AN: Again my apologies for taking so long to update. This part has not been beta'd so please forgive any glaring grammer errors etc - although please point out stuff to me if you find it!

Dark Times: Chapter Two

Pale Shelter

Part 7

"Forty-Five minutes to reversion, My Lord."

"Thank you, Admiral," Vader didn't turn at Ozzel's voice, he kept his back to his officer as he stared out of the view port at the chaotic, intricate, twisting of hyperspace. It was, he mused, much like the feelings he was picking up from his son. The closer the ship came to Ra'imar the more agitated and panicked Luke was becoming. Vader closed his eyes and reached out once more to brush his son's consciousness and he smiled. Luke was angry, a quiet fury was simmering just below his fear and consternation.

Use these feelings, Young One. They make you strong…

Vader smiled as he was pushed away, as Luke struggled to close his mind and his feelings to the Dark Lord's touch. Soon Luke would come to know his father, soon he would come to understand the benefits the Dark Side offered, soon he would…

"… help me raise our child…"

He closed his eyes against the echo of her voice, against the pain of the memories it brought with it. Her declaration of love, her betrayal, her distrust and horror of the path he had chosen to walk – for her, for their child and for their future - and she had turned against him, had chosen Obi-Wan. Would her son do likewise once he knew the truth, would Luke remain faithful to the Jedi that had betrayed his father? It was an option he had no wish to consider for the consequences for Luke, should he make such a decision, were too dire to contemplate. He would have to ensure that Luke's choices were as limited as his own had been.

"You were my brother, Anakin, I loved you!"

Another declaration of love, another abandonment and betrayal. The coals of an old rage burned a little brighter and he smiled beneath the mask, his eyes aflame where none could see. Luke was still young, still immature in the ways of the Force and, he would raise his child, his son, just not in the way she had intended.

"All stations report ready, My Lord," Ozzel reported behind him. "Forty minutes to reversion."

Soon.

ooOOoo

The pounding of his headache eased a little as the weight that was pressing on him suddenly withdrew and he was left with a nagging throb behind his temples. Luke opened his eyes to find himself sitting on the floor propped up against a wall with Wedge hunkered down beside him with a frown of concern on his face. Behind him he could see the two soldiers Redhr had ordered as escort eyeing him with a mixture of anxiousness and scorn.

"You okay now?" Wedge asked, his tone of voice clearly telling Luke that he didn't think he was all right.

Luke groaned as he tried to push himself up straighter and was rewarded with a sharp pain lancing through his back. "Did I pass out?" He could remember Redhr's eyes widening with realisation, with contempt, as the meaning of his lie sank in. The Colonel had turned from him and ordered that General Rieekan be wakened and then the darkness had struck him, had pushed down upon him and he thought he'd heard a voice, his voice.

"Use these feelings…"

"Yeah, you dropped like a stone," Wedge told him. "Good job you've lost weight or you'd have pulled me down, too."

Luke smiled at his friend's weak attempt at humour and tried to see over Antilles' shoulder. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing yet, Rieekan's just here, and talking to Redhr."

"They believe me?" Luke asked, hissing with pain as he tried to get up.

Wedge hooked an arm under Luke's and helped him to stand. "I don't, but I'm hoping they might."

Luke glanced gratefully at Wedge, relieved that his friend had seen through his lies…

"… You told us about Wedge and your squad."

… and he paled at the memory, at the echo of Dade's voice and he glanced away from Antilles, hoping that Wedge would never learn the details of what had happened on Escaal. "Thanks."

"Lieutenant-Commander Skywalker!"

Both Luke and Wedge stiffened and straightened at Rieekan's voice. Luke swallowed back his feelings of consternation as the base commander approached them. The General looked tired, haggard and drawn and Luke didn't envy the man his position or the decisions he had to make.

Rieekan frowned at the young man before him. Skywalker could barely stand on his own, was shaking with exertion and pain and yet here he was suited up for flight duty after confessing to breaking during interrogation and giving the Empire their position which was contrary to the information Rhovan had given and that Luke himself had given to Narra. However, the pilot's de-brief had been suspended when Luke had become unduly upset and made his first demand that the base be evacuated. Perhaps there had been more to tell. "Colonel Redhr reports that you have requested that base be immediately evacuated."

"Yes, sir, the Empire know where we are."

"Because you told them during your interrogation?"

Luke winced at the tone of the General's words. He fought the urge to hang his hang, fought the urge to turn away as he lied. "Yes, sir.

"Why didn't you tell Commander Narra this during the debrief?"

Luke was stunned, momentarily silent, he had known that Narra would have fed back the debrief, but somehow the idea that command already knew what he'd said hadn't registered when he had made his false confession. Then he stammered, "I… did… I told him we had to evacuate."

"Due to a feeling you had. Which was also the first thing you said to Colonel Redhr," Rieekan reminded him, sternly. The General watched the young pilot wilt somewhat, saw despair spread over the youth's face.

"General please…" Luke pleaded, feeling that he was losing the battle and that the base would also be lost. "…give the order… We don't have much time."

Rieekan hesitated. He needed more than one of Skywalker's feelings to go on to take the drastic action of evacuating an entire base of operations. The fact the young man before him claimed to be the son of a Jedi – Anakin Skywalker, the "hero with no fear", no less – carried a lightsaber and did appear to possess some Force talents gave him some credence. However he needed corroboration. "And if I were to bring Major Rhovan here would he substantiate your admission?"

Luke blanched at the thought of being in the same room as Rhovan – or Dade, or whatever the hell his real name was - the man who had tortured him and who was, and always had been, part of the resistance against the Empire they both fought. Dade would be able to refute his claims of confession. He swallowed, thickly, his feelings wild and urgent, the darkness pressing in relentlessly. "Sir…I…"

"Sir!" An urgent voice called and Rieekan turned to find Redhr hastily approaching him. "Green flight have reported several ships dropping from hyperspace just outside the system."

And, apart from his own heartbeat, everything seemed to go silent around Luke. He could see Rieekan and Redhr before him, could feel Antillies supportive arm around him, but still he felt alone, wrapped in his own cocoon of desolation. It had been for nothing, his torture at the hands of Dade when he had refused to give the base up to the Empire, his lie that he had given the base. He had been too late, Vader was here…

"We will talk at length, young one."

… and the base and many of its personnel would be lost.

Rieekan glanced back at Luke. The boy was pale, afraid and his gaze seemed to be elsewhere. "Put it on the com…" Then he spoke to the patrol. "What do you see, Green Leader?"

"Stardestroyer! A command ship and she's spewing out TIES, bombers, troop shuttles … heading your way! Green Flight form up… General, we'll take out as many as we can – give you some time…."

"Sound the alarm, initiate the emergency evacuation procedures!" Rieekan ordered, tightly. "All flights report to their ships." He turned to the two pilots. "Antilles, get to your ship…"

"Yes, sir!" Wedge turned and Luke seemed to rally himself, but Rieekan wasn't finished.

"…Skywalker, I'm placing you in protective custody." He gestured to the two waiting soldiers and ordered, "See to it that he gets to the med-evac ship and stay with him."

The General's words snapped Luke from his stupor. No! This wasn't what he wanted. "Sir!" he objected. "I can fly!"

Rieekan sighed heavily with annoyance at the preposterousness of the claim; the boy was shaking with exertion as it was. "You have your orders, Skywalker. You are to evacuate with the medical team." And that was the end of the discussion, Rieekan moved on shouting out other orders for the ground troops to take up defensive positions, for air batteries to be manned, for the fighters to accompany the freighters as they made their run for escape.

"Sir, please!"

A hand was placed on his arm and a soft, but firm, female voice told him. "Come with us please, sir."

Luke threw off her hand, ignored her, turned to Wedge. "Tell Artoo to stand-by, I'll be there."

Wedge nodded and turned and jogged from the room as the activity around them escalated and the call for evacuation was broadcast to the base.

His arm was taken once more. "With all due respect, sir, but no, you won't be there," the woman told him, her grip tightening on his arm. "Haslam," she addressed her companion, "let's move it quickly."

"Yeah," the private drawled and he drew his eyes off Luke, "Though I'd prefer to be with the squad, better a fire-fight than babysitting traitors." He clamped his hand on Luke's other arm.

Luke winced at the jibe, at the tight hold - it looked like someone had believed him - as the two soldiers walked him on. "You don't have to do this," he protested, trying to pull his arms away from his guards, trying to ignore the pains that came with his efforts. It was too much like Escaal, caught between two guards and being dragged away against his will. "Just leave me, go to your squad, and I'll go to mine!"

"'You hear something squealing, Sarg?" The trooper asked as they navigated the corridor outside the command centre. It was teeming with personnel heading to their evacuation points, or battle stations, and they had to fight their way through the harried crowd. "Thought I heard something squealing."

"Can it, Haslam," the non-com warned tightly as they pushed their way through to the corridor that lead to the med-evac ships. "You don't know what the lieutenant-Commander's been through. I saw him on the shuttle when they brought him back."

"I'm right here," Luke told them between gritted teeth, hating this, hating their judgments of him, hating the humiliation of being escorted in this manner, flinching at the curious glances they were receiving even amidst the urgency of evacuation. "You have to listen me, I can do some good in the air." And as he said it Luke was struck with sudden remorse and shame; he'd also be safer in the air, he'd be less likely to be taken when in an x-wing…

…Cowardice, Skywalker?…

No, he wanted to help, not hide.

"I'm sorry, sir," the Sergeant told him, her voice giving no room for more arguments, "I have my orders."

Luke wanted to protest further, but he knew it was no use, knew that the soldier and her comrade would see their duty through despite his objections. His belly stirred again, the relentless feeling of danger rolled through him once more. He was so very close, it almost felt like Escaal, he felt trapped and powerless, felt as though he was hanging in the spotlight of unwelcome attention and because of him people were going to die again.

He closed his eyes against his growing despair, allowed his guards to walk him, allowed the pain of his healing wounds wash over him, and he stumbled. There was a curse to his side and the hands on his arms grasped tighter, lifted him up, took more of his weight and carried him on. There had to be something he could do, someway to break free and get to his ship, or… and he couldn't stop the thought, couldn't stop the idea from forming… someway to break free to give himself up to the approaching Imperials so that the Alliance here could escape to regroup elsewhere. But he knew that, even if he were to surrender, that Vader would never allow the others to go free and there would still be a slaughter.

A cool breeze and a light rain hit his face and he opened his eyes as he was carried across the threshold of a doorway and out into the compound of the base. They were between buildings heading toward the growing crescendo of noise as ships and fighters warmed their engines, as voices rose to shout and scream orders and as alarms and klaxons wailed in warning of the approaching Imperials. Luke and his escort joined the traffic of beings and vehicles heading for the landing zone, heading for their only hope of escape and salvation from the coming storm of battle. Above them a squad of X-Wings took to the sky and Luke could only long to be with them, could only silently wish that the Force be with his friends while he was being carried to safety. It felt wrong, it felt like abandonment, it was…

"Incoming!"

And he was thrown to the ground, landing roughly in the dirt as his guards threw themselves on top of him, protecting him as the first of the TIE bombers screamed overhead and dropped their load on the landing zone.

TBC...