Anakin left shortly after. He again repeated Luke should rest, but Luke felt the opposite. There seemed to be a restless energy winding up inside of him. He paced around Anakin's large room, carefully stepping over piles of clothes and discarded datapads. Every now and then he eyed the gold box of his mother's belongings. But his eyes were still red and puffy from earlier. It may be best to avoid that box and the emotions and memories that came along with it.
Agitated, Luke left the room. He went back into the sitting room, but froze only two steps in. He wasn't alone, but the other man sitting on a couch wasn't Anakin. He wore dark green robes. His skin was very pale and covered in scars and old blisters. His head was bald and he wore a clear breathing mask over his nose and mouth. Both of his hands were mechanical and they held a steaming cup of tea with a straw. The man's eyes were gold, and instantly they made Luke think of Anakin.
"How long are you going to stare, boy?" a raspy voice asked.
"Va-Vader?" Luke asked.
Vader nodded. He took a deep ragged breath, grabbed the breathing mask with on hand and lifted it off his face a small bit. He brought the straw up to his lips, took a sip, and replaced the breathing mask. Luke knew that Vader needed his suit to live, but to see him without the suit and to see the extent of the injuries . . . Luke couldn't stop the shiver that ran through him as he recalled that it was Ahsoka that had given Vader these injuries.
"What are . . . Is this . . . Is this your room too?" Luke asked.
The Force hummed with annoyance. "I am not here to make small talk," Vader said. His voice sounded so different without the vocoder. "I am here to make sure you don't do anything foolish. Again." Luke stifled a groan. So Vader was babysitting him. Luke walked over to a chair opposite of Vader and sat down.
"I know you don't want to talk, but can I ask you a question?" Luke asked. Vader said nothing. He only took another sip of his tea through the straw. "You were a Jedi once, right? What . . . what do you think of the Jedi? Anakin says the Jedi are all liars. What do you think?"
Vader let out a sigh. "I was once not just a Jedi Knight, but a Jedi Master. I sat on the Jedi Council. I can tell you that yes the Jedi are liars."
Luke frowned. Was Vader lying? His answer didn't appear that strong or as passionate as Anakin's had. "So you lied when you were a Jedi?" Luke asked.
"I lied because I thought it was for the best. It was helping the Jedi or it was the orders of the Council."
Luke wanted to leave and go ask Yoda and Ahsoka's ghost about this. He was tired of hearing just the view of the Sith.
"You would make a poor Jedi, Luke," Vader said. Luke looked up at him. "You are too attached."
"Attached?"
"You feel too strongly for your friends," Vader explained. "You love. You are attached to them. That is not the Jedi way."
"What?"
"The Jedi Code forbids attachments such as family and marriage. It was so the Jedi could make the hard decisions. They wouldn't put one life above another." Vader paused before he continued, "Plus your emotions all over the place. Jedi younglings could control their emotions better than you."
Luke glared at the Sith, but thought over his words. Ahsoka nor Yoda had ever mentioned Luke couldn't form attachments.
"Tell me," Vader said. "During your Jedi training, did the Jedi who trained you at one point ask you to choose being a Jedi over your friends?"
Luke opened his mouth to say no, but no words came out. He recalled when he left Dagobah. Yoda and Ahsoka told him to stay and complete his training instead of going to help Han and Leia.
"And sacrifice Han and Leia?" Luke had asked.
"If you honor what they fight for . . . yes!" Yoda had replied.
"I see they have," Vader said knowingly. "And what choice did you make, young Skywalker? Did you choose to be a proper Jedi or did you choose your attachments?"
"What would you know?" Luke scowled at him.
"It is a decision I once made myself, so did your father. It was why we both left the Order. Your father choose to save your mother. I choose to save your father."
"Did you?" Luke asked.
"I suppose from a certain point of view I have."
"A certain point of view? What does that mean?"
"I was ordered to kill your father. A boy I loved and trained. Anakin was my padawan. He was like a brother. When he left the Order, Grandmaster Yoda ordered that I track your father down and kill him."
The hairs on the back of Luke's neck rose as he heard mention of Yoda's name.
Vader continued with his story. "I contacted Anakin's astromech who gave me his coordinates. When I arrived, there was an argument. We dueled, but it was brief. I . . ." Vader paused for a moment. "It does not matter what I said or did. The duel ended. I swore to Anakin I wasn't his enemy. I couldn't kill him. I told him if he was going to leave the Order, than I would too. I begged him to let me help him. The newly named Emperor was using Anakin. I wanted him free from that control."
"And yet you ended up being the one controlled by the Emperor," Luke noted. The room suddenly felt colder as Vader's eyes narrowed at Luke.
"It was a choice," Vader said in a soft hiss. "I chose to fall to the Dark Side, to become a Sith, if it meant saving and protecting Anakin. At the time I had lost all four of my limbs, had been burned all over, and toxic fumes had ruined my lungs. But Anakin was dying as well. Ahsoka couldn't win in a lightsaber duel against him, so she attacked his mind with the Force. Yet like me, she couldn't finish the deed. She left him for dead in a mining facility slowly falling into lava. So I offered myself as an apprentice to the Emperor if it kept Anakin alive. The Emperor agreed. I was placed in that torturous life support suit. I took on Anakin's Sith name, and gave myself to the Empire."
The two fell silent. A million questions swirled through Luke's head. Why did Vader still wear the suit if it hurt him? If Jedi couldn't form attachments, what happened between his father and mother? Clearly Anakin was alive now, so what happened next? He wanted to ask Vader that, but was too nervous. Yet it appeared he didn't have to.
"Your father was in a coma for five years," Vader said. "When he woke up, he burned with anger and the desire of revenge against all who had wronged him. He dedicated himself to learning the ways of the Dark Side. He traveled to the Sith homeworld. He learned how to control bodies using the Force. Finally after years of work, along with playing the loyal servant, he killed the Emperor. Since then he tried to complete his revenge, which means destroying many of those who side with the Rebellion including the Jedi."
"Yes, I've witnessed first hand the extent Anakin will go to get what he wants," Luke mumbled. "He does so without regarding anything else."
An odd laugh came out of Vader. Luke threw him a nasty look. "You think him cruel?" Vader asked.
"Of course," Luke said. "He doesn't listen to anything I have to say. He made me into a puppet. He had those guards attack me so I would think the Alliance had turned on me!"
"I assure you, boy, your father has shown great restraint, kindness, and forgiveness towards you. Far more than you can imagine. However, I will agree he is . . . overprotective."
"Overprotective? He's selfish and possessive!"
Vader sighed. "He is overprotective," he repeated. "You are his son. The son he thought died with its mother. A death that has plagued his nightmares for two decades now. Everyone your father has ever loved has either died a painful death, betrayed him, or . . . was gravely injured." Luke wondered if Vader was talking about himself on that last one. "He just doesn't want anything to happen to you. He doesn't want to lose you."
"So he lies and manipulates me to get me to stay here?"
"He is merely showing you the truth," Vader argued. "The Rebels do not care for you. They are far too willing to throw you away the moment you step out of line. Something that should be all too clear to you after your hand incident."
"And how is that any different than what you said the Jedi Order did? You said you lied because you thought it was for the greater good!" Luke shouted.
A smile came across Vader's lip under the breathing mask. "Because everyone lies, boy. Even your precious Alliance. Someone had to alter that recording of you. At least Anakin lied to protect you and keep you safe."
"So that makes everything he did fine? I should just forgive him?"
"That is for you to decide, not me," Vader said. "It's the same decision you must make about the Alliance and the Jedi for they have also lied to you."
Vader got up from the couch. He placed his empty tea cup on the counter in the kitchenette. Then he left through the door he had gone through earlier. Luke was left alone. He stood up and walked over to the window. By now the sun had set and the city skyline was lit up.
Maybe Vader was right. Everyone lies. His aunt and uncle had lied about his father. Ahsoka had lied about his father and Vader. Was this all life was? Digging through the lies to figure out the truth of it all? Luke just didn't know who to trust. He had no one here who he could turn to help figure this out. The only people who talked to him were Anakin and Vader. And the only conversation he had had with Vader had just happened.
Luke eyed the distance lines of traffic that crisscrossed across the sky. He wished for his X-Wing. He wished to fly again. To be out in space. To be free from the dark pressure that surrounded the palace. To be free from the eyes of Anakin and Vader, even if it was just for an hour. He just wanted to think with a clear mind.
His emotions were all over the place today. He was angry at the Alliance for broadcasting that altered footage of him. Sad to learn about his mother. Confused about what Vader had told him. Perhaps he should try meditating to see if he could let go of his emotions. Luke sat back down and closed his eyes. He opened himself to the Force and expanded his senses.
An hour later, he had made no progress on releasing his emotions nor figuring them out. He felt just as frustrated and confused. Vader had come back into the room. He still wore his green robe and the clear breathing mask. He was poking at the plants by the window and watering them. He had said nothing to Luke.
That was when Anakin stormed into the room. He was dressed in his red armor. His anger bled into the Force which caused it to whip all around him. He marched directly to Luke and threw a holodisc at him.
"Recognize this?" Anakin hissed.
Luke pressed the button and a blue holograph popped up. The camera was shaky and was being held by someone's leg. It looked as if they were trying to record something inconspicuously. At first everything was blurry, but then it focused. It showed a group of people standing a few feet away. Luke recognized them at once. Most of them were high ranking members of the Alliance including Mon Mothma and Leia. Though what really caught Luke's eye was the small green alien that everyone in the group was looking at.
"Yoda," Vader hissed.
"Yes," Anakin replied back disgusted. "That karkin' little troll is still alive. I'm guessing he's been the one training you after Ahsoka died." Anakin was looking straight at Luke, who said nothing. He just stared at the recording.
"I'll take your silence as a yes. Vader," Anakin barked the last word.
"Yes my master?" Vader answered in his raspy non-vocoder voice.
"I want you back to the Death Squadron," Anakin ordered. A chill ran through Luke. Anakin was every bit the leader of the Empire right now. "I want the Rebellion destroyed and don't return unless you have that troll's head on a spike. Am I clear?"
"Yes master," Vader ordered.
"Go," Anakin barked. He spared one hard look at Luke, before he marched back out of the room.
