The final video began to play.
Though he'd only raced there once before, the sight which greeted Vader this time was far more familiar to him than either the Lars' living room or the view directly outside of their homestead on the Great Chott salt flat.
It opened up on an ancient dry riverbed which was framed by massive rock walls on either side. When the wielder of the camera panned upwards for a few seconds, one could easily see that there were grooves cut high into the canyon walls where Tatooinian hermits had built their homes there decades before. Though there were many inherit dangers living so high up, there was also wisdom in the choice as well, as the canyon was the site and host of podracers and many inexperienced youth who might and inevitably would crash into the lower walls during a race or some teenage act of daring.
Not to mention the canyon krayts.
Beggar's Canyon, no matter the circumstances, was a treacherous place to be.
Parents raising freeborn teenagers on Tatooine in the Anchorhead area were very much aware that the canyon was considered to be the only worthy form of entertainment for youth on the otherwise miserable planet and the most daring of racers could often be found sneaking in and performing stunts for the satisfaction of showing off to their friends.
The title of the video aside, it came as no surprise to Vader that his own son, who was just as bold and headstrong and talented as Anakin Skywalker had ever been, had eventually found his way there for that exact purpose.
Almost instantly from behind the camera, an unfamiliar, youthful male voice began speaking.
"Well. Here we are again. In Beggar's Canyon on the galaxy's most boring and useless planet. As you can see, over here there is nothing but rocks and sand. If you direct your attention to the east, you'll see…." The speaker turned around slowly. "Ah yes. More sand. And look over there – sand."
"Basically there's nothing but sand." Another voice drawled.
The camera holder groaned. "Deak, don't interrupt my introduction, please."
"I'm just saying."
"Well, don't." The camera panned slightly to the right and revealed a human male leaning casually against a T-16 skyhopper with his arms crossed over his chest. Deak, presumably, had dark hair and eyes and a mischievous smirk on his face. His raised his hands innocently at the scowl which was presumably sent his way and gestured elaborately for the camera holder to continue. "You aren't the one filming history today, so just bite your tongue."
"Ugh, you sound like my mom."
The camera dropped to face the ground and Vader watched as the young man filming grabbed a fistful of sand and quickly stood up again, throwing it at his friend who squawked indignantly and began to trying to shake the sand from his clothes.
A truly useless endeavor, Vader thought darkly. He hated sand.
"Serves you right. Now where was I?"
From the other side of the Skyhopper, the one that Vader actually wanted to see lifted his head. "Sand." Luke said dryly, before dropping out of view again. His voice became slightly muffled. "You were talking about sand."
"Ah yes." Biggs sniffed. "Of course. Tatooine's most renowned feature."
"It's only feature, you mean." Deak added playfully.
"Would you cut that out?"
Deak made a face and glared indignantly at Biggs. "What the hell? So Luke can talk in your lameass video but I can't?"
"Dude, I'm filming this for Luke! And that's his Skyhopper you're leaning against by the way."
"Cut it out, you two." Luke popped up again, wiping his hands on the side of his clothes and coming around to stand beside Deak, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm trying to focus and you two are distracting me."
The camera zoomed in closer and Vader took a moment to appreciate that the one filming was more adept with technology than Owen was in either of the other videos.
Luke was much older in this video than he had been in the previous one. At this date, less than a year before the deaths of Owen and Beru, he was now the young man that Vader had first spied between the closing doors of the hangar bay onboard the Death Star and the one he met in person for the first time on Cymoon 1. Not quite the spitting image of Anakin the way he had been as a boy, the physical similarities between father and son were still undeniable. The only physical difference between the son he'd come to know from a distance and the one in this video was that he was not yet burdened by loss or destiny or the inherent dangers that came with being involved in warfare.
He was young and as carefree as one could be on Tatooine.
"You've been fiddling with your Skyhopper for over half an hour, man. I don't think there's anything wrong with it." Deak groaned in exasperation. "If you don't want to perform the stunt, just kriffing say so and then we can all go racing instead."
Luke made a face at his friend, pursing his lips. "I'm going to do it." He said stubbornly. "I just… I feel like there's something wrong with it… or… or there will be something wrong with it. But I can't figure out what it is." He glanced back at his Skyhopper, a perturbed look on his face.
"Oooh, you feel like there's something wrong." Deak raised his hands, wiggling his fingers obnoxiously. "So scary."
"Grow up, Deak." Biggs complained from behind the camera. "Luke's feelings are on totally on point 96% of the time."
Luke turned back, looking offended. "Ninety-six percent?" He mouthed silently.
The camera shifted slightly, suggesting that the wielder of it had shrugged and a quietly whispered, "Sorry!" could be heard.
Deak rolled his eyes. "Look, anyone – literally anyone – could predict the weather on Tatooine. What's the weather like today? It's kriffing hot." He said flatly. "What will the weather be like tomorrow? Also hot. And the day after? Probably even hotter. Being a weatherman on Tatooine is the most useless job in the galaxy, guys."
"I'm not a damn weatherman!" Luke protested immediately. "And I don't predict the weather. I can just… you know, sense when a sandstorm is coming. I don't know how to explain it except that it's like… it's like a ripple in the air. It's so obvious – I just don't understand why no one else can feel it when it happens."
Vader paused the video, biting his lip for a moment as he turned that statement over in his head.
Luke's apparent ability to accurately predict a sandstorm - and even his description of feeling a 'ripple' in the air was an indicator of his own natural force sense. It was perhaps the most basic form of actually using the Force. Younglings and those who were untrained often sensed danger or even the basic feelings of those around them without even realizing that they could. Anakin had done it as a child, long before Qui-gon had come along and told him what he was doing.
His son was almost eighteen when this video was taken.
How could he not know that what he was sensing was the Force?
Vader had already ascertained that Obi-wan had been on Tatooine to guard and train Luke in the ways of the Jedi. Their encounter on Cymoon 1 was short and while Luke was nowhere near being the master duelist that Vader himself was, he still wasn't unskilled. With more training, in a decade or so he had the clear potential to be a better duelist than Vader was. That he was capable of holding a defense for even a few seconds against someone with a lifetime of training and experience was beyond impressive.
How much training did Luke actually have?
Surely more than this video was suggesting.
But... if that were not the case... if two years ago, only months prior to the death of Obi-wan, Luke was still this green - then that was a good thing. It meant that there was more Vader himself could offer to his son. If Obi-wan had indeed failed his student so badly in teaching him even the very basics of the Force, then Vader could easily finish Luke's training himself and there would be less Jedi indoctrination for him to undo along the way.
It also meant that there was time. Palpatine would not want to train Luke from the ground up himself. It would take time and he would surely let Vader do most of it himself before attempting to pit them against each other and then take Luke for himself after the hard part was already finished.
Luke could be made to see the power and potential of the Dark Side. Without Jedi-dogma clouding his understanding, he could be made to see sense. He didn't know the truth about his parentage yet - the absurd accusation that Vader had killed his father was proof enough of that. Someone had lied to him, the same way that Anakin had been lied to. But once Luke knew the truth he could be convinced to willingly join his father and with the time granted to Vader by the Emperor to facilitate Luke's "fall", together they could train and plan and eventually kill Palpatine and take back control of the galaxy.
It could work.
If only he could find him.
Mind alight with new plans and cautious hope, Vader released a slow breath out through his mouth and pulled the Dark side around him a little tighter lest Palpatine sense anything amiss with his servant and then pressed PLAY once again, allowing the video to resume..
"I'll let you know the next time I see the air ripple." Deak laughed, shoving Luke's shoulder in a good-natured kind of way. "Now are you going to do this stunt or what?"
Luke pursed his lips again, glancing over his shoulder at his Skyhopper. "Yeah." He agreed after a moment. "I got this."
Biggs spoke up. "As your friend who doesn't want you to crash and die – I really do think your 'hopper is fine. There's a four percent chance your feelings are just nerves, you know."
"That's encouraging." Luke drawled, though the humor seemed to help cast his doubts aside. He turned to Deak. "Get out of here." He said, ushering his friend away. The dark haired young man patted Luke on the back and willingly stepped out of frame.
"Just say it with me – you're Luke kriffing Skywalker." Biggs said, sucking in an exaggerated breath of air behind the camera and then releasing it.
A slow, smug smile crossed his sons face, eerily similar to Anakin's smirk. "I am Luke kriffing Skywalker." He agreed, before looking directly at the camera for the first time. "My name is Luke Skywalker and this is my admissions video for the Imperial Academy. Let's face it – there's nothing impressive about coming from an outer rim world like Tatooine. But today, I'm going show you that I am the best pilot on this planet."
Luke stepped to the side and the camera zoomed out on him, giving the viewer a good look at his Skyhopper.
"This is my model T-16 Skyhopper. It has dual DCJ-45 repulsorlift engines and can fly up to 300km in the air with a speed of 1200km per hour. And I'm going to fly this," Luke stepped away from the 'hopper, the camera following his movements carefully, and walked down the dry riverbed for a few seconds. Finally, he stopped and pointed upwards at one particular massive rock formation in the center of the canyon which stretched probably fifty or sixty meters off the ground and was topped by a rock loop with jagged rock teeth framing the inside. "Through that. That rock formation is known as the Stone Needle and is the deadliest stunt for any pilot on Tatooine. There's roughly an inch of space available for a swoop biker to maneuver their aircraft through the Needle without crashing – meaning that even the slightest miscalculation on part of the pilot is a guaranteed death sentence. To date, there's only been one successful attempt. And today, I'm going to be the second."
Luke paused and gave the cut sign to Biggs, signaling that he was done speaking.
"Not too bad, my friend." Biggs said instantly, extending a hand to give Luke a thumbs up. "At the very least, it'll catch their attention. That's the hard part. And don't worry about all the chatter - I'm going to keep filming everything but we'll edit out what we don't like later."
Luke shrugged, coming back and settling himself in the pilot's seat of his Skyhopper. "That's good – because I think I sound like an idiot."
"It's a college admissions video. We're all idiots!" Deak hollered from somewhere off screen.
Biggs leaned in, filming Luke strapping himself in and starting the engine.
"You feel okay about this?" He asked, a little quieter now.
Luke looked up at him, a grin crossing his face. "I can do this." He said confidently, over the purr of the engine.
"I know you can. You're just as good as I am – better, even. Now remember, this is a high-speed stunt. Don't slow up when you approach the Needle. If anything, go faster. Find the way in and lock it in tight. That focus thing you do, when you bullseye a womp rat blind? Do that and you'll go through it just fine."
"And if you don't – " Deak appeared in frame again, his dark eyes dancing with humor. "We're going to catch your death on film and give it to your uncle."
Luke dropped his head back with an exasperated sigh. "Ugh, don't you kriffing dare." he glowered at both his sniggering friends. "Uncle Owen is loud enough to hear from beyond the grave and I will come back and haunt both of you if I have to hear him say, 'I told you so'."
Biggs laughed loudly and then reached forward and clapped Luke on the shoulder. "I'm telling you man – you've got a serious problem with your uncle right now and you need to figure it out real soon. I mean, for the Suns sake, do some kriffing yoga together or hug it out or something. I'm not going to be around to bail you out of trouble anymore."
The camera zoomed in on the deadpanned expression that appeared on Luke's face.
"I'm not doing yoga." He muttered grumpily. "And he's the one with a stick up his ass, not me. Besides, we aren't filming this to show him. He's never going to see this and he wouldn't be impressed even if he did. He never is because apparently I'm, 'too much like my father.'"
"Ah, yes. Because aspiring to be the next navigator on a spice freighter is exactly what every good aunt and uncle want for their nephew." Deak offered jokingly.
"My dad wasn't a navigator on a spice freighter." Luke argued instantly, turning to glare at his friend with an expression that suggested this wasn't the first time he'd defended his fathers name. "I know when someone is lying and that isn't the truth. I – I don't know who he was, but it wasn't that. And besides, I have never said that that's what I want to do! My father escaped this dustball and so will I. So, no matter what Uncle Owen says, I am not going to stay here and be a damn moisture farmer. I just can't. I want to see the galaxy and I want to fly and I'm going to do something more with my life then just this."
"Alright, alright. You're preaching to the choir, my friend." Biggs said easily, stepping back from the Skyhopper and dragging Deak with him. The camera panned back again, offering a view of the whole aircraft and the canyon wall behind it. "Get going. Make your old man proud!"
Luke nodded and offered a sloppy salute to his friends before finally finishing his take-off preparations and taking off into the air, blowing up dust and sand as he went.
The camera skillfully followed his movements as he sped at breakneck speeds along the bottom of the riverbed towards a fork in the canyon, the two extending arms of his Skyhopper only an inch or so off the ground. Luke pulled up to avoid crashing into the dividing wall at the last possible second, twisting skillfully in the air with a stunning display of air acrobatics.
Turning in a wide arch above the canyon, he began increasing in speed, dropping down in order to weave through the different rock formations, some of them nearly as narrow as the head of the Needle was, twisting his way through them and getting through the bend of tight turns with almost suicidal maneuvering techniques. Even without the promise of an insane stunt, the current airshow would have been enough to impress any fighter pilot in the Galactic Navy.
"Come on, Luke." Biggs whispered anxiously behind the camera. "Come on, you can do this. Quit showing off and focus. Come on now."
"He can do this right?" Deak asked quietly.
"Damn straight he can." Was the instant reply. "He's a better pilot than I am. Now shut up – I'm focusing."
After a few more maneuvers, Luke turned in another wide arch and then straightened out, instantly shooting off towards the Eye of the Needle, increasing incrementally in speed with every second.
About fifteen yards from the Eye, without any warning at all, Luke's skyhopper abruptly jerked to the side, a plume of dark smoke erupting from the bottom front of the aircraft and immediately blocking the pilots windshield.
"Oh shit –"
"Luke!" Biggs shouted, horrified. Vader watched, his own heart pounding in his chest as still blind, Luke jerked the Skyhopper upright once again, shakily straightening it out – and without dropping speed in the slightest, kept going.
"He's still going!" Deak cried out. "What the hell - he's kriffing blind in that thing!"
Ten yards.
Six yards.
"Turn – turn, turn, turn!"
Two yards.
"Oh shit shit shit – I can't watch this!"
In a blink or you'd miss it moment, the T-16 shot through the Eye of the Needle with perfect, unbelievable, one in a million chance accuracy.
The second it was through, the Skyhopper shook visibly in the air, tilting dangerous to the side. Slowing down now, it dropped in altitude to prepare for an immediate landing, carefully weaving its way through lower rock formations, though less successfully than before. As it disappeared from sight, the undeniable sound of metal grating on rock split the air seconds before the T-16 appeared around a bend in the canyon. The Skyhopper landed and immediately the engines were cut.
"Oh Suns... I'm going to kriffing kill him." Biggs whispered before taking off running. The camera view dropped to the dry riverbend, blurrily jerking back and forth as Biggs ran. "You are dead, Skywalker! Dead!"
A moment later, Luke's voice was shouting.
"Did you see that?" He was crowing, the excitement in his voice evident. In the privacy of his hyperbaric chamber, Vader let a small, amused, and very proud smile cross his face. It had been no exaggeration - Luke was a phenomenal pilot. He had been a worthy opponent in the trenches of the Death Star - but an opponent and an enemy only. Watching this video, without a war between them, Luke was simply his son. And he was very, very proud. "Biggs - Deak, did you see that?"
"Yes! We kriffing saw that!"
"Hey- whoa!" There was the faint sound of Luke dodging his friend. "What the hell -are you doing?" he demanded incredulously.
Biggs finally stopped, out of breath now and the camera abruptly raised and focused again on Luke - who'd apparently scrambled on top of the arm of Skyhopper for safety.
"What do you mean, what the hell?" Biggs demanded, throwing a fistful of sand up at Luke. "You could have killed yourself! What happened? Why'd you go up in smoke?"
Luke paused, glancing at the plume of smoke still rising from the front of his T-16. "I... well, I lost my stabilizer." He admitted sheepishly. But he perked up, blue eyes still bright with glee. "But I did it! It was easy, just like you said - I could see the way through, even with the smoke! I swear to you, I knew what I was doing!"
"You... lost your stabilizer?" Deak repeated dumbly.
"I think so - shit, this thing is going to need some repairs." Luke groaned, stepping further up the wing of his 'hopper and peering at the other side. "I hit the canyon wall coming down. I definitely screwed something else up and now the wing is all bent. Shit."
"You went through the Eye of the Needle without a stabilizer?"
Luke turned back to his friends. "What can I say?" He said with a grin and a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm the best pilot on Tatooine."
There was a moment of silence and then.
"Dumbest pilot, maybe!" Biggs finally muttered, huffing a disbelieving laugh.
Luke stuck his tongue out. "Turn that thing off and help me figure out how to get this thing home."
"You can drag it home for all I care, oh great pilo-"
The video ended.
It wasn't enough. Three videos could never replace all the time that had been stolen from him.
But it was something more than what he'd had before.
And until Vader could find Luke and explain everything to him - until they could work together to end this destructive conflict once and for all - it would have to be enough.
A/N And we all know how well Vader explains things to Luke. He really didn't think that conversation out very well.
That being said, this was by far the most difficult chapter to write. Action scenes, (and I'm now adding flying sequences to that list), are not my forte. But I gave it my best shot.
For any hardcore followers of this story, you may or may not have noticed that I changed the date for this last video. It was originally set at 06BBY and I changed it to 01BBY to better match the actual timeline events. I hadn't realized that Luke went through the Needle only a few days before his aunt and uncle died, placing him at 18 years old for the first time he did the stunt. For the purposes of this little story, he's 17 and the events of a New Hope are still a few months away.
Luke damaging his Skyhopper is canon. He lost his stabilizer prior to threading the needle which is what caused him to almost swerve and while not specifically said how, also damaged his Skyhopper badly enough to where he had to do significant repairs afterwards. It was being fixed in a New Hope.
I don't know exactly when Biggs left for the Academy and joined the Rebellion - but I wanted him in the story to encourage Luke and so he's leaving shortly after Luke does this. Idk how long he planned to stay with the Imperial Navy but he gets out and joins the Rebellion pretty fast in my mind. Deak was mentioned in a Wookipedia article and it sounded as if he witnessed Luke's stunt but I don't know anything else about him.
Thanks for all the kind reviews and for following along with this little story of mine! I've had a lot of fun writing it and I hope the last chapter was satisfactory! Until next time!