Chapter 1: Unknown Awakening

Luke awoke to the feeling of something rough and wet licking his cheek. He groaned, reaching out a hand to push away the offending nuisance. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open only to come face-to-face with a blue-gray tooka. It hissed at him before it zipped out of the narrow alley where it had found him. Luke watched it leave, his eyes drifting towards his surroundings. The buildings on either side of him were corroded and fading into the beginning stages of deterioration. A horrid stench assaulted his nostrils—emitting from the trash receptacle to his left—and he scrunched his nose disgustedly.

What happened? How did he get here?

Then, memories flooded back into him. The second Death Star, the Emperor's insistent goading ringing in his ears, his father—

Instantly, Luke was on his feet; wincing when his right shoulder throbbed painfully as if he slept on it wrong. His eyes flickered in every direction as if expecting Vader to pounce from the shadows. His hand shifted to his lightsaber, ready to spring into action in preparation of an attack, only to freeze when he realized it wasn't there.

Panicked, he glanced around him, searching for anything cylindrical, when something glinted in the corner of his eye. Sticking out from under the trash receptacle was his lightsaber. Luke grimaced as he reached down to grab it, the smell even more nauseating up close. With his lightsaber in hand, he felt marginally at ease.

In an attempt to gain a sense of direction, he reached out to feel for the others—Han, Leia, Chewy, Lando, Wedge. Instead of the brilliant warmth of their collective presences that he was expecting, he was met with cold darkness. Frowning, he stretched out further, sensing the multitude of life forms around him, but not of them. He hadn't realized it before, but the Force feels strangely...muddled.

A sudden pull in the back of his mind distracted him and he focused on the bright thread of light that connected his mind to Vader. The intensity of the bond meant one of two things: either Vader is feeling a particularly strong emotion or Vader was close. Nevertheless, Luke quickly reinforced his shields, keeping a small part of his attention on his father.

Despite his confusion on how he ended up here, Luke needed to figure out where he was. Cautiously, he moved towards the entrance of the alley, glancing out into the busy streets. A crowd moved steadily to and fro yet no one paid him any attention. Merchants had set up stands selling various wares, waving and yelling at the crowd. It looked like some kind of marketplace. Though, not anywhere that he recognized. Wishing he had a hood to cover his face, Luke stepped out into the flow of people. He had no real direction to follow and let the movement of the crowd carry him along.

He did his best to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. After a few minutes of crawling forward, he figured he should stop and ask some questions if he wanted to find out where he was. Oddly enough, he saw no Imperial propaganda nor any stormtroopers patrolling the area. Still, the lack of it set him on edge.

As his target Luke chose a lone human merchant who was selling what looked like fabrics and cloths. There was no one at his stand, which probably explained the bored look on his face. Luke approached him slowly, pretending to look over the merchandise before asking, "Excuse me, but could you tell me where I am?"

The merchant looked at him funny. "You're on Level 1317."

Luke stared. Well, that was certainly not helpful. He was hesitant to ask what planet this was in fear that he might seem crazy. He tried to think of a more informative question that wouldn't earn him a weird look.

"Are you going to buy something?" the merchant asked impatiently.

Luke blinked, startled at the abrupt rudeness, before saying, "No, I'm sorry."

The merchant waved him off with a huff, apparently deciding he wasn't worth any more of his time. Dejectedly, Luke slipped back into the crowd.


The second merchant he stopped at was a female twi'lek selling some kind of fried meat. She wasn't very forthcoming and kept persisting that he buy some meat, which he had to refuse by claiming he had no credits. The third merchant was much the same, only more cryptic with his responses.

At some point, Luke broke away from the crowd and slumped against the nearest wall in some dingy alley. He hissed when his shoulder was jostled and twinged painfully. He brought his other hand up and rubbed at the throbbing limb, hoping to soothe the ache. The reality of his situation dawned on him and he felt hopelessly lost and confused.

He has no means of communication, no landmarks to pinpoint his location, and no credits to buy his way off planet. He was essentially stranded, alone, and penniless. He doesn't even know how he got here! Sighing, Luke gazed at the dirty ground and contemplated his next move.

There was movement in his peripheral vision to his left. A figure dropped down from the rooftops, hidden in the shadows at the far end of the alley. When it stood to its full height, Luke recognized it immediately.

Vader.

For a brief pause, they stared at one another. Luke had a sudden flashback to their fight on the Death Star and he reached for his lightsaber, but did not draw it. He winced at the realization that he had forgotten he was supposed to monitor the bond. Has he been followed this whole time?

"Luke."

His heart lurched in his chest, the sound of his name from Vader's deep baritone momentarily startling him. He was about to inquire how Vader found him but quickly dismissed the thought. He should not be surprised, considering Vader's obsession with hunting him. Instead he turned his attention to his surroundings, wanting an answer to the question that has been bothering him since he first awoke in the alley.

"Father," he replied, the title slipping unbeknownst from his lips before he could stop it. "I—" He stopped, changed his mind, and started again. "Where are we?" he asked, using one hand to gesture to the area around them.

For several minutes, Vader didn't respond. Luke thought perhaps he didn't hear what he said and made to repeat his question when Vader spoke. "I do not know."

He tried not to feel disappointed but he'd been hoping his father had some answers. "Is this the Emperor's doing?"

Vader stood unmoving, and he could have posed as a black specter were it not for the rhythmic sound of his breathing. "It is…not beyond his power."

Luke frowned. "What—"

"You there! Halt!"

Luke turned to his right to find three figures blocking the entrance. In the center stood a police droid; a blaster raised in its hands. On the left was a human male and on the right was a young togruta female. To his astonishment, they both wielded lightsabers: one sapphire saber and dual-wielded emerald sabers.

"Enough of your games," the male said, twirling the saber expertly in his hand. "Either come with us or face the consequences."

He was speaking more towards Vader, but he gave Luke a confused wary glance. Luke gaped, completely enthralled at the sight of their lightsabers. He opened his mouth to reply when a snap-hiss drew his attention. Vader's ruby blade hung down by his side. Luke tensed, fingers tightening on the hilt of his saber.

"I will not ask again," the droid intoned firmly, "cease all—"

Vader raised his hand, curled his fist, and the droid crumpled to the ground. That seemed to incite the Jedi into action.

They drew in closer, pressing in so they blocked the alley. The male pointed his saber at Vader and narrowed his eyes. "I won't let you leave here alive, Sith."

Before Luke could tell him to stop, the male leaped with a Force-assisted jump.

Their blades clashed with a thunderous explosion, screeching shrilly and deafening. Their blades locked in a constant back-and-forth struggle of one trying to overpower the other. Strike. Parry. Block. Dodge. They moved so swiftly that the red and blue of their sabers blurred together.

He knew he should stop them from killing each other, however, this was the first time he's seen Vader fight another Force-user besides himself. He was so stunned by their duel that he could only watch. The togruta seemed to be just as equally stunned; she tightened her grip on her sabers and looked as if she wanted to jump in but didn't know when.

It happened so fast he almost missed it.

The male landed a lucky blow on Vader's saber arm, cutting through the padding of his armor. With a sharp cry, Vader pulled back and the male moved to strike again when Vader flung out his other arm. In a very familiar gesture, the male began choking and grabbing at his throat, legs dangling off the ground. With a hard shove from Vader, he slammed into the wall and collapsed in a heap.

The togruta, too shocked to do otherwise, raced towards her companion. Vader took that moment to climb the side of the nearest building, jump onto the roof, and out of sight. Luke watched as the edge of his cape disappeared and sighed heavily. He should probably ensure that the male hasn't suffered any serious wounds.

"Master!" the togruta exclaimed. She grabbed his arm. "Are you alright?"

He ignored her question and instead forced himself to stand. "Ahsoka, go after him. I'll deal with this one," he instructed, jerking his head toward Luke. Ahsoka followed his gaze and after a slight hesitation, scampered up onto the roof. With full attention on him, Luke raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not your enemy," he said calmly.

The male sneered. "We'll see about that."

With a flick of his wrist, Luke's lightsaber flung into his hand. He clipped it to his belt, ignited his saber, and leveled it at Luke's chest. "Move."

Sighing, Luke did as told, moving back down the alley. A crowd had gathered during the fight and were now giving them a wide opening. He let the other steer him in the direction toward an airspeeder. He was roughly forced in the back and a pair of binders were snapped around his wrists.

"Master!" Ahsoka ran towards them from the opposite direction, stopping to take a deep breath. She looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry, Master. I lost him."

The male didn't look the least bit worried or upset. Instead, he offered her an encouraging smile. "It's okay, Snips. At least we got this one," he replied, indicating Luke.

Neither said a word to him as the speeder lifted up off the ground. Luke's stomach churned and he wondered again how he got himself into this kind of situation.