Revealed Identities

Chapter 21: You Sure That's Vader?

"Now, what makes you suspect that Lord Vader is still alive? I presume you have proof?" Palpatine hissed.

"Yes your highness. A man on the orbiting planet below claimed that he was Lord Vader. The medics are checking his-" The Red Guard screamed in pain as the Emperor electrocuted him with blue lightening.

"You pathetic being. Don't you think I would have felt my old apprentice's presence? You bring me no proof. You need replacing if you will believe anyone who claims that he is Darth Vader." After a few moments the Red Guard's body stopped twitching, and he fell lifeless. "And to think, I dismissed the Princess for this." He looked at the body on the floor, and lost himself to the dark side of the Force. With a start, he felt a glow of the light side, but only for a moment. It was not his apprentice's though. Still, the momentary flicker disturbed him, and he reached out to find it. Even the Emperor had not expected what he found.

Palpatine cackled to himself, "The Princess is Force sensitive."

Luke crawled through the ventilation system of the Super-Star-Destroyer, so far undetected. He had contacted Leia briefly to tell her that he and their father had arrived, but he had kept it short. His father had told him that if he were to use the Force here, he was to use it fast, and guard it: something that Luke was sure he needed to work on. Luke's eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the ventilation to see well enough, but the air circulating through the vents made it difficult for him to hold the paper steady enough to let his eyes focus on the map. He feared using a glow rod to find which way he was supposed to head, so he trusted in the

Force to guide him to the throne room. By the time he reached a lighted section of the vents he couldn't place himself on the map.

He sighed and checked his chrono. The drugs in his father's system should have worn off by now.

Thinking of his father made him remember the last thing he had heard his father say before he had left.

'"It is too inconvenient for me to return with them. Do you have any idea what that will do to my children? I cannot force such a thing upon their lives. Leia despises me, and I will only end up hurting Luke move if I stay. It's better if I do not return..."'

'Perhaps I should find my father.' Luke thought to himself.

He wasn't sure what his father had planned, but there was an uneasy feeling when Luke thought about what his father might do in order to make sure that Leia and himself would not be harmed. The one thing that he had begun to learn was always go with your gut feeling; it was often the Force trying to give him a better option.

Luke looked down into the room below him. There was no one there, and since he wasn't even sure where he was, he would need to find out. 'But how am I to find out?' Luke mused, 'What can I do? Walk up to someone and ask if they happened to know where the med bay is so I can free my father, who happens to be the ex-Sith Lord Darth Vader so he doesn't do anything stupid before we get to the Throne room and try and kill the Emperor?' Luke had a feeling that just wouldn't work. Either way it didn't really matter. He had to find the Throne room.

Igniting his lightsaber, Luke cut out the securely bolted vent grate and allowed it to clatter to the floor. Luke followed the grate to the floor, only landing more quietly. He waited for his eyes to adjust back to the light before moving to the hallway. It was eerily deserted. He hoped it meant that everyone was at the docking bay: anywhere but where he was. It took him some time before he found a computer terminal.

"Where are you when I need you Artoo?" Luke muttered to himself. He took a deep breath and let calmness overtake him. The Force seemed to buzz around everything when he opened his eyes, but especially on seven keys on the coded locking pad. He let the Force point out their order. The computer read PASSWORD CONFIRMED across the screen. Luke bit his lip as he went through the terminal, finally finding access to his current position. Luke was surprised to see that the med bay was two doors down from him. Blaster bolts and various other noises came from the hallway: the med bay to be exact. Luke smiled, wondering what mischief his father had found himself in.

Anakin was having the time of his life. The medics were utterly confused and bewildered when the blood test came up as a positive match. He lay silently on the bed like a good sedated patient would have, listening with amusement.

"How can this man be Lord Vader?" A female medic wondered.

"Something must be wrong with the system." Another voice offered. "I mean, look at this guy. Sure, he's a bit larger than normal humans, but analytically speaking it's quite impossible for Vader to have survived. There was too much DNA proof at the scene of the explosion." The medic looked over at him. He gasped when he saw Anakin's eyes open.

"Or it could be that I just happen to be more deceptive than even you perceived." The two medics gaped as the man who should have been fully sedated rose to his feet. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some business I would like to attend to."

The female medic didn't hesitate as she pulled out a blaster and aimed it squarely between Anakin's eyes. Of course, it didn't matter. Anakin may not have had his lightsaber, but he easily deflected the blast with his hand: one of the things that he had learned on his own time.

Unfortunately, a dozen storm-troopers rushed into the room. Without his lightsaber, reflecting bolts would be a lot more difficult. However, the Force was with him, as was his son.

Luke ran into the room, slicing two of the storm-troopers neatly in half with his lightsaber. He somersaulted over the fallen troopers and landed in front of his father.

"Need some help?" Luke offered, grinning.

"I could have handled them." Anakin said, grinning back. Luke's lightsaber was a blur of blue light as he reflected the blaster bolts.

"I'm a little too new at this." Luke admitted, as the wayward blaster bolt got passed the lightsaber. Anakin nodded, understanding what his son meant. Luke tossed his ignited lightsaber to his father who caught it easily. Anakin felt the familiar hilt of his old saber in his hands, flooding his mind with hundreds of memories. Anakin snapped out of it, reflecting the bolts with much better accuracy than Luke had. It took him little time to clear the room of storm-troopers. Anakin tossed the lightsaber back to his son.

"Thanks for the help, but now we need to split up." Anakin explained, his legs taking long strides so that Luke practically had to run to keep up with him. "The detention center with your sister and your friends is that-" Luke grabbed a hold of Anakin's arm, cutting him off it mid-sentence.

"I'm going with you." Luke said. Anakin looked at him, surprised.

"Luke, that wasn't the plan. Listen, we don't have much time. Palpatine's up to something. I don't think he knows that I'm here, but-"

"Why aren't you coming back with us?" Realization flickered across Anakin's features. "I read the data pad that you gave me about some bullshit story of having to clear up some things and not being able to come back right away, but I heard you talking to Jallishka and Opregash. You don't mean to return ever."

"Luke this is not the time for this." Anakin said in his frustration. Luke obviously didn't understand the risks of him joining the rebellion.

"This is the only time for it!" Luke hissed. Anakin looked at Luke, and almost laughed. His face was set into a determined resolve, and he looked exactly like Padmé had on so many occasions.

Anakin looked around the hallway that they were in and realized that this was not a convenient location to discuss this, nor would Luke drop the subject.

"Fine. We're going to get your sister and your friends, and we'll discuss things on the way." Luke sighed in resignation. He knew his father was right: time was running out.

"What exactly are you planning?" Luke asked as Anakin began to lead the way to the detention center. They jogged alongside each other, going about their business as though it wasn't unusual to be breaking into a Super-Star-Destroyer.

"Luke, for nearly twenty years now, my life has been devoted to doing nothing but serving the dark side. It's a mystery that I even came back to the light side of the Force. In fact, it's just unheard of. I've killed millions upon millions-" Anakin's voice cracked for a minute, and Luke looked over at his father. He had a haunted look in his eyes. If Luke had any doubts about his father's sincerity about renouncing his old ways, this was enough to squash them. "I'm better off not being around. I'll leave, and go somewhere I can no longer hurt anyone." Anakin explained, masking any and all emotions from his face. Luke frowned.

"And where is that?" Luke believed he knew, but hoped that he was wrong.

"A planet beyond the Outer Rim." Anakin lied, and Luke knew it. Anakin looked over at his son, and saw that his son saw right through the lie.

"You're planning to kill yourself." Luke stated bluntly, anger and betrayal playing across his features. Anakin stopped in his tracks, and Luke skidded to a halt next to him.

"You need to release your anger. That is one thing that you must learn to do. Let it flow through you, and flow out of you." Anakin instructed, moving on again. Luke ignored the advice, and instead became even angrier. His father was being a hypocrite.

"Are you just going to abandon Leia and me?" Luke demanded in his defiance. "Take the easy way out?"

"Do you think this is easy for me?" Anakin snapped. "All my life since I can remember, the only thing I have ever dreamed of, the one thing that kept me going at times, was the dream of having a family. But I've ruined the chance. Leia hates me, and I will just screw up your life by staying around. Do you think the Rebellion will welcome me with open arms? Do you think that they won't keep you and Leia under lock and key afraid that you'll become like me? I can't put you through that. Don't ask me to."

"Leia doesn't hate you." Luke insisted wildly, knowing he was losing the argument. Anakin glanced over at his son.

"You are so naive young one." Anakin murmured more to himself than to Luke. The rest of their way to the detention center was traveled in silence. They stopped outside the detention cell door.

"Something's wrong." Anakin said, stiffening immediately.

"Your sister's not here." Anakin reached out to the Force, finding his daughter's presence close to the Emperor's. "He has her." Anakin breathed.

"What?" Luke asked, confused.

"Palpatine knows that Leia is Force sensitive." Anakin set his face in grim determination. "Let's get your friends out of their cell. Then I am going after Leia. You and your friends will leave on your craft once Leia reaches you. I will hold anyone off I can-"

"-as long as you don't die first." Luke muttered. "You can't handle your master on your own." Luke said firmly.

"I will make sure no harm comes to Leia." Anakin insisted.

"You need my help." Luke argued. Anakin looked at Luke and knew that his desire to protect his son was being squashed by the reality of the situation. He did need his son's help: at least to save Leia.

"You act like I did at your age. Now I think I understand why Obi-Wan was so frustrated with me at times." Anakin muttered, and he grinned. Luke felt relieved. He had won this brief argument, and he hoped that it wouldn't be the last.

"Let's get your friends." Anakin decided as he Luke handed him his lightsaber again.

"You're on." They punched the open mechanism on the door and hurried in. The guards were caught so off guard that the battle didn't last more than ten seconds, lightsaber deflecting bolts all the while.

'This feels like déja vu.' Luke thought to himself as he went to check what cells Chewie and Han were in. Luke was surprised to see that they were in the same one, but didn't dwell on the fact as he went to check the cell. He keyed the lock open, and was greeted by a somewhat comical site.

Chewie and Han had been bored for some time, so they had tried to dismantle the ceiling light. The room was shrouded in darkness, and Han was sitting on Chewie's shoulders as he tried to find a way out of the cell.

"You guys coming or what?" Luke smirked at seeing their astonished faces to see him-alive.

"Am I glad to see you, kid!" Han said as Chewie slipped him off his shoulders. Chewie grabbed Luke in a furry hug.

"Come on. We gotta get outta here." Luke explained, shrugging of the Wookie's death grip.

"We need to exit out of the other side of the detention block to get to Leia quickly." Anakin said, coming up to meet Luke and his friends.

"Who's this guy?" Han asked puzzled.

"This is my father, Anakin Skywalker. Dad," and Luke was pleased to see his father smile subtly as he called him that, "Dad, this is Han Solo, and Chewbacca." Anakin nodded. Chewie and Han just stared.

"Uh-I thought your father was Darth Vader." Han asked confused. "Are you telling me you decided that he wasn't, but this guy is?"

"No. I used to be Darth Vader. I hate to be rude, but we need to get to Leia, and fast." Anakin's long strides led him passed the three guys standing in front of the open cell.

"Okay, I think that you're mental." Han stated matter-of-factly. "For one, there's no way in hell you're Darth Vader, and two," Han pointed out, "there's no door to get out that way." He was right, of course. There was just a solid wall at the end of the corridor.

"Walls don't mean anything against a lightsaber." Anakin ignited Luke's - or was it his? - lightsaber and cut easily through the wall.

"I'll explain later." Luke promised as he followed his father though the cut doorway with Han and Chewie following him.

"You better." Han said, and felt that things were going to get very interesting.

Next part...Confrontation