The Dark Rival

  Thanks to

  Ronnie Ambrose

  Leland Chee

  David Levithan

  Jonathan Rinzler

  Copyright © 2008 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or TM. All rights reserved.

  Published by Disney • Lucasfilm Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Lucasfilm Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California, 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-4847-2020-2

  Visit www.starwars.com

  Contents

  Guide to Characters

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  THE LAST OF JEDI

  Obi-Wan Kenobi: The great Jedi Master; now on exile on Tatooine

  Ferus Olin: Former Jedi Padawan and apprentice to Siri Tachi

  Solace: Formerly the Jedi Knight Fy-Tor Ana; became a bounty hunter after the Empire was established

  Garen Muln: Weakened by long months of hiding after Order 66; resides on the secret asteroid base that Ferus Olin has established

  Ry-Gaul: On the run since Order 66; found by Solace

  THE ERASED

  A loose confederation of those who have been marked for death by the Empire who give up their official identities and disappear; centered on Coruscant

  Dexter (Dex) Jettster: Former owner of Dex’s Diner; establishes safe house in Coruscant’s Orange District; wounded in an Imperial raid that destroys Thugger’s Alley

  Oryon: Former head of a prominent Bothan spy network during the Clone Wars; divides his time between Ferus’s secret asteroid base and Dex’s hideout

  Keets Freely: Former award-winning investigative journalist targeted for death by the Empire; now hiding out in Dex’s safe house

  Curran Caladian: Former Senatorial aide from Svivreni and cousin to deceased Senatorial aide and friend to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Tyro Caladian; marked for death due to his outspoken resistance to the establishment of the Empire; lives in Dex’s safe house

  KEEPERS OF THE BASE

  Raina Quill: Renowned pilot from the Acherin struggle against the Empire

  Toma: Former general and commander of the resistance force on Acherin

  THE ELEVEN

  Resistance movement on Bellassa beginning to be known throughout the Empire; first established by eleven men and women; has grown to include hundreds in the city of Ussa and more supporters planet-wide

  Roan Lands: One of the original Eleven, friend and partner to Ferus Olin; killed by Darth Vader

  Dona Telamark: A supporter of the Eleven; hid Ferus Olin in her mountain retreat after his escape from an Imperial prison

  Wil Asani: Part of the original Eleven and now its lead coordinator

  Dr. Amie Antin: Loaned her medical services to the group, then joined later; now the second-in-command

  FRIENDS

  Trever Flume: Ferus Olin’s thirteen-year-old companion; a former street kid and black market operator on Bellassa; now an honorary member of the Bellassan Eleven and a resistance fighter

  Clive Flax: Corporate spy turned double agent during the Clone Wars; friend to Ferus and Roan; escaped with Ferus from the Imperial prison world of Dontamo

  Astri Oddo: Formerly Astri Oddo Divinian; left the politician Bog Divinian after he joined with Sano Sauro and the Separatists; now on the run hiding from Bog; expert slicer specializing in macro-frame computer code systems

  Lune Oddo Divinian: Force-adept, eight-year-old son of Astri and Bog Divinian

  Malory Lands: Medical technician and scientist; cousin of Roan Lands

  Linna Naltree: Scientist who helped Ry-Gaul escape capture after Order 66; forced by the Imperials to work with evil scientist Jenna Zan Arbor; wife of Tobin Gantor

  Tobin Gantor: Scientist and husband of Linna Naltree; forced by the Empire to work on a secret project in advanced weaponry

  Ferus Olin stood on the vast plains of the planet Kayuk and spoke the words that had haunted him since he’d left Alderaan.

  “Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker.”

  It had taken days for Obi-Wan Kenobi to get back to him on the emergency channel. Now Ferus stared at the wavering holo-image, waiting for Obi-Wan to react.

  Obi-Wan’s expression remained neutral. “What makes you think so?”

  Ferus gathered his thoughts for the explanation. Where to start? Now that he finally had Obi-Wan, he needed to present the mix of facts, guesswork, and instincts that had led him to this revelation.

  In that small second of pause, a new revelation rocked him.

  “You knew!”

  Obi-Wan said nothing.

  Ferus wanted to fling the comlink up into the vast yellow sky. Instead he walked in a circle, kicking a stone out of his way in his frustration, a display of extremely unJedi-like behavior.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked when he could finally calm himself enough to speak.

  “Ferus—”

  “Don’t you think it might have been helpful for me to know?”

  “I don’t see why.”

  “You don’t see why?”

  “Ferus,” Obi-Wan continued in the same maddeningly calm voice, “think about it. What difference does it make to know who he was? There’s nothing left of Anakin. He died the day he crossed to the dark side of the Force. It was better for you not to have that information. It could have endangered you. It was enough that I knew.”

  The way Obi-Wan spoke stopped Ferus in his tracks. Obviously the pain of it was still a part of Anakin’s former Master. Despite the millions of kilometers between them, the vast expanse of space, Ferus could feel it. He stopped to consider what it would mean, to have an apprentice who would abandon all your teachings and turn to the dark side.

  “Why did he do it?” he asked.

  “I have my theories,” Obi-Wan said gravely. “We can’t know for certain. I believe Palpatine has been manipulating him for some time. Slowly. Planting seeds. That’s the way the Sith operate. And Anakin himself...” Obi-Wan looked away, gazing at the vast sandy expanse of Tatooine. “To have so many gifts, to be the Chosen One...to be so afraid of loss...” Obi-Wan gazed back at Ferus. “And to have me as a Master. In the end, there were things between us I hadn’t even realized were there. I don’t have the answer to why he turned. I can only ask myself that question, over and over again.”

  Ferus blew out a breath. “Is there anything else you’re keeping from me?”

  “There are things I can’t discuss,” Obi-Wan said. “Things that maybe I should tell you, after your mission is complete. After you leave the Empire.”

  “I’m not part of the Empire!”

  “You are a double agent,” Obi-Wan said sharply. “You have contact with the Sith. With the Emperor. Until you leave his influence, you aren’t safe.”

  “I’m not under his influence!” Ferus barked the words, but it took an effort of will not to touch the place inside his tunic where the Sith Holocron lay. The Emperor had given it to him. So far he hadn’t accessed it, but he could feel it in the hidden pocket, gro
wing heavier by the day, burning against his skin at night.

  It was hard in a holographic transmission to read nuances of expression. Still, it was clear to Ferus that Obi-Wan was concerned.

  “Ferus, it’s time to leave,” Obi-Wan said. “It is past time. I’m sensing a disturbance in you. Leave the Empire. Come to Tatooine. We should meet again and discuss what is best for you.”

  I don’t need your advice. Look where it got you.

  The voice rose from his chest and was stopped by his teeth. Lately this voice had appeared in him, and he knew it was tied to the Sith Holocron. He wasn’t sure if it was his worst self or something apart from him.

  It was as though he were split in two. He felt a yearning in his heart to heed Obi-Wan’s call. To go and sit beside a Jedi Master again and feel the calm of his presence. Yet something wild in him was contemptuous of that choice.

  He was suddenly afraid of Obi-Wan. There were too many feelings to analyze.

  “I can’t,” he said. “I’m still tracking the list of possible Force-sensitives...”

  “You haven’t found any. You’ve investigated the most promising.”

  “But there are more.”

  Obi-Wan sighed. “Ferus, the Jedi are dead or hidden.”

  “I’m trying to help the ones who are alive!”

  “You are trying to regain what you have lost.” Obi-Wan said the words gently. “And you should know better than to try for the impossible. Come to Tatooine.”

  “I want to fight, not talk. I want to stay so I can take down Vader and Palpatine.”

  “Do you think Palpatine—Lord Sidious—is buying your double game?”

  “It’s possible that he suspects—”

  “He knows. He knows exactly what you are doing. The only reason you are still alive is because he does know. He has a plan for you. He is nothing if not patient. He plotted for years to destroy us. I don’t know why he’s playing with you, but he is most certainly playing. It is the way of the Sith, to play beings off against each other, to stir up hatreds and rivalries. Believe me, he is working on you.”

  “He can’t corrupt me.”

  “The fact that you are so confident is part of his plan. He knows you left the Jedi Order. He knows that you want to be a Jedi again. He will speak to you of the Force, tell you how you can use it. He’s already spoken of it, hasn’t he?”

  “No,” Ferus said. A spasm of pain hit him. He’d never lied to Obi-Wan before.

  “Come see me,” Obi-Wan urged. “Leave the Empire. Your mission on Alderaan is complete.”

  Ferus felt the same confusion again. A longing to listen, a longing to go. But a tide was stronger, whirling him away.

  “I can’t,” he said.

  After arriving on Coruscant, Ferus left his cruiser at the hangar near the Orange District, the one that was used by those who didn’t want to go through official check-in procedures. It was a dank, dark hole of a hangar, but everybody there looked the other way when you arrived. Ferus kept his hood over his face as he took the lift tube down as far as it would go, then walked the remaining distance to the Orange District.

  You had to know the way to the Orange District in order to get there. If you stumbled on it by accident, chances were you’d turn around and go the other way. The place was full of glow-lamps turned down to the dimmest setting, twisting alleys, crumbling ramps, seedy cafes, and beings from all over the galaxy trying to stay lost.

  It was a perfect place for a secret meeting.

  They had to scramble to find a place, however. Dexter Jettster’s safe house had been raided by the Empire. Every building in Thugger’s Alley had been demolished. Ferus had briefly believed that everyone inside had perished, but Keets had sent word to Oryon that he, Curran, and Dex were safe and in hiding.

  That was a relief. But Astri and Clive were still missing. Keets said they’d gone off to check on some bank account on Niro 11, and they hadn’t been heard from since. Ferus was worried about his friends. In the short time he’d been acting as a double agent, he’d seen the Empire up close. He’d seen their ruthless efficiency. He’d seen how effective their communications were, how streamlined their structure of power. And it seemed Darth Vader was everywhere. He enforced, threatened, and brought down the might of the Empire on those who would defy it.

  Ferus had trouble reconciling the Anakin that he’d known with that terrifying figure. He’d had his problems with Anakin, but they’d been the petty rivalries of two boys. He had seen something dark in him, but he’d never considered it to be the kind of darkness that would swallow all of Anakin’s goodness.

  He’d been thinking for so long that if he could discover Vader’s true identity he would be able to use it to defeat him.

  Now he wasn’t sure.

  Memories of Anakin weren’t all bad. They had never been friends, but there had been many times that they’d worked well together. He’d admired Anakin. It was impossible not to. Anakin had been the one that all the Padawans had looked up to. He’d had close friends, Tru Veld and Darra Thel-Tanis. How could he have become Vader? How could he have left so much goodness behind?

  Ferus found his way through the alleys of the Orange District. Oryon had set up the meeting using an old contact from the Clone Wars. They could use the back room of his shop, but only if they never came back.

  Ferus found the small, cluttered structure on one of the side streets that radiated off from the main ramp. He went in and told the owner he was looking for parts for an old CZ droid. The owner didn’t even look up, but jerked his thumb toward the back. Ferus knew that the man would deliberately avoid looking at any of the faces of those who came to the meeting. It was better not to know.

  Ferus pushed through a battered durasteel door. Oryon stepped forward to greet him. Trever was behind him, relief on his face. Ferus walked forward and slung an arm around his shoulders.

  “I just asked you to do surveillance,” he said. “Not the job.”

  Trever looked crestfallen. Ferus could have kicked himself. He’d meant the remark as a joke. The truth was, he was proud of Trever. He had asked him to determine where Jenna Zan Arbor was living and the extent of her security. Trever had done that and more. He and Ry-Gaul had rescued Linna Naltree, the scientist who had been forced to work with Zan Arbor on her memory drug.

  Now he wanted to say not only the right thing, but the perfect thing. Trever had blasted into his life like a lightning storm, unpredictable and intense. He had lost his entire family, and though he had become a street thief and a con, he had also become a hero. He just didn’t know it yet.

  “You always surprise me,” Ferus said, “by doing more than I ask, more than I imagine anyone could do. I depend on you for that.”

  He could see that his words pleased Trever.

  “I wish you could have been there,” the boy said. “Ry-Gaul isn’t exactly overflowing with conversation.”

  Ferus grinned. “He’s more talkative than he used to be.”

  Ry-Gaul said from across the room, “Most people talk too much.”

  Trever shook his head. “Gotta remember about that Jedi hearing.”

  Ry-Gaul came forward. Ferus noticed that there was affection as well as amusement in his eyes when he glanced at Trever. Ferus hadn’t seen that look since Ry-Gaul had an apprentice, Tru Veld.

  “I wanted to thank you for rescuing Linna Naltree,” Ferus told him. “I always regretted having to leave her with Zan Arbor.”

  “She’s safe now,” Ry-Gaul said. “I turned over the memory agent data to Malory Lands for study. I think we should destroy it after she has a look at it. It would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.”

  “I agree.”

  “That day when we rescued Linna...” Ry-Gaul hesitated. “This is merely a feeling. But Vader seemed very intent on getting that agent. More than just pressuring her for a weapon the Empire could use. It seemed...personal.”

  That was interesting, Ferus thought. What could Anakin have done that
he’d want so desperately to forget? Was it connected to why he became a Sith?

  Just then Keets and Curran burst in. Everyone was glad to see them. They had narrowly escaped death or capture by the Empire.

  “How is Dex?” Trever said, asking the question that was on all of their minds.

  “Recovering,” Curran said, passing his small, delicate hands over his furred face. “He was hit by blasterfire, and it took awhile to get him to a safe place to be treated. Malory has come every day, and he’s made incredible progress.”

  “He’s already bellowing his lungs out for bantha burgers,” Keets reported.

  Ferus inclined his head at Keets to draw him away from the hubbub.

  “Do you remember a Jedi called Anakin

  Skywalker?” he asked. Before dropping out and becoming part of the Erased, Keets had been a muckraking political journalist. He knew more secrets about Galactic City than anyone.

  “Of course. The great hero of the Clone Wars,” Keets said. “He defeated Count Dooku.”

  “Did you ever hear any...well, gossip about him? About his personal life?”

  “Well, sure. The Senate was my beat, and it’s a very small place despite being gigantic. There was some talk about him and Senator Amidala.”

  “Padmé Amidala?” Ferus was surprised. But then again, he shouldn’t have been. No wonder Obi-Wan had sent him to Naboo.

  “I even heard rumors of a secret marriage, but I can’t confirm that. I wasn’t digging into Senators’ personal lives, and I always liked Senator Amidala. She had principles.”

  “The official word is that the Jedi killed her, but that can’t be true.”

  “I don’t believe it either. But I don’t know how she died. It was at the end of the war, when things were getting confusing.”

  “We should talk about the next step for Moonstrike,” Oryon said to the group. “We don’t have this room for long.”

  “Before we start the meeting...” Keets said. He and Curran exchanged a glance. “We have something to say. We’ve talked to Dex. The three of us have decided to pull out of Moonstrike. Since we’ve begun working together on the resistance, things have changed. We all believe that the best thing to do is go underground now and wait for a more organized resistance to rise.”