Lightsaber I

(Vader POV)

I arrive on the River Moon of Al'doleem and follow my intuition. I am practising my sensing abilities, next to using the Force to move. Training, everything is training. Simply existing is training right now. The more I push myself... 

{Proximity alert, Lord Vader. Objects are approaching rapidly from quadrant two.}

"Clarify 'objects'. Missiles? Ships?" I ask as I don't sense anything and only feel the Jedi on the mountaintop in front of us. 

{No. No drive signature. Best analysis suggests they are ... art..} The droid says after contemplation. 

"Art?" I manage to say that before small metal projectiles hit and damage the ship. I can feel that they were shot towards the ship, via the Force, but too late. The damage is done. 

{We have sustained damage to primary and secondary thrusters. Shields non-optimal. Suggest immediate landing.}

"No. He would have a chance to flee if I did that," I remark. 

{Respectfully, Lord Vader, we lose the target or we lose the ship.} The droid says, and we land rather ungracefully after that. I don't care about that. I can fix the ship easily, but if he flees, then I will have to spend more time hunting him down. And this is the best chance. 

"I have lost nothing. The Jedi is out there. I can sense him," I say and exit the ship. 

{I will commence repairs immediately. We should be fully operational within two standard days, at which point we can engage your enemy directly.}

"No. He is waiting for me. He is expectant. I do not wish to disappoint him.", I say and start to walk towards the mountaintop where I feel the Jedi are staying. I walk through the canyons towards the place where I can feel the Jedi, using Force Sense.

After an hour, I feel something approaching and stop walking. I look around and then behind me, a thick wall rises from the ground, 'trapping' me. Then I hear a voice coming from above. 

"You. You stink of darkness. Was it you?" a grey-skinned man with white hair says as he looks down on me from above a cliff. I can feel the Light Side of the Force in him, shining like a beacon compared to me. Instead of answering him, I use Force Choke immediately. 

"Kkkt!" Kirak Infil'a holds his neck and then, to my surprise, uses the Force to resist it. He is rather strong in the Force, and the long distance doesn't help either. Good, but...

"...NO!" Kirak says and uses the Force to push me back. That disturbs my concentration and stops my hold on him.

"You will not defeat me that way, creature. You will not defeat me at all. Your use of the dark side confirms my suspicions, but let me ask again. Not long ago, through the Force, I felt the death of almost every Jedi. That darkness resonates within you. Did you do it? Did you kill them?" he asks me.

"Yes."

"Are you here to kill me as well?"

"Yes."

"As I hoped," he says and then grins, "For my transgressions, I took the Barash Vow, to live alone inside the Force, until my true path as a Jedi became clear. To live outside the order, and take no action on its behalf, no matter the circumstances, even at its end. You must know that, or you wouldn't have looked for me here. It is also why I stayed here, I knew you would come here, eventually. 

I declare my Barash complete, for my brothers and sisters are dead, and their murderer stands before me. I know my path, killer, and its end is also yours. 

This mountain is called Passvaal. It is a sacred place, designed to test all Jedi who come here; the higher you go, the more demanding the challenges become. I will await you at the summit, beast on the highest ground. Come. Seek me out.", Kirak says, and as soon as he finishes, a big gate opens above and enormous amounts of water come flooding out.

The waterfall hits me against the wall with powerful force. I take a moment to focus and then concentrate. This is nothing more than a bit of water. I have bathed in the fiery magma on Mustafar and come out stronger, so this is nothing! I focus on my anger and then use the Force to let it all out and push all the water away from me. 

[Picture]

I hold it there for a moment. After a second, I feel that more of it is flowing back, and I cannot keep all the water in the same position. I take a step forward up the mountain, but then stop. This is my chance. Since this is a mountain to test Jedi, why shouldn't I, a Sith Lord, Darth Vader, be unable to do this? I will crush these tests! I am superior to those hypocritical Jedi!

I clench what is left of my teeth and enter a state of hyper-concentration, enhancing my learning ability once more. This enhances my progress to unimaginable degrees. My talent, which was always better than everyone else's, has reached new heights. 

I feel the water flooding back and want it to be pushed back again while keeping the rest of the water at bay. My suit has already suffered, but I don't care right now. I hate this, I hate this weakness of mine, I hate it! I hate it. I will surpass my limits. 

.

After about 15 minutes, I could hold back all of the water without problems and then take the first step to walk forward. Controlling water in its fluid state is harder than I thought it to be, especially this volume. This took quite a bit of stamina to achieve, but I used my crude version of Force Revitalise to catch my breath again before slowly walking across a stony bridge and stopping due to a loud screech I heard. 

I look up and see a giant eagle, bigger than I am, descending and attacking me. I raise my hand and grab the eagle with the Force before it can reach me. 

[Picture]

After the powerful water, this isn't that hard anymore, but it is different, and I have to dig deep into my fear and anger once more. I push the eagle back and dodge an attack from another one, attacking me from behind. Then I clench my fist and break the eagle, which I find now is made of stone, not flesh—more eagles attack. I reach out to the closest one and pull him closer to me. 

I move him in front of another one that is flying towards me. They collide and break into pieces. I use the debris to shoot at another one. With my front covered, I reach out below to the massive amount of water and pull it upwards. A large wall of water shoots into the air and covers my back from another bunch of attacks. The small stones act as projectiles and pierce another eagle before I reach out and Force Choke the next. 

Two of them fly into the water wall, which I control. I isolate the water and trap them inside it, taking away their movement and using them as a means of attack. I can feel what makes them move. They are creatures made of stone, and inanimate, so what is controlling them is a remote way of using the Force. This, I can take advantage of. I pull more of the water up and have it rotate around me, creating a whirlwind and blocking the attacks. I am starting to be overwhelmed and feel it is too much for me all at once. 

However, I am getting the hang of this, and my use of telekinesis is growing more powerful and versatile. I can use it quicker and move things around in the air as I wish. I also pick up the debris of the destroyed eagles and add them to the rotating mass of water, adding another layer of protection and attack. I can feel that these eagles are alive, even though they are made of rocks, but just a moment before, I felt them to be inanimate. So I don't feel their life, but the Force, which is used to control them. I see, there is a difference there. As I use the debris, coated in water, to crush the next eagle, they suddenly stop attacking and begin to fly away. Or so they want to.

"Where are you going?" I ask rhetorically, reach out to the remaining four eagles, and grab them all simultaneously. There it is, the progress. Three days ago, I could only Force Choke three Clone Troopers and now, I can already take hold of four large eagles simultaneously. They stop their movement, and I clench my fist. I gather all of the remaining water and shoot it towards them, killing all four of them at the same time. 

.

I continue to walk further up the mountain. My suit is not in the best condition right now. Both the waterfall and the eagles damaged it. I am also not as fresh as I was in the beginning, but that doesn't stop me. Each step is accompanied by a small portion of Force Revitalise, at least my variation. 

Suddenly, I feel the Force warn me, and my precognition kicks in. The bridge starts to shake and crack all around. He is bringing the bridge down. I take another step, trying to hurry forward, but can't, as my right leg suddenly blocks. The bridge falls, and I am with it. I look down at the incoming water and prepare myself. I use the Force to strengthen my suit and block all the water from entering its holes. 

*Splash*

I crash into the water and see a large boulder coming. Reaching out, I grab the boulder and stop its descent. But it is heavy and pushes me down further until I reach the ground. I push the boulder up higher while focusing on how to get out of here. Who would have thought that I would have to play games in order to reach the Jedi? 

Fear.

I feel the pressure of the water around me and the water slowly dripping into my suit. I feel the weight of the boulders around me, pushing against me and the large one I am holding up. 

Anger.

Enough of this! I lash out again, pushing everything away from me in one fell swoop. I feel there is more potential in this move. I hold things like this and start to look around. I see no way up the walls here, and to reach the staircase, I need to gain altitude. 

Hate.

I grab all of the boulders and smash them into the side of the wall as strongly as possible. I continue to press them into the wall until they are stuck and no longer move. Like this, I continue to create a staircase for myself and walk up to the next station, the staircase I was supposed to take before I fell down. 

.

After this interruption, I finally reach a staircase and see Jedi Kirak standing at the top of it. 

"Almost there, creature. Almost to the top. Keep going. You can do it. I believe in you," the Jedi says haughtily. 

I stop walking and take hold of the smaller stones located on the walls. I pull them out and then hurl them at the Jedi in quick succession. His eyes widen, but Kirak manages to ignite his green lightsaber and cuts through the first stones approaching him. But then a bigger one reaches him and hits him on the chest, making him fall back. I walk up until I finally reach the top of the mountain.

{Do not fear, Master Infil'a! I will destroy him!} A combat droid says, holding a training sabre. He seems to try to protect his Jedi Master and attacks me. 

{I have served the Jedi in this place for generations, and I will tell you this ...} he starts, but is interrupted.

"I don't care."

I grab him telekinetically and pull him closer to me. I hold the arm which is holding the training sabre and plunge my other hand into his midsection, digging into his metal body with my fingers. 

{... the Dark Side will never-} he says, but is interrupted by me again. 

My fingers get hold of his energy core inside his chest. With a powerful movement, I pull his arm off. I take the sabre for myself and then hurl him off the mountaintop. Now standing face to face with the Jedi. For the first time, in this form, I stand in front of a Jedi with the intent to kill. My anger is still growing as I think about Mustafar and the fact that I lost against Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

"I know what you want. I know why you're here. It's not just to kill me. You came here to get something. I can sense it.", Kirak says and then strikes at me.

I block his strike with the training sabre in my hand. 

"You want my lightsaber.", Kirak concludes.

His strike is strong. He is strong, and he knows my balance is off. My current suit is rather damaged and not good enough for this fight. I overextend as well, not feeling the grace I once held, and my strength is misplaced. I imbue the Force into the suit to increase its durability and also better control my movement. 

"How did you end the Jedi? It seems impossible. You are weak," Kirak says as he clashes with me again. He is not wrong. Right now, I am rather weak, since the suit's technology is failing me. But I refuse to bend. 

"RAAAH"

Weak. Weak again!

Then, a small sound is heard, telling me that some of the circuitry in my left leg has just broken. It was damaged before, so I used more of the Force to move still and block another strike from the Jedi. I move in front and attack with a strike of my own. He seemed surprised about that but blocked with relative ease. He retaliates, and I move again to block and get a better position. But it's not working well. 

"No. You could not have done it alone," Kirak says as he slashes at me. I move my upper body back and attack from the right side. He moves around the attack easily and continues his speech, not taking me seriously. 

"There must be someone else, a master," he says, and then something breaks in my leg. 

*CRRRNKK!*

The sound of something breaking is heard, and it tells nothing good. And just as expected ...

*SKKRNCH!*

The final straw. The entire mechanical leg breaks and breaks off of my thigh, causing me to lose my left leg and my balance. I fall on the ground, but try to keep my upper body upright. 

But that isn't the end of the fight. I refuse to give up just yet. I try to use Force Push, aim it towards the ground, and hold my body upright that way. But my movement is completely different now, which makes it hard for me to block effectively, and focus on far too many things. 

He seems to take pleasure in seeing me this way. He attacks from the side again, and I block with my sabre. 

"Once you are dead, I will seek out your Master and destroy him as well. And then, I will restore the Light side of the Jedi to the galaxy.", Kirak says as he holds me in the same position. I don't care for his words, no matter how they sound. I use Force Push on myself again, but this time to push myself forward and attack him. 

But the amount I use is too much, and I almost hit him. At least I surprised him a bit, and we crashed into each other. But his experience saves him, and he blocks my strike. I use this chance and grab his neck while using Force Choke at the same time, desperately trying to make him give me a moment of respite, to get my body in a better position again. 

He clenches his jaw and then grabs my other arm. He reinforces his strength with Force and stops my use of the Force Choke. His strength seems enough to slowly crush my mechanical arms. I use the Force Choke again, but this time with more power, fuelling it with the frustration and anger of this fight. This might be my last attack, but it doesn't work. 

"Your vile uses of the Force won't save you, creature. You will die and there is nothing you can do about that," Kirak says and then uses Force Push to push me off the edge.

"Think about that, monster ... All the way down," is the last thing I hear as I fall from the mountain and into the depths. I try to use the Force to catch myself with telekinesis, but the gravity is too much, and I hit the ground with a heavy 'thud'.