This is the last chapter of Tales of Star Wars. It was a great 8-month ride, and I enjoyed it immensely. My only goal for it was for it to be something that people could read for the fun of it, but it seems to have turned into an epic. Almost 40,000 words- wow!

I'd like to take this time to thank all of my reviewers who have so faithfully (or have tried to) follow this story that really should never have existed were it not for a complete brain splurge in the shower. Thank you again for your comments, your praise, and your criticism- all were appreciated.

And now…the final chapter of Tales of Star Wars.

Disclaimer: I own neither of the two franchises represented in this game.

Chapter 14

"Sith, we're going to have to take them one-on-one…"

A silence descended on the field of battle as both sides scrutinized each other for any possible move. Luke looked at his father expectantly, waiting for the signal to attack.

Not yet, Luke. Anakin said mentally.

Okay. Just tell me when.

In the end it was the Emperors that made the first move. With a bloodcurdling cry, the twin Palpatines charged at the Skywalkers. The clash of energy on energy sent sparks flying into the air as the two sides battled on, neither giving an inch.

Luke blocked left. Then right. Then left again. Either way, he was stuck on the defensive. Casting around for something that could shift the tide, he found it and Force-threw the throne at his enemy. The Emperor smiled before slicing straight through the metal seat, sending the two pieces back at the young Jedi. Luke ducked and then hastily blocked another strike from above. As the Emperor bore down on him, Luke looked into the maddened eyes of his foe.

"No you don't," he growled. "Nothing you offer could make me go to the Dark Side." With a burst of energy, he shoved upward, sending the Emperor flying back. He then swung his saber back in front of him, ready to block whatever came next. Looking over at his father, Luke could see that the duel was flying along at a much faster pace, as red clashed on red.

"Ah!" He nearly evaded the Emperor's red lightsaber as it dove at him, slicing through the edge of his shirt.

"Hehehehe…keep your eyes on the battle at hand, young Skywalker. That is my first lesson to you."

Luke said nothing, knowing the Palpatine he was facing only wanted to goad him further to anger. Just watch. I'll turn the tables on you without a blink.

Anakin danced backwards as the Emperor launched a flurry of thrusts and slashes. Curving his saber to meet Palpatine's blade in a high block, he kicked out with one foot, catching Palpatine in the stomach. As the Sith reeled, Anakin dove in for the finishing blow only to find lightning being shot at him. Twisting, he fell to the side, rolling to his feet.

"You still fail to utilize the Dark Side fully, young apprentice," The Emperor admonished.

"That's because I don't use it. When will you get that point driven into your wrinkled head?" Anakin shot back. He ran through his mind for anything that could surprise the Emperor. As the two had battled often as master and apprentice, there was no doubt that Anakin's moves were being read like a book.

Think, think…what to do?

"Lost, Vader?" Anakin snapped out of his trance just in time to block.

"No, just waiting for the right time!" Anakin shoved the Emperor, sending the man backwards.

"I learned this from a friend," he breathed. Dashing forward, he swung his lightsaber in a wide, curving arc. Energy leapt off of the crackling blade in a wave, racing along the ground.

"What is this?" The Emperor cried as the wave struck him, sending vibrations everywhere.

"It's called Demon Fang. Pretty appropriate, if you ask me," Anakin replied. "Like it?"

"How DARE you," Palpatine hissed before hurling himself at Anakin.

"I learned this from the same person as well," Anakin said in response. With a barrage of thrusts, he pierced straight through the hilt of the Emperor's lightsaber, shutting down the red blade. The next slices sent the Emperor's smoking body to the ground.

"Sonic Sword Rain is only supposed to be able to be used by certain people. Thanks to my friends, I can now pull off things that Vader would never dream of," Anakin informed the body in front of him. Of course, it was too late for Palpatine to hear him. Turning, Anakin let out a slow breath—and then stopped cold.

Luke!

The young Jedi was on one knee, lightsaber threatening to buckle as he attempted to throw off a ferocious downward strike from the Emperor or whatever else he was. Luke's emerald blade was slowly inching closer and closer to his neck as the Palpatine's red one bore down upon it.

Anakin was about to run in and help out his son when Luke sent him a frantic mental message.

No! I can do this on my own.

And with that, Luke shoved upwards with as much force as possible, using the Force to back him up. The Palpatine went flying, as Luke regained his composure.

"Ehehehe…close that time, but you will not be so lucky the next," it cackled.

"Don't underestimate me," Luke warned. He ran forward, and the battle continued. Suddenly, his com beeped. Eyes widening in surprise, Luke stumbled for just one vital second. But that was all the Emperor needed. Blowing aside Luke's lightsaber, he dealt a mighty blow to the Jedi's prosthetic right arm, sending it skittering to the ground in a burnt heap.

"Next will be your head!" The Palpatine cried as Luke reeled. Without his right arm, Luke did the last move he could make- he threw his com link at Palpatine. The old man easily caught it, but found the power switch on. From the machine's tiny speaker, a tinny voice could be heard. The entire room fell silent as the voice began to speak.

"…Death Star sighted, Skywalker. Get out of the area as soon as possible, Commander."

"Uh oh…" Anakin whispered.

A gigantic explosion rocked the entire space station. As the combaters ducked for cover, a giant piece of the throne room suddenly was blown off, leaving a gash leading to the endless vacuum of space.

"It's pulling us in," Luke cried!

"YES!" The Palpatine shouted, "THIS IS THE END, SKYWALKERS!" Laughing maniacally, the old man pushed a button on his lightsaber. Immediately, the Palpatine Anakin had battled stood up, apparently revitalized. "Which one is the clone, now, my boys? It's time for the final battle!"

"We've got no choice," Anakin shouted over the whoosh of oxygen rapidly leaving the room, "We've…got…to…beat them before…the room...oxygen…" The air was growing thin. "Time's…running out!"

As the two Emperors charged, the Skywalkers prepared for their final confrontation.

"EEEAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Energy crackled as once again, the two clashed.

"The throne!" Luke yelled. Catching his drift, Anakin threw himself to the side as the gigantic throne chair went hurtling towards the endless chasm.

The Emperors stopped, smiled, and then laughed once more as one before the chair smashed into them, sending them flying out into space.

"Let's…get…out of here!" Anakin yelled. "The whole place is-!" Another piece of the ceiling crashed down.

"It's pulling…us towards it! We'll…never…make it!" Luke screamed.

Then, a bubble burst out around each of the two men. As they bobbed along, stationary, the two men whirled around inside to find:

"Lloyd!" Anakin shouted. The swordsman waved from his own bubble, before pointing to Origin and Maxwell.

"Let's get out of here," Lloyd cried. With a flourish of the Eternal Sword, Lloyd directed the massive mana bubbles out of the now deteriorating Death Star. Outside, a battalion of X-wings greeted them, along with an enormous cruiser.

"The Alliance," Luke gasped. "I- how did they find out?"

"We commed 'em," Han announced. "No one knew how to figure out the self-destruct code, so we decided to go with Plan B."

"Well, lucky you actually had a Plan B," Anakin replied.

"Hey- what happened to your arm?" Sheena asked Luke.

"Uh- long story," Luke said, cradling the stump of his bionic arm.

"You know, we're still going to have to explain to Mothma exactly what's happened to Darth Vader," Leia warned.

"I'll take care of it," Luke assured her. "Lloyd- just drop Leia and me off with the Alliance. We'll meet you back down on your world. The two of us need to talk a few things over first before we get anywhere close to celebrating."

Lloyd nodded. "I'll see you then."

"Just make sure that you don't start the party without us," Luke said.

"We won't." With another wave of the Eternal Sword, Lloyd diverted the twins' bubbles off towards the awaiting Rebel cruiser.

"Now, let's get back to Symphonia."

"And about time," Sheena added, "All that machinery made me dizzy."

"The Professor would have gone nuts."

"Yeah- good thing we didn't take her along, huh?"

"Uh- guys…"-Han waved- "there's people here besides you, you know."

"Yeah, well, there's not that much we can talk to you about, right?"

"Say that again, please," Anakin said menacingly.

"Uh…never mind," Lloyd quickly muttered. Sheena snickered. Hoping to veer the conversation elsewhere, Lloyd peered out of the bubble.

"Hey! Look! We're almost there!" As the bubbles began their freefall through the atmosphere, Sheena hurriedly chanted the Sylph, almost hysteric when she asked them to "SLOW THE DAMN THINGS DOWN!"

They finally touched ground, at which time the mana bubbles dissipated into the air. "We're back," Lloyd said with a sigh. "YES!" He danced around with joy.

"We did it, Sheena!" He yelled excitedly, pointing furiously towards the empty sky. "We did it! YEAH!"

Sheena laughed as Lloyd resumed his victory dance. "You are SUCH a kid."

"All you need is drinks, and this would be a real party," Han said.

"What kind of drinks," Lloyd asked, pausing from his frenzied jumping.

"Oh come on; please tell me you do know what I'm talking about." Han gave Lloyd an exasperated look.

Anakin rolled his eyes and muttered, "Space junk…never can trust them…" Han scowled and opened his mouth to snap back when Lloyd cut them both off.

"Hey! Look! Over there!" He pointed towards the smoldering buildings of Meltokio. "We- we landed right next to it!"

"Talk about dumb luck," Sheena said in disbelief. "Lloyd- you really- wait!"-Sheena sighed before dashing off after the dual swordsman- "Stop being in such a rush!"

Chewbacca howled something at Han. "Yeah, yeah- we'll stay put and wait. Don't want to mess up their teary reunion," Han muttered.

"So we're staying put?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah, until the kid and his sister get back," Han said resignedly.

The two stared off towards the city.

"By the way, what was that crap you were giving me about me being space junk?"

"Why? Do you take offense at it?"

"What do you think, moron! Of course I do! I'm not space junk, no matter how battered the Falcon is!"

"Keep saying that to yourself and maybe it will come true, Solo."

"Shut it, Vader."

---

"Everyone!" Lloyd came skittering through the gates, barely avoided the collapsing rubble around him. "Where are you guys?" He called.

"Is that Lloyd Irving I hear?" drawled an unseen voice.

"Who are you? Show yourself! What have you done to my friends?" Lloyd demanded.

"Oh please- spare yourself the effort. It's Yuan." The half-elf descended the stairs that led to the castle with a bored expression.

"Yuan! What are you doing here, huh?" Lloyd unsheathed both his swords, holding them at the ready. Sheena pulled out her cards.

"Relax, you idiot. I'm on your side," Yuan snapped. "I'm just cleaning up your father's horrific mess…like I always do," he added under his breath.

"Kratos's what? Where is he?" Lloyd re-sheathed the Material Blades.

"Oh, never mind," Yuan said exasperatedly. "If you're looking for Kratos, he's gone. They all left for Altamira as soon as the coast was clear."

"Altamira?" Sheena asked. "Why? We still have to deal with the citizens."

"According to Kratos, it's my job to handle Meltokio if he's going to deal with all the Exspheres. An eye for an eye, one could say."

"Altamira, huh?" Lloyd asked to no one in particular. "Right! Let's go!"

"What? Hey! Lloyd- stop!" Too late; Lloyd had grabbed Sheena by the wrist and was now dragging her off. Yuan sighed and shook his head as he watched the two leave.

"Back to work, I guess…" The Renegade leader said. Turning around, he walked back into the castle ruins.

---

By the time Lloyd and Sheena rejoined Han, Chewbacca, and Anakin, the twins had already arrived back, their X-wing transport waiting anxiously behind them. Both noticed that Luke now had another arm attached.

"You guys are back?" Han asked.

"Yeah- we are." Lloyd waved to Luke and Leia. "Got all your talking stuff wrapped up?"

"Yes," said Leia. "We managed to get some things straightened out." She shot a glance at Anakin when she said "things".

"So are you going to go, or do you want to stay for the celebration?"

"We'd love to stay, but I think we have to go," Luke said. "The Alliance is waiting for us, and there's so much we have to do to rebuild everything from the Empire's ruins."

"You can at least say goodbye," Sheena said. "Why not just tag along with us to Altamira, and then Lloyd can use the Eternal Sword to send you all back up?"

"Sounds good to me," Anakin said.

"Alright. Wait a minute then," Luke told Lloyd as he walked over to the X-wing and explained to the pilot that he would get back in a different way, and that they could leave. The pilot nodded before taking to the skies.

"Right!" After a couple of hurried summons, the group was once again engulfed in the familiar bubbles. Directing them with his sword, Lloyd managed to get the bubbles to drop down gently onto the sands of Altamira.

"And here we are! Everyone's probably at Regal's waiting for us." Lloyd dashed for the ferry.

The goodbye was looming.

---

"Sir- I've estimated the damages to the hotel, and it's much more than Miss Presea estimated."

"Really?" Regal frowned as he took the report. "Oh…wow."

"I apologize for being off," Presea said. "Perhaps I said million? I meant trillion…"

"Ah- I see," Regal said.

Just then, Lloyd and company burst through the office doors. "Hey, guys! We did it!"

"We sure did," Colette agreed.

"It looks like you all lived," Genis noted with amusement.

"Yeah- we definitely were." Sheena said. "Thanks to these guys here…" She waved a hand at Luke and Anakin.

"So what happened with you guys?" Han asked.

"Oh- it was hilarious," Zelos said seriously. "Kratos and Yuan were cat-fighting. Funniest thing I've ever seen; I swear." He stopped when he realized how very close Kratos's hand was to the Flamberge's hilt. "Uh…"

"You were WHAT?" Lloyd asked.

"Never mind," Kratos snapped.

Everyone gave him a look that clearly read, "Yeah right…"

"So is this goodbye?" Raine asked informatively.

"Yeah…it is…" Luke said. "Thanks for everything, you guys."

"Yes- thank you for getting me out of that suit," Anakin told Raine.

"It was nothing. Besides, now I can study it without you yelling at me!" Raine replied brightly. A collective groan rose up from everyone present.

"Well, this is it. Lloyd will transport us back up to the Alliance's waiting ships, so goodbye. And thank you again for your help. The Rebel Alliance will never forget what you did to aid us," Leia said. "We will make sure that your world is recognized officially."

"And thanks for your help with that sarlacc and stuff," Luke said to Kratos. "Would've never been able to pull that off without you." Kratos assured him that it had been nothing.

"What sarlacc?" Anakin asked.

"Oh- I'll…tell you later," Luke promised.

This time it was a collective snicker from all who had been in that particular Tatooine escapade along with much handshaking. Finally, the two groups separated themselves and Lloyd formed the Eternal Sword. Facing the people that he would never have met where it not for one huge mistake, he spoke aloud.

"Eternal Sword- we've saved the world once more. Now it's time for us to finally go our different paths. Carry my friends up to the people waiting for them- the Alliance."

A flash of light. A faint buzz. And then- nothing. Nothing stood in the place of where their new friends had once been.

"It's over," Lloyd said, flopping back into a chair. Everyone stared at the empty space before suddenly breaking into action, seemingly as if nothing had happened. Raine excused herself to go study Anakin's old armor. Regal went back to reading through all of his reports with Presea assisting him. If one had cared, one would note that her ax was now back on its rack. Genis had gone to go "make sure Raine didn't do anything too crazy", and Zelos dragged Sheena off to the beach, although this time the shinobi seemed much more compliant.

That left Colette, Lloyd and Kratos sitting in the room alone. Silence reigned until finally Lloyd spoke up:

"And to think that if you had never come down for a visit, this all would never have happened."

"Yes…it truly was coincidental."

"And now you're here, instead of there."

"Yes."

"So are you going to come with us, Kratos?" Colette asked kindly.

"Perhaps. I do owe Yuan."

Another silence.

"Hey- you know, I was wondering why the Eternal Sword sent you off to Tattoo or whatever, Dad, and I came up with this idea that maybe…maybe it was something that the Eternal Sword wanted to happen."

"Explain."

"Well…maybe it didn't want you to stay stuck up there. Maybe it wanted you to, you know, come back from…"

Kratos finished the sentence for him.

"Derris Kharlan."

This time, no one flinched.

Fin.

Final A/N: Well, here we are at the end of the story. This is the second one that I've finished, and I must say that it's quite a feeling. I tried to pack in as much as possible into the last chapter, and even managed to wrap up all of the running gags of the story by the end. I also tried to make it sort of a "circle", with everything coming back to the three who originally started the story. Truth be told, I had never planned for the ToS world to figure in at all- it was supposed to be completely Star Wars universe. However, I like where it has gone. I hope you have enjoyed it too.

-Lady Nephenee Ranulf