Chapter 2 - Vader: The Truth
The Emperor's cackle filled the room as Vader retrieved his lightsaber from the wreckage of the fallen catwalk and began walking down to the bottom of the throne room after Luke Skywalker.
As he and Luke traveled up the turboshaft to the Emperor earlier that day, Vader had forseen one thing: only two of the three people that would be in this throne room would leave it alive. Of that, he was certain.
Vader's frustration and annoyance with the boy was at its peak as he descended the stairs to search for him. He knew the Emperor had been lying to him from the beginning. The Emperor did not want Vader to bring Luke before him because he had 'grown strong.' Those motives were too simple. Vader had failed to kill Luke on Bespin, and the Emperor wanted to personally ensure that Vader would follow through and destroy the boy if he did not join them this time.
But, Vader had motives of his own.
Vader did not wish to kill Luke even as the boy taunted him from the catwalk of the throne room, but he was quite intent on injuring the boy again as he did in Cloud City, possibly worse than before. Failure to do so would risk angering his Master and arousing suspicion. Unfortunately, Vader underestimated the improved skills of his opponent, and Luke had evaded his blade. He could feel Luke's presence in the Force as he made his way down the stairs and under the main bridge that led to the Emperor's throne.
Vader entered a dark area, lit only by the faint lights of the control panels of a few central security cylinders. He could feel Luke's presence in the Force, but he could not sense where Luke was. Only that Luke was beginning to feel real fear.
There is little more point to this, Vader thought to himself. He was not going to play this game with Luke; his patience was already worn thin enough. He had to obey his Master to some extent, but first he had to get Luke to fight. He let the Dark Side flow through him, his crimson blade illuminating the dark room like a red serpent ready to strike. Then he spoke to the boy, putting as much power into his voice as he could...
"You cannot hide forever, Luke."
"I will not fight you." Vader turned toward the voice that spoke to him, knowing full well that Luke had used an old Jedi trick to throw his voice in another direction.
Very good. He is as defiant as someone I once knew, Vader thought.
Wait! Someone I once knew?
He quickly remembered that thinking of things linking him to his distant past angered his Master, but of late he found it more difficult to control his thoughts. His encounter with Luke on Endor the day before had already opened a door to his past that haunted him. He meditated on it for hours before being able to purge it from his mind prior to bringing Luke here.
So, Luke is intent on using what he perceives to be my weaknesses against me? he thought. Just then, an idea came to him.
Luke is my son, and far more unpracticed at controlling his anger. Why not simply use his own negative feelings against him? The Emperor had taught Vader how to do this many times, and many Jedi had succumbed to their fears and regrets just before Vader slaughtered them.
Vader had his advantage now. He had allowed the boy to humiliate him twice in front of the Emperor during this particular encounter. Now it was time to teach him a new lesson, as he had done on Bespin.
Vader sank himself deeply into the Dark Side of the Force. He entered Luke's mind easily, sensing his thoughts and feeling his pain. Vader could already tell that the boy was too afraid and mentally anguished to shield himself.
Vader could feel through the Force that Luke was distracted, and fearful for the safety of the Rebel Fleet, as well as Han Solo, the Wookiee, and even those ridiculous droids he considered 'friends.' The boy was afraid for all of them now that he knew that the Rebel Alliance had been pulled into a trap. Luke was beginning to believe that he had truly underestimated the Emperor's abilities. Now, here he was, cornered by his own father and by Palpatine. He was beginning to feel the slightest inkling of doubt in himself...and he was feeling helpless.
Vader sensed that Luke was searching for someone. Obi-Wan, and...Yoda! He saw in Luke's mind, a swampy planet, and the face of the very withered old Jedi Master, as he taught the boy many things: how to clear his mind and the dangers of the Dark Side. Now the boy was calling out to Yoda, trying to find his essence in the Force.
So that is who finished his training, Vader thought, utterly disgusted. The highest member of the once great Jedi Council. All this time Vader had assumed that his former Master had somehow had a hand in completing Luke's Jedi training after Vader struck him down on the Death Star, but that was clearly not the case. Vader had been mistaken when he congratulated Luke twice on how well Obi-Wan had taught him. However, it no longer mattered. He could tell by Luke's thoughts that both Obi-Wan and Yoda were dead, and they were not answering Luke's cries for help.
My Master has already done some of my work for me, Vader thought. Palpatine had succeeded moments earlier in breaking Luke down emotionally. Luke was full of anger and had made the choice to pick up his lightsaber and to try to strike the old man down.
Two Dark Lords of the Sith were hovering over Luke like a cloud as black as Vader's mask. Luke's emotions were swirling in his head because of this, and Vader could sense every nuance in them. Luke seemed fairly certain the entire Rebel attack was doomed. Luke's mind yearned for peace and comfort. Vader sensed the boy wanting an answer from the two dead Jedi, but Luke could not find it.
Vader had an answer for the comfort Luke sought. He spoke more calmly this time, intent upon bending a battered spirit to his will. He wanted to bring Luke to grief, but also to come to accept his fate rather than to choose death.
"Give yourself to the Dark Side." Vader was in full form now, feeling Luke mentally writhe and fight against him. "It is the only way you can save your friends."
Luke did not speak. Vader probed even deeper, and sensed something crying out in Luke's mind. Something that Luke was now trying to hide from him.
Something that Obi Wan hid from me. Something very, very valuable.
"Yessss," Vader hissed, knowing that Luke would yield at any moment. "Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong, especially for..."
Vader's mind slipped into Luke's one last time, and he found what he was looking for. This time, Vader did not even have to push. There it was, trying not to be heard, but Vader heard it.
Padmé Naberrie Amidala Skywalker had given birth to twins.
"...sister!" Vader felt Luke's mind shudder with defeat. "So...you have a twin sister!"
Now Luke was no longer alone. He had a sister, and that sister was one of the strongest leaders of the Rebel Alliance. It all fell into place now. Hidden in plain sight by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Adopted by Bail Organa of Alderaan. Strong and defiant like her mother as well, and a natural leader. She was also completely untrained.
That meant the chance of recruiting another powerful ally against the Emperor.
Vader quickly suppressed his very last thought to hide it from his Master, unaware the Emperor had already heard it before he even tried to conceal it.
Luke's mind was an open book now; Vader could sense that Luke felt complete failure. He knew that Luke's mind was reeling from the horrid thought that Leia's identity was no longer safe from him.
Lord Vader was enamored with malevolent glee. He continued to press forward to his advantage, very aware of Luke's feelings of guilt and utter despair, but completely unaware of how unstable the boy had become.
"Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete." Vader smiled as he spoke the hateful words against his former Master.
The possibilities are endless. I have an entire family I can unite, under my terms, under my rule. The Emperor could not withstand the combined might of all of them.
Purposefully toying with the boy, Vader continued, "If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will."
The words had not finished coming from Vader's audio mechanism when he felt a small but strong, dark flame of the Force inside Luke grow to the size of an erupting volcano in a fraction of a second.
Luke was truly full of hate for his father.
This was something Vader did not want, and never intended to happen. He merely wished to weaken Luke more emotionally than he did on Bespin, not to throw him into a rage this violent. He wanted Luke as an ally, a student, a son, and a partner in the Dark Side. Luke's rage washed over Vader with such incredible force he could have sworn he felt the entire throne room shake as Luke jumped out from behind his hiding place and ignited his lightsaber.
"Never!"
The single word, taking on a power all its own, cut through Vader more painfully than the most agonizing of all the physical injuries he had ever sustained in his lifetime.
Vader turned his head to see where his son had been hiding; but was now showing himself ready to strike. Poised and full of vicious, writhing, shaking hate, and intent on one thing: killing him. But something was different this time. He sensed something in his son he had not felt in years. Vader's ally was the Dark Side, but feeling the Dark Side coursing through his son so powerfully made him look at it in a different way. Vader once felt this much uncontrolled power when...
...when had he last felt this way? The memory suddenly came back with horrible clarity.
Just after Shmi Skywalker died in his arms.
He felt something else that day, he remembered, the voice in his head pleading with him to stop. It was Qui-Gon Jinn. But the Dark Side was so powerful when it beckoned him and fed him, that he felt full of power yet incapable of stopping it.
Vader suddenly felt very cold, seeing his erstwhile self in his son now. Was this not what I wanted? he thought. Why is this different from what happened to any other Jedi slain by my power, even the ones that I sent into a Dark Side rage? I took my old Master down with no hesitation. Wasn't this what I have been working so long and hard to achieve? My son is turning to the Dark Side. Suddenly, Vader decided he didn't like this feeling. But he had very little time to think about it.
As Vader turned his head, his breathing went out of sync with his respirator as his son's green lightsaber lunged at him wildly, full of hateful fury.