As she hid in the Dark Side, shrouding herself from the view of both Darth Vader and the new Jedi wannabe, watching how both Vader and Luke battled against one another with Luke lashing out more viciously at the older Sith Lord who just happened to be his father, Taliza could not help but wonder how long it would be before the seemingly endless war between Jedi and Sith finally ended.
She also wondered what the few surviving Jedi had done to make Luke act like this, and why he had stupidly come to Bespin in the first place; oh, she knew Princess Leia and her party had come to this place to do work on their ship, but surely he had come up with a better plan than falling into such a clear trap?
It seemed a lack of intelligence was a staple of the Skywalker bloodline.
Actually, she wondered why Luke didn't have a surviving Jedi with him, someone more or less more experienced who could fight the Sith Lord to a standstill.
There were just so many questions on her mind that Taliza one of the Nightsisters of Mother Talzin's clan on Dathomir, fought each other, she had the time to think since neither knew she was here.
In the two decades since the fall of the Republic which she had witnessed only on the peripheral, the Nightsisters had tried to keep themselves beneath the eye of the Sith and the Empire they created. The Nightsisters had collectively known and felt the strength of the Dark Side growing stronger and stronger for decades, and many of their brethren had historically left the planet or used their visions to investigate the reasoning behind the growing power of the Dark Side.
It wasn't until a small hole in the Force had been torn open nearly 200 years ago that the Dark Side was growing in power like a slumbering volcano, long believed extinct, but was on the point of erupting violently, before rumours of a Sith Lord on Naboo slaughtering a Jedi Master began to be whispered throughout the galaxy; just because the Jedi had hidden the story from the public didn't mean the other Force-sensitive groups had not known about it.
However, in typical Jedi arrogance, the return of the Sith meant only the Jedi had to be aware of it.
Taliza watched the fierce battle growing between father and son sadly. All of the Nightsisters had silently watched and even cheered quietly the fall of the Jedi as the Clone Wars had started to end, and while they had to admit Darth Sidious had done a good job with making sure that Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side by using visions of Skywalker's pregnant wife dying in childbirth and making sure he was too deprived of rest and turning events on him to make his fall easier to accept, they had to ask themselves if Sidious was trying to doom his order's work.
While many Jedi had historically fallen to the Dark Side and became extremely powerful or dangerous Dark Jedi or Sith Lords, some had returned or hadn't lived as a true Sith Lord; the Nightsisters had been sure to tell all students of the Nightsister arts that the Jedi had lived by their code and their traditional manner of training - taking children as infants and training them from there while teaching them to suppress or let go of their darker emotions and feelings rather than teach them on how to handle them, and acting all surprised when they turned and then disowning them from the Order entirely - they were not true followers and disciples of the Dark Side.
Still, while she disapproved of what Sidious had done while asking herself if Skywalker was immensely stupid or just too short-sighted, Taliza saw more proof of the Jedi-Sith war being nothing more than an endless circle of pain and death.
Taliza watched as Luke Skywalker once more attacked the Sith Lord; it was obvious that Luke had only just learnt the basics of the Jedi arts, but he was fighting more like a Dark Jedi than a Jedi was, and she wondered what had made him lash out at the Sith Lord. One thing that was clear to her after a short while of watching them fight was that Luke likely did not know Vader was his father; why else would he be lashing out so violently at Vader? There was so much impatience and anger in the young Skywalker that Taliza actually feared he would turn.
As she followed the two from a distance, concentrating on shielding herself, Taliza wondered if she should intervene. But she decided against it, at least for the moment; she had never fought against a Sith Lord before, and she didn't know how Luke would react but if he was in this mood, then he was bound to attack first and ask questions later, especially if he felt how dark the Force was with her.
The fight across Bespin was largely taking place in the lower and industrial levels where it was largely automated but it was easy for her to keep up with them while keeping up her defences. Finally, the duel was over when Luke scored a good glancing hit against Vader's shoulder. The Sith roared with pain and rage and lashed out, taking off Luke's hand.
"There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you," Vader threatened while Luke collapsed on a thin walkway that was only wide enough for two people. "Luke, you do not yet realise your importance. You have only begun to discover your power," Vader said as he began tempting the boy he'd just maimed; okay, right now Taliza wondered if the Sith Lord was truly deluded or if Anakin Skywalker was so out of it he was really blind. "Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."
Luke was truly exhausted and in agony, but he still managed to show his defiance and barely hidden disgust at the offer. "I'll never join you!" He growled through gritted teeth.
If Taliza had expected for Vader to lash out again, she was surprised when he took the initial refusal well. "If you only knew the power of the dark side," he said, clenching his fist for emphasis. "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."
"He told me enough! It was you who killed him."
Taliza looked on, knowing this was going to shatter Luke, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it and she had planned to. "No. I am your father."
Shocked, Luke looked at Vader in utter disbelief and utter horror at what he'd just learnt.
No," Luke said, at last, shaking his head in denial. "No. That's not true! That's impossible!"
"Search your feelings," Vader went on, urgently as he urged Luke to see things from his perspective. "You know it to be true."
This was the problem with the Jedi Taliza reflected; they could pretend whatever the hell they liked, but in the end, they could not hide from truths like this.
"No! No! No!" The boy sobbed.
Taliza watched on with apathetic sympathy- a part of her felt for Luke, of course, but she had grown up in so many worlds without knowing Lily and James Potter that well despite coming across worlds where they were utter scum. While she could feel the pain from Luke, she also knew he had always known, on a level he hadn't even known about his father's ultimate fate.
"Luke. You can destroy the Emperor," Vader went on after giving his son a chance to reflect on the horrific truths he'd been exposed to, and Taliza wanted to rip off his helmet and mask and punch him for his lack of sensitivity for what he'd put his son through. "He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way."
Taliza was unsurprised by how Luke jumped to his death. She would too, if her own parents - biological and original, that was - betrayed her in such a manner. She turned and walked away. She had largely fulfilled her long-term self-imposed mission and soon she could deal with Voldemort for good. However in this world, she had rebuilt the Nightsisters after the Clone Wars, and she was almost done training the newest generation, even bringing in new Force sensitives from afar to replenish their ranks and give them new blood and fresh perspectives to rebuild their culture.