the lightning, landing behind Veryx. Veryx swung around, bringing his blade around with him, and he parried Luke's blow before counterstriking against Luke.

The sight of the Skywalker lightsaber enraged Veryx, and drawing from the deep well of rage and hatred, Veryx counterattacked ferociously. His vicious slashing sent Luke back and into the stream. Veryx attempted to fire lightning into the water, but Luke leapt before the energy hit the water, which sizzled and steamed. Luke landed, closing his eyes and bringing his lightsaber to a ready position in front of him. As Veryx stepped forward, Luke nodded his head to the left. A boulder rose from the stream bed and soared toward Veryx. Veryx cut through the boulder but did not see the second boulder coming toward him. The second boulder hit him in the back, sending him forward. He lost his balance and fell hard, his head hitting a slab of granite.

A short circuit in his helmet caused the fuse governing the breathing circuitry to malfunction, and Veryx found himself gasping for breath. He triggered a manual release, which opened his helmet along a fracture caused by his fall to the ground. As he caught his breath, he looked up to see Luke before him, his blade held out ready to kill should Veryx attempt to attack again.

"Yield," Luke ordered. Veryx lifted his hands to show that he had surrendered.

Veryx's breathing became more labored, and he reached to his helmet to pull it off. The fracture in the helmet separated, and the electronically damaged helmet split in two. The head beneath the helmet had dark skin, and the scalp was hairless. The shock of seeing the man's face left Luke rooted to the spot in shock. As he scanned the features of a man he had never known personally but had heard countless stories of, he recalled the old training holocrons and old news footage from the Clone Wars. Yoda, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Ahsoka had all spoken highly of this man – a man who had nearly stopped Darth Sidious's plot before it could come to fruition.

Luke stood, his blade lowered in shock at what he was seeing, and he spoke hesitantly and uncertainly, "Master Windu?"

The man scowled at the mention of the name. As Skywalker looked at him closer, he saw that Windu appeared to be the same age as the Jedi Master he had studied in old Jedi footage. Luke thought to himself, But Master Windu had died over 50 years ago. If Mace Windu had survived somehow, he would be elderly and frail – not in the peak of life.

"How?" Luke muttered. He took several steps backward with his lightsaber lowered. Veryx staggered to his feet, his lightsaber still in his hand. Veryx raised his saber over his head as Luke brought his up to a defensive position. Veryx sprang forward, thrusting and slashing at Luke. Luke fell back, parrying and dodging the furious attack, which left him little space to counter. They locked sabers, but Veryx swung his forearm into Luke's jaw, knocking him backward toward the edge of the waterfall. Veryx continued to press his advantage, kicking Luke in the chest after he knocked Luke's lightsaber aside. Luke flew back 10 meters, coming to a hard landing at the edge of the waterfall. Veryx leapt after him, and he brought his blade down on Luke. Luke had just enough time to roll onto his back and bring his saber up to block Veryx. Veryx pressed down with his full weight on Skywalker's lightsaber, which Luke pushed away with dwindling strength. His strength was not sufficient for keeping Veryx away indefinitely, and slowly, the dark Jedi's blade pressed closer and closer, coming to within an inch of Luke's face. Luke could see the rage lined into Veryx's face, which still caused ripples of shock as it continued to conjure up memories in Luke's mind of the Jedi he had heard so much about.

As Veryx's blade pressed toward Luke's face, a searing sound whistled across the sky. A torpedo slammed into Veryx's ship, which erupted in a massive fireball. The shockwave from the blast threw Veryx off Luke, and Luke took advantage of the distraction to regain his footing. Luke's X-wing streaked across the sky and arced back in the direction it had come from to take a second pass in case anything remained of the shuttle. Veryx regained his own footing and attempted to move back toward Luke to kill him. Artoo triggered the firing controls and a pair of blasts hit the ground near Veryx, knocking him backward. Luke leapt toward the X-wing, landing on the nose in front of the cockpit. As the X-wing hovered in the air, Luke watched Veryx get to his feet. The man stood up, holding his lightsaber in a defensive posture. Artoo warbled to Luke about whether he should fire, but at that moment, Luke received a transmission from the Amaya.

"Luke!" said a woman's voice, "Leia is in bad shape, and the Republic is coming. We need to get out of here!"

Luke turned around to see the Amaya streaking toward his X-wing. He looked back to Veryx, who stood waiting, ready to finish their duel. Recognizing that his sister's need was greater, Luke nodded toward Veryx, then settled himself into the cockpit. The cockpit hatch closed, and Luke gunned the X-wing ahead to follow the Amaya. As the X-wing left, it shot a locator beacon into the air above the spot where Veryx's ship burned.

Veryx shut his lightsaber down as he watched the ships depart. He watched the locator beacon flashing high above, and he turned away from the scene of the battle. After stooping down to pick up the two halves of his mask, he turned and disappeared into the forest.