Revealed Identities

Chapter 12: Betrayal and Trust

Luke looked at Jallishka as though he had not heard him correctly.

"What do you mean that Lord Vader needs my help to destroy the Empire? I still don't understand why he needs my help to overthrow the Empire." Luke said, crossing his arms. Yet still, during the conversation that he had had with the Voices, he had said that he would help his father. Yet he still was not sure what to believe. He wasn't sure that he trusted these wayward Voices.

"Besides, he said that he wanted to overthrow the Emperor and rule the Empire. Why the sudden change? What is he really up to?"

"Lord Vader's plans have changed. As I said, he wishes to destroy the Empire. You have made him realize some things." Jallishka explained, letting his cuffed hands hang loosely at his side.

"I don't understand." Luke sighed.

"I cannot explain it to you. Only your father can." Luke shot his head up when Jallishka said that.

"He told you?" Luke demanded.

"Yes. I would have known anyway. I can smell your blood, and his flows in your veins." Jallishka's confession hit something deep in Luke. He had been denying the fact of his heritage since Vader had told him, yet somehow this proved that he was in fact Vader's son. He didn't know why, but he trusted this alien.

"Yet...I do not think he knows about your sister." Jallishka continued. Luke gave him a confused look.

"What in the galaxy are you talking about?" Luke whined in his confusion.

"Your sister. The woman on this ship is your sister. Did you not know?" Jallishka asked, now confused himself.

"Leia? What do you mean Leia's my sister?"

"I smelt her blood. It is nearly the same as yours." Luke stood up, giving Jallishka a hard look as he wordlessly marched out of the room, locking the door behind him.

"Leia!" Luke called as he entered the small kitchenette.

"What is it?" Leia stood up, her senses alert. "What did he say? What's wrong?" The string of questions sprang from her lips. Luke opened his mouth, and closed it again. He ran his fingers through his sun bleached hair.

"Were you adopted?" Luke asked sheepishly. Leia stared at him blankly. Luke repeated the question.

"Yes." Leia answered hesitantly. "Why do you ask?"

"When is your birthday and how old are you?" Luke continued, ignoring her question.

"My birthday is in twenty standard days, and I will turn nineteen. Luke, what is going on?" Leia wondered. Han and Chewie looked on in the corner, puzzled.

"Master Luke, really. I think that alien has done something to your head. If you would shut down your systems, or go to sleep, I am sure that you would feel much better, and stop asking strange questions." C-3PO sputtered in.

"Jallishka claims that he can smell bloodlines. He says that you're my sister, and for some reason, I believe him." Luke blurted out. There was a minute of awkward pause.

"What?" Han snorted. "First the thing with Vader, and now Leia. What is it with you kid? I think the Empire did a number on your head."

Leia silenced Han with a look. Luke looked at her. "I believe you." All of a sudden, Luke reached out with the Force to touch Leia's presence and felt her return the touch.

Vader felt a strange ripple in the Force. It almost felt like Luke's Force presence, just not as strong. He reached out through the Force to touch the new ripple. It felt like a replica of Luke's, yet at the same time, had a distinctive familiarity surrounding it that was definitely not Luke's. More like Padmé's, and yet...

Vader stiffened when he recognized the presence. It was that Rebel Princess! The former Sith shook his head. One child was a shock in itself, but two! And a girl that he had tortured no less.

A new path had been thrown before him, but Vader wasn't sure how he should explore it. He decided to handle it later.

Striding across the bridge, he looked out across his men.

He only hoped that things would go as smoothly as he planned, and that none of the idiots that were supposedly loyal to him would be able to figure out what happened. Vader looked around him, glad to get rid of his horrible life.

An incredible blast erupted from the center of the bridge.

Three men died instantly; twenty others were wounded. When the smoke and debris from the explosion cleared, the crew members of the Executor looked over to Darth Vader for instructions, but all they saw were random body parts from his suit, charred and scattered along the remaining stretch of the bridge.

"Captain, what are we to do?" Asked a petrified engineer.

"Contact the Emperor."

The Emperor was not pleased. His best servant was dead, or at least that was what everyone in the Empire would believe. He couldn't afford to let the embarrassment of Vader's betrayal reach anyone. There were still some in the Empire that only stayed because they feared that Darth Vader would come and kill them with his incredible "sorcerer's powers." Vader was not dead, that much the Emperor could tell, but he would be very shortly.

"Jade." the Emperor bellowed.

"Yes?" Mara Jade emerged from the shadows at the Emperor's side.

"It seems that both Skywalker and Lord Vader are not truly dead. Find out where Skywalker is, and we shall find Lord Vader. Destroy them."

"Of course master."

"Dismissed."

"What do you mean Darth Vader wants to join the Rebel Alliance?" Han asked Jallishka in disbelief. Jallishka decided that the only way to get Luke to help him was to also let his friends (as well as his sister) know about his master's plan.

"That is what he desires." Jallishka explained again. Luke sighed, and put his hand on his head.

"Listen, I'm exhausted. Let's keep...what was your name again?" Luke asked, his brain in a fuzz.

"Jallishka."

"...Jallishka, guarded and locked. Threepio and Artoo can stay with him. I'm sure that they will be able to warn us if anything goes wrong."

"Master Luke! I must say that being a guard does not fall into my programming. I am only to-"

"Threepio, you have excellent vocal capability. Scream if he tries anything." Luke said irritably.

"How utterly ridiculous." Threepio muttered, but said nothing else on the matter. Artoo beeped and trilled, showing that he was ready to do his duty. Chewie growled something, and Leia and Luke looked to Han for a translation. Threepio would get too technical if they asked him.

"He says that he would be more than willing to stay and watch Jallishka." Han stifled a yawn. Chewie growled an affirmative and grabbed Jallishka's arm as if to say he had a handle on the situation.

"I'm going to bed." Luke yawned as he headed to his personal quarters on the Falcon.

Anakin Skywalker sat in the escape pod as he floated away with the rest of the trash that the Imperials disposed of. He would have been very displeased to find that his crew was not paying attention to the dispatchel unit at one time, but now he knew that the Force was with him. The stars around him seem to call to him now that he could see with his own eyes again. Everything looked so different, so new. He had permanently dispatched of the suit, and was glad to do so. The only adjustments he had had to make were to fix himself some prosthetic limbs for the body parts that he had lost in his younger years.

He remembered that golden prosthetic hand he had built himself after losing it over twenty years before. He had a knack for fixing material things with his hands, he wished he knew what to do in order to figure out how to fix the incredible mess he had created. Taking a deep breath, Anakin closed his eyes and lost himself in the Force, hoping to contact Luke.

Luke laid in his bed, tossing and turning. No matter how tired he was, he couldn't shake the feeling that Jallishka was telling the truth, or he was probably another of the endless victims who genuinely believed the Empire's lies. The Noghri might actually believe that Vader was hoping to join the Rebellion, and believed he told the truth. Turning over in his bed again, Luke sighed in frustration. He just couldn't get his thoughts off of his father. Or his sister for that matter. That revelation was almost as shocking as finding out that his father was still alive. His aunt and uncle had never mentioned anything about a sister. Even more thoughts began to race through his mind.

Were his aunt and uncle related to his father or his mother? What was his mother like? Was she still alive? Did she know Vader before he had been evil? So many questions, and he knew the only man in the universe that had them all was the last man that he wanted to see, and at the same time, he was the one man that Luke wished to know more than anyone else.

'Luke?' Luke straightened. It was the same contact that he had had with Vader, only this connection seemed purer somehow. There was no darkness in this contact. Luke wondered if this voice belonged to one of the Voices instead.

'Who are you?' Luke sent, hoping the other person could hear him. Either that, or that the other person would go away. He did not wish for any more surprises.

'Your father.' The voice responded. But Luke was sure now that it was not the same link that he had had with Vader.

'You are not Vader.' Luke stated firmly.

'I was.' The voice responded. 'I am Anakin again. Or as close as being Anakin as I can, now that I have been to the darkside and back.' Luke paused, not sure he wanted to believe this. Was it a trick? He didn't know who or what to trust.

'Look out!' The voice called desperately.

*Yes, yes! Look out!* Luke groaned.

"Not again." Luke muttered, but tensed his muscles and readied himself for action. He wasn't fast enough. As soon as Luke sat up, a slender hand slipped from the shadows, connecting harshly with his skull. Luke slumped back down on the bed.

The attacker bent over the unconscious form of Luke, when a knife came slicing through the air, directly hitting the newest assassin in the back. A small gasped escaped, before the slender form fell on top of Luke's stilled body. Chewie growled something.

"He will be alright. The woman will not be an issue." Jallishka hissed as he looked over Luke. He inhaled a deep breath. "I've met this woman before, but I cannot place her clan. Come. Let us tend to the boy."

Next part...Meeting Place