Chapter 3 – Forced to Follow

"Luke. I am your father."

Luke's mouth hung ajar as he stared back at Vader's bizarrely human face. For whatever reason, he had never imagined Vader having a face. In retrospect he knew that was ridiculous, but even so he still couldn't quite believe it. This man was Darth Vader… this man was his father? That couldn't possibly be true! Vader had murdered his father! Obi-Wan had told him as much. Yet Luke couldn't deny how alike he and the man behind Vader's masked looked. It was like he was staring at a reflection of himself in twenty years. How uncanny.

Neither said anything as they each waited for the other to speak. Luke was unable, however. His mouth felt dry and his tongue twisted. Besides, what could he possibly say? Deny it? Call Vader a liar? Luke knew that wasn't true, however, no matter how desperately he wanted it to be. Summoning up the resolve to open his mouth, Luke struggled for a few seconds before producing a hoarse sound.

"You –"

Luke shut up abruptly when he felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck. Eyes widening, Luke acted on pure instinct and spun around with his lightsaber raised. A red blaster bolt pierced the air, the accompanying sound shockingly loud in the formerly silent chamber. Slashing his blade to the left, Luke deflected the bolt which would have struck his father directly in the face.

His father? Had he really just thought of him as that? Lowering his weapon, Luke suddenly faltered when he realized what he had just done. He had saved Darth Vader's life! Why had he done that? How could he have done that?

His moment of astonishment – or perhaps horror – was cut short when Vader drew his own lightsaber and pushed Luke aside and stepped in front of him. Luke staggered toward the railing, seeing Vader raise his red blade out of the corner of his eye. "Fett?" he heard Vader say, sounding thoroughly bewildered.

Luke looked up just in time to see two shadowy figures along the opposite bridge running away toward the exit. Vader hesitated, his brow twitching as he contemplated going after the assailants. He evidently thought better of it however, as he remained where he stood as the door sealed itself shut. Lowering his lightsaber, Vader extinguished the blade and returned it to his belt. Turning around, he met Luke's startled expression.

"You are coming with me," he said matter-of-factly.

Roused back to reality, Luke raised his blue blade defensively and took a step away from Vader. "Never," he snarled.

"Do you not believe me?" Vader asked innocently.

Luke faltered, his lightsaber wavering in front of his nose. "It's not…" he began to say before trailing off, his expression hardening. "You killed Ben!" he finally settled on saying.

"Ben?" Vader asked, eyebrow quirked. "Oh," he realized. "Kenobi."

"You killed him!" Luke said again, tensing when Vader took a step toward him. He seemed entirely undeterred by the lightsaber pointed at his face.

"I did," Vader confirmed in a low voice, the blade reflected in his piercing blue eyes. "I regret that now."

"You do?" Luke asked.

"Death was too merciful," Vader growled. Luke gulped, intimidated despite being the only one with his weapon raised. "He deserved to suffer like I have suffered." A tense moment passed, Vader's glinting eyes boring into Luke's own with terrifying intensity. "Lower your weapon," Vader finally commanded.

"Make me," Luke shot back.

Vader growled at Luke's defiance. "What are you going to do?" he asked, leaning his face closer so that no more than an inch of space separated his chin from the tip of Luke's quivering blade. "Kill me?"

"I'd certainly like to."

Vader smirked, a flash of amusement passing his severe face. "No," he said. "You can't." Luke held his breath, his taut muscles itching to spring forward. And that's all it would take. One little push of his saber, and Vader would be dead. "You can't," Vader said again, taunting without a hint of doubt.

Luke wanted to prove him wrong, but he found that he could not. He wasn't able to do it. Not his own father. Killing Vader would be an irredeemable act, no matter how horrible he may be. And so he folded, bowing his head in shame as he deactivated his lightsaber. A beat passed as Luke felt Vader's eyes on him. Suddenly, Luke felt a gloved hand grasp his chin and compel him to look up. Frozen with fear, Luke craned his head to the much taller Vader.

"You belong with me, Luke," he told him. "Together, you and I will make things right."

Luke considered asking what that meant exactly, but he couldn't seem to move his lips. Instead he continued staring back at Vader, utterly enraptured by the face which looked so much like his own. Had Ben known about this? Yoda? Had they hid the truth from him for fear that something like this could someday happen? Luke found himself growing angry at the thought. He had a right to know! Instead, they had lied to him, telling him that his father was dead, killed by Vader.

Vader released Luke's chin and smiled at him thinly. He looked strained. It was as if he hadn't smiled in years. He probably hadn't, Luke realized with a start.

Luke was finally released from his quasi-hypnotic state which Vader's gaze caused when he looked away. Leaning down, he picked up his discarded helmet and stuffed it back on over his head. Pressing a button on his chest, Vader turned away from Luke.

"This is Vader, come in," he said, his voice deep once more. The request was met with static for a few moments before a voice responded.

"Yes, my lord?" it said.

"Where is Fett's ship?" Vader asked, glancing back at Luke who was blinking rapidly as he watched. He didn't know what he was doing. Shouldn't he be trying to escape?

"It's on the landing pad preparing for takeoff."

"Is Fett there?"

"No, my lord. He hasn't arrived yet."

"Don't let him leave," Vader demanded. "Detain him if you are able. I'm on my way now."

"Very well, my lord."

Vader severed the communication with the press of a button and turned back toward Luke. "Come with me, son," he said. Luke flinched, and Vader seemed to hesitate at this reaction. Deciding against addressing it, he spun on his heel and marched away purposefully toward the stairs.

Luke exhaled shakily, having only then realized that he had been holding his breath. Wracked with indecision, Luke watched Vader retreat a few more lengths before following after him. His feet acted on their own accord, exercising their own free will on account of his brain's failure to give proper instruction.

Perhaps it was only natural; the son followed after his father.

Leia's breath was ragged as she struggled to keep up with Fett's long strides. After having taken his one shot at Vader, the bounty hunter hadn't wasted any time in fleeing the chamber, grabbing her roughly by the arm and dragging her along with him. They had only just made it to the door to the landing pad when Fett stopped running.

"What… what are you waiting for?" Leia panted, bending over with her hands on her knees as she gasped for air.

"We're going to have to blast our way out," Fett said, peering out the small circular window in the door.

"What? Why?"

"Stormtroopers. A dozen, maybe more."

"But I thought you were working with the Empire!"

"I was, until I tried to kill Darth Vader a few minutes ago."

"Oh, right." Leia frowned as she considered their predicament. "You know, that probably wasn't a great idea in retrospect," she mumbled.

"Would you shut up?" Fett hissed. "I'm trying to think."

"What did he do to make you hate him so much anyway?" Leia asked.

"I have my reasons," Fett mumbled vaguely. "Now shut up. I mean it."

Leia resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at the brusque bounty hunter. She wasn't used to being treated like this, but perhaps her time with Han over the past week had desensitized her somewhat. Or perhaps she was just too concerned with making it out of Cloud City alive to bother being indignant about Fett's impertinence.

Back pressed against the wall, Fett raised his left forearm to his mouth. "Rex, are you there?" he asked, presumably into a comlink. "Rex?"

"Who's Rex?" she asked.

"Shut up!"

"I'm here," a muted voice responded. "It's looking rough out here. They've got the Slave surrounded."

"The Slave?" Leia asked with a frown.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Fett asked, exasperated.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Fett said quickly. "Actually something," he amended with a side glance at her. "I've got a civvy with me."

"A civvy? What are you doing with a civvy? You were supposed to be in and out!"

"Yeah, I know!" Fett growled. "Things changed!"

"You've completely lost your mind, haven't you? This whole scheme of yours was utter lunacy from the start! And what was it all for? To quell your curiosity? Because if you wanted to do that, you could have just –"

Fett lowered his arm, severing the connection. "Looks like we're on our own," he said. Reaching down to a cargo pocket on his calf, Fett fished around and produced a thermal detonator. "We're going in hot. Ready?"

"Wait –"

"Now!"

Fett smashed the control panel with his elbow, opening the door to the landing pad. Sprinting forward, Fett activated the thermal detonator and threw it with all his might.

Leia rolled her eyes at the bounty hunter's antics. "Men," she muttered under her breath before following him with her blaster at the ready. Squinting in the bright morning light, Leia was about to open fire when she stopped, stunned by the display in front of her. Having dispersed the stormtroopers with the detonator blast, Fett dodged and weaved his way down the platform toward his oddly-shaped ship. He used every weapon in his arsenal – blaster, vibroblade, grappler, and at one point he even used a flamethrower. The dozen or so stormtroopers didn't stand a chance.

"Was that strictly necessary?" came a gruff voice once the final stormtrooper had been defeated, blasted in the chest.

Leia tore her eyes away from the victorious Fett to see a bald man with a snowy white beard standing atop the unfurled ramp to the ship.

"Thanks for nothing, Rex," Fett said. Turning around, he beckoned her to follow him. "Let's go, Princess," he said.

"Princess?" Rex asked as Leia jogged over toward them.

"This is Captain Rex," Fett told her when she came to a stop next to him at the foot of the ramp. "Rex this is Princess…" Fett trailed off, evidently realizing that he didn't know her name.

"Leia," she told him. Fett said nothing, his expression inscrutable on account of the mask. Perplexed by his behavior, Leia glanced over at Rex. "You're a clone, aren't you?" she asked.

Rex narrowed his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips. "You got a problem with that?" he asked.

"No, of course not," Leia said hastily.

Rex and Fett each looked at her for a moment longer before the latter cleared his throat. "Let's get going," he said. "Vader could be here any minute."

"Vader?" Rex asked, eyes wide. "So did you –"

"We'll talk about this later, Rex," Fett said as he began walking up the ramp. "Right now, I need you to get us out of here."

"What about the cargo?" Rex asked, stepping into the hull of the ship.

"What about it?"

"It isn't fastened."

"I'll handle it," Fett said. He turned around to see that she had followed him up the ramp. Once again, he seemed frozen as he stared intently at her. Leia was about to ask him what he was looking at when he shook his head and turned away. Leia watched him out of the corner of her eye as she walked past. With the pull of a lever, the ramp began to retract, and Fett marched away purposely down the hallway. "You stay in the main hold," he instructed, stopping at a circular doorway leading to a dingy cabin. "I'll be right back."

"But –" Leia tried to say, but Fett was too quick for her, hurrying away in the same direction as Rex. Frowning, she took a step into the cabin, yet stumbled when the ship lurched forward and her shins smashed into a stacked pile of wooden crates. Leia cursed under her breath as she staggered away. She'd certainly have a bruise from that. Shaking her head, she placed her hands over her face and rubbed her eyes wearily. The past twenty-four hours had been whirlwind, each crazy development more incomprehensible than the last. And it had all culminated in this: her being aboard Fett's ship after they escaped Bespin by the skin of their teeth.

Could Leia really trust this bounty hunter? His behavior thus far had been erratic and he certainly hadn't gone out of his way to be kind to her. Leia took a deep breath as she sat down on the pile of crates, wrinkling her nose in displeasure at the musky smell of the cabin. Dragging her fingers down her face, she craned her head toward the ceiling and exhaled deliberately. She closed her eyes, seeking calm yet unable to find it. How could she? She may have escaped, but her future was still far from certain. For better or for worse, her and Fett's fates were now interconnected. She could only hope that the bounty hunter saw it that way as well.