"I am Captain Carnig. You will respect my authority. What is your name?"
"Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master."
"Who bestowed that title upon you?" scoffed Captain Carnig.
"Master Yoda, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even Darth Vader and the Emperor recogized its validity." The gasps from the cell and the dumb-struck faces of the Imperials in front of him confirmed that Luke had gotten the reaction he had aimed for.
Carnig quickly regained himself. "You would be dead if you faced the Emperor, or Vader."
"I'm afraid that you have it all wrong... When was the last time you heard from the Emperor, or any Imperials for that matter?"
"They check in every five years. They are expected to contact us at any moment."
"I wouldn't count on that."
"What do you mean by that?" Carnig hit Luke smartly across the cheek.
Luke flexed his jaw but a little, and smiled. "You really don't know, do you? No one has contacted you?"
"About what!" Luke could see the veins popping out of the captain's temple and neck.
"About the Empire." He leaned forward a tad and spoke a little softer, "It has fallen."
"You lie!"
"No, I do not. Granted that various Imperials are interspersed throughout the galaxy, the Emperor is dead, as is Vader."
"How do you know?"
"I was there."
"And I suppose you're going to tell me that you killed them both."
"No. Vader killed the Emperor."
"You insolent--" Carnig thwacked Luke across the face again. That time, it actually hurt, but Luke didn't show it. "Do not lie about--"
"I'm not lying."
"And why would Vader kill the Emperor."
"Do you want the truth, or what you want to believe, because the rumor is that Vader killed the Emperor for power, but was killed by the Emperor with the Emperor's last ounce of power."
"That seems more plausible than anything you could work up. What is your story then?"
"I fought Vader and defeated him, but left him alive. The Emperor started to electricute me, to kill me. Seeing the Emperor's cruelty, Vader turned from the Dark Side, reverting to his former self before he became Darth Vader. He threw the Emperor into the depths of the ship, but not before getting electricuted himself. So, he died."
" 'Seeing the Emperor's cruelty'? That would imply that Darth Vader actually cared about you."
"He did."
Carnig hit Luke again, this time drawing blood. "What! Why!"
"Have I told you my history, Captain?"
Caught off-guard, Carnig froze, finally getting out a simple "no".
Luke half-way turned around in his chair. "I'm about to answer your question, Perdita. Listen up." He turned back to Carnig. "I am Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker, former student of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin Skywalker was seduced by the Dark Side and ceased to be Anakin. He became the Emperor's apprentice. Anakin Skywalker became..." Luke looked squarely into the captain's eyes. "Darth Vader."
"You lie!"
"Look into my eyes--" Luke's glare intensified. "--and tell me I'm lying."
"Y-you're serious... Vader is your father..." Carnig swallowed, once again, composing himself. "But you are lying about the fall of the Empire. I know you are. No one can defeat the Emperor. Vader may be dead, but never the Emperor." Carnig punched Luke in the stomach and turned to the two troopers who had found him, smiling as Luke doubled over on the floor. "Borka, Caden, return him to the cell."
The two of them roughly drug Luke back to the cell and threw him in. Everyone backed away. After a moment, Hateya stepped forward and started silently helping Luke clean his wounds. "You said that Anakin turned back to goodness before he died? That's good."
Luke got his meal the next morning--the same goo as he had had the day before--and sat down in a corner in the outdoor grounds.
"Aren't you hot? This corner is vacant for a reason."
"Hey, Hateya. It doesn't bother me. I grew up on Tatooine." He adjusted his new clothes. His others had been torn up beyond recognition, so he received one of the old outfits they kept at the prison. Luke actually didn't mind. They were an old style, but still decently comfortable.
"It doesn't bother me either. I grew up in a hot part of Ryloth." Hateya sat down next to him. "Those clothes you were wearing under your flight suit, they were odd."
"These clothes I've been given are odd."
"They are the style of the Jedi before Palpatine proclaimed himself Emperor."
"The brown cloak reminds me of Ben..." A faint smile found its way to Luke's lips.
"Ben?"
"Oh, sorry. When Obi-Wan went into hiding, he adopted the name 'Ben' and found his home on Tatooine. Now I know that he was there to protect me from Vader."
"Your father?"
"Vader is not my father; Anakin is."
"Not much of a distiction," Eron said with a grunt, settling himself on the sand next to Hateya.
"There is. They were two completely different people..."
Alden walked over and joined them. "And you were able to bring Vader out of the depths of darkness to realize his true self as Anakin once more. That is no small feat."
Perdita sat down to finish the small circle created by the other four already in the corner. "I suggest you practice with your lightsaber in exercises today, Luke."
"They let you have your lightsaber here?" Luke asked in dismay.
"Yes, but only to keep in shape for exercises; plus, they have eight troopers all with long-range blasters aimed at your head."
Luke tried to loosen the muscles in his neck and shoulder. Realizing how stiff he really was, he nodded. "I guess I'll do that, Perdita. What do you do for exercises?"
"It's simple. One person at a time can exercise with the lightsaber for ten minutes each. You will work with a training remote--I assume that you've worked with one before."
Luke nodded, thinking back to his time on the Millenium Falcon with Han and Obi-Wan. Back then, he had thought the training remote was too difficult. "Yes, I have." He swallowed the last bite of his food.
Alden reached out his hand. "I'll take that for you. Go on over to that table. They'll give you your lightsaber there."
"Thanks." People moved out of Luke's way as he walked to the table. And all because my father had been Darth Vader... Then again, maybe their reaction is understandable... Leia didn't take it too well when she found out... After waiting for two other people to go ahead of him, he stepped up.
"Lightsaber number," demanded the trooper.
"Excuse me?"
"He doesn't have one yet," yelled Alden from the shade where he and the others had moved. "He's the new prisoner."
The trooper handed Luke his lightsaber. It felt good to be in his hands again. "Your number is G-17. How many training remotes would you like."
"How many am I allowed to use?"
"Up to six."
"I'll take six."
The trooper looked thouroughly surprised. "Would you like a blindfold too?"
"Of course."
Luke used the Force to move the six training remotes into position. The training area was a small circle with a diameter of only eight feet, but Luke was confidant that it would be sufficient. A crowd gathered around the training circle.
"... trying to show off..."
"... get himself stung by the blasters..."
Luke took in a deep breath, turned on his glowing green lightsaber, and used the Force to turn on all the devices simultaneously at their highest level. It was actually almost a challenge, and by the time his ten minutes were up, his shirt was drenched in sweat from the mid-morning heat and the crowd's mouths were hanging open. Hateya forced her way through the crowd, followed soon by Alden, Eron, and Perdita. Hateya threw her slender arms around Luke's neck. "That was amazing, Luke! Simply amazing!"
Eron shook his head. "You really are a Master, aren't you?"
Luke shrugged. Hateya released him and went to claim her own lightsaber. "P-07, two remotes, blindfold."
As the purple glow of Hateya's lightsaber began to blur with the exercises, Luke looked up at the sky. Leia, I'm alive. I'm here. Why haven't you found me? Have you given up? Leia...