Luke stared out the view port of the Falcon. The nothingness of space stared him in the face. He couldn't help but ponder the events that may have led his father to the darkside. He wanted to believe his father had been a good man who had gone astray. But there's always that nagging thought that his father may have been purely evil. Luke shook his head, he knew his father had to be good, he sacrificed himself for Luke. Luke only wished he could've known his father before.
"Hey kid, we should be coming out of hyperspace in a second. You should strap yourself in." Han said next to him.
Luke strapped the belts on and looked around the cockpit of the ship. Leia was in the copilot seat next to Han asleep, her brown hair curled up into buns on either side of her head, just like when they had first met. Han still had his rugged good looks of a smuggler and the cocky grin to match.
As they came out of hyperspace Han cursed, as they appeared to arrive in an asteroid field. Everywhere they looked the giant rocks were in their way.
"This ain't supposed to be here!" Han shouted in frustration.
"Where did you have us jump out Han?" I asked annoyed as the Falcon shuddered from the multiple impacts.
"We were supposed to be on Corusant! I know they didn't destroy this one! Unless theres another Death Star we don't know about."
Looking out again I saw an asteroid so big it easily dwarfed the Falcon,"Han, I think you should get us out of here."
"You've got to be kidding me," Han grumbled as he tried to get the Falcon going.
He yanked on the controls but nothing seemed to respond, "One of those rocks must've hit something important. I can't get the Falcon to move."
We crashed into the asteroid and the Falcon began to pick up speed in the opposite direction. We were being pelted on all sides and the ship began to spin out of control. It picked up speed to the point that nothing could be seen outside. Luke began to feel himself getting sick and he couldn't help but think that after all they'd been through that this of all things would kill them.
Before Luke passed out he could hear Bens voice, he was saying something about Luke staying wary. He could've sworn Ben said something about keeping who they were a secret. As he lost consciousness Luke wished he knew what it was that Ben was talking about.
-Line break-
When Luke woke up next he noticed he wasn't in the Falcon anymore. All around him was the sound of fighting and he thought he was back on Endor. Sitting up he saw what looked to be Storm Troopers firing at, were those droids? The Storm Troopers were different too, they all had different colors on their armor and the armor itself was different. As Luke watched something exploded right in front of him, ducking down he noticed that Han and Leia were next to him.
"Where the heck are we kid?" Han shouted glancing up to look at Luke.
"I don't know, but wherever it is it's not too safe." Luke said as another explosion sounded off to his right.
"Are they Imperials?" Leia asked.
"They could be, but everything about them seems wrong."
It was then that one of the Storm Troopers dropped behind the barricade that Luke and his friends were using. His armor was painted blue and he had an antennae sticking up from his helmet. He had a black skirt like thing around his waist and a blue shoulder pad over his left shoulder. He looked over the barricade and shot his two blaster pistols.
"Are all of you alright," The trooper asked as he ducked back behind the barricade.
"We're fine," Luke answered, not sensing anything evil from this troop.
"Good, come with me to our base so we can protect you."
"We're not going anywhere with you," Leia hissed at him.
"Yeah pal, go tell your other Imperial buddies were not that easy to fool," Han added.
The trooper tapped something on his left arm and brought it to his mouth, "General Skywalker, I've found some innocents. They wont follow me back to our camp sir."
It took Luke a second to realize that he wasn't the one being referred to as General Skywalker. Who could it possibly be? It took only a moment for the man to respond.
"I'll be there in a minute Rex." A strong voice said over the com.
"Just hold on a little bit longer, the General will be here shortly." Rex told Luke.
Luke found himself eager to meet this other Skywalker. As Luke waited he felt a bright presence in the Force approaching their position. He felt overwhelmed by this presence he had never felt something like this before. Yet the presence felt familiar somehow and Luke found himself not believing the thought that began to form in his head.
A moment later the presence was there and something was flying over their heads. Looking up Luke saw a tall man deflecting blaster fire with a blue lightsaber. The man had long wavy dirty blonde hair and wore dark Jedi robes. Luke for some reason felt a draw to this man, even though they had never met before.
"Rex, can you hold this position for a second as I talk to the civilians?" General Skywalker asked Rex.
"Of course General," Rex immediately replied.
The Jedi gracefully jumped over the barricade and crouched behind it. He grinned at Luke and his friends and Luke was shocked to see such a kind face on this man. His blue eyes shone brightly, much like Lukes did. It was then Luke learned why the presence was so familiar, Luke was staring at his father. His fathers youth and strength surprised him but even more surprising was the smile lines on his face and the good that radiated off him in the Force.
"Are all of you alright?" He asked glancing at each of them in turn.
"We're fine," was Leias sharp reply.
His father knit his eyebrows at her but shrugged it off, "We have a camp not far from here where we can take care of you and ensure your safety."
"We can take care of ourselves," Leia replied sharply again.
Han stared at her in disbelief, "We don't have much of a choice Princess, General Skywalker, we would love to go to your camp."
Anakin nodded, "Let's get going then."
"How do we know you're not going to torture us?" Leia asked, allowing a little fear to come through her voice.
Again Anakin knit his eyebrows, "My lady I'm a Jedi Knight of the Republic, I will do everything in my power to keep you and your friends safe. I will put myself in harms way to ensure your safety, I promise you that."
"Fine," she grumbled.
"Alright I want you to head out first and I'll cover your backs. Rex, lead our friends here to the camp."
"Yes General," Rex replied quickly.
Rex got out in front and moved from cover to cover shooting the mechanical army out of his way as they progressed. Every so often Luke would look back to see how his father was doing. The ease with which he handled a blade amazed Luke, the only people he had ever witnessed using them were Ben and Vader. They were both advanced in age and Vader was mostly machine so their abilities were diminished. His father moved quickly and expertly handled the lightsaber and turned any droids that Rex hadn't taken care of into parts littering the ground.
They made it to the camp without too much incident and immediately his father was greeted by what looked to be a younger Ben. This version of Ben had an auburn colored hair which he had combed over and a full beard. He didn't look to happy either.
"Anakin what were you thinking?" Ben questioned.
"Sorry master, there were civilians. I wanted to get them to safety." Lukes father replied.
Ben crossed him arms, "You can't go running off like that Anakin. We just received word to begin our assault on the droid army."
"Well, it's a good thing I got to scout out the battlefield a bit first right?" Anakin replied with a grin.
Ben smiled in turn, "Do you have one of your crazy plans already?"
Anakin scoffed, "Of course master, when don't I?"
Luke and his friends watched their back and forth slightly amused. Luke realized that Ben hadn't been lying when he said him and Anakin were good friends. Just by looking at the way they interacted Luke knew they spent a lot of time together.
Turning to Luke and his friends, "I hope you're all right, I'm General Kenobi."
"Princess Leia," Leia replied, politely inclining her head.
"Han Solo," Han greeted with his signature smirk.
"Luke," was Lukes simple reply.
"If you didn't already know, General Skywalker." Anakin said with another grin.
"You will all be safe here, don't leave until we get back." Obi-Wan told them.
"We can help," Han said quickly, "we just need guns."
Anakin studied him, "How good of a shot are you?"
"I'm pretty handy with a blaster,"
"Anakin, you can't be considering putting these people in more danger." Obi-Wan groaned. "You just went and got them out of it."
"They volunteered master, besides, we can use all the help we can get."
Obi-Wan sighed and Luke couldn't help but crack a grin. Here he was with his father at what appeared to be a younger age than him, living life, almost carefree. He held a genuine grin and his eyes sparkled with life. As Anakin turned to look outside their base that Luke noticed the lone scar starting above his right eye and ending just below it. It made him look even manlier somehow, and even gave him the impression of a hardened man.
A few seconds later a storm trooper came around the corner with three blaster rifles, though they looked better than the ones the empire used. Luke wished as they trooper handed him one that he had his lightsaber. They all watched attentively as Anakin relayed his plan to all of them, it seemed to be good enough. Obi-Wan even seemed to like it as he clapped Anakin on the shoulder and offered him a smile along with a parting word.
Luke watched as Obi-Wan and his father led their troops into battle. They led the way, their lightsabers deflecting any fire that might hit their men. Han, Luke, and Leia were all once again crouched behind a barricade, only this time they had weapons. Any droid that managed to be passed up by the troops or the Jedi, Luke and his friends took care of it.
"That's not him is it Luke?" Leia asked, after blowing up a droid.
Luke nodded, "Yeah Leia, it is. I can't believe it either."
Han looked between the two of them, "Who is it?"
Leia sighed, "It's Darth Vader."
Han stared at her like she had gone crazy, "That man right there is Darth Vader? Did you hit your head?"
"It doesn't make any sense to me either, but that man will become Darth Vader." Leia said in defeat.
Luke could feel the conflict coming off of her. She had grown up hating the man known as Darth Vader. He had tortured her, killed many of her friends in the alliance and destroyed her home planet of Alderaan. Then to find out that her father was the man behind the mask made it all the more difficult to accept. But now, seeing him as this young confident man, who appeared to have a good heart, changed everything. She still didn't appear ready to forgive him, yet.
Peaking back over the barricade, they watched as the storm troopers shot down droid after droid. Looking even farther ahead Anakin and Obi-Wan were hiding behind a building as a large tank was firing at them. Luke watched as his father grabbed a piece of a house with the Force. The rock was huge, almost the size of a small ship and Anakin moved it with only slight trouble. While he moved the rock Obi-Wan was in front of him deflecting the blaster bolts sent their way. Luke was amazed by the teamwork these two showed, they had obviously been through a lot together. Anakin had managed to bring the rock right over the tank and let it fall, instantly smashing it.
"Crap kid, we've got more company," Han grumbled.
Luke snapped around to where Han was looking and offered a small curse. There was a whole other squadron of droids marching towards them from their undefended side. Han and Leia were already pouring blaster fire into it taking out only a few of the hundreds of droids. Luke began to panic, his father was going to be overrun, he couldn't allow that.
Reaching out with the Force he got his fathers attention, he felt a bit of surprise on his father end but he looked back to Luke none the less. Pointing Luke brought his fathers attention to the new threat. With a curse Anakin activated his com and alerted his troops. Him and Obi-Wan sprang into action, leaping great lengths to get themselves back into the action.
Luke himself began adding his own blaster fire into the fray along with Han and Leias. The clones too had began firing into the crowd and together their fire power was wiping out the droids. The only problem was the vast numbers of said droids, you killed one there would be three more in its place. Captain Rex came streaking in front of them and rolled behind the barricade with Luke and them.
"We can't keep meeting like this," Rex said with a chuckle, as he fired into the crowd of droids.
Han snorted, "There's a lot worse places we could be meeting."
Rex inclined his head, "Right you are sir."
Anakin and Obi-Wan had joined the battle and were quickly slicing through the droids. They appeared to be an unstoppable team, covering one anothers back and attacking in coordination. They even seemed to communicate without talking too, as they both seemed to know exactly what the other needed. Nodding they both reared back both hands and thrust them forward violently. Calling upon the Force they sent the enemy troops flying backwards through the streets. Both smiled and appeared to be breathing heavy as they clutched their knees. Anakin brought his com up to his mouth and spoke into it, asking for something.
"Rex," sounded through Rexs' comlink.
"Yes General?" Was his quick reply.
"Take the wounded back to the base and set up a perimeter. Obi-Wan and I will pursue the droid army; don't worry, there's reinforcements on the way." Anakin replied.
"Right away sir," Rex said getting up and herding his troops around.
Rex spoke into his headset telling the rest of his troops to grab the wounded and regroup at the base. Luke didn't want to leave his father out there alone, yet somehow he knew he was going to be fine. Besides there wasn't much he could do without his lightsaber anyway. All Luke could do was look on in helplessness as his father ran into combat.
Hope you all enjoyed! I will try to get the next chapter up quickly.