Revealed Identities

Chapter 9: Friends and Allies

Luke's hand lunged for the light-saber dangling at his belt. He had nearly forgotten that he had it. He ignited the blue blade as a knife came flying towards him. Ben had allowed him to practice with a droid that shot out lasers, but he had never had to use his light-saber against a live opponent. Luke cleared his mind as he felt the Force move through him. The blade hit the knife, forcing it to change direction and split in two.

His assassin, an alien with grayish skin, looked at him in surprise. Taking out another knife, it prepared to take aim against Luke, but the Force was with him. He somersaulted over the alien, and kicked it in the head. The alien let out a grunt that sounded distinctly male, and dropped to the ground unconscious. Luke grabbed the little possessions that he had in the room, and flew down the stairs. He didn't need to draw any attention to himself with answering questions about why there was an immobile alien lying on the floor, and neither did he want to find out if his attacker had any friends around.

He paid the cashier for his room and left, doing his best not to look suspicious. Luke let out a sigh, wishing he knew where to go when he turned a corner and bumped into someone.

"Sorry." He mumbled, and then gasped when he saw who it was.

"Chewie!" Chewie growled something that he didn't understand and embraced Luke in a fury hug. Luke laughed.

"I'm glad to see you too!" Luke said, a smile gracing his lips, something he had not done since he'd been captured. Chewie grasped onto Luke's arm as though he was afraid that Luke would disappear on him. Luke mused that he wished that he could do just that. He didn't feel like explaining what had happened to him to his friends yet. Looking down at the light-saber hanging on his belt, he wondered why Vader hadn't taken it from him. On reflection, he felt utterly foolish. He could have just used the light-saber to escape from the room on Vader's ship. Luke shook his head and allowed Chewie to lead them through the crowds. It took them about twenty minutes until Chewie and Luke finally arrived to the docking bay where he saw the Millennium Falcon sitting. Chewie opened the hatch and roared something that sounded excited.

"What are you doing back already? I thought-" Han had begun talking from another room on the Falcon, but when he came out, he stopped in mid-step and mid-sentence upon seeing Luke.

"Luke!" He called in surprise. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but how did you get here?" Han wondered. Luke sighed.

"I was let go. If I'm not mistaken, they know where I am. I can't go back to the Rebellion; I'll just be putting everyone in danger. Can you help me find somewhere to go?" Luke asked. Han gave him a searching look.

"Yeah. But first things first, you better see Leia. She's been worried about you. Though I don't know why a princess would bother with a kid like you." Luke gave him a half-smile, and Han

could tell that there was something different about his friend. "She was in the back quarters last time I checked." Luke nodded to his friend. He looked at him, an awkward silence hanging over them as Luke left the room. It hadn't been the greeting he had expected, but he mused that he should have. What would they think of him just showing up at their door? It was a comfort that Chewie had not had any misgivings, but sometimes Chewie let his happiness get himself carried away. As Luke exited, Chewie growled a question.

"He is changed." Han agreed. Chewie growled his hate for the Empire. "What did they do to you kid?" Han whispered to himself.

Leia thought she was dreaming when Luke walked into her quarters.

"Luke!" She leapt from her position on the bed and hugged her friend in surprise. Her warm welcome made Luke smile.

"Master Luke, it is a pleasure to see you again." C-3PO sputtered as he entered the room.

"Thanks Threepio. Thanks Leia." Luke said, forcing a smile.

"How did you get away?" Leia asked, her happiness seeping away in a flash. Luke sighed, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Where should I start?" He asked hesitantly. Luke didn't bother to wait for a response. "First and foremost, I better tell you that the Empire is monitoring me. They know where I am." Luke explained. Leia gave him a questioning look.

"What are you talking about? Why are you here if they know where you are?" Leia's eyes became suspicious, and Luke didn't like her looking at him like that.

"I escaped, but they let me do it. Probably like they did with the Death Star."

"Luke, what happened?" Leia asked softly. Luke looked over at Leia, a hesitant and almost horrified expression on his face. Leia immediately regretted asking. "You don't have to tell me if you feel that you're not-" Leia started. Luke put up his hand.

"I'll never be ready, but you deserve to know." Leia gave him a confused look. She grasped his hand, but he gently brushed it away. He walked a little ways away from her. Leia would have felt better if Luke had physically slapped her hand away. Luke winced as he realized his icy attitude, and gave her a small smile.

"C-3PO." Luke said softly.

"Yes master Luke." The droid hurried forward, acting as if he wanted to ease Luke's pain by being the best droid possible.

"Please ask Chewie and Han to come in here. I only wish to say this once." Luke replied. C-3PO bustled away, not even one complaint about being used as a messenger droid.

Vader stormed through the bridge, frustration taking its toll on him. It wasn't anger, Vader firmly reminded himself, just a human emotion that everyone had to feel at one time. Plus it made an excellent substitution to what his men thought of as anger.

"Where are those new proto-types?" Vader demanded. If his scheme was to work, he needed those idiotic mechanics to hurry up and finish construction.

"In the storage hanger in the 37th sector milord." One of his trembling captains had the sense to speak. Vader caught himself from saying "Thank you," for he knew that would just confuse his

crew. The only time he said thank you was when he killed someone or when someone had done something incredibly helpful. He knew that his crew would not consider giving directions worthy of such a thing.

Instead, he turned on his heal and stormed out off of the bridge and in a direct path to the 37th hanger. Before he left, however, the same captain from before seemed to remember something, rushing forward as he spoke up.

"Milord, a transmission from Rempinto came in a few minutes ago." The captain walked quickly to hand the encrypted data card for Vader to see.

"I will deal with this personally." Vader said, as he recognized the encryption style. It was from one of the Nogrhi that he had personally used for many assassins. Vader had a very strange feeling about the information that the message would contain, but he didn't have time to worry about that. He had to get down to the hanger quickly. However, a twinge from the Force made him change his course for his chambers to read it immediately.

Downloading the proper de-coder, Vader looked on with a deep sense of curiosity as he read down the letter.

'Honorable Lord Vader, your humblest apologies for such a display of ignorance, but I knew I must address you before I continue the plans given to me by the Emperor.' Vader allowed himself a small smirk at the knowledge that the Noghri would come to Vader for questions instead of doing what the Emperor commanded. He continued to read the letter.

'The Emperor demanded that I assassin a young human male by the name of Luke Skywalker.' Vader felt his blood boil, but cooled it at the thought of the possible consequences anger would bring to him. 'I am ashamed to say that the attempt failed, but the boy left his scent behind.' If anyone else had read the letter, they would not have understood that Luke would have Vader's scent, telling the Nohgri Luke was his son. The Noghri was both smart and loyal. 'Should I still do as the Emperor commands of me?' Vader read over the letter, an idea already forming in his mind. This would work to his advantage.

He opened his com-link for his loyal Noghri's com-channel. Vader felt a twinge of regret for having deceived the Noghri for so long. He would ask for their forgiveness as soon as the proper time came for it.

"Milord?" The alien on the other line answered.

"I'm giving you new commands on what to do about Skywalker."

"As you wish."

Han and Chewie walked into Leia's chambers, worried looks on their faces.

"Look kid, Threepio told us why you want us in here, to tell us what they did to you. You don't need to relive your torture for our benefit." Han said being blunt and yet at the same time concerned. Luke gave a hollow laugh.

"I have to tell you. I need to." Luke tried to explain how he was feeling. He had to tell them that he was Darth Vader's son. He would feel like he was lying to them if he kept that from them. They deserved to know the truth, even if the truth was the last thing that Luke wanted to admit was real.

"Well, here goes." Luke took a deep breath and began his explanation.

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