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"No, I am your father."
As he tried to find out where Vader had gone, Luke was wishing he had some of Obi-Wan or Yoda's greater knowledge and experience; he had known from the moment he had heard Leia shout it was a trap he was in over his head, but he had already considered the whole vision he had gotten on Dagobah, of Leia, Han, and Chewie in pain as a trap. But he couldn't dismiss them just like that.
If they had died, Luke knew he could never forgive himself, and he knew something dreadful had happened…
Luke pushed that aside as he tried to concentrate on the Force to better find Vader; thanks to Yoda's more in-depth tutelage of the last few days, Luke had a greater awareness of the Force, but he couldn't help but start to wonder if the cyborg Sith Lord was deliberately letting him track him down. He could feel a cold, dark presence, far stronger than the dark side cave where he'd encountered that version of himself in Vader's armour really close, and Luke could not help but follow. Anticipation was burning inside of him, a potent hatred for the Sith Lord that was very hard for the young Jedi padawan to control; Vader had murdered and betrayed his father, and because of that Luke knew his entire family had been ruined as a result, and there was a large number of crimes and atrocities Vader had committed over the last 20 years.
Murder of tens of thousands upon millions of people, not including the assassinations of political individuals under Palpatine's direction.
Planetary destruction.
The betrayal of the Jedi Order, the leading of the Jedi Purges during Order 66, on Empire Day.
Counter-espionage against the Rebel Alliance.
Helping the Empire's senseless plunder of millions of worlds.
The brutal ending of the Free Ryloth Movement.
His actions at the Battle of Scariff.
Helping Tarkin destroy Alderaan…
The list was going on and on.
Why shouldn't he be the instrument willing and able to end the Sith Lord's existence? Of course, Luke knew once Vader was gone, he would need to find some way of ending the Emperor. But Luke hoped he had enough time to carry on with his training, as he had promised. And that was one promise Luke, even at his most impetuous, hoped to keep.
Tracking down the Sith Lord's presence, Luke leaned against a wall and took a deep breath, deciding to take a short break. The wind in this large part of Cloud City - he didn't even know what it was called - almost took his breath away and it made it difficult for the young Jedi padawan to breathe, but he forced himself to use the Force to keep his head from spinning like crazy. Turning a corner Luke went through an open entrance, and he went in. The closer he went, Vader's presence became stronger. Luke tightened his grip on his lightsaber when he suddenly heard the hiss of Vader's respirator…
Suddenly Vader was attacking him - for a moment as they held their lightsabers against each other, the two combatants, the battered and beleaguered Jedi apprentice against the massive, tall Sith Lord in that sinister black armour with the skull-like mask, with the sinister sound of the respirator seemed to be glaring at each other, the timeless rivalry between two major Force groups - and then Vader started attacking him. Luke struggled to keep up even with the strength he'd regained from earlier, but Vader's blows were like hammers that came down on him repeatedly, and all that time Luke could feel the dark side swirling around Vader.
Finally, the Sith Lord pushed Luke back so far the young Jedi couldn't get back into the fight, but that didn't seem to matter much to the Sith, who just slashed his lightsaber against the wall, and it would have killed Luke if he hadn't gotten out of the way…. Only to dodge out of the way, yet again when Vader attacked him in the same way again…
Suddenly they were out, and Luke found himself panting hard as he tried to keep up but Vader was relentless; for a moment he was able to stop the cyborg monster from killing him and held him off before Vader savagely shoved him away. Luke hoped this fight wasn't going to go much further. Vader had managed to trap him on the pier, and there was only one way off…
Luke flinched when their blades hit the rail in such a way sparks flew everywhere, but luckily they barely dazzled him before he found himself on the ground, the blade of Vader's lightsaber aimed straight into his heart. For a moment Luke wondered why Vader hadn't done it, just run him through.
That was the reason why he had been hunting down the Alliance so madly recently, right?
It was the reason why Leia and Han had been used to lure him, right? Vader wanted to ensure the Jedi never returned, so why didn't he get on with it?
"You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did," Vader warned him, stepping closer slowly towards Luke, bringing the lightsaber so close to Luke's face the young Jedi had to crawl back, but it was the taunt about Obi-Wan and how the Sith had simply sliced through him that made Luke snap.
At that moment, he didn't care about touching the dark side regardless of what Obi-Wan or Yoda said; he was angry this inhuman beast who was responsible for the destruction of the Jedi, and was responsible for cutting a path of murder throughout the galaxy was saying these things to him as, what? A twisted offering of mercy.
With his anger, Luke managed to get back into the fight, leaping to his feet after slashing against Vader's lightsaber to give himself room to get back on his feet. Vader didn't seem bothered Luke had ignored his mercy offering, and he returned to the attack. Recognising he was teetering to the edge, Luke calmed down and immersed himself in the Force as Yoda had taught him. His control was still shaky, uncertain, but it was more than enough for this, letting it give him incredible strength and insight. For a time when they weren't hitting the safety rail and sending out sparks, the two combatants were evenly matched although Luke felt Vader was doing what he was doing, immersing himself in the Force.
After Vader missed him, Luke took advantage of the Sith Lord's miss, and he swung out wildly and grazed Vader's shoulder armour. When he looked back on that part of the fight later, Luke would come to realise that he had been acting in desperation rather than using any kind of real technique.
But he would remember with painful clarity what happened next. Vader roared with anger while Luke backed away, listening as the screaming Sith Lord came at him enraged, slicing through a conduit before overpowering Luke's defences and cut his hand off.
Luke screamed in agony as he felt the lightsaber slice his hand away from his arm, his hand and his father's lightsaber dropping down the shaft of the gas mine station, and he clutched the cauterised stump before he staggered on his legs before the pain made him crumble to the ground although he managed to stop himself just in time. He felt dizzy and numb as his body began losing its strength. He felt nauseous, cold; he was barely able to see anything through the pain, which was the worst thing he had ever experienced in his life. Losing a limb was something he had never expected, but it was the worst thing Vader had done to him yet.
"There is no escape," Vader's voice was low, firm, "don't make me destroy you."
Luke couldn't believe the Sith had said that. He was a Force-sensitive himself, surely he could tell his opponent was in no fit state to continue fighting? Marshalling his remaining strength and immersing himself into the Force to help him, Luke crawled backwards along the ledge. He didn't have a clear idea of what he was going to do, but he was not going to let himself die, not like a cowering animal.
"Luke, you do not yet realise your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy!"
Luke managed to turn around on the ledge and stand up while holding onto another conduit for dear like. "I'll never join you!"
Vader didn't bother responding to that; he just continued uttering the spiel of his sick Order - Yoda had told him a good few stories about the Sith during their time in training, and what he had learnt had horrified him, as he was sure was what Yoda wanted - in order to tempt him into turning to the dark side. There was sheer fanaticism in Vader's artificial menacing tenor. He sounded like a religious zealot or a spice addict. "If you only knew the power of the dark side! Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."
Luke was trying to concentrate on keeping upright when Vader surprised him with that, and the injured Jedi padawan glared hatefully at the Sith. "He told me enough!" He shouted over the wind in the shaft before he swung himself around the conduit. "He told me you killed him!"
"No, I am your father."
Luke felt as if someone had reached through an invisible hole in his chest and tore his heart out. He stared at the Sith open-mouthed, wondering what the cyborg hoped to achieve. Surely he couldn't be foolish enough to believe that would work? Luke knew how treacherous the Sith were and how they couldn't be trusted, but did Vader really think him that naive after everything he had been through? Hell, he would never have believed this lie if Vader met him on Tatooine in the Jundland wastes.
But there was something Luke did not expect, and the more he denied it and refused to believe it…
He knew it was the truth. "No…. No, that's not true. That's impossible!" He shrieked hysterically to deny what his senses and his feelings were telling him that, on some level he had known. He recalled hearing the 'story' from Obi-Wan about what had happened to his father, and he remembered feeling a sense of wrongness. He had never understood it until now.
Darth Vader was…
"Search your feelings," Vader implored him in a way that bordered on an order. "You know it to be true."
"No! No!" Luke howled like a desperate animal, but he could not deny the truth. Not anymore. This was all too much for Luke as he accepted the truth. But it didn't help the Force itself when he tried to see if he was being led astray made it clear to him that the Sith Lord was not lying to him.
Darth Vader was his father.
But how?
Why?
Why hadn't Yoda or Obi-Wan, who had been friends with his father, told him the truth? Was all of this some kind of terrible and vicious plan concocted by the Jedi? While he had been on Dagobah with Yoda, Luke had learnt about the Jedi Code and how the Jedi believed attachments to others such as family and friends were detrimental and it ensured the Jedi could turn to the dark side if tempted. Was that what had happened to his father, had something happened which made him turn? Was there more to it than met the Jedi's eye, and were Yoda and Obi-Wan ashamed to admit it?
"Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny! Join me, and we can rule the galaxy as father and son!" Vader held out his hand invitingly.
Luke couldn't believe what Vader had just said. He was amazed the Sith Lord would use his paternal connection like this, and for a moment he believed firmly the Sith were truly shameless…
But at the same time, for a moment he was tempted to take it. Luke hated the conflict in the galaxy and he believed something had to be done, but that part was firmly squashed, not by the Jedi's expectations, not by the monster his father had become, but because of what it would do to him as a person. Luke could not imagine nor did he want to be responsible for the deaths of millions, not like his father had.
Luke looked around himself, trying to find some way of escape. Unfortunately, there was nowhere he could go but down. For a moment he weighed his options. The chasm below fell down what looked like miles, and Luke did not want to fall to his death…
As if sensing his thoughts - which he likely had - Vader became more desperate. "Come with me, it is the only way."
Luke let go while making sure Vader - his father- could see he had made his choice.
And he fell.