A/N: As far as I'm concerned you should all be out celebrating New Year's with your friends and families, not reading fanfiction – but here's a new part nonetheless

Thanks for the reviews and whatnot, and happy New Year's to you all!

The Shadow

Chapter Two: On the Prowl

Part Two

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Luke was worried.

Scratch that; he was terrified.

He'd been pulling his clothes on and gathering up his things to leave on an expedition to see what all those suspicious meteorite crashes were about, when he'd heard something like a voice inside his head. It hadn't really said anything though, more like a presence. But a deep humming, rumbling sound had filled his ears and something… dark had touched his mind, feeling around for a few moments. On impulse, he'd shot an interrogation at the Force, a small confirmation that he was there.

A second later he'd gasped, recognizing the presence. Vader had just breached his mind, and had found him. Vader knew he was alive, and the Empire knew where they were. A shiver ran up and down his spine and through his limbs. He could almost hear the steady, mechanical breath of Vader, see his imposing bulk.

But it was, or should be, impossible! The Alliance had worked very hard to keep his name a secret, for which he was grateful. All traces of what had happened during that fateful moment at the battle of Yavin were supposed to have been erased. Nobody was supposed to talk about it. Somehow, Vader had learnt the truth and they were no longer safe.

Luke immediately rushed from his room, a cold sweat erupting all over his body. All else was forgotten as he ran to the Commanders' quarters in search of Leia, of somebody he knew would believe him. He ran past people who shouted greetings at him, even passed Wedge and ignored him.

"Hey! Luke! Good to see you out and about!" The other pilot shouted out gleefully. His face then fell when Luke spared him but a fleeting, terrified glance.

At last, he bumped into Leia, who had been strolling down a deserted corridor apparently deep in thought. "Luke!" She acknowledged pleasantly, before frowning. "Weren't you supposed to leave with Han…?"

"They're already gone?" Luke asked, horror-struck.

Leia's expression wandered a little, thoughtfully. "I think so… What's up?"

Luke swore in Huttese. "The Empire – Vader – they know where we are. He found me Leia, don't ask me how, but he found me I felt it, and they'll be here in a matter of hours. We have to evacuate."

"You're sure?"

"You don't believe me?"

"Sure I do, just… the others might not. What will you tell them? Most people don't even believe in the Force…"

"There's no time! I'll tell them anything; that it's a gut feeling, instinct – whatever you wanna call it – now come on!" He pulled at her arm and they ran together to the control room.

As anticipated, nobody really believed him. At first, they merely reprimanded him, concerned, and dismissed his exclamations to focus on the group that had gone to look for the fallen meteorites. Luke gave up trying to make them believe him and instead remained still, in a corner, waiting to see what Han and the others had found out. In a way, he was a little glad he hadn't gone with them; if he'd felt the warning of Vader's presence while out on Hoth, he would've panicked even more. One of the worst things you could do in sub-zero temperatures was freak out.

Leia kept shooting him significant, wide-eyed glances. She hadn't said anything during the brief conversation between Luke and the others, but he knew it was because she had a reputation to keep up, much more so than him. Not that she didn't believe him of course, but she'd rather be sure…

Out of nowhere, Han's voice sounded from a comlink; "Solo to Echo Base. We found it."

"Echo Base to Echo Seven, what was it?"

"Some kind of probe droid… It must've had a self-destruct because we didn't have to hit it very hard. I'm sending you its transmissions right now." Han dropped the formalities – he sounded in a hurry. A weird warbling sound came from the receiver. It was obviously coded. Leia turned to look at C3PO, who'd just shuffled over.

"Sir," he said, "This code is not used by the Alliance. It must be Imperial." Rieekan shot a glance at Luke, transmitted his order for Han's group to return to Echo Base right away to begin evacuation, and sighed.

"It's a good bet the Empire knows we're here." He said as he turned back to Luke, who scoffed.

He was about to say how he'd warned them, but Leia put a soothing hand on his shoulder.

They stayed to supervise the first evacuation orders, and then Leia laced her arm his his led him away back through the long corridors all the way to his room. They were silent for several minutes, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Leia's eyes were wide and fearful again as they stopped inside Luke's room and she released her hold on the fabric of his tunic.

"There's no use getting mad at them Luke…" She began, sounding hesitant. After several seconds, she pulled him into a hug. "What're you going to do?" She asked him softly.

Luke held her a little awkwardly, but enjoyed it all the same. He'd never had a mother to hold him like this when he was scared, and that's what Leia's hug felt like to him right now. "I'm going to join the Rogues in the fight while you guys evacuate. V – he will have less chance of capturing me if I'm in the air than down here. Don't worry about me… It's me who should be worried about you, really. I wish you could be on that first transport out…" He pulled her away slightly in order to look into her eyes. She was smiling despite the harshness of the situation. "But you've got 'a lotta' spirit', that's what Han always says."

She glanced away at the mention of Han's name. "Oh boy … Don't get me started on Han…"

"I won't," he promised. "Cuz if you get started I know you'll never shut up." Leia slapped his cheek softly, playfully and they were still holding each other, their eyes locked and Leia's hand raised to his cheek when the door slid open and Han came bursting in without preamble like he always did.

"Hey, Kid, you'll never guess –" The Corellian stopped in his tracks, his face frozen in kind of a betrayed disbelief. Luke immediately jumped back away from Leia and held his arms out, but the damage was done.

"Okay," Han said in a small voice that really didn't suit him, "I see what's goin' on. Sorry to disturb you two, we're just in the process of evacuating this whole place cuz the Empire's after our asses… But y'know…" He was eyeing the pair of them as though lost, unable to understand why they would do this.

"Han, It's not… what you think." Luke said softly, making Han snort. Leia was staring resolutely at the wall behind the smuggler, as though he were invisible.

"You'd better get to your X-Wing soon, Luke. And I have orders to escort her Worshipfulness to her ship, too." He began to leave and Leia followed him automatically, but Luke wasn't done.

"Han, wait! Trust me, I mean it, Leia and I are really just friends. But now's not the time, you're right. Just, Han… Good luck." He shot his old friend a tentative smile and the smuggler seemed to relax a little, though his eyebrows were still knitted together.

"You too, Luke. I – take care of yourself." Han answered his usual reply, a little coldly, but still. Luke caught Leia's eye before they both disappeared behind the door and was happy to see hard determination there.

As soon as he was alone, Luke bent down to retrieve some clothes he'd left there and threw them unceremoniously into a backpack. He finished clearing up his room as best as he could, taking only the essentials in his bag, turned to look at the back of the room and nearly jumped out of his skin.

Obi-Wan Kenobi had been standing right behind him. His form was semi-transparent, blue-tinted and a little hazy at the edges, but it was unmistakably him. Still clutching at his chest, hoping his heart wouldn't stop from the shock, Luke gasped; "Ben! What… Don't ever do that to me again! Can't you… announce your presence or something, err, next time?" His old master smiled at him and took a few steps around the room.

"I can't often appear before you like this Luke and I don't have much time, so you must listen…"

"No, you listen. Look, I really appreciate everything you did and what you're trying to do, protecting me and… But you lied to me." Luke told the old Jedi, perhaps a little too harshly. "Why did you lie to me, Ben?" He added, to try and sound less angry. The Jedi surveyed him sadly.

"It was only to protect you from the truth. We feared you might be too young to find out yet."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Master Yoda and I are the ones who decided to send you to Tatooine after the incidents that made you an orphan." Ben explained calmly. His words had the opposite effect on Luke however, who shook his head wildly.

"But that's just it, isn't it? I'm not an orphan."

"Luke…" Ben sighed, sounding incredibly sad. "You must understand that Darth Vader is no longer Anakin in any way. For all intents and purposes, he is not the same person. So what I told you about your father when we met on Tatooine was true, from a certain point of view."

"Perhaps," Luke admitted, "but he is still physically the same man. You shouldn't have kept something so huge from me."

Obi-Wan surveyed him through soft, nearly translucid blue eyes; "An old Jedi's mistake, Luke. We only did what we believed to be best for you."

Luke sat down on his bed and stared at his hands. "And when did you intend to tell me who my father really was? Right after I committed patricide for you?"

"It's not like that."

"Well, it seems that way to me." Luke said brutally, standing back up. "Now I have to go pilot a ship in the war, so excuse me…"

Obi-Wan seemed a little angry now. "You must do what you feel is right, as always. But please Luke! Consider it. Please go to Dagobah. You'll find more than an old Jedi Master there. You'll find a part of yourself, of your power, crucial to defeating Vader."

Staring straight through at his old master, Luke rubbed his aching limbs. "Maybe I will if I'm still alive later today OK? Just tell me what this Yoda looks like."

Ben smiled, but shook his head. "I wouldn't know how to begin describing him. But you'll know when you see him. Goodbye Luke, may the Force be with you."

"And also with you, Master." Luke replied, but wasn't sure if Ben's disappearing ghost had heard him. He shrugged and rushed to the hangars when the alarm was sounded. The Empire was finally here, and Vader with them.

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Ozzel was dead and Piett had just been named Admiral. Vader was in a foul mood already; Ozzel was an incompetent fool for coming out of lightspeed so quickly, thinking that approach would be best… But when an officer came along to inform him several rebel transports were already away, the Sith couldn't control his temper anymore. The man sank to the floor with a few gurgled gasps, went limp and guards rushed forward to drag him away as Vader continued to march down the corridor. People jumped out of his way as he passed, his bulk easily filling some of the narrowest hallways.

He contacted the troops that had already descended on the world to see if he could land now. It seemed the rebel base was not going to stand for very long, so it was time to dispatch the specialized snowtroopers, who would dispose of any survivors. That was the usual procedure at least, but today Vader had made it very clear that he wanted all prisoners to be alive and heavily restrained. That was also why he was going down there personally.

When his shuttle landed, he saw that everything in sight was smoking slowly. Rebel survivors were being lined up; Luke was not among them. Vader closed his eyes and concentrated. His son was on Hoth, but where? The boy's presence was alluring, teasing him by always staying just out of his reach. Growling low in his throat, Vader gave the necessary order, and all the rebel soldiers were shot down. He had no use for them; interrogating them would serve no real purpose except for quenching his bloodlust. Besides, Vader had plenty of incompetent generals at his disposal whenever he got too angry…

A little ways further, Vader could see the beginnings of the deep trenches the rebels had dug into the snow, the remains of a hangar and some slowly burning ships. Wires and air shafts hung loosely from the walls and ceilings. It was truly a makeshift base. Visible at the pale blue, virtually cloudless horizon, the AT-ATs were in the midst of their attack. Small explosions were discernible from even this distance.

Suddenly the Sith Lord knew where his son must be. If Luke was a pilot at heart like Vader was, he was over there at the core of the action. This complicated things slightly; if Luke was in an X-Wing, it would be much harder to catch him. Vader regretted having come down here and immediately boarded his shuttle again, hoping to intercept his son at the barrier above Hoth's atmosphere. He could see the progress of the battle as he flew back up to his Star Destroyer. The rebels clearly were no match for the AT-ATs.

Back on board the Executor, Vader set foot on the bridge, watching his officers with a critical eye. Piett immediately came up, wondering if there were any new orders; he'd clearly not been expecting him back on the ship so soon and had been enjoying being first in command.

"Ready the tractor beam," Vader told him before he even had a chance to salute. "Capture every X-Wing ship you can."

"My Lord, their speed makes it nearly impossible to lock them in…" Piett told him quietly, with a scared look in his eye. He obviously didn't want to make any mistakes and would rather take the safe route.

"Do it." Vader said gravely and Piett seemed to straighten up.

"A – at once, My Lord." He stumbled a little on his words and left to supervise the attempts himself. Vader stared back out of the vast window, observing some of the ships that were leaving. He could sense Luke near so he must still be on the planet in the struggle against the AT-ATs. Most of the important ships had already left and only a few X-Wings remained. There was now a stronger presence of Imperial Troops on Hoth's surface than Luke's rebel friends.

Speaking of friends… A particularly large ship by rebel standards was now leaving the atmosphere, trying to outmanoeuvre some TIEs. Vader recognized it instantly – how could he forget the ship that had caused the plans of the Death Star to find their way back into rebel hands? The Millennium Falcon was not carrying any important cargo this time, Vader thought, but Luke's friends must be on board. Friends Luke had risked his life to save. Vader watched the Falcon zoom around the Executor again until it plunged down, before making his decision. The Millennium Falcon must be captured. Only then could Luke be lured out.

"Piett!" Vader barked, turning on his heel with a swish of his cloak. The startled Admiral took several steps back towards him.

"Yes, Lord Vader? We are trying to lock in on the last X-Wing stragglers…"

"New orders, Admiral: capture the Millennium Falcon. Use any means necessary. It does not appear to have the capacity to go into hyperspace anymore, but we should assume it could do so at any moment. Do not fail me." Admiral Piett gave a bow, apparently happier about these orders than the previously impossible task of tractor beaming X-Wings onto a Star Destroyer.

Vader watched him giving out his orders for a moment, before retreating to his quarters. He would be informed when the Falcon was captured, so there was no sense in staying on the bridge. If he stayed only to breathe down his officers' necks –figuratively of course – it would be counter-productive. Fear was not always the surest method of obtaining what he wanted. It often was, but for now he decided to let them work in peace. He was still much too distracted by his son's sudden reappearance to concentrate on the current situation anyway. All he knew was that capturing Luke in his snub ship was impossible.

Using his friends as bait was another story.

He meditated with his pod still open, not wanting to be too cut off from the task at hand, and that's when he felt it. Luke's presence was suddenly much stronger, and then it disappeared, snatched away into hyperspace. Vader couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, but he must be patient. Soon they would have the Millennium Falcon and her passengers as their hostages, and his son would come rushing to save them. If he was anything like Anakin had been, which was a pretty good guess considering past events, Luke would not hesitate to come to their rescue. Skywalkers would rather die than let their friends suffer because of them, that much he knew by experience.

Forcing down some more painful memories for the umpteenth today, he opened his eyes behind his mask to stare at the white wall of his hyperbaric chamber again, waiting.

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A short while later, a voice sounded on his comm. It was Captain Needa; "Lord Vader, I am on the bridge with a report."

Vader sighed. Nobody ever summoned Vader anywhere except for the Emperor, so all the captain could do was hint that his presence was required. Vader could sense only apprehension from Needa as he entered the bridge. The captain was standing as far away from the door as possible, looking into space. At the Sith's approach, he nervously stepped forward and saluted with haste.

"My Lord, we have lost them. We do not believe they went into hyperspace, but they no longer appear on our comscans." Needa held his breath, daring to meet Vader's mask's dark eye sockets. Vader barely managed to hold a low growl, and Needa continued to speak, effectively digging himself deeper into the depths of inexcusability; "I present my apologies to you personally, Lord."

Vader smirked, though nobody could see, and gripped the man's throat through the Force. He could see Needa's expression go from worry to panic as he tried to draw breath, in vain. Seconds later his now limp body dropped to the floor and his eyes stared into nothingness as Vader stepped around him.

"Apology accepted, Captain Needa…" Vader said, allowing himself to be ironic for a moment and mocking the dead man's final words. He turned his back on the body and barely registered some officers dragging it away as Admiral Piett approached. This man meant business, Vader realized. Piett had effectively numbed down the Sith's anger by sending Needa to him first before choosing to meet with him: a very wise and daring move indeed.

Right now Piett was standing in front of him smartly, holding a datapad. "We are doing all we can to locate them, milord."

"I told you to use any method necessary, Admiral. I am not seeing any results. With all the power at your disposal, surely you are capable of more." Vader reprimanded slowly, meaningfully. This caused Piett to frown.

"Forgive me Lord Vader, but we are not… bounty hunters… I assure you we are doing our best…"

Vader stopped listening to him at this point. Only two words seemed to have registered in his mind; bounty hunters. Why hadn't he thought of that? Piett's dislike of them was apparent, but Vader had no problem associating with those kinds of villains. In fact, they would probably do a much better undercover job than any Imperial forces he could put to the job. In short, it was the best solution for this current problem. Vader raised a hand to stop Piett's mumbling; the Admiral was still going on about his aversion for bounty hunters and had not noticed Vader was no longer paying attention to him. It was hard to notice though, what with the mask, Vader reflected.

"I have yet some new orders, Admiral. Set a substantial reward for the capture of the Millennium Falcon, and gather up on the bridge the best-known bounty hunters available. I will meet with them to explain the details of this situation when they arrive."

Piett froze, his mouth still slightly agape, but regained his composure and saluted. "At once, Lord Vader." His teeth were grit together as he walked off to do as ordered.

If they lost that ship, Vader felt quite sure his anger would truly reach exceptional levels. Too much had already happened today. He'd only just learned that his son was not dead and already he was losing him again. Well, the boy would not evade him forever… but patience was not one of Vader's qualities.

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Dagobah could only be described as a sad, swampy little hole of a planet, in Luke's opinion.

He'd been here barely a week. After landing, he at last met Master Yoda, though it took him several hours to realize it was actually him. Yoda had been testing him in seemed. He was rather fond of that in fact.

Luke was already making so much progress. The Force no longer felt like something detached from his body. Now he could feel it radiating from himself and from Master Yoda when he concentrated enough. He was beginning to understand what Yoda meant when he spoke of everything as 'living things' and how the 'living Force' affected them. He had greater intuition and reflexes thanks to better concentration.

Yoda explained that Dagobah was rich with the living Force and devoid of any technological distractions, which made contact easier, but Luke felt proud of himself all the same. The Force had always been there somewhere inside him, only waiting to be found and understood. Now that he was closer to this, he could finally start to understand this potential that Obi-Wan, Yoda and even Vader seemed to see in him. That was where the problems began.

As soon as Luke's thoughts strayed to Vader, he was filled with an energy he could not understand. This one was cold and seemed to pierce his very soul, unlike what he had experienced from the Force so far, which melted unto him in perfect harmony. Whenever these emotions started to come over Luke, Master Yoda would order him to clear his mind and relax his body. It always helped at first, but the unease regarding the cold feeling remained.

They hadn't discussed this much until they got on the subject of the light side and the dark side of the Force.

"Ben told me Vader was… seduced by the dark side." Luke said thoughtfully. "What does that mean?"

Yoda was silent a moment before answering. "Many have fallen to the dark side of the Force. None can return. A solitary path it is, dominated by strong emotions. Anger, fear, aggression… the dark side are they. Caution you must exercise, or consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."

"My father…"

"No longer your father he is." Yoda said, uncharacteristically abrupt.

Luke chose to ignore this comment. Vader may no longer be Anakin Skywalker inside, but the man had acknowledged him as his son. That had to mean something. If Luke was to believe what Obi-Wan had told him, Vader should have disposed of him at once when he learned his identity. Instead, the dark Lord had chosen to train him. To train him for evil perhaps, but he still saw something of value in Luke, that much was clear. This brought another question to light; "Is the dark side stronger?"

"No," replied Yoda sharply.

Luke bit his lip, worried. He was always uneasy whenever dark feelings invaded his mind. "But how am I to know the good side from the bad?"

"You will know... when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."

"But we must fight the Sith anyway, right?"

"There is no 'must', when it comes to fighting. You may choose, or not, to face Vader. But an informed decision this should be. Know only that the galaxy's fate rests with you."

"Then I am to face my father!" Luke said, annoyed now. "Just tell me why –"

"No, no! Only you can decide." Yoda replied, sounding equally annoyed.

Luke nodded in silence. It was very hard for him to let his mind go blank when so much was happening around them right now. But he had to remind himself that the Empire would never find him here and that the Alliance was safe, far away somewhere. He could not be sure of this fact, but he hoped that his intuition was correct.

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It was noon, and lunch time passed in complete silence. It was welcome though, Luke thought as he ate the meager food Yoda always made. His master had been trying to teach him how to stay in complete silence without feeling awkward for a week, without success, but Luke thought he understood the need for silence now. There was no way he'd be able to make even small talk right now.

After eating, Luke helped clean their dishes and Yoda led him out near the pond where his ship had sunken into when he'd arrived here. That was yet another embarrassing memory; Yoda had had to retrieve the ship himself after Luke had impatiently told him that it was impossible. The ship was now standing a little ways away thanks to Yoda himself, still covered in grime though. Hopefully that would wash off with a good hose-job…

As per their previous lesson that morning, Yoda instructed Luke to clear his mind, connect with Force as best he could, and stand on his hands with his eyes closed. Luke did so and this time, really tried to clear away his thoughts. It seemed easier to concentrate now that he knew what true failure felt like.

He reached around him and lifted some rocks into thin air, piling some of them on top of each other. Further away, he heard Artoo emit a series of confused beeps, and he realized he was lifting the astromech as well. Not intentional, but good, he supposed. The weight of Artoo added to the stones, but they didn't distract him as much as they usually did. He let his mind wander by itself now, without real conscious thought and surprisingly, images started to form in his mind. They were hazy at first, but he allowed himself to examine them closely.

Far away, Yoda was speaking softly; "Calm, your mind is… Tell me, what do you see?"

Luke concentrated harder. Reddish clouds floated around him and he saw a long tower topped with an upside-down dome shape rising from the atmosphere of an unknown planet. It was a city, he saw as the dome shape came closer – he noticed some skyscrapers and vehicles zooming around. This image then dissolved into faces. These were familiar to him. Han was strapped to a frightening contraption, hissing and screeching in obvious pain (though the images in his mind were silent), but this image was then replaced by one of Leia, who looked worried and panic-stricken. He could see stormtroopers shooting as his friends ran, and then he saw Chewie, yelling and hitting the walls of a small cell... A room then came to mind, orange-lit and ominous… And suddenly he felt Leia's presence like he'd never felt it before: the Princess was terrified by whatever it was she was witnessing…

All this was too much for Luke and his arms trembled a little before he fell to the ground in a heap. The stones and Artoo also dropped, and the astromech squealed. Luke had no time to make sure he was okay however. He immediately looked up at his master, who was already chastising him.

"Control!" Yoda said, "You must learn control!"

"I – I saw my friends. Something terrible – I have to go to them." Luke gasped, ignoring him.

"The future it is."

"The future…?" He repeated thoughtfully, before falling silent. Yoda did not offer any more thoughts, so Luke had to ask; "Will they die?"

Yoda closed his eyes for a moment and his face screwed up slightly. "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

"I've got to go." Luke decided, naturally. There was no question in his mind – Han and Leia would surely do the same for him.

"I cannot stop you, if your wish to save them it is.." Yoda was saying behind him. Luke hadn't even realized he'd gotten up to leave. "But if the Force brought you this vision… A purpose your friends' ordeal may have."

This made Luke stop in his tracks. He felt such a great need to help his friends, but he knew he's promised Ben he'd listen to Yoda. Then again, Yoda said the future was so unsure: maybe he was mistaken and Luke could save his friends. He did not understand how that could be wrong. In the end, it wasn't right for them to suffer, no matter the reason. He nearly decided to obey his master's will, but something more powerful made him see reason. It may be too late later on if he waited, and he'd never forgive himself if he let his friends die.

He stood straighter and looked Yoda in the eye. "I don't care. I must help them. That's something I'm certain of." As he walked away towards the ship resting on the bank of the swamp, he felt Yoda follow him.

"You must not go!" The elderly Jedi said.

Luke ignored him while he busied himself lifting his supplies into the X-Wing. Artoo swerved around his legs excitedly; he was obviously relieved at the thought of leaving this planet. It wasn't exactly made for droids.

As he seated himself in his cockpit, preparing the ship for lift off, he noticed Obi-Wan had appeared behind Master Yoda. He looked like he was about to chastise him as well.

Luke offered them a grim smile. "I'm sorry, but I'll come back. I promise."

The top of the cockpit fell down over his head and he put on his helmet. As he left the ground he looked back down to watch Yoda and Ben's slowly receding forms. He did feel a tiny twinge of guilt for leaving Yoda all alone here and abandoning his training, but he felt sure he would return. Or perhaps his mind was trying to force him into believing he'd keep his promise.

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