Whumptober No. 16 NO WAY OUT
Mind Control | Paralytic Drugs | "No one's coming."

I'm a sucker for mind control story lines, so I had fun with this one :D I was even compelled to make it longer while editing, I liked it so much. Hope you enjoy!


"I don't wish to keep you in suspense, my boy," the Emperor of the Known Galaxy told him warmly, sitting forwards. "Although I know you must have hoped otherwise, there is no one coming."

Luke glanced around his… prison. It was larger than his homestead had been on Tatooine. The thick red carpet was soft against his feet—still sore from the mission that he'd been captured on—and the view of Coruscant, evident out of a vast, vast window just on his right, was stunning. Every morning he woke up and watched it slide from pink-gold into grey-silver, the galaxy slipping past him in speeders made of light.

"This is Coruscant," Luke said, still slightly in awe of it all despite his situation. Palpatine smiled at that awe, he noticed, showing off yellowed teeth, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. "This is the heart of the Empire. I didn't think anyone was coming anyway."

"Good. As long as we are in agreement." Palpatine reached over the table between them, neatly laid with impractically small cups of tea and saucers, to pat his wrist. "We can begin our negotiations."

"Negotiations?" Luke kept an eye on him. He clenched his back teeth, but imagined Leia: cool, cutting, composed. It was her he imitated as he said bitingly, "What do you want?"

Palpatine's hand returned to his wrist, this time curling around it. "You."

Luke pulled his wrist away. "No."

"I would like to form a relationship with you. We can serve each other's mutual aims well, I believe."

"No."

"You destroyed the Death Star, young Skywalker. And more than that, you have the potential to be the last Jedi, a dying breed—"

"I am a Jedi."

"—or a far more powerful Sith."

"I said no."

Palpatine smiled again. "So did Lord Vader, at first."

Luke shot to his feet. "Don't you dare compare me to him." His heart hammered in his chest.

"Why not?" Palpatine feigned surprise. "You are both significant Force-wielders. Both incredibly powerful— I don't mean to upset you, my boy," he broke off when he noticed Luke's heaving breaths. "What is it? Why do you hate Lord Vader so much?"

Luke glared. "The same reason I hate all of you."

Palpatine just tutted. "I sense that isn't entirely true. I assure you your hatred isn't reciprocated, either; I do not hate you, and nor does Lord Vader. In fact, I have it on good authority that the moment he learned that I have Luke Skywalker in my custody, he turned away from his campaign against you Rebels in the Outer Rim and set a course straight for here. He is most anxious to meet you."

Luke gritted his teeth, saying nothing, but it seemed he didn't need to. Palpatine's uncanny ability to read him was better than Ben's had been. He'd thought his mentor was just wise and experienced with people. Had it been Luke betraying himself in the Force all along?

"You are afraid of him," Palpatine surmised. "You hate him. Why?" Still, Luke said nothing. "Is this because of your father?"

"Because he killed him?" Luke snapped, unable to contain it any longer. "Why else?"

A ripple passed over Palpatine's face. He sat back and seemed to suppress a smile, but his eyes were full of concern. "Of course," he conceded. "It was foolish of me to speculate differently. Vader certainly destroyed Anakin Skywalker most thoroughly."

Luke clenched his fists.

"Tell me about yourself, young Luke," he continued conversationally. "It is a shame we have not met before."

Interrogation training taught Luke to say nothing at all. He kept his silence.

"Ah, I sense your confusion. We should indeed have met earlier; I am not inventing that. I knew your father. He was…" Palpatine trailed off. "A very dear friend to me. I had hoped to make a dear friend out of his son."

"You should have thought of that before tearing the galaxy to shreds."

Palpatine smiled sadly. "Ah, I have missed the naivete of youth. The Clone Wars—I understand you don't remember them—tore the galaxy to shreds. It has been a painstaking process to rebuild it."

"I'd call it painful."

"Many would, my boy." He sat forwards. "But you still have not told me about yourself."

"Commander Luke Skywalker. Affiliation Rebel Alliance."

Palpatine looked at him, exasperated. "I already knew that. Tell me something else."

Luke repeated, doggedly, the words that had been hammered into him: "Commander Luke Skywalker. Affiliation Rebel Alliance."

"You have not been part of the Rebellion for long, have you? Hardly more than two years. Commander is an impressive rank to achieve in that time. But you are an impressive boy. Your father was much the same."

Luke sucked in a breath to stop himself from asking. It didn't matter.

Palpatine nodded affectionately. "I understand you have a Rebel protocol to abide by. That tells me a great deal about you as well, Luke. Your loyalty is unswerving and your discipline unquestionable"—Luke tried not to snort—"but you need not fear me punishing you for it. Your father…" He trailed off. "He was the most talented Jedi I ever met. Reckless and headstrong, yes, and full of valour. I see that in you. And your loyalty must come from him. Once you had earned it, unless you betrayed it, he would follow you to the grave. As indeed he did."

"You had him murdered," Luke bit out.

"On the contrary, Luke. The Jedi did." Luke stiffened, and Palpatine took the chance to continue: "I knew him from a boy. He was only nine years old when the Jedi found him—far too old to begin his training. How old are you? Twenty… one? It must be. Almost. The anniversary of your mother's death approaches."

Luke's eyes widened.

"Nonetheless, I knew Anakin as a boy… such a sweet child. So moral. Wherever he saw someone in need of help, he helped them. When he didn't have the sufficient power to help them, he sought power until he could. He was certainly a great help to me for many years. I spoke to him often. The Jedi tried to restrict it, but I overrode them; I knew that Anakin benefitted greatly from having an outsider's perspective on the Jedi. It meant that he was not brainwashed quite so thoroughly." He hesitated. "When the Jedi betrayed the Republic and tried to destroy the Senate, he knew right from wrong. He knew to stand opposed to them. He defended me…" Palpatine's eyes were misty. "And he died during that awful night."

None of this rang false.

Luke felt sick. He… Ben had told him a completely different story.

"Search your feelings, Luke," Palpatine urged him. "I understand this may conflict with what you have heard."

Luke's feelings didn't need searching. It was like something had crept into his mind and banged a drum, sending reverberations all through his heart. What did this mean? What was happening to him?

The Force was very, very loud.

"I don't believe you," he said.

"You do, though. I know it. But I shan't push you too hard." Palpatine patted his hand again. "You cannot fathom my excitement when I learned that his son had lived. Stolen by the Jedi, yes… but you lived."

"My mother?" Luke asked stiffly. He had no way of corroborating if anything Palpatine said was true, but he wanted to hear something about her. Even if it was a myth.

"Indescribable," Palpatine said wistfully, "but I shall do my best. Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo—my own homeworld. She was something of a protégée of mine after together we defended Naboo from the Trade Federation's invasion. She was so young, yet so bold and headstrong. I see much of her in you, as well."

That was a blatant, surface-level pull at Luke's heartstrings. He hated that it worked. He knew nothing about her.

Instead of answering, he bowed his head.

"There is much you have not been told," Palpatine urged. "Perhaps you should fear Lord Vader, for what he did to your father—"

"You said the Jedi killed my father, Your Majesty." The title slipped out before he could think to stop it. His lips moved against his will.

Palpatine smiled at his flash of panic. "Do you think Lord Vader did not used to be a Jedi?" Luke couldn't answer that. His head was spinning. The Force clamoured truth, deception, truth, truth, truth—and something else. Something seeping into him, taking root. "As I said. There is much you have not been told. Perhaps you should fear Lord Vader. But you do not need to—you can achieve a greater power than him, if you wish it. I know that Obi-Wan Kenobi did not tell you the whole truth. Will you allow me to?"

Luke took a shaking breath. Something was happening in his mind. His shielding wasn't the best, he knew that—Coruscant had bowled him over when he first arrived—but this… He couldn't…

"Yes," he said, leaning into that feeling, "Your Majesty."

"Then tell me about yourself, young Luke," Palpatine said, sitting back in his chair. His face was utterly smug. That was when Luke started to suspect what was happening.

Absurd. Unlikely. But the final, "Yes, Your Majesty," that slipped out of his mouth was far too suspicious for his thought not to be the truth.

"I was born nearly twenty-one years ago," he began. "I grew up on Tatooine to my aunt and uncle. Beru and Owen Lars." He squeezed his eyes shut. A pressure built in his skull. "I…"

"Go on," Palpatine urged.

"I mostly worked on the farm, but I liked piloting… I"—he blinked—"flew Beggar's Canyon better than anyone else."

"That would explain your superb skill over the Death Star."

"Used to bulls-eye womprats… my T-16 was very similar… easy task to do with that." He shook his head. "What was I saying?"

"Your hobbies."

"Oh, Hobbie's a member of my squadron. I'm Commander Luke Skywalker. Affiliation: Rebel Alliance."

"Yes, we covered that."

"Biggest bounty in the galaxy, Leia said…"

"You are close friends with Princess Leia?"

"She's my best friend."

Palpatine smiled. "How unfortunate for her."

That got Luke's attention. "What? Why?"

"Kneel," Palpatine said softly.

The force inside Luke, flexing itself through his nerves, his bones, his muscles, picked him out of his chair. He knelt at Palpatine's feet like a puppet on taut strings, adoration that wasn't his swelling in his chest, and kissed the hem of his robe.

He could feel Palpatine's smile. He could feel it because he was smiling as well, his muscles taut and unpractised in this sinister sort of smirk but straining to obey the joy he was being ordered to feel.

Palpatine's hand reached out to stroke Luke's hair. "You are going to train with me," he said, still in that soft, coaxing voice. The presence inside Luke—his presence—was coaxing as well, shaping his mind into what his new master wanted him to be. "Your potential is enormous. It would be my honour to train another Skywalker, and you will make an excellent Sith."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The title was familiar on Luke's lips, now, which was the most frightening thing of all. He tried to remember why that would frighten him, but his head was full of fog.

He just had to follow his master. His master would light the way.

"And once you are ready, you will escape back to the Rebellion. You will be my eyes and ears there. With what I have to teach you, you will destroy them from the inside out. And you will deliver your princess friend to me for justice." He lowered his hand from Luke's hair and bid him to look up by cupping his chin in his cold hand, tilting it up. His yellow gaze caught Luke's; Luke was stuck, fast, like in the web of a great spider. He couldn't pull away from his master if he tried. "Will that not be a wonderful victory?"

No! No? The thought was sharp, but unconnected to reason, so— "Of course, Your Majesty."

A door banged open.

Luke jolted upright. The fogginess in his brain fuzzed out, seeping into his skull, his spine, his brainstem, rapidly clearing his thoughts. His body turned towards the door jerkily, already unaccustomed to moving without Master's permission.

Vader stood in the doorway, staring at them both.

Welcome, Lord Vader. Have you met young Skywalker yet? We are having the most engaging conversation.

"Welcome, Lord Vader," Palpatine said, sounding genuinely delighted. "Have you met young Skywalker yet? We are having the most engaging conversation."

What was this?

Luke's mouth grew dry.

Vader faltered. "I have not had the full honour," he admitted, looking Luke up and down. Luke narrowed his eyes at him; though it was his instinct, it wasn't his brain signals that twitched his muscles.

You must stay and speak with us then. I'll have an attendant pull up another chair for you.

"You must stay and speak with us then. I'll have an attendant pull up another chair for you."

"That will not be necessary," Vader said, not taking his eyes off Luke.

Are you going to move, Lord Vader, or are you going to stare at your spawn until he dies from old age?

Slowly, listening to his master's voice echo through his bones, he understood.

Palpatine said, "Are you going to move, Lord Vader?" When Vader didn't, he tutted light-heartedly, rolled his eyes, and turned back to Luke. "Do continue, young Luke. Tell me more about yourself. I'm enjoying connecting more strongly with you."

Vader stiffened.

Luke said, smiling of his own accord that unfamiliar, vicious smirk, "As am I." Then: "Tell me about yourself, first."

Palpatine froze, anger flitting across his face. But he didn't have the chance to formulate a perfect, non-threatening answer. Luke did it for him. He felt for the wrinkled skin and weakened muscles of Palpatine's lips, his sodden tongue, and shaped the words.

"I lie," he said.

Vader snapped his head towards his master.

Palpatine continued, "I am evil. I destroyed the galaxy. I lie."

He was fighting him. Luke could feel it, distantly, like a fly buzzing behind a closed blind. But Luke had encountered many, many flies—especially on Yavin IV—and they were never smart enough to find an open window on their own.

Palpatine stood. Luke stayed seated, keeping his gaze on him.

"Apologies, Lord Vader," he said. "I should not have intruded. I'm sure you have a great deal to explain to your son, if it is true you haven't met him in person yet."

Vader turned back to Luke. "We do indeed have much to discuss," he said.

"It certainly seems so," Luke replied. "Your Majesty?" He said the words with a tinge of mockery. "I look forward to forming a relationship with you, too. I'm sure it will serve our mutual aims just as much as you said it would."

Palpatine got the strength to scowl at him for a moment, but Luke smiled and Palpatine's muscles smiled warmly, affectionately, with him. When he tried to channel energy through his fingers, he failed to lift them without Luke's permission. The lightning balled in his fist. His hands charred. The stench of burnt skin and flesh filled the room.

Luke turned away from him, towards his apparent father. Vader turned eagerly to meet him. Palpatine stood in the corner, unused to being one-upped, unused to being ignored, and unused to being the fly, instead of the toothed, grinning spider.