On the Death Star, Luke and Darth Vader were engaged in a duel that was even more vicious than their battle on Cloud City. Luke had grown stronger since their last encounter, and his skill with his lightsaber had improved greatly. As they swung at each other in the Emperor’s throne room, Luke sensed the advantage had shifted to him.

Luke drove Vader back to the stairway that descended to the turbolifts, then kicked out with his left leg, knocking Vader from the upper platform. Vader groaned as he flipped over backward and landed on the metal floor below.

From his throne, the Emperor watched the fight with glee. “Good,” he said. “Use your aggressive feelings, boy! Let the hate flow through you.”

Standing at the top of the stairway, Luke watched Vader rise on the lower platform. Vader said, “Obi-Wan has taught you well.”

Luke deactivated his lightsaber.

“I will not fight you, father,” he said.

Vader kept his lightsaber activated as he slowly ascended the stairs. His movement was slightly stiff and robotic, as if he were moving on damaged legs without feeling any pain. Luke wondered if Ben was right about Vader, that he was more machine than man. Then he thought, No! Darth Vader may be a mechanical monster, but not my father. Not Anakin!

When Vader was almost beside Luke, he said, “You are unwise to lower your defenses.” He brought his lightsaber up fast, but Luke ignited his own lightsaber in time and blocked the attack. Vader swung again and again, and Luke parried each blow. Then their blades met and they maintained the contact, keeping their lightsabers braced against each other. Over the humming of the lightsabers, Luke heard Vader’s labored breathing and realized, He’s getting tired.

Vader broke the contact and swung hard at Luke, but Luke evaded the red blur of his opponent’s weapon and jumped backward, landing in a duty post that was encircled by eight illuminated control consoles. As Vader brought his lightsaber up between two console pedestals, Luke deactivated his own lightsaber and leaped high toward the ceiling, executing a reverse flip that delivered him to a catwalk that stretched above the throne room. Landing on his feet, Luke looked down from the catwalk to see Vader, still standing beside the duty post, breathing hard.

Luke said, “Your thoughts betray you, father. I feel the good in you…the conflict.”

“There is no conflict,” Vader said.

Luke moved across the catwalk so he was positioned above the stairway. Gazing down at Vader, he said, “You couldn’t bring yourself to kill me before, and I don’t believe you’ll destroy me now.”

“You underestimate the power of the dark side,” Vader answered from below. “If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny.” His right arm moved fast, and he hurled his still-activated lightsaber up at Luke.

Luke ducked the lightsaber, but its blade cut through the supports that held the catwalk. Luke felt the catwalk drop, and sparks showered around him as the metal supports tore from the ceiling and he tumbled to the floor below. Uninjured, he rolled under the Emperor’s elevated platform and ducked into a dark alcove.

Vader’s lightsaber had deactivated after it had sliced through the catwalk supports. As the Dark Lord of the Sith descended the stairs, he extended his hand and his lightsaber traveled through the air to return to his grip. Behind him, the Emperor rose from his seat, laughed, and said, “Good. Good.”

Vader activated his lightsaber and went hunting for his son.

Outside, Lando Calrissian’s plan was working: the Death Star had not fired at the Rebel fleet since the Rebels had brought the battle into the midst of the Star Destroyers. However, the Star Destroyers were openly firing at the Rebel cruisers and starfighters, and Lando knew the Alliance’s fate now depended on whether his allies on Endor could knock out the Death Star’s energy shield.

From the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit, Lando sighted TIE fighters angling toward a Rebel cruiser. He said into his comlink, “Watch out. Squad at point oh-six.”

Gray Leader said, “I’m on it, Gold Leader.”

Red Two swooped in to lend a hand, and the TIE fighters were decimated. From his X-wing, Wedge Antilles exclaimed, “Good shot, Red Two.”

“Now…come on, Han, old buddy,” Lando said to himself. “Don’t let me down.”

On Endor, in the same control room within the bunker where the Rebel strike team had been apprehended, the control room commander, his second commander, a security officer, and three seated controllers believed they were winning the battle. When a transmission from an AT-ST walker was received, all six men turned to see the image of the walker’s pilot on the room’s main viewscreen.

“It’s over, Commander,” the helmeted pilot announced. Holding his comlink over his mouth, he continued, “The Rebels have been routed. They’re fleeing into the woods. We need reinforcements to continue the pursuit.”

The officers and controllers looked away from the viewscreen to the control room commander. He could see from their excited expressions that his men were eager to go after the Rebels. They could see that he was looking forward to it, too. “Send three squads to help,” said the commander. “Open the back door.”

“Sir,” said the second commander, and carried out the order.

They had no idea that the helmeted pilot on their viewscreen had been Han Solo.

The bunker door opened and the Imperial troops rushed out. They were surprised to find themselves suddenly surrounded by armed Rebels and Ewoks. Most of the Ewoks carried spears and bows and arrows, but some brandished blaster rifles they’d confiscated from fallen stormtroopers.

The Imperial soldiers turned to face the open door behind them. Han and Chewbacca stood at either side. Han grinned at the duped troops, then he and Chewbacca entered the bunker with several Rebel commandos. The commandos carried the explosive charges they’d retrieved from the stormtroopers.

Arriving in the control room, the Rebels quickly planted high-powered proton grenades onto the control panels and beside the turbine generator. Chewbacca growled, urging everyone to hurry.

Han turned to a Rebel commando and said, “Throw me another charge.” Han caught the grenade, twisted its arming mechanism, and used the device’s magnetic plate to secure it to the ceiling. When the last charge was in place, the Rebels left the control room and ran as fast as they could for the bunker’s exit.

Darth Vader stalked the low-ceilinged area below the elevated platform in the Emperor’s throne room. Holding his lightsaber ready, he searched for his son in the semi-darkness and said, “You cannot hide forever, Luke.”

From the shadows, Luke answered, “I will not fight you.”

“Give yourself to the dark side,” Vader urged. “It is the only way you can save your friends.”

Luke closed his eyes. I’m sorry, Leia and Han. I’d do anything to save you, but I must resist the dark side. Suddenly, Luke felt a dull ache in his head, and sensed that Vader was using the Force to probe his mind.

“Yes, your thoughts betray you,” Vader spoke, confirming Luke’s suspicion. “Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for…”

Luke tried to block his thoughts—and failed.

“Sister!” Vader said. “So…you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will.”

“No!” Luke screamed in anger as he ignited his lightsaber and rushed at Vader. Sparks flew as they traded blows in the cramped area, and Luke felt the hatred within him build with each passing second. You’ll never take Leia, and you’ll never take me!

He kept swinging, forcing Vader to retreat from under the platform until they arrived at the short bridge that overlooked the elevator shaft. Vader fell back against the bridge’s railing, then was knocked to his knees. As he raised his lightsaber to block another onslaught, Luke slashed through Vader’s right hand, severing it at the wrist. Metal and electronic parts flew from Vader’s shattered stump, and his lightsaber clattered uselessly away, rolling over the edge of the bridge and into the apparently bottomless shaft below.

Luke angled his lightsaber at Vader’s throat, then held the blade there, watching Vader’s struggling form.

On the stairway behind Luke, the Emperor was unable to contain himself. “Good! Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father’s place at my side!”

Luke knew what the Emperor expected. He wants me to kill Vader. He wants me to kill my own father. Luke looked at his father’s mechanical hand, then to his own black-gloved right hand. Am I becoming like my father? Is that my destiny after all?

Then Luke made the decision for which he had spent a lifetime preparing. He deactivated his lightsaber, turned to the Emperor, and said “Never!” Luke flung his lightsaber aside and stood there unarmed.

The Emperor scowled.

“I’ll never turn to the dark side,” Luke vowed. “You’ve failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

With immeasurable displeasure, the Emperor said, “So be it…Jedi.”