Chương 43: Bonus Story : Star Wars : Part 7 : I Am Your Father

The film continued through the corridors of the Death Star. Obi-Wan's explanations about the Jedi held Aldric's attention more than anything else. They reminded him of the ancient knightly orders from his own world, warriors capable of wielding a mysterious energy that ordinary people could never fully understand. The moment Obi-Wan came to a halt before Darth Vader, the hero immediately knew that a duel was inevitable. The entire theater seemed to hold its breath as the two men faced one another.

For several seconds, neither of them moved. Each watched the other with the calm confidence of someone who knew exactly what their opponent was capable of. Then Obi-Wan raised his weapon. A sharp crackle echoed through the corridor as a long blue blade sprang from the hilt. Without even realizing it, Aldric sat up in his seat, unable to tear his eyes away from the strange weapon. A second later, Darth Vader ignited his own, and a crimson blade flooded the corridor with red light.

"A blade of solid mana..." He studied the blade's exact length, its flawless stability, the complete absence of a crossguard, and above all... its astonishing apparent lightness. The two combatants changed direction with an ease that seemed almost impossible to him. A traditional sword had a steel blade whose weight influenced every movement. Here, all the mass seemed concentrated in the hilt. It completely changed the weapon's balance. Feints had to be far quicker. Guard transitions almost instantaneous.

On the other hand, the slightest lack of precision would be punished immediately, since there was no natural inertia to slow the weapon's movement.

"A blade with almost no inertia..." He immediately imagined how he would fight with such a weapon. The techniques he had mastered since childhood would still be effective, but many of them would have to be adapted. Some guards would become useless. Others, on the contrary, would gain a significant advantage. Even parries would be completely different. Aldric pulled out his notebook. He flipped through a few pages before writing a new heading: Unknown Weapons. Beneath it, he sketched the outline of the lightsaber.

The drawing was simple, but detailed enough to show the hilt and the approximate length of the blade. He then added several notes beneath the sketch. No visible wear despite repeated impacts. Instant activation and deactivation. Extremely easy to carry. Penetrating power probably superior to any known sword. After watching several more exchanges between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader, he added one final note: Excellent effectiveness against heavy armor.

"You're taking notes again?"

"Of course."

"You're going to analyze the entire movie?"

"A weapon like this deserves to be studied."

"Poor guard..." Emma closed her eyes. She knew this was only the beginning. A few seconds later, the two opponents crossed blades again. Obi-Wan pivoted to evade an attack before taking a step back.

"He's leaving his entire left flank exposed..." Darth Vader advanced relentlessly while Obi-Wan steadily gave ground. With every exchange, the Dark Lord maintained the initiative and dictated the pace of the duel.

"Good pressure. He's forcing his opponent to give up ground." Emma let out another sigh. When Obi-Wan circled slightly around his former apprentice to change his angle of attack, Aldric frowned immediately.

"Why is he circling? He's giving up his angle of attack."

"Shh..." The hero turned toward her.

"Sorry." He did lower his voice, but his experience immediately took over again. Every exchange inspired another observation.

"Poor footing..." he whispered after an awkward parry. A few seconds later, he added, "Too slow..." Then, when Obi-Wan deflected another strike, "That parry is pointless..." Finally, after a violent clash between the two blades, "He should have struck here..." Emma was beginning to lose hope. Even when he made an effort to speak more quietly, Aldric seemed incapable of stopping his instincts as a swordmaster from taking over. The moviegoers seated in front of them kept turning around more and more often.

At first, they had simply been trying to figure out where the comments were coming from. Then they began listening out of curiosity. Now, they almost seemed to be waiting for the next analysis. After another exchange of blows, Aldric murmured,"His guard is too high..." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The man seated directly in front of them smiled faintly. A few seconds later, an attack failed exactly as the hero had predicted.

"There." The moviegoer discreetly nudged the person beside him.

"Wait... he's about to say something else." His neighbor stifled a laugh. Sure enough, when Darth Vader forced Obi-Wan back another step, Aldric commented,"Exactly... He's completely controlling the pace of the duel." One of them even began whispering the comments a fraction of a second before Aldric, as though he were trying to predict his analysis.

"He should have thrust instead of cutting..." The duel was now drawing to its conclusion. Obi-Wan stopped retreating and let his gaze rest on Luke for a few moments. A faint smile crossed his face before he turned his attention back to Darth Vader. Then the old master raised his lightsaber before him without adopting any offensive stance. Aldric frowned. Something had changed. Obi-Wan was no longer trying to win the duel. He seemed to have already accepted its outcome. Darth Vader raised his weapon and struck.

The crimson blade passed through the old Jedi's body... or rather, what should have been his body. The instant the blade touched him, Obi-Wan vanished. His robe collapsed to the floor, empty. All that remained were his cloak, his lightsaber, and a few folds of fabric where, only a second earlier, the old master had been standing. Silence fell over the theater. No one moved. No one spoke. Darth Vader nudged the empty robe with his foot.

"He turned defeat into victory. Now that is a true master." As the next scene began, the tension in the theater gradually faded. The moviegoer seated directly in front of them discreetly turned around.

"Excuse me..." Emma immediately felt her heart sink. She shrank into her seat, convinced he was finally about to ask them to be quiet. To her surprise, the man smiled at her.

"Your commentary was fascinating. I'd never looked at that duel from that perspective before." A second person nodded in agreement.

"It was really interesting." Someone started applauding. Another person joined in almost immediately, then a third. Within seconds, an entire row was applauding Aldric. Emma felt her cheeks burn as she slid lower into her seat.

"I want to disappear..." Aldric leaned toward Emma.

"Why are they applauding me?"

"Because you just turned a movie screening... into a fencing lecture."

"They seem eager to learn." Emma finally let out a quiet laugh. She gently shook her head before turning her attention back to the screen. The marathon had now been going on for several hours. One film followed another without Aldric showing the slightest sign of fatigue. Quite the opposite. The further the story progressed, the more fascinated he became. His notebook now remained closed on his lap. He was hardly taking notes anymore. Events unfolded too quickly for him to record them all.

Instead, he chose to observe, memorize, and mentally analyze this vast galactic war. His entire focus remained fixed on the duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. His eyes followed every movement they made. More than once, he instinctively compared Luke to Obi-Wan. The difference seemed obvious to him. The young knight possessed remarkable talent, but far too much impatience as well.

After another exchange of lightsaber strikes, he shook his head and murmured,"He's fighting with his heart instead of his head..." Emma had already stopped paying much attention to the movie. Her eyes remained fixed on Aldric's face, waiting for the reaction that was sure to come. A few rows ahead, the moviegoer who had applauded his commentary during the previous film noticed his expression as well. Realizing what was about to happen, he discreetly turned around to watch the armored knight.

His neighbor followed his gaze, then another after that. Little by little, a strange phenomenon spread through the theater. Everyone who had heard Aldric's analyses realized that he was genuinely watching Star Wars for the first time and that he had absolutely no idea the famous revelation was only moments away.

"Luke is wasting far too much energy... He's letting his anger dictate his attacks... Darth Vader is completely controlling the pace of the duel." For the first time since the marathon had begun, several moviegoers were looking forward less to Darth Vader's famous line than to the reaction of the armored knight sitting a few rows behind them. And Aldric, completely absorbed in his strategic analysis of the duel, remained blissfully unaware that he had, despite himself, become the evening's other attraction.

The duel had now reached its climax. Luke retreated step by step under Darth Vader's relentless assault. For several minutes now, Aldric had barely spoken. His eyes followed every movement of the two combatants. When the crimson blade severed Luke's hand, Aldric tensed instinctively. Without realizing it, his fingers tightened around the armrests of his seat while his gaze remained locked on the duel. Then Darth Vader spoke.

"No... I am your father." The silence that followed was almost surreal. Yet in the theater, very few people were still watching the screen. Aldric remained perfectly motionless. His face betrayed no emotion, and his eyes never left Darth Vader. Seconds passed without him saying a word. Emma even began to wonder whether he had actually heard the line.

"I never considered that possibility..." Emma smiled. At last, Aldric had been genuinely surprised. She knew the hero well enough to understand that a sentence as simple as that already counted as a remarkable reaction.

"A remarkable psychological strategy. Destabilizing your greatest opponent by revealing a family connection at the very moment he's already physically weakened... The timing is excellent. Even if the claim were false, it would probably be enough to make most warriors hesitate." She leaned slightly toward him.

"That's ALL you have to say?!"

"It's significant. Up until now, Darth Vader's only objective was to defeat his opponent. Now, he's trying to persuade him. With a single sentence, he's shattered his enemy's morale. He's also planted doubt in his mind. Their duel is no longer purely physical. It has become psychological. And above all... instead of finishing off his opponent, he's offering him an alliance. It's brilliant. If he's telling the truth, this revelation could end the war without a single additional battle."

"When you put it that way..." The man beside them nodded immediately.

"You know... that really is a stroke of genius." On the screen, Luke backed toward the edge of the abyss while Darth Vader held out his hand to him one last time. In the end, the young Jedi chose to throw himself into the void. Aldric watched the entire scene without saying a word. He waited until Luke had completely disappeared before nodding to himself.

"He chose uncertainty over corruption. At last... a hero who thinks like a true knight."

"Watching Star Wars with you... is nothing like watching it with anyone else."

"Is that criticism?"

"I honestly don't know anymore." The two of them turned their attention back to the screen. The marathon was still far from over.