Revealed Identities

Chapter 7: Using the Force

Artoo twittered a question, and Luke glanced down at the translation in the screen in front of him.

"I don't know where we're going," Luke admitted. He felt like banging his head against the control panel in frustration. He had no idea where he should go. What if Vader was really telling the truth? Would anyone believe that he hadn't known before that Vader was his father? Either way it didn't matter. He doubted that he should go to the Rebellion for help. If someone had betrayed him to the Empire, they would do it again, and they would probably wreck his name, this time by labeling him as Vader's son.

His father. Luke shook his head in disgust. How could he be related to a man that stormed around the galaxy killing people for an inept cause? Yet if he was really telling the truth, then Vader wished to rebel against the Emperor for being mislead. Luke blew out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and gave his command to Artoo.

"Bring up a list of all the nearby systems." Luke's voice sounded dull and lifeless to his own ears. Artoo had seemed to notice it, and with a smile, Luke realized that this little droid had an incredible will of its own. He twittered encouragingly to Luke. Who knew droids could be so good at lifting his spirits?

"Duldanee, Sempric, Rempinto, and Cep," Luke read the list allowed, only recognizing two, Duldanee and Rempinto. Duldanee was the obvious choice to go to out of the two. It was a peaceful place where the alien government welcomed and helped strangers. The Duldanees felt that their mission in life was to do good for others. Rempinto was out of the question. It was known as "The Smuggler's Home," and reminded Luke too much of Mos Eisley.

"Artoo, we'll head for-" Luke's voice trailed off as a buzzing noise filtered its way into his mind. *Rempinto.* It was as though a thousand voices all rolled into one voice telling him to do something he wouldn't normally do.

*Go to Rempinto.* Luke shook his head.

"Dul-" The voices became more urgent, more desperate until Luke's head buzzed. *Go to Rempinto!*

"Rempinto." Luke rasped out. The voices died down to a hushed whisper. *May the Force be with you.* Putting a hand to his head, Luke had a slight feeling that that order had come from the Force. Not from the familiar voice of Ben Kenobi but seemingly something inside him.

"I think I'm going insane," Luke half laughed to himself before giving Artoo the double thumbs up to make the jump to hyper-space.

"I hope I'm right about this. Actually, I hope the Force is right about this," Luke muttered to himself as the star-lines faded around him. New whisperings came to him, telling him to reach out with the Force. Relaxing himself, he let his mind slip into a world of whispering voices. Most of them sounded muddled and unclear. He stretched out farther, and he could feel the whisperings becoming angrier, hateful. He shied away from that grouping when a small group within cried out to him. *Help us!* For the briefest of moments he hesitated before stretching out, reaching out his light to them.

'How?' He called to them. *Listen to the dark ones. Question them.* Luke was slightly miffed by the order, but he obeyed. The dark ones spoke. He listened. He responded. Luke felt the ones that asked to be saved growing stronger until he could hear one voice, one voice crying out in help.

Vader sat in his medical pod, his suit and respirator close by for when his exercise ended. His scars and wounds bore a constant reminder of the pain and agony that the Jedi had caused him. He tensed his muscles in remembrance of what they had done and what they would have done if he hadn't helped destroy their misguided order. Using that anger and hate, he would be able to breathe with the aid of the dark side.

One day, he would no longer need that damned suit. If he had known about Luke's existence earlier, he would already be out of that suit!

He pictured Kenobi in his mind, his anger concentrated on the man. 'You did this to me!' Vader's mind cried out.

'Why?' Vader stiffened. It was Luke's voice, his son's voice in his mind. 'Why do you hate? If it makes you feel hurt, seek comfort. Do not be the one who hurts others.' Luke's voice faded from Vader's mind, and the dark lord gasped for breath. A light feeling surrounded the dark lord, and warmth spread through his whole body. Vader recognized it as the light side. He tried to grasp his anger, but it did not come back to him in its full strength. It had made some of the light go away, but it took the warmth with it.

It made Vader feel cold, so terribly cold. He really didn't like being cold; the cold made him feel dead, lifeless.

Vader reached up and put the temporary breathing mask over his mouth. He wanted to feel warm again. A forbidden idea struck the sith lord's mind. If he was to use the light side, he could help to heal himself. That was treasonous thinking, and he was sure that the thought stemmed from his own mind. The thought had come from Luke. Vader knew that using the light side was forbidden. Yet another thought trickled into his mind; if the dark side had turned him already, he couldn't go back. Using the lightside wouldn't matter.

But would it make him weaker in the dark side? And was it worth it to have a fully healed body? Vader sighed in frustration. This was useless thinking. He reached out with the Force to get a feel for Luke's presence. It calmed and reassured him. With a sudden jolt of surprise, he realized he had done exactly what his son had asked him to do. He had reached out for the comforting presence of his son when he had felt hurt. Vader had a feeling that this was not good.

Or was it?

Nekem handed the data card to the imperial. He wasn't sure that he fully trusted them, but it had gotten him more money.

"The Emperor will be pleased with this information. We just received a transmission from him that he wishes for Skywalker's death." Nekem raised an eyebrow at this. He found it strange that the Empire wanted Skywalker alive just a few days ago but now they wanted him dead. Had it been a ruse to begin with?

"I was under the impression that Skywalker was already within the Empire's clutches."

"He was. He escaped." The Imperials tone of voice left no room for discussion. Nekem had a feeling that he was helping the Emperor a lot more than he realized by giving them this information. He could only hope the money he got from selling the Alliance's secrets would keep him hidden.

Leia sat on her bed in one of the Millennium Falcon's guest quarters. The Toydarian that they had talked to had informed them that Luke had been taken directly to Nekem, but they had found out that he had later been taken to Darth Vader's personal flag-ship.

Leia shuddered at the thought of what Vader might be doing to her friend. C-3PO entered her room with a tray of something to drink. For once, he wasn't talking. Leia got the impression that he was actually concerned about Luke, and therefore was actually being quiet out of that concern. A droid that seemed to hold human-like-emotions was rare, and Leia smiled despite of how simply awful she felt. She took a sip from the drink and thought about how bad the situation was.

Things would work out. They just had to.

Next Part...Anakin Skywalker