Written for the tumblr prompt:
Considering Vader's obsession with Luke, I'm surprised that the rebellion didn't attempt a plan to trap Vader using Luke as bait (I mean it would probably end up with at least 99% of all rebels there dying, but it's worth a shot)
Hope you enjoy!
When the bombs went off, Luke felt it. Through his shaky grasp on the Force, yes, but mainly because the bunker the Rebels had stashed him in wasn't enough to block the bone-deep vibrations that shuddered across the entire surface of the moon.
Han and Chewie, sitting opposite him, looked up when they felt it too. "There we go," Han said, satisfied. "Ain't no one surviving that."
"I think no one did," Luke said softly. The stench of death was thick around them. He'd been familiar with that metaphysical stench long before Ben had told him he had the Force; he'd always assumed it was something primal in him that knew about it. Smells, sounds and silences, patterns he was no longer able to consciously spot, but his instincts would never miss.
Chewie seemed to feel what he did as well—and he likely did know it from practical instinct, rather than some energy field. He mewled mournfully.
Han shook his head and gave a nervous smile. "C'mon, you two, lighten up!" he said. "Vader's dead. That was what this was for!"
"I'll be glad if it worked," Luke agreed, "but how many of our people died taking him out? Those bombs must have been cataclysmic."
"They knew the risks, kid." Han's tone softened. "They knew what they were signing up for. The fact that Vader came here for you? Doesn't make it your fault. Right, Chewie?" Chewie roared his agreement.
Luke grimaced. "How can we know he's actually dead, though? He's survived everything before! Can we contact Leia—"
"We don't have comms, remember? No signal tracing us to here, nothing to tell Vader you're here instead of at the ambush site. We gotta wait for Leia to come and get us."
"And if Leia—" He broke himself off.
Han looked jittery now, too. "Leia's fine, alright? Everything is fine. If you don't stop worrying like that you're gonna make me sick and scared…"
"Sorry." Luke tried for a watery smile, but it dropped immediately. Nothing about this situation, from the moment Madine had hatched this plan and muscled him into going along with it, warranted a smile. "What do you think Vader wants me alive for anyway, Han? That was a lot of money in the bounty."
"Hate to admit it, but General Syndulla's idea makes a lot of sense." Han grimaced and waggled his fingers. "That energy field stuff?"
Luke swallowed. Hera had been the Rebellion general most opposed to this plan—she'd tried so hard to get him out of it. Every time she was on base, she was a rock to him, even though he knew memories of her Jedi were painful. "You think he wants an Inquisitor, like she said the Empire went after Ezra Bridger? Or an apprentice, like Maul?"
Despite himself, Han chuckled. "Maul," he repeated. "Whoever named that guy—"
"Han."
"I think it's not impossible! If he believes in this poodoo like you do I'm sure he sees the benefits of having a magical guy like you at his disposal, working for him."
"I'll never join him," Luke swore. Chewie voiced his solidarity. "He's killed so many people! Biggs, my aunt and uncle, my father—"
"Well, you won't need to!" Han kicked up his feet onto Luke's bench and leaned back against his own, the permacrete wall of the bunker not looking comfortable to lounge against. But Han could lounge against anything. "Because he's dead."
"I don't—"
"Don't jinx it, kid! Didn't you feel that explosion? There's no way he survived that. Leia's gonna come down here any minute, key in the code to get in, and—" He broke off as there was a grinding sound. "There. There's her coming through the first door. Get ready to open the second one for her."
"We have to wait for her to key in the all-clear code, first," Luke said.
"All-clear? Why wouldn't it be all-clear? She—" But Han cut himself off when the chimes rang out, and Luke ran to check the numbers on the monitor. "That's… not the all-clear code."
"I told you!" Luke was shaking slightly as he glanced it over and referenced the codes they'd established for this mission. "That's Leia, alright, but she's compromised. Something's wrong."
"What does that mean?"
"I think…" Something dark swept over him, and he shivered. He looked towards the door and felt an eye the colour of acid searing through the three solid feet of durasteel that separated them. "I think Vader has her. Came here with her."
"What?" Han leapt up, his hand on his blaster. "We need to—"
"I'm going to open the door."
"Yes, but—" Chewie groaned and Han nodded. "You said it, buddy. We need to save her, but how're we gonna take on Vader? Should we?"
"Will he leave until we do?"
Han went quiet. Chewie said something else.
"You're right, pal," Han agreed softly. "Luke's not the bait anymore."
Luke finished the thought: "Leia is."
Han glanced around. "We've just got our blasters? Against Vader?"
Luke hoisted his. "Maybe we'll get as lucky as he did."
"I thought your old man Kenobi said there's no such thing as luck," Han fired back.
Despite himself, Luke smiled. He reached for the controls to release the door and hit them, each beep a shriek, one by one.
His index finger hovered over the last one.
Hera had said that dark siders were tricky. The dark side was tricky. Ezra Bridger had been tempted down that path by his need to protect the Ghost crew.
What would Luke do, if he was captured?
What was Luke about to do, now that Leia was the bait leading him forward?
He pressed the last digit. The monitor flashed green. The durasteel door, creaking and groaning, began to slide aside.
Vader's rasping breaths echoed against the permacrete walls. Leia's face hung like a moon against the night sky, pale and tense and terrified as she clapped eyes on Luke. A lightsaber was held against her temple.
"Drop your weapons, Skywalker." Vader's voice boomed.
How far down this path was Luke willing to be baited? Leia had no bunker. Leia had no blaster.
"You drop yours first," he said.
"All your Rebel friends are dead. She is the only survivor." Leia pursed her lips. "Do you want her dead as well?"
Leia had no blaster, but Luke did. And Luke could still use what Vader had come here for.
He held his own weapon to his temple. Leia's eyes went wide.
"I said," Luke enunciated, "drop yours first."
Vader stared at him. Luke hardly dared to breathe. If he didn't cooperate—if he called Luke's bluff…
The lightsaber clattered to the ground. Luke lowered his blaster. He hadn't expected that to work.
But Vader had caved. Just as Luke would for Leia. And that begged another, vital question, that Luke was ready to pursue in the negotiations about to unfold:
How far down this path would Luke walk, for his friends?
And how far down this path would Vader walk, for Luke?