Where Am I Going To?
Part Two
Chapter Seven
"Blast it, all the scopes are dead!"
Luke was maneuvering wildly to keep control of his X-Wing. So far, he was not succeeding. R2D2 was angrily whistling, and Luke could merely grit his teeth and hope for the best. Breaking through the atmosphere, the plane was plummeting to the earth much faster than it should, and he was struggling with the illusion that he was flying it and not it him. Finally, after several torturous moments, the X-Wing crash landed.
Right into a dirty, smelly, stagnant muddy water hole of Dagobah.
Luke groaned, swearing, and struck his helmet with the base of his palm.
Just….great…
Groaning, he clambered out, remaining easily balanced on even the rocking ship. Luke had an excellent sense of balance.
Just one of those things that happened, he guessed.
R2 beeped something, and Luke waved him off, starting to climb off the X-Wing's submerged nose. "No, Artoo, you stay here with the ship…" He'd just managed to clamber onto the shore line when he heard a distinct splash behind him. Wheeling, he noticed that his astro-droid was not where he'd left him, and swore again, crying, "Artoo?" A pause. Silence. "Artoo! Where are you?"
A moment later, R2D2's antenna eye piece poked out of the water's surface, and Luke sighed, shaking his head condescendingly. "Artoo, you be more careful." R2 beeped an assured response, but as he was moving in the opposite direction of the shore line, Luke shook his head and pointed out the right way. "Artoo – that way." Artoo hummed what Luke speculated was an embarrassed apology, before the young man continued to hunt along the misty shore line. Hunt for what? Was this Master Yoda just going to be found under a rock? He highly doubted it.
Luke suddenly heard a metallic scream behind him, and whirled around to find, once again, nothing – His astro-droid had completely disappeared again! "Artoo! Blast it!" He drew his lightsaber – his father's lightsaber – but kept it off, moving cautiously along the shore line. There was another scream and Luke had to tilt his head back to watch R2D2's graceful arch through the air, wincing when R2 landed with a thud in some moss. "Oh no…" Luke quickly chased after him, patting him and making sure that there wasn't any broken instruments. "Are you alright? Anything broken?" Artoo hummed calmly, and Luke patted the now terribly muddy top of his dome. "Maybe coming here was a bad idea….It's like something out of a dream, or-"
Before he could say anything else, he'd instinctively thrown himself across a log, arms weakly supporting him, and vomited anything his stomach might have held. Whimpering, he slumped against the side of the log without the disgusting bile, one arm clutching his stomach while the other held his head. There was a brief, blinding pain in his right hand, but all his discomforts passed within a moment. His astro-droid whistled worriedly, and after a second, Luke crawled back over to R2D2, clearing away muck from his lens. "Or maybe I'm just losing my mind."
He hadn't had that sort of an attack in a long while. What was also unusual was that it was always preceded by dreams or memories or voices of some kind. Not so this time. It felt like….
Like a premonition. A dark sense of foreboding.
What am I doing here?
…
"Yes, Admiral?"
Vader swung around irritatedly in his chair, his gloved fingers clenching the arm rests. He glared coldly at the shrinking form of now Admiral Piett. Nervously, he stiffened and reported, "Our ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, Lord, but it has moved into an asteroid field, and we cannot risk-"
Vader inwardly snarled. They just didn't get it, did they? None of them did, not the clever Piett, nor the confident Veers. He didn't care about some bits of space rock floating around. What did it matter if they dented the hull a little? His Star Destroyer Executor could withstand far, far worse. The only thing that mattered was getting Luke back, and that was all. If that meant that they got knocked around a bit chasing the Falcon then so be it. But where ever the smuggler Han Solo and Luke's beloved fiancé Princess Organa were, the boy was sure to be, too. And, if in an attempt to keep them out of danger, he'd separated himself from them, this, too could be fixed. Corellian Smugglers and Alderaanian Princesses made such wonderful bait, and it was a bait that Luke could never, ever resist. It was the honey to draw the bee, the euphoria that his son just couldn't refuse. Oh yes, Luke would come, he would bend.
He is mine.
And he would be. Just as soon as Piett, Veers, and all the rest got it through they're thick skulls.
"Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral. I want that ship, and not excuses." Or Piett would end up just the same as Ozzel, which would be a real shame. Piett was far more competent at his job than Ozzel ever had been.
"Yes, Lord," he allowed nervously, clearly disappointed with the results. Bowing stiffly, Vader watched him retreat from the room before turning his chair back around.
There is no escape, Luke.
…
Luke hooked R2D2 up to the power cable quite wearily. His now rather disgustingly tarnished R2 unit reflected exactly what Luke felt – pounded flat and left to dry. Still, it wasn't as bad as Tatooine. Nothing was ever as bad as Tatooine.
And the one thought it evoked.
Master?
Not so much as a sound from Obi-Wan since Hoth. Luke was really starting to feel the hopelessness of such a situation.
Oh, Force, what am I doing here?
Why was he so desperate to believe that some piece of Kenobi was still alive somewhere that he would believe anything, even a vision in a delirious state. How could he have been such a fool? And how the hell was he going to get his X-Wing out of that pond? There could be no two opinions about it; Luke was thoroughly screwed.
"Still…." He admitted to the impervious Artoo, "there's something familiar about this place…." Of course, he'd said that about Tatooine, too. And there had been…. "I feel like…I dunno…"
"Feel like what?"
Practically jumping out of his skin, Luke wheeled, drawing his lightsaber, to find –
A little green lizard thing?
The small, wrinkled creature had thrown his arms up, covering his face defensively. "Away, put your weapon. I mean you know harm." Talked funny, too. Slowly, Luke buckled his lightsaber back to its place on his belt, still watching the two foot tall…thing….warily. "I am wondering," it continued, lowering its arms slowly, "why are you here?"
Slowly, Luke answered, "My master told me to come here."
"Master? Slave, are you, then?"
Luke snarled, bristling. "No," he growled. He wanted to quip back that the elite Skywalkers were not slaves. Not that he knew of, anyway. But he didn't say that. "I," he corrected slowly, "am a Jedi."
"Ooohhh…." He answered reverently, hopping off the tree stump. "Jedi Padawan are you? Yoda, you seek Yoda!"
Luke's breath caught in his throat, and, unbelieving, he quickly leapt up from his seat, falling to his knees to be on eye level with the small alien. "You know the Jedi Master Yoda?"
"Mmm," it hummed, nodding enthusiastically. "Take him to you, I will. But first we must eat!" That, however, did dampen the young Jedi's zeal; after his latest spell, he wasn't quite in the mood to eat. "Come, come! Good food, yes, good! Come."
The little creature hopped away confidently and into the murky, fog ridden swamp. Luke blinked and momentarily held back. Why should he trust him? But, if he did know Yoda…. It verified that he had not dreamt it, that his master had dictated to him that he must go to Dagobah.
Master, is this what you meant for me to do?
No reply. Anxiously, Luke swallowed, and patted his astro-droid's no longer shinny dome. "Artoo…." R2D2 beeped excitedly. "Stay here and watch after the camp…."
I've got a Jedi to find, even if I have to follow some swamp thing to do it.
Because Master Obi-Wan said to. Therefore, it must be done.
…
"…And that, Lord Vader, was the last time they appeared on any of our scopes. Considering the amount of damage we've sustained, they must have been destroyed."
Captain Needa was another one of those men – terribly clever and absurdly loyal – that did not understand the vision the way Vader did. The way Luke had. His son had merely forgotten, become confused. He could sympathize to a point. The vision sometimes became distorted, unclear, confusing. But they had to persevere, remain true to the original idea. Luke's memory only needed to be sparked, and he, too, would see it. Men like Piett, Veers, Needa? Good men all of them, but far too blind to see the vision. Maybe it was something father and son were born to share.
If and when Vader got his son back.
"No, Captain, they're alive," he insisted with a snarl. He could tell, he knew that they were. They just couldn't not be. He needed them because Luke needed them, and above all, Vader needed Luke. To bring the vision back into focus.
To drive the aching hum from his soul.
"I want every ship available to sweep the asteroid field until they are found."
Needa seemed slightly surprised. It was a large request, and many men would be what he and Piett both deemed needlessly sacrificed. But there was no needless sacrifice here. All of it was for one goal, the ultimate goal, the shinning star – the vision, and the quest to bring his son home so that the vision could be restored to proper order and balance.
It must be, would be, done.
He watched the officers bow, slightly confused, before shutting off the holo.
You are a Skywalker, Luke, and you are my son. Always. You can only fool yourself by thinking otherwise.
To Be Continued…
Okay, so I ended up lying about the whole Vader not showing up again till Bespin thing. I think I'm correct now, and he won't show up until Cloud City, but the characters like to change they're minds on me. Frankly, writing about Yoda and Luke was so-so, but writing about Vader was so much fun! It was very awesome! Oh, and the whole vision thing; Truth is I'm a Scarlet Pimpernel addict who's been reading about the song "Falcon in the Dive," (which is an awesome song that you all must hear) and Chauvelin on Nan Knighton's really spiffy website. Anyway, it's mostly about how he realizes that the vision that used to fuel him has become distorted with bloodshed, and he's not as young as he used to be, but souls never age, and he just has to put blinders on and charge ahead. I think it's essentially true for Vader, too, since he's begging Luke at Bespin to join him so that they can bring order to the galaxy. And order and prosperity is what Anakin felt he'd brought to, "my new Empire." Um…ramble….I guess I'll answer reviews now, toodles!
websurffer: Awww…. –snugs- Thanks! I should be distracted, but I'm lazy, so….Work is for suckers.
xInuyashaxangelx: Insert Yoda-esque fan fare.
PrincessSkywalkerOrgana: Poor Lukie doesn't like the heat, so Dagobah's going to be anything but pleasant….
Stephanie C: Yes, the long awaited and demanded Yoda has arrived!