The TIE Advanced streaked through the blackness of space. Despite the silence of space, one could seemingly hear the familiar scream of the TIE engine. Smaller than most TIE fighters, but much faster, more agile, and more powerful. It was like a black chariot, and it was piloted by Death itself.
Darth Vader gazed upon the massive starship in his viewport. He was still quite a distance away, but the Endurance was still a sight to behold. One of the inspirations for the Imperial Star Destroyers, this massive cruiser was the flagship of one Mace Windu, one of the most deadly Jedi to ever exist. Mace was believed to have died on Coruscant, when the former Anakin Skywalker severed his arm and Darth Sidious had blasted him out of a window with Force lightning.
The Emperor's spies, however, had learned the truth: Mace Windu was alive and well, and just as powerful as he had always been.
He had landed in a traveling speeder, and as the Force would have it, the pilot of that speeder happened to be a rogue clone trooper. The trooper had taken Mace to Kamino, where they not only completely healed Mace of all his injuries with their hyper-advanced bacta treatments, but they even used his own cells to clone his arm and reattach it. They even managed to reverse some effects of aging, taking nearly 20 years off of his age.
Now, 15 years later, Vader was more powerful than he had ever been. Mace would physically be the same age he was the last time they were in each other's presence.
No, Darth Vader and Mace Windu have never met. Mace knew a boy named Anakin.
Mace had taken control of his former flagship, and had been wreaking havoc on Imperial outposts for years, though the Empire had managed to keep it under wraps for the most part. It was hit and run tactics. The ship would emerge from hyperspace, rain turbolaser fire down on the surface of a planet containing an Imperial presence, and then just as quickly leave, before a QRF could be dispatched.
The Empire could never figure out where Mace went, but Vader had an inkling.
The Kessel Run was a notorious smugglers route, an area of space filled with black holes that was incredibly dangerous to maneuver. Most Imperial ships were simply to cumbersome to make it through. It would take a small freighter or single-man fighter to maneuver through, and most of the time the smugglers were armed much better than a single TIE fighter.
But for a Jedi, or a Sith, it was nearly child's play to navigate the Run. Nestled in the perfect spot, Vader could feel the presence of Mace, a white hot ember in the Force. And Mace could sense Vader as well.
Turbo laser fire advanced on Vader, and he easily, casually drifted through the stream of death.
Vader began to look for the best ease of access on the ship. Having served on several during the Clone Wars, he knew them from bow to stern, starboard to port.
Vader had removed the traditional blasters on his TIE and replaced them with a massive, powerful ion cannon. Two blasts streaked toward the underbelly of the ship, and blue electricity crackled out for hundreds of meters. The shield was temporarily gone.
Vader knew he had to time this perfectly, but for him, that was second nature. Everything from lightsaber form to the most mundane tasks with the Force were practiced for at least four hours every day. He was perfection.
He launched himself from the TIE, knowing that his suit would protect him from the vacuum of space. Using the Force, he triggered the sub-light drives on his TIE, and it hurtled towards the exposed belly of the cruiser.
One fireball later, and a massive hole appeared in the hull. Vader grasped the edges with the Force and pulled himself through, landing in a crouch in a narrow hallway. The blast doors ahead had been closed as a result of the decompression, and he could feel the nervousness of those on the other side. They feared his blade, but they were fools. They should fear the Force.
Reaching out, sensing the controls to the blast doors, Vader triggered them, and they snapped open. Bodies began to fly towards him, decompression once again occurring. Vader still as still as a statue as the bodies flew past him and into the icy blackness of space.
Making his way up the hall, Vader came to a turbolift. This one would take him to the very top of the ship, and about one hundred meters from the bridge.
The lift was deactivated, due to the damage, and warning lights were flashing, sirens blaring. Vader pried the doors open, cut a hole in the top of the lift with his blade, and then jumped up, and began bounding up the length of the shaft.
He caught two Rebel guards by surprise as he jumped through the final turbolift entrance, slicing them in half as he rolled through, and then slowly rising to his feet.
Around the corner, a dozen troops descended upon him and began firing. Vader casually swung his blade, catching the bolts, and dodging the few that managed to get past his blade. Others his merely intercepted in his palm.
With their backs against the door, Vader pulled their weapons from their hands. They screamed in terror, and it fed his power in the Force. Vader began to wildly swing his lightsaber, hacking the terrified troops into bits, blood spattering on his black armor. One survivor remained.
Vader grabbed him by the throat and lifted him high, and squeezed with all his might. The man's neck broke almost instantly, and his head popped open from the pressure. His thirst for blood satisfied, Vader turned his attention to his ultimate goal.
He cut his way through the door and began to walk down the final hallway.
A trio of Clone Wars era magna-guards were standing outside the door to the bridge. Obviously reprogrammed since they last worked for Dooku and Grievous, these Jedi killers were formidable foes indeed, for an average Jedi or Sith.
Vader was not average.
They came up on him in a frenzy, staffs whirling. Vader could have dispatched them easily with the Force, but he had no desire to. Vader blocked the strike from the first droid, kicked the second droid against the wall, and ducked under a strike by the third droid, coming back up and slicing it in half. He ripped the staff out of the grip of droid number one, and quickly sliced it's head off. He stepped on the third droid and plunged his lightsaber through the center, deactivating it instantly.
He looked up at the security camera outside the bridge.
"After all these years, who would have thought that you would have become a coward. Face me, Jedi, and I will end you quickly."
The doors slid open to reveal Mace Windu, looking as he did all those years ago.
"The only coward I see is the one before me. Only a coward butchers men."
"Not just the men...but the women, and the children too."
"I was right about you, Skywalker. From the very beginning, I was right."
"That name no longer has any meaning for me."
"You should have been left to die on Tatooine, with your mother!"
Mace's taunting worked. Vader jumped forward, slicing down as hard as he could, and Mace met the attack, though he nearly stumbled under the sheer power of the blow.
Pushing Vader off of him, Mace began the furious slashes of Juyo, preparing to sink into his variation of the seventh form, Vaapad.
Vader blocked the strikes, using his entire body to maneuver, as well as his blade. The footwork was precise. Mace recognized the pattern as classic Makashi.
Mace swung low, attempting to take out Vader's legs, but he jumped over the attack, landed, and kicked out, catching Mace in the chest, sending him stumbling backward.
As large as Vader was, he was more agile than expected.
As Mace pressed the attack, Vader walked backward, entering the bridge. The few staff members that Mace had managed to procure stared at the two, frozen in fear, and in awe, watching the two titans duel.
Down the narrow walkway of the bridge Vader went.
Mace struck at Vader's right shoulder, then the left, then the right, and feigned a strike to the left and struck right.
The tactic worked, and Mace struck a glancing blow off of Vader's shoulder, the Sith emitting a grunt. Anger filled the Force, and Mace opened himself to the darkness.
To his anger at the traitor who helped destroy the Republic.
Who had cut off his arm.
Who had killed many of his closest friends.
And he opened himself to Vader's hatred of...everything. Including self-hatred.
Like a supernova exploding, Mace began the most furious onslaught of lightsaber strikes in his entire life. Somehow, Vader was catching them all.
Soresu. Vader was using the subtle footwork of Makashi and the defensive technique's of Soresu to keep Mace from landing a lethal blow.
Vader was all about timing, and as Mace rained down deadly blows upon Vader, he knew that this time he could not afford to falter. This was the time that no errors could be made.
Mace was attacking with a speed that Vader had not seen since he dueled the Emperor himself in training sessions, and even then he felt that his master was holding back.
Mace, however, was not. He was going full throttle. Vader knew that this would not last forever, and he would have the chance to deal a counterattack.
Mace swung for Vader's head, and instead of blocking, Vader ducked low and tackled the Jedi master.
The two crashed to the floor. Vader pinned Mace's arms to the floor to prevent him from using his blade against him. Vader could not risk letting Mace go to punch him, or manipulate him in any way.
Vader crashed his helmet against Mace's face, and blood spattered across the deck, as did a couple teeth.
Not like this...it can't end like this, Mace thought to himself.
With a scream, with all his strength, Mace bucked his hips, using the Force to add extra momentum. Vader was thrown over Mace, whom immediately rolled backwards to gain the mount on Vader.
He used the Force to call his lightsaber to him, ignited it, and struck down at Vader's face.
In a last moment of desperation, Vader caught the blade with his hand and held it steady. Tutaminis. Few were as proficient with the technique as he. As long as he didn't waver his concentration, he could rip the weapon out of the Jedi's hands by the blade itself.
Growling, Mace used his free hand to press against Vader's chest plate, searching for the shatter point. The lights went out on Vader's suit. He was on his own. He would have to use the Force to sustain him.
Vader extended his palm and blasted Mace with the Force, sending him flying to the ceiling. Mace came back down, landing on his feet in a crouched position and then stood up, ever ready to battle.
His Vaapad was on a loop. The more darkness and anger Vader felt, the more it channeled into Mace, and the longer he could fight. The less pain he felt. The stronger he became.
Long, hard strikes to Vader. Vader blocked left, blocked right, kicked Mace in the stomach, and then swung down at his neck. Mace tumbled forward, came back to his feet, and thrust at Vader's torso several times.
Vader dodge left, right, spun in a full circle, and trapped Mace's blade to the floor with his own. Removing one hand, he struck Mace with a backhanded strike. Mace stumbled, then blasted Vader with a Force attack of his own.
It caught Vader full in the face, and his helmet shattered. Vader fell on his back, shocked at the surprise attack.
Mace tried to grip Vader in the Force and hold him in the air, but he could not break Vader's Force barrier.
Mace began to grow worried. Even after his life support had been disabled. After a surprise attack and losing his mask, Vader still had enough concentration in the Force to maintain his Force barrier.
This ends now, Mace thought to himself, and jumped high, coming down with the hope of burying his blade in the Sith Lord's chest.
Unfortunately, Mace had no idea that Vader had planned for just this. Vader knew that Mace was in a Vaapad loop, and would keep going. Vader was injured, and without life support. He had immense control of the Force, but it was all spread so thin at the moment. He feared that Mace would eventually find a weakness. Yes, Vader could have blocked with his blade, and kept fighting.
Instead, Vader jerked a member of the bridge staff from her seat with the Force and pulled her in between Mace and Vader.
Mace tried to stop, but it was too late. Vader had perfect timing.
The violet blade split the intern in two, from her head to her groin, and she fell in two halves. Her intestines spilling onto the floor.
Mace stepped back. The world was silent. Vader made his way to his feet.
She was 18 years old. She had volunteered for this assignment, knowing the risks, but was eager. Her family had been killed by the Empire as a girl, and she wanted to see their end. Mace had promised her that she would live to see the end.
Mace was a liar.
And the loop was broken.
Vader's overpowering strikes sent Mace back, and he slipped on the entrails beneath him. In horror, he scrambled back, trying to put distance between himself and this monster.
"You are a coward," said Vader. "But at least we know one person on this ship had guts."
Mace pulled himself up by the guard rail, and readied himself.
"This is the end for you, Master."
Mace spun as he attacked Vader, putting extra momentum into the strike. Vader sprang forward and spun to the side as well, completely avoid the strike that would have cut him in half, and grabbed Mace with the Force, holding him in the air. Mace struggled, but try as he might, he could not break Vader's hold.
His vision began to grow blurry as Vader choked him.
"Your failure is now complete," Vader said.
The last thing Mace saw was the burning red blade burying itself into his abdomen.
Across the galaxy, in an office on Coruscant, Emperor Palpatine cackled with glee. He felt Vader triumph over his former foe, Mace Windu. This was undoubtedly his apprentices greatest victory.
In a simple stone house, far out in the Jundland Wastes of Tattoine, Ben Kenobi sat in meditation. His face fell as he felt the white hot ember of Mace Windu vanish into the Force.
On a log in the swamps of Dagobah, Yoda clutched his chest. His oldest friend was truly gone. The Emperor's victory was complete.
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