Star Wars: The Ghost Prison - Part IV

Hello there, everyone. Apologies for the long delay in release, but today will mark the end of this short, yet exciting series of mine. Yes, I said it would be five Parts, but I decided to make it four instead. I hope you enjoy the finale, and the Post-Credits Scene that will follow!

The door hissed open again. Gentis looked into his own reflection in the window, seeing Caul enter. "He's here." Caul said. Off in the distance, next to the Death Star's construction site, an object appeared in the vast emptiness of space; one which Gentis knew to be a Nu-class Transport Shuttle. "Are the men in the hanger bay ready?" Gentis asked, as the shuttle flew closer and closer towards the ship. "Yes, father. They are ready for his arrival, as per your instruction." Caul replied. "Good." Gentis replied, turning around and marching towards Caul. "That poor fool has certainly failed to see through my trap." He continued.

Together, father and son both entered a turbolift, heading down to the main hanger bay, where the shuttle was sure to land. "Do you have your rifle?" Gentis asked. Caul didn't say anything, only holding up a sniper rifle close to his chest. His eyes darted to the weapon, and then back at the door. "I have a feeling our guest won't be appreciative of my plans." Gentis remarked. "Just like all the other Imperials I lured into this hanger." He added on, right when the door hissed open. Gentis and Caul marched forward, past the hundred Officers and TK-Troopers that were lined up on either side of the area. Gentis watched, as the shuttle touched down, it's ramp opening up slowly. Inside stood a middle-aged man wearing an Officer's uniform, much like Gentis's, his hands folded behind his back. Next to him, four different TK-Troopers stood guard, following him out the ship.

A wicked smile came across Gentis's face. "Governor Tarkin!" He exclaimed, bowing his head. "Headmaster Gentis..." Governor Wilhuff Tarkin replied. "I do wish we could reunite under much more reasonable circumstances." He continued. Gentis looked up, locking eyes with Tarkin. "As do I, Governor." He said. "That uncivilized attack on The Imperial Palace..." Gentis paused, taking in a slow, deep breath. "...Has left me shaken." "As has the disappearance of all Imperial high command." Tarkin added on, his eyes darting towards Caul. "I see your son has continued to hone his skills as a sharpshooter." He then remarked. "Indeed." Gentis responded, gesturing towards Caul. "Caul has become one of the best the Empire could offer. Even compared to the likes of the Clones that trained him."

"Most impressive." Tarkin remarked. "Now, shall we discuss what has happened to this Empire?" Gentis's smile grew. "I was just about to ask you that same question, Wilhuff." He replied. Tarkin cocked an eyebrow at Gentis, confused. Then out of nowhere, Caul raised his sniper rifle at the TK-Troopers surrounding Tarkin, gunning them all down with ease. Tarkin jumped, looking around to see his guards drop dead at his feet. A few of the TK-Troopers in the hanger bay rushed forward, bashing Tarkin over the head with their blasters and cuffing him. "Unhand me, traitors!" Tarkin exclaimed, trying to fight back, but to no avail. One of the TK-Troopers bashed him over the head with their blaster again, bringing him to his knees. Tarkin looked at Gentis, his eyes filled with a fury that couldn't be described. "What have you done!?" Tarkin demanded.

16 BBY - "The Scimitar II"

Onboard the ship, Vader towered over the Bacta pod where the Emperor lie in repose, his breathing echoing off the walls of the chamber, as he peered into his lifeless face. His eyes darted towards the machines around the pod, showing things like his heart rate and blood pressure. He then looked back at Palpatine, remembering how he had once been in a similar position. Though it was more due to severe, almost mortal wounds than anything, rather than inhaling a biological, necrotic virus. The door hissed open, and Vader turned his head to see Shonn Volta, one of The Prism's many inmates, enter the room. "We're coming up on the Narkina system, my Lord." Volta said. "Moff Trachta told me to inform you of this, and be reminded of what the plan is." She continued.

Vader looked at Palpatine, then back at Volta. He remembered who she was; he had remembered facing her in single combat at the battle of Alabash, alongside Jedi Master Kit Fisto, during his days as Anakin Skywalker. But now was not the time to dwell on the past. Not when Vader and Volta both had a common enemy, in the form of Gentis. "The hanger bay onboard Gentis's flagship is sure to be open because of Governor Tarkin's arrival to the system." Vader began. "Once we have landed, you will cut all power within the Destroyer with the Force. Only then shall we begin our attack." He added on. "There will be three things that will be used against Gentis: fear, surprise, and intimidation, all of which are on our side."

Volta nodded with understanding, her eyes darting towards the Bacta pod and the machines around it, before she looked at Vader again. This time, however, she saw something beyond the crimson tinted lenses of his mask; a pair of eyes. Not just any pair of eyes, but a pair of eyes that she was familiar with. The eyes of a Sith Lord. The eyes she had seen in her old Master, Count Dooku. Very rarely, but she had still seen them nonetheless. "What will we be surrounded by when all of this is finished?" She finally asked, taking her gaze off of Vader's mask. "All we will be surrounded by is fear." Vader simply replied. "And dead men." He finished. 

16 BBY - "The Successor"

"You betrayed the Empire..." Tarkin began, glaring at Gentis coldly. "...Stormed Tantiss Base, created your own virus, and killed the Emperor..      All because of your dead children!?" He continued in demand. Gentis chuckled. "Oh, that is not the only reason, Wilhuff..." Gentis replied, folding his arms behind his back and staring down at Tarkin. "...Do you remember the day this Empire was first forged?" He then asked. "The day The Jedi Order was wiped from existence, and how all Republic high command was called back to Coruscant for a meeting, regarding Palpatine's declaration?" He added on. Tarkin nodded his head slowly, grinding his teeth together in frustration. "I remember..." He angrily replied.

"As do I." Gentis said. "You may remember I was sent to promote Captain Laurita Tohm to the rank of Lieutenant, once the meeting was over...       But on my way out of the new Imperial Palace, I discovered something..      Truly vile." He continued, taking a holoprojector off of his belt and activating it. Before Tarkin's eyes, there was the holographic projection of a machine; a machine in the shape of a box, with a control panel next to it. "And here, the Supreme Chancellor had told me that my sons had been given a proper burial like I had wished, alongside the Clones that died with them...      But as you can see, by the very existence of this crematorium, that was never the case." Gentis declared. "I still remember the sight of their corpses through the window of that device..       Locked away in that furnace, and being incinerated, after everything they did for the Republic."

Tarkin continued to glare at Gentis. "Perhaps, if you had trained your children better, they may have very well lived long enough to serve you now." Gentis's eyes widened with fury. "You dare mock me and my method of teaching young soldiers like them!?" He replied in demand. Tarkin adjusted his posture on the ground. "This regime of yours failed, Saul." He declared. "There is but one piece of this Empire you have forgotten to take care of; a piece that will come for you, and those loyal to you." Tarkin continued. Gentis opened his mouth to speak, but then heard a sudden beeping noise. "Father..." Caul began.

Gentis turned his head to face Caul. "What is it, my son?" He asked, seeing that Caul was staring at a datapad in his hand. "Our scanners just detected an incoming ship...    It's no class that I recognize." Caul replied, handing Gentis the datapad. On it, there was the diagram of a ship with a long nose and two round wings, top and bottom. His eyes darted to Caul, then to Tarkin, and then to the datapad. Could the Emperor have survived? Gentis wondered to himself. If so...      How? He looked past Tarkin's shuttle, already seeing this same craft gliding towards the hanger bay, in the vast emptiness of space. Gentis took a few steps back, as did all of his troops. Tarkin remained on his knees, hands cuffed behind the back, a soft smile spread across his face. "You thought you had already eliminated this variable, hadn't you?" He asked.

Gentis reached for his pistol, stashed in the holster clinging to his thigh, as he watched the ship land next to Tarkin's shuttle. Caul cocked his sniper rifle, aiming it towards the ramp of the vessel. For what seemed like a long time, Gentis stood there, staring at the craft intently, his grip on his pistol tightening with each passing second. A bead of sweat softly trickled down his forehead, while the ship's engines hissed with steam. Then, all of a sudden, all lights within the Destroyer shut off. Gentis felt the ground beneath him rock as this happened, which could mean only one thing; all power within the flagship had just gone out. Not just with the lights in the hanger bay, but the engines and reactor core as well. 

Gentis rested his index finger lightly on the trigger of his pistol, his gaze trained entirely on the ship, in spite of the darkness. Suddenly, he began to hear a rattling noise. Not just any rattling noise, however, but the rattling of metal; the rattling of metal being torn to shreds. The rattling grew louder, soon turning into shrieking. Gentis clenched his teeth together, unable to bear the sound of the metal coming apart. Then, he saw a myriad of small lights in the darkness, from where Gentis knew the ship to be. Red, green, and blue lights that were blinking in the darkness. What followed were the sounds of mechanical breathing, and the igniting of a red-bladed Lightsaber in the darkness, illuminating the last individual Gentris had expected to see.

Gentis's eyes grew bloodshot in the darkness. Only now could he understand what it was he had failed to eliminate; a monster, more machine than man, that was the creation of Palpatine. A monster that was now out for his head. "OPEN FIRE!!!" Gentis howled. Before any of his TK-Troopers could react, however, Gentis felt Caul shove him down to the ground, as the laser cannons of one of the parked V-Wing Starfighters fired out of nowhere, striking the fuel canisters and causing the entire hanger to erupt into flames. Looking back up, Gentis did not just see Lord Vader marching out into the hanger bay anymore. Behind him, there were hundreds upon thousands of ragged individuals, along with two Imperials that Gentis knew all too well.

Grabbing Caul by his uniform, Gentis yanked him close to his face, his eyes bloodshot. "Go take a sniping position." He ordered sternly. "We cannot let Lord Vader and this resistance disrupt my ascension!" "Yes, father!" Caul replied, standing up and joining his fellow Imperials in the fight. Rising back to his own feet, Gentis pulled the trigger on his own pistol, gunning down several of the prisoners aiding Vader. As he did this, however, Gentis could not help but feel his heart pound against his chest at the sight of what Vader was doing; one by one, his men were falling to the Dark Lord's blade, without even enough time to beg for mercy.

Gentis aimed his pistol for Vader's head, firing a few shots towards the Dark Lord. Vader, without even looking at Gentis, acted faster, deflecting the blaster bolts with his Lightsaber. Gentis suddenly felt something hot rip through his left shoulder, and collapsed to one knee, smelling smoke from the wound. Looking to his left, he now saw Tarkin, free of his cuffs, gunning down any TK-Trooper that came within his line of sight. Gripping his pistol with both hands, Gentis aimed it at Vader again, this time targeting his knee. Without wasting any more time, Gentis fired yet another blaster bolt, successfully striking Vader's knee. Vader yelped, as he fell to one knee, now using the Force to freeze the other blaster bolts heading his direction.

Forcing himself back up fully, Gentis charged towards Vader, his pistol still in his hand, when a blur zoomed right past his eyes. At that moment, Gentis felt something cold and hard strikes his nose, instantly shattering it, before he slipped and fell onto his back. A mechanical hand quickly seized Gentis's throat, choking the life out of him, as he made eye-contact with Moff Trachta, who was now towering over him. "You..     Could have been...      One of us!" Gentis exclaimed, struggling to breathe. "I am a soldier of the Empire." Trachta replied, tightening his grip on Gentis's throat. "And this regime of yours will never be the Empire!"

Across the battlefield, Caul looked to his right, seeing Trachta kneeling over and choking the life out of his father. His eyes darted around the hanger, seeing Vader continuing to cut down TK-Troopers and Imperial Officers, in spite of his injured leg. Looking up, Caul aimed his sniper rifle towards the fuel canisters hanging directly up above Vader's head. Pulling the trigger, Caul watched, as the canisters were dropped from the ceiling, exploding in Vader's face and sending a large gust of wind, which blew Trachta and Gentis both off their feet. The TK-Troopers screamed as this happened, some getting obliterated by the flames.

Gentis got back up slowly, only hearing the sounds of continuous blaster fire from his soldiers and the flames of the explosion. He picked his pistol back up off the ground, aiming the weapon towards the flames. A few meters away, he could hear a noise; a noise he had heard just moments ago. This time, it was more...       Ragged. "..No..." Gentis whispered softly, hearing his own voice over the sounds of the battle. Out from the flames, Vader emerged, his suit on fire and his prosthetic leg fully exposed. His helmet was also partially destroyed on the left side, revealing something as gold as the flames in the hanger...       An eye. A bright, golden eye. Lidless, and wreathed with the very fire that was consuming his suit.

Suddenly, and violently, Gentis felt something seize him by the throat, yanking him off his feet and into Vader's iron grasp. Gentis cried out in agony, feeling the hot flesh of Vader's cybernetic hand burn the skin on his neck, before he found himself struggling to breathe. "I-I'm..    I'm sorry, my Lord..! This...      Was all a mistake! I will....       Do anything for..      You!!" Gentis pleaded. Under his half-destroyed mask, Vader snarled, continuing to strangle Gentis. "Keep your forked tongue behind the back of your throat, traitor!" He declared. Gentis peered directly into Vader's one exposed eye, feeling his heart threatening to pump itself right out of his chest at the sight of the golden pupil of what used to be a man.

Caul watched from afar, as Vader strangled Gentis, quickly raising his sniper rifle towards Vader's torso. He quickly pulled the trigger, watching a blaster bolt strike Vader's left knee, causing him to let go of Gentis. Caul aimed the weapon towards Vader's head, but before he could fire another shot, he heard a loud bang in the hanger, instantly silencing the battlefield. Caul staggered back, also feeling his ribs burn hot with flame. Slowly, he looked towards his left, seeing Lieutenant Tohm aiming his blaster at him, the pistol billowing with smoke. Caul soon looked down towards heart, seeing a hole in his uniform; a hole created by a blaster bolt.

"NO!!!!" Gentis cried out from afar, as Caul's knees buckled from underneath him. He collapsed to the ground, but not before Gentis caught him in his arms. "No, no, no, no...!" The Headmaster whispered to himself, shaking Caul in a mindless attempt to keep him alive, but to no avail. Tohm lowered his arm slowly, watching Gentis sob over Caul's body. Trachta, Tarkin, Vader, and everyone else in the hanger watched on as well, staring at Gentis with disgust, while he wailed silently. As he buried his face in Caul's uniform, however, Gentis heard something...      Laughter. Not just any kind of laughter, however, but laughter that was maniacal..    And demonic. "Did you really think that you could kill me so easily...?" A ragged, croaky voice asked.

Gentis turned his head to his right, seeing a man dressed in black robes stained with blood, his eyes glowing a bright gold under his hood. A man he thought he had killed, thanks to unleashing Aorth-6 upon The Imperial Palace. A man from whom Gentis had stolen his throne. And a man who was now here to finish the battle. "H-How...!?" Gentis asked himself, his teary-eyes growing bloodshot with fear. "You believed you could take this Empire from me, and wipe out all those who disagreed with your vision...    Or, dare I say, lack thereof." Emperor Palpatine declared, gesturing towards Vader, Tarkin, and Trachta. "But you appear to have overstepped yourself." Gentis looked to the others in the hanger bay, then back at Palpatine, whose fingertips were now crackling with electricity. "Now your reign is over, Headmaster!" The Emperor said, thrusting both arms forward and blasting Force Lightning in Gentis's direction.

Before Gentis could have time to react, the electricity instantly hit him in the chest, causing him to collapse. He screamed, feeling his entire body begin to eviscerate from the inside out. Palpatine cackled behind him, pressing his attacks. In a matter of seconds, Gentis's uniform ignited with flames, burning his body alive. He continued to scream, fighting with every last breath to survive. Vader watched next to Trachta, peering into Gentis's eyes. For a moment, the Dark Lord was not inside the hanger bay anymore; instead, he found himself standing atop the lava river bank of Mustafar three years ago, watching himself burn alive under similar circumstances, pleading for help and mercy as he burned.

Gentis let out one, final howl of agony, as Palpatine stopped his attack, watching Gentis collapse to the floor, now a lifeless husk of his former self. Silence soon fell upon the hanger, broken only by Vader's ragged breathing, and the flames that crackled a few meters away. Then, one by one, the last remaining TK-Troopers and Officers dropped their blasters, raising their hands high up in the air. The Emperor turned his head slowly, making eye-contact with Vader, who deactivated his Lightsaber and took a knee, his legs still sparking with electricity. "What is thy bidding, my Master?" He asked, his voice a mixture of a machine and a human. A wicked smile crept across Palpatine's face. "I applaud you for your efforts in toppling this rebellion, Lord Vader..." He began, making eye-contact with both Tohm and Trachta as well. "Just as I applaud the both of you for aiding my Apprentice in these unexpected times."

Tohm bowed his head before the Emperor. "Your orders, my liege?" Trachta asked. "Go down to Narkina Five, Moff Trachta..." Palpatine replied. "I sense there are many within that facility that were imprisoned, under the orders of the traitor that lies dead now." He continued, gesturing towards Gentis's still smoking corpse. "As for you, Lietenant Tohm...      Dispose of Headmaster Gentis's body immediately." "As you wish, m'Lord." Laurita replied, placing his blaster back in it's holster, before walking towards Gentis and hauling his body away. "I give my thanks for rescuing me, Lord Vader." Tarkin said. "Let us hope that such an event like this does not occur again." 

16.5 BBY - "Coruscant, Laurita Tohm's penthouse"

Five months have passed. By now, it was made clear that Emperor Palpatine had survived the attempt on his life made by Saul Gentis, and all those who served him. Since then, the Empire was reforged, and the galaxy wasn't in chaos. On the balcony of his penthouse, Laurita watched several Airspeeders zoom past each other in the dark, cloudy sky. As of recently, he had begun to settle down with Shonn Volta, after she aided him in reclaiming the Empire for it's rightful Emperor, and was even awarded with a medal by the Emperor himself for his efforts. Tohm smiled to himself; in his three years serving the Empire, he could never have felt so proud.

Suddenly, Tohm heard loud, mechanical breathing, and turned his head, seeing Lord Vader standing in the doorway between the balcony and the rest of the penthouse. "Oh, Lord Vader!" He exclaimed with surprise. "I must admit, it's been a long time since I was awarded for assisting you." "Indeed it has, Lieutenant Tohm." Vader replied, soon joining Tohm by the balcony. "The Emperor thinks most highly of you..." He added on, watching Coruscant's cloudy skyline with Tohm. "I hear Moff Trachta was recently promoted." Tohm said. "He's taken Gentis's place as Headmaster of The Imperial Academy?" "You are correct, Lieutenant." Vader replied. "Moff Trachta aspires to teach every new recruit what it means to be Imperial, just as he did with those that were stationed on The Prism." He continued.

Laurita nodded, gazing back at the city. For a moment, silence fell between him and Vader, broken only by the Dark Lord's breathing. Finally, Vader spoke again. "You served your purpose well, Lieutenant Tohm...      Well enough to have earned the Emperor's personal respect." He began, not even daring to make eye-contact with Tohm. "...But I'm afraid there is no further use for you." Tohm looked at Vader, confused. "What do you mean, m'Lo-" He began. Before he could finish his sentence, however, Vader seized him by the throat with his right hand, hoisting him high up off the ground. Laurita gasped, thrashing against Vader's iron grasp with both his legs and the one arm he had left. "P-Please, m-m'Lord! There...     There must be a mistake.." Laurita pleaded, choking for air, while Vader tightened his grip on the young Imperial's neck. "..H-H-Have I.." He added on.

"Betrayed the Emperor? No." Vader finished for Tohm, hurling him over the edge of the balcony. Laurita screamed, as he fell into the deep, dark abyss of Coruscant's city. Vader briefly looked up to the sky, watching lightning crackle in the clouds. Looking back down at where Tohm had fallen, Vader closed his eyes under the mask, reaching out through the Force and searching for his presence. But alas, he felt nothing. Reopening his eyes, Vader took one last look at the abyss, before turning around and entering the penthouse. He would have no successor, no matter how useful they were to him. Not even the Emperor could dictate that.