Luke felt more than air as he dropped down the shaft. Palpatine's halved body fell with him. The atoms in the reactor charged rapidly, and in a desperate move to survive, wrapped the Force around himself to shield against the force of the explosion he was sure to come.Luke had the wind knocked out of him suddenly when he hit a jello like substance. Pain hit then, but he had no voice to scream. His world inverted, and gravity shifted, causing his stomach to rise to his throat. Luke whipped out his saber determined to slow his decent and get his bearings. Using a Force push against the reactor wall, Luke lunged with blade, lighting it at the second. Then, the world lit up a brilliant blue.
For a while, Luke was unaware of anything. He felt his body contort into agonizing pieces, and then nothing. When he was aware again, the darkness receded rapidly. The Force screamed at him, and Luke forced his aching body to tuck and roll upon impact of the open air catwalk he suddenly found himself falling toward.
Luke sprung up from the roll, landing in an open stance, crouched so low to the ground he had to hold his weight up with an arm braced between his spread legs, his other arm extended outward to the left, his blade parallel to it. The gleaming blade gave the people around him warning to stay away.
Aliens of every sort backed away from the smoking child, and Luke barely took notice of the crackling energy he displayed. He gave a quick scan of his surroundings, not recognizing anything, though the crowded traffic ways gave a hint that it was Coruscant.
Soldiers began approaching from all sides, and Luke noticed how big they were. "Sith spit" he croaked, noticing cloaked figures approaching, waving at the guards to back away. Luke recognized the sabre's attached to their belts and immediately thought of the dark guard. He knew he wasn't strong enough to face them, but how would he escape?
An agonizing pain struck through his head and he gasped. Sound and air rushed into his body, and he felt dizzy. The robed figures were approaching him as if greeting a cornered animal. Luke's outstretched knee hit the ground, and he clapped his hand to the side of his head, over his ear. His blade darted to the front, a clear warning to stay back. Surprisingly, they did, and Luke struggled to make sense of everything.
How did he get here? What happened to his dad, and the emperor? Leia? Han? Chewie? He shook his head, then realizing he was in very real danger of being captured, and pulled himself together quickly. A piece of warm wood thumped his chest, and he quickly tucked the necklace under his shirt as he stood.
"Calm, youngling, deep breaths, we mean you no harm."
"That's what the Sith said before he struck down my father. Sorry, but I don't trust you...I can't."
"Why? We are Jedi, and we uphold the peace. Search your feelings, you know we mean you no harm."
"Jedi are extinct. The last time I searched my feelings, a Sith Lord ended up being my biological father, intent on destroying everything in his path. I refuse to follow my father down the darkside," with that, Luke began edging towards the side of the catwalk. "I wont end up like him...I'd rather die first," a strangled "Wait!" but Luke was already over the edge and falling. His blade was deactivated, and he threw himself head first into survival, bouncing off speeders doing a million miles a minute, or off buildings. Finally he landed on the ground with a pained grunt. Unharmed, but completely drained, Luke looked for a place to find food and shelter for a bit. He hid his sabre up his sleeve, and frowned when it was solid black. "Imperial Flight Academy" Luke read the patch on his uniform, "Skywalker, One Two Five,"
Luke quickly checked his pockets, finding a credit chip, a multitool, and a ration's wrapper. He quickly ducked into a seedy looking bar, and hid the fresher. He discarded the wrapper, and got a good look at his face. He almost winced when he realized how YOUNG he was. Just how old was he? He could barely reached the sink to see the mirror. He was clearly young...very young..and no WAY was he going to be able to get away with traveling alone. How the Sith had he de-aged himself? Luke finally left the fresher, deciding that he probably needed to find the flight academy and figure out what his next move was.
It was easy enough to find, and his credit chip allowed him access to the archives. There he found even more disturbing news. He had managed not only to de-age himself, but to throw himself back in time to the pre-empire days. Luke frowned in concentrations, scanning the articles, trying to match up dates to something he knew, but math was never his strong point, despite his mechanical inclinations. While he was marginally better at history, especially the forbidden history Old-Ben had given him as light reading material during their week long hyperspace jump, he still had trouble figuring out dates.
He'd just managed to sketch out a rough timeline using an ancient galactic calendar system that he'd been raised on, when the Force tingled at the base of his skull. It was a soft warning, and Luke, still unknown in his current circumstances, grabbed the flimsy he'd written on and stood.
"Ahh, there you are, youngling," A familiar voice called from across the room, "Ready to depart now that you have whatever answers you were looking for?" Luke realized that the archives were completely empty save the two of them. He turned to face the yellow alien, cocking his head to the side. He folded the flimsy and pocketed it, then said, "I didn't realize our meeting the first time warranted a second."
"Oh yes, it did indeed. My name is Rafard, what's your's?"
"Luke," Luke saw no reason not to give his name.
"Well Luke, you've been here quiet some time, when was the last time you partook of a meal?" Luke blinked, "I think it was just before we met the first time. There was an empty rations wrapper in my pocket," Luke shrugged.
"You cannot recall?" the man asked patiently.
"No...not really." Luke was honest, maybe he could get some answers.
"Your saber, where did you obtain it?" Luke blinked again, then pulled out the blade and looked at it closely, "It looks like the one I built after Bespin, but I can't be certain until I look at it on the inside."
"I see, and do you have a master in the Force?" Rafard asked, clearly happy to simply ask questions.
"Yeah, I had a few, but their dead now."
"A few? Can you give me their names?"
"Old-Ben, and a hermit on the moon of Dagobah," Luke was reluctant to give their real names, still unsure, "Old-Ben died facing Darth Vader, and the hermit became one with the Force. I guess he died of natural causes. He said he was pretty old, something like 900 years," Luke shrugged, "But I was different then..." Luke glanced down at his tiny hands, shaking his head.
"I see, and were they Jedi?" Rafard asked, though he could feel the answer.
"I'm pretty sure they were," Luke shrugged.
"Who is Darth Vader?"
"Dead," Luke felt sorrow, but he quickly pushed it into the Force, he didn't have time to deal with his fledgling emotions in regards to his father.
"He was sith?"
"Yeah, he and his master died...I ended up falling down the reactor with Sidious, but instead of dying...I ended up here, still not sure what is going on, but I've pieced together some clues."
"I see, and you were in this fight?"
"I think I was only supposed to be a catalyst, it was supposed to be between Vader and Sidious, I just...ended up being the bone between the two."
"And they ended up killing each other?"
"Unfortunately," Luke nodded.
"Why unfortunately?"
"Because Vader, in the last few moments...he turned back...he was Jedi again..." Luke shoved his feelings aside, and began casing the archives. He found three exits instantly, but his senses told him that there were Jedi posted outside those doors. There was also, strangely enough, several posted outside on the ledges of the windows. Luke cocked his head to the side, smiling.
"Found the others, I see?" Rafard gave a hesitant grin.
"Yeah, guess you guys really DO learn fast." Luke gave a soft laugh, leaning against his desk. "I really don't know enough about saber fighting to use this thing correctly," Luke stowed his saber, and he saw Rafard relax marginally. "So what is it that you really want from me?"
"For a youngling, you are very perceptive," Rafard commented lightly, "How old are you?" Luke laughed out right, then said with a mischievous grin, "22," which was sure to mess with the Jedi, because they would know when he was lying, and he was being dead serious. The Jedi had nothing to say for a moment, processing that information, but before he could respond, Luke said cheerfully, "And no, I'm not a ghost possessing another's body. This is my natural form...at least to the best of my knowledge." Luke kept grinning because he felt several different forms of confusion hit him in the Force. They didn't know how to deal with him, and that was ok. They needed some wake up calls, according to the information he'd pulled from the archives.
"I see, would you consent to following met to the Jedi temple, and discussing this matter before the counsel?"
"You mean the actual Jedi Counsel?" Luke thought about it, then asked the Force what he should do. It was clear the the Force was leaning towards, no, not right now. Luke sighed, "I swear the Force picks the most difficult paths for me to take and then makes it so that I can't do anything but," he shook his head in weary resignation, "I'm sorry, but I can't right now. The Force says not too," Luke shrugged, and he knew the Jedi realized he was really telling the truth.
"We must ascertain if you pose a treat to the Jedi or the republic. I must insist that you come with me," Rafard winced, knowing he was going against the Force, but helpless to go against the republic. Luke felt the man's reluctance, and realized he'd placed him between a rock and a hard place. Casually he strode forward, "Then let us make this as painless as possible," Luke shook his head.
"I will need your Saber," the man said, and Luke raised an eyebrow, "I think not. Please," Luke motioned toward the door, and Rafard let him go first, trying to subtly summon his saber, but Luke folded his arms over his forearms, blocking the summon. Rafard motioned towards his speeder, and the other Jedi slowly approached. Luke headed toward the vehicle and grasped the edge, jumping up and over the door, landing gently in the passenger seat. The ride to the temple was almost soothing, and Luke realized that three Jedi were sitting behind him, and all of them were pushing peace and calm toward him, and he found himself drifting off to sleep. It was a dirty trick, he knew upon waking in a Jedi cell used for Sith, one he was sure to employ later, but right now he was pleased with the results. He felt calm and at peace, and happily basked in that feeling for a few minuets before he realized the Force was prodding him to sit up and leave.
How the cell was supposed to block Force, Luke was sure. He felt the connection just as if he'd been anywhere else in the world. He held his hand out to the door of his cell and heard a click. Hopping off the bunk, Luke stretched out carefully, smiling happily when the Force swirled even more strongly about him. With a shrug, Luke realized his clothing had been changed to that of a youngling in the temple, and he shrugged, yawning and left the room. There was a Jedi firmly asleep at a desk, and the Force swirled around his head, and Luke grinned, shaking his head. "That is so not my fault." He calmly unlocked the drawer with his saber, and closed it back. He attached the saber to his belt, realized he was shoeless, and went back into the cell to grab the over robe, and his shoes and socks. Again they were standard issued by the Jedi counsel, but he didn't mind, it made him feel included, and he stomped his feet a few times before finally leaving the cell block. Strangely enough the hallways were completely empty, and Luke just shook his head, the Force was clearly at work. Every time he came across someone suddenly, the Force swirled of its own volition, and that person sank softly to the ground, asleep.
Luke made it to the docking bay where several speeders waited, and wasn't surprised to find it completely empty. He climbed behind the wheel of the smallest speeder he could find, one that had all the controls in the steering column and no peddles for his short legs to press. Bracing one arm on the window, Luke drove one handed to the lot of Speeders reserved for Jedi/Padawan missions, and calmly parked. He found one that wasn't being used, and managed to order supplies for it, and went to work no the engine. It was a simple jerry-rig of the hyperdrive that had it out of commission. He'd performed the task so many times on his X-wing, and later on the Falcon, it didn't take any time whatsoever. He was finished well before the bots started storing supplies onboard. It was almost as if the ship had been waiting just for him. There really wasn't much wrong with it, nothing that didn't take a few minutes to fix. The technology probably hadn't advanced far enough for the jerry-rigging that Luke did, and it was almost comical how it easy it was, but the amusement faded when he realized it was completely the Force at work. It had a plan, and Luke was the center of that plan, and frankly, he didn't want to be, but he knew better than to rail against the Force.
A disturbance had Luke walking down the gangplank of the ship, and he was completely surprised to find a young padawan running full sprint into the hanger bay. He was almost surprised to find that the Force didn't force him to sleep like the others that had ventured in to find out what was going on. He tumbled to a stop when he tripped over the bodies of Jedi who were sleeping. The boy sprawled on the floor, face almost white with what he presumed were dead bodies. "Don't worry, the Force put them to sleep," Luke spoke from the base of the ship, hurrying over to help him up, "Are you ok?" Luke asked, and the boy nodded.
"What happened here?" He asked just as an older man was hurrying into the hanger. He took three steps then carefully collapsed to the floor, the Force gently lowering him to the ground in a comfortable sleeping position. "Master!" The boy hurried over, skidding on the floor next to his sleeping master.
Luke shook his head, but came over to check on the pulse of the man, and, like the others, he was asleep. "He's asleep, like I said. He's fine, what's your name?" Luke asked, "Obi-wan Kenobi, who are you?" "Luke Skywalker," Luke shook the boy's hand, "Wow, your really young," he couldn't help but be amused, "I'm older than you," the boy raised his eyebrow, not so panicked now that he realized his master was fine. "To all appearances, yes, I suppose you are," Luke grinned, "Lets get them away from the ship, when it takes off, I don't want them to get hurt." Luke and Obi-wan worked together to clear out the eleven Jedi that entered the hanger, placing them in an office that was protected from the ships taking off.
"Who is in the ship?" Obi-wan asked, wiping sweat from his brow. He was only fourteen, after all, and his master wasn't light.
"I'll be flying it, I think," Luke shrugged, "Actually, I'm kinda surprised that the Force didn't make you go to sleep like everyone else did."
"Are you old enough to fly?" Obi-wan looked skeptical. "I've been flying all my life, its in my blood, of course I'm old enough to fly," Luke grinned at the question. "And I don't think the Force is giving me much choice in the matter," Luke carefully left the office and headed on board the ship, and Obi-wan followed cautiously. "Are you a sith apprentice?" he asked carefully, and Luke laughed outright.
"I'm as much sith as your or your master are," Luke grinned, shaking his head. "I just have a different destiny outside the temple right now. You should probably head back to the room with your master in it, I'm going to be taking off shortly, though I don't know where I am going, the Force wanted us to meet, and I'm sure we'll see each other in the future. We're going to be friends, I think," Luke nodded, grinning at Obi-wan's look. But the boy, despite his curiosity, felt a strong pull to go to the office, and he followed the will of the Force. It was a strange feeling, he'd never felt the Force this controlling of him, but he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that his fate was now entwined with that of the boy he'd just met. Once he was in the office, he knelt down next to his master, and the Force gently swirled around his head, and he found himself slumped over, his head pillowed on his master's chest, asleep in the Force...