A/N- Jedi Master "Writer's Block" is such an absolute fatty! He keeps getting in my way. Anyways, you finally get an update. Sorry for how long it took. I don't own Star Wars in any way, shape, or form.
Something most definitely was wrong, of that Mara Jade had no doubts. She was making her way as quickly as she possibly could to those three distinctly different Force signatures. One of those signatures was becoming far darker, and it did not take much of her intuition to figure out that Luke was slowly falling toward the Darkness. It did not seem at all possible. The boy was as bright in the Force as Vader's armor was black. How could someone so infused in the Light possibly consider falling? Then again, her former Master knew seduction quite well. He had likely found some weakness of the young Jedi. But, would it not make sense for Vader to protect the boy? It seemed like the Sith Lord cared about his son, so she doubted Vader would allow Palpatine to twist his son into an agent of evil.
Her lightsaber came to her hand and was activated, defending herself, before she had even a conscious thought of what she was doing. She had been preoccupied with her thoughts on the young Jedi. It seemed that the Jedi was able to do this to her-distract her-more than she cared to think about. The blonde haired boy shouldn't be able to hold such sway over her thoughts. It was because of her thoughts on him that Mara Jade had walked directly to the three Force users she had been able to sense. Force lightning was now being thrown at her with an unrelenting power, one she had never known nor experienced during her training with Palpatine. It appeared that Vader was right. Her training was wanting. It would not be long before he overwhelmed her defense.
The young Jedi felt such anger at the revelation Palpatine had provided him with. His father had killed his mother, had nearly killed him in the process. How easy it would be to give into these dark emotions, to let the Dark Side take him and allow him to strike down his father. But…he was supposed to be a Jedi, wasn't he? These thoughts of revenge were certainly not something that a Jedi should be thinking about. Despite the man's actions, Vader was still his father. It was an unfortunate fact, but it was something he would be forced to live with.
The sight of Mara Jade suddenly running toward them, only for Palpatine to attack her snapped Luke out of his thoughts. Even with his blurred vision, he could clearly see that the former Hand-a phrase never fully explained to him-was quickly losing. It would only take a few moments longer for the Sith Master to overwhelm her defense, and there was no telling how quickly Palpatine would kill her after that. It could be a matter of minutes or he could draw the death out. At the very least, Vader never did things like this. If he had to take a life, he made it quick, for the most part. But, he did not want to focus on that right now, did not want to focus on his murderous father. The young Jedi wanted to save Mara Jade from this-this monster. He wanted to save her and leave both Sith Lords on this Force forsaken planet and never look back.
Luke planned to do something, anything, to try and help the woman, who was barely able to keep her weapon raised against Palpatine's onslaught. He planned on being the Jedi Hero, like his father had once been during the Clone Wars. He planned all of this in his head, only to feel a strong, artificial hand come around his mouth, another encircling his upper arm to pull him along down the corridor. The Jedi tried to struggle, looking in the direction of Vader. They couldn't do this! They could not just allow the Emperor to kill Mara Jade. Vader had promised her that she could help in their disposal of Palpatine. They could not leave her to the hands of that beast. But, as he was forced down the corridor at an increasing speed, he quickly realized that there was no hope. They would not be going back for her. She would die at the hands of the Emperor while they left, while Jedi and Sith left the scene to go back to that all-white room, that Force-less room.
Vader released his son as they came through the door, locking it behind them of course. Things were most certainly not working out as he had planned. Not only had Palpatine shown up, but he had filled the boy's head with half truths and lies. The boy had been turned against him by these statements taken so out of context. He wanted to tell Luke the truth of what happened all of those years ago. He wanted to tell the boy that he truly did not know how Padme had died. Most of all, he wanted to tell his son that everything he had done had been in an effort to save not only his wife but his unborn son as well. There was no time for that, however. There was no time to try and regain what little of Luke's trust he had gained. To take the time to explain what had happened those years ago would put the child at risk of Palpatine finding them. If Luke was to escape, he would need to act quickly.
A ripple through the Force told both father and son just what had become of Mara Jade. She was gone; her Force presence had completely left this place along with her life Force. Vader could sense his son's unhappiness at this latest turn of events. What could he do to console the boy? It was not like he did this on a daily basis. It was usually he doing the killing. He never gave a second thought to those he killed, to those who grieved at the loss of a loved one. Being a Sith Lord had numbed him to those old thoughts, those Jedi ways. Perhaps going back to that old habit would help his son to make him see that his father was still human. It could show that he still felt things, that he was not just an unfeeling, cold machine like the rebel propaganda stated.
"You let him kill her," Luke stated softly, unable to bring his eyes to meet the masked face of his father-if he could give the man the title. A father was always supposed to be there for you, to protect you and help you. So far, Vader had been nothing but trouble in his life. As a result of the man, he had lost a hand; as a result of one of Vader's lackeys, he was half blind; as a result of this Sith Lord, the single most powerful man in the galaxy wanted him likely dead or worse; and as a result of his father, he had never had the chance at a normal life. The Jedi had no choices, no where to turn. He could not go back to the Rebels for they wanted him for falsified treason. If he stayed here with his father, the Emperor would turn him to the Dark Side. Luke would not choose either. There had to be an escape.
"There is an escape, my son," Vader replied to his son's thoughts. An unseen button on one of the white walls opened a hidden walkway. The Sith Lord gestured towards it. "Follow this to the end and you will come to a landing platform. Take the TIE fighter and leave this place. Do not try to contact me. Do not go anywhere I would think to look for you. Remain hidden and train in your Jedi ways. Failing to do these things will put you at risk of Palpatine finding you. Use clearance Blue; it will get you in to wherever you wish to go." The Sith turned from the boy, ready to face his Master's rage at the boy's miraculous escape. If Luke was safe though, he would be more than willing to take whatever his Master would throw at him. What could the old man do? He certainly did not fear death or pain. The only thing Palpatine could use against him was the boy, and with Luke gone that could not happen. It was not the option he wanted. The Sith Lord wanted nothing more than to know his son, but it was not an option, at least not for the moment anyway. Perhaps later he would have the chance to get to know him.
"How am I supposed to fly if I'm half blind?" Luke questioned, unaware of his father's thoughts. If he could only know what was going on inside the older man's mind, perhaps the Jedi would be able to forgive him for his actions. At the moment, though, young Skywalker was unable to do so.
Vader smiled under his mask. "There was one part of your X-Wing that managed to survive the crash you suffered upon arriving here. You will find R2 is quite capable of flying almost anything."
Luke nodded. Yes, that made sense. The little droid was quite capable when he wanted to be. Of course, the droid could also be a brat when he wanted to be. But, wait…how was it that Vader knew of R2's capabilities, and how did the man know the droids nickname?
"R2 flew with me during the Clone Wars. He was a gift to me from your mother," Vader stated, again picking up on his son's thoughts. "Now, go, my son, before Palpatine finds you here."
Luke turned to leave. This was his chance. He had somewhere to turn, a way out of the mess his life had become, but he could not understand why Vader would let him go. Hadn't Palpatine wanted him to join the Dark Side? It was logical for Vader to hand him over to his Master. "Why are you doing this?"
"You are my son," came the simple reply. As the Sith made his way to leave the room, Luke could have sworn he picked up on one last bit from his father, "and I love you." Luke turned and left, not sure at what lay ahead of him. It would be the Force's will that would decide his fate.