Chapter 7
Vader felt a rush of relief at the familiar glow of his son's presence, and quickly used the bond to check for injuries. If anyone had harmed a single blond hair on his head ...
Luke! Are you all right?
I'm fine. But … remember that plan I had? I guess we're doing it!
Vader released a slow breath, wordlessly communicating all his anger and frustration over his son's reckless choices and unending ability to attract trouble.
Young one, if you don't immediately tell me exactly where you are—
Calm down! I can't say exactly, but we're inside an old luxury hotel. Vader got a glimpse through Luke's eyes as he looked out a window. It's completely dark outside. I'm thinking we're deep in the lower levels. We met a crazy droid who said he was the Liberator General. And there are Clone Wars battle droids around.
While Luke was speaking, Vader had been flying the speeder in a search pattern. As soon as he said battle droids, his sense of Luke's presence grew a whole lot stronger. Vader immediately pitched the speeder down, feeling his son's presence loom large in the Force.
I believe I have found you.
Good. We're in the penthouse suite.
"Whoa!" Ben said, pointing through the windshield. "What's that?"
Vader looked ahead, seeing the hotel emerging from the darkness. It looked like it had fallen from the level above, as it was tilted on an angle and some of the floors had been compressed. But, once upon a time, it had clearly been a luxury hotel, with carved windows framing the odd point of light. The grand front entrance was surrounded by a circular landing pad. Artoo beeped cautiously.
"Do you detect any lifeforms?" Vader asked.
Artoo whistled an affirmation, and then added, and lots of droids!
Vader glanced at Ben. "How is your flying?"
"Um, well, I'm still on my learner license."
"Good enough," Vader said, pressing a button to retract the speeder's roof. "Take over and bring it into land once I've cleared the landing pad of droids."
"What?! How will you—?"
Vader stood up and jumped out of the speeder, falling through the darkness. A second later, he landed in the middle of the heavily guarded circular pad and sent half the droids flying over the edge. The other half began shooting, and in a moment, he swung his lightsaber around in a circle, sending the bolts bouncing back towards the hapless machines.
They were old models, some even pre-dating the Clone Wars. Many of them had a mish-mash of parts salvaged from even older units, and he saw at least one with a battle droid head on a service droid body. Soon, in a flurry of blaster fire and lightsaber swings, they were nothing but a collection of smoking parts, and Vader looked up to find the speeder descending from the darkness.
It lowered and stopped in a jerky fashion, before finally coming down with a bump. Then it shot forward, plunging into the base of a permacrete statue.
Ben swore, apologising profusely while reversing and finally getting the brake on. He then stepped out of the speeder, cringing as he surveyed the damage.
"Never mind, young one," Vader said, stretching out a hand towards a bisected droid. Its blaster jumped through the air and into his hand. "I have seen worse landings. Take this."
He held out the blaster, and Ben shifted away, raising his hands. "I … I can't shoot straight!"
"Then it is time you learned." He stepped forward, forcing Ben to take the blaster, and then pointed at Artoo. "Take the speeder back to the surface and call the palace. I need reinforcements down here immediately. And make sure the Emperor is informed we have found the Liberator Army."
Artoo whistled an acknowledgement, and then used his jets to transfer into the pilot's seat.
"Sir, are you sure you don't want Artoo to help down here and I go and call the palace, because—"
"Are you questioning my orders?" Vader asked.
Ben shrunk back, shaking his head.
"I thought not. Now, listen carefully, young one. I have seen you shoot. The reason you fail is because you are thinking about everything other than what you are doing. You are thinking about how useless you think you are. You are thinking about your fear that you will disappoint your father. You are feeling angry with yourself whenever you make a mistake. You need to clear your mind of self-recrimination. The Force will guide you."
"The Force?" Ben asked, looking awed. "I thought only some people could use the Force."
"The Force flows through all living things. Including you. Some are chosen to be especially attuned to its ways, but all can benefit from its power. Center yourself, focus, and you will find your inner calm. I will need your help to rescue Luke and the rest of them."
"You need me?" Ben said, eyes wide.
"Yes. When we enter the hotel, the droids will attack. I will go first and deflect any incoming blaster fire. You will follow behind and assist with shooting the droids as I push them to the floor. Aim for their torso lights or heads."
Ben nodded. He still looked afraid, but there was a determination about him now. "I'm ready."
"Remember. Focus."
"Yes, sir."
Vader turned and ignited his lightsaber as he moved into the hotel. The floor was tilted, and every so often, a support beam had fallen through the ceiling or poked up through the carpet. They emerged from the short entranceway into a grand lobby, with a round reception desk in the middle. Vader scanned the silent room, while Ben kept close behind him.
"There's no one here," Ben whispered.
As if in response, a transparent droid head popped up from the middle of the reception desk.
"Welcome to the Liberator base, Lord Vader," it started. "Here, you will finally meet your doom! And I will witness it! Oh, a glorious—"
Vader made a noise of frustration, and then raised a hand. The droid flew up in the air, revealing eight dangling mechanical legs. Then he flipped it upside down and hovered it at eye level while he strode forward to meet it.
"You dare defy the Empire, droid?" he said, bringing the saber up to point at its neck.
The internal workings inside the head casing began sparking, and immediately more of the patched up battle droids began pouring in from the adjoining rooms.
"Take cover!" Vader ordered, pointing Ben to a desk at the side. He obeyed immediately. In the ensuing wave of blaster fire, the spider-droid escaped from his grip and scurried away up the wall, taking refuge on the mezzanine level. Vader concentrated on the immediate threat, crushing one set of droids with the Force, while deflecting blaster fire back into the second. Then he turned to deal with the third wave, and found they were already falling. Shot cleanly by Ben, who admittedly was positioned so near it was impossible to miss. Still, he felt a wave of satisfaction from the boy, which could only help the situation.
"Good work," Vader said, stepping forward to concentrate on the next wave. After he'd hacked his way through another twelve droids, he looked around for the lead droid, and found it hiding on the staircase.
"Stop this!" the spider-droid screeched. It jumped in the air, landing on the floor beside him. He was about to plunge his lightsaber into its head, when he felt a warning from the Force.
"Destroy me, and you will destroy this entire base!" the droid declared. "I have set the self-destruct to activate the second I stop transmitting the signal!"
Vader eyed the droid, considering the words. This was going to be more complicated than he imagined.
Beside them, the droid projected a massive holo showing the layout of the hotel.
"You will do my bidding or I will destroy this base a room at a time until you do!" the droid said. "Let me demonstrate!" A room on the map flashed red, and then the sound of a distant explosion rocked the floor. "Any of these rooms could contain your precious son!"
Vader pointed at the top of the map. "He is in the penthouse suite. I believe you just destroyed part of your own army."
"They will willingly sacrifice themselves for the cause! The Liberator Army knows it has been ordained for this work! I will lead them to victory!"
While the droid was ranting, Vader saw movement out of his peripheral vision. Ben was running up the stairs. He was about to order him to stand down and wait for instructions, when the boy disappeared into an elevator, causing Vader to release a weary breath. Where was the 501st when he needed them? He turned back to the spider-droid and said, "Very well. Tell me what you want from me, droid."
Luke was pacing up and down by the door, looking for any sign of his father's arrival. But who actually came running into the room was a complete surprise.
"Ben!"
He was followed by two battle droids. Luke watched in horror as they raised their blasters, but Ben was already shooting the one on the left. Then he rolled out of the way, propped himself up on one knee, and aimed another shot, catching the second droid before it fired its own blaster.
"Ben, that was amazing!" Luke said, looking from one destroyed droid to the other. "You took them down like a pro! You are a sharpshooter!"
But Ben's only response was to rise shakily to his feet, lower the blaster and put one arm around him in a half-embrace. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I behaved like a sleemo and—"
"It's okay," Luke said, hugging him back. "Where's my father?"
"He's down in the lobby taking care of that spider-droid," Ben said, moving back as the others began to gather around them.
"Ben!" Juno said, reaching up to put a hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but how are—" Ben paused, finally looking around at their 'cell'. "Wow. So this is how they imprison rich and famous people?"
"Come on," Luke said, grinning as he reached down to pick up one of the fallen droid's blasters. He passed the second one to Juno. "Let's go help my father."
The only answer to his words was a loud explosion.
"Another small taste of what will await your son if you don't give in to my demands!" the droid insisted, head rotating and sparking.
Vader stared at the map, seeing an entire wing of the hotel was now nothing but burning rubble.
"You would destroy your own army?" Vader enquired. "Are your logic circuits online?"
"They know their cause is just!"
"The Empire has brought peace and security to the galaxy," Vader said. "Isn't that a just cause?"
The droid sparked and whirred, and then said, "You have brought destruction and terror!"
"The only terror on Coruscant tonight is caused by you."
"Enough stalling! You will accede or I will destroy the room where your son is imprisoned!"
Just as the droid said this, Luke ran out of elevators above them, followed by the rest of the formerly confined teenagers. Several battle droids began pouring out of the other elevators behind them, but Luke and Ben provided enough covering fire to get them to the relative safety of the staircase. Vader raised a hand, pushing the remaining droids to the carpet, which allowed Ben to destroy them with a volley of blaster fire.
Vader turned his attention back to the spider-droid. "You were saying?"
The droid started to make another threat, but he was drowned out by the click of stormtrooper armor and boots. The sight of the white armor, moving past to climb the stairs to protect and secure his son, was a relief. Two of them came to stand beside him, staring up at the droid in amazement.
"You have only provided more fuel for the grand fire I will make of the Empire!" the droid insisted.
Vader was about to reply, when another teenager stepped out of the elevators above. He was busy pulling a tight-fitting shirt over his bare chest, and he looked around with a vague expression of dissatisfaction as he walked down the stairs.
"Finally! Took you all long enough! Who's in charge here?"
A stormtrooper stepped up to guide the young man to join the others, who were now protected on all sides by the senior members of the 501st. But he pushed the soldier away and kept walking forward until he drew up short at the sight of Vader.
"Ah. It's you! Good! Listen, here's what I need." He began tapping his fingers as he counted off his requirements. "My hair stylist. My PR consultant. My publicist. My holographer—"
Vader saw red. He had tolerated a lot tonight. Maintained his temper through circumstances no Sith Lord before him ever had faced. This … this was a step too far. He was already removing a hand from his lightsaber and raising it towards the boy, without consciously thinking about it.
"No!" Luke protested, clearly sensing the danger.
Sunny continued, completely ignorant of his dire situation. " … the HoloNet news standing by to record my reunion with my family. They can start bidding on rights to my first post-rescue interview. I also need a bag of unsalted dried chickpeas and some ionized—AH!"
A ripple of blue electricity crackled up Sunny's body, and he twitched a couple of times and then slumped backwards. A stormtrooper caught him, and then hastily let go as he was shocked by the residual charge.
From behind, an astromech droid rolled forward, making a series of chuckling beeps as he retracted his power outlet.
"Artoo!" Luke said, hiding a smile.
"Well-timed," Vader remarked. He beckoned to the droid, and Artoo spun his dome towards him, and then rolled over, while Vader again addressed the so-called Liberator General. "I have a droid I would like you to meet. He is highly skilled. I think you will find him pleasant company."
"Then I will take his circuits and make them my own!" the spider-droid declared. Artoo screeched as it rose to its full towering height.
What's wrong with him? he asked Vader. You can see his brain!
"There is a signal being transmitted by this droid," Vader said. "Do you think you can replicate it?"
Of course, Artoo said, in a derisive tone. He extended his transmitter.
"Then I will continue to overlook your lack of respect," Vader said. He pointed at the stormtrooper captain, who was standing at his flank, waiting for orders. "Take the young people to your transport and move them away from the hotel."
What are you doing? Luke sent, sounding anxious.
Engaging in some aggressive negotiations, Vader replied.
This whole hotel is going to explode, isn't it? Luke asked, frowning as a stormtrooper began to pull him away.
When have I ever purposely let an enemy base explode? Vader asked.
Artoo made a cheerful beep, as if privy to the conversation.
I'm ready when you are, Artoo chirped.
It took another ten minutes to clear the base of troopers and teenagers and finish attaching some additional explosives to the now legless spider-droid, but soon Vader was accelerating away from the hotel, Artoo in the passenger seat, and the satisfying sight of flaming rubble in the speeder's rear view scope. Artoo was even recording the display.
The HoloNet news might like it, he beeped.
"Perhaps you could sell it to Imperial PR," Vader suggested. "It may improve their opinion of me."
I'll donate the profits to a charity to help disadvantaged astromechs, Artoo said.
"I think a better cause would be to assist the parents of reckless teenagers," Vader said.
The rescue operation had based itself in the park where Luke and his friends had been taken, and when he came in to land, he could already see secure escorts arriving to transport the teenagers back to their families. When he stepped out of the speeder, the stormtrooper captain came to report.
"Sir, Mr Sy Vesta is awake and making demands for media access, but our orders from ISB are to have him and Miss Halifax returned to their families immediately. Governor Halifax has already sent a transport."
"Ignore any such demands," Vader said. "Have them all returned immediately. I will take my son back to the palace myself."
"Yes, sir."
Vader looked around for Luke, and found he was in the middle of a group of laughing teenagers. They became serious as he approached, and, to his surprise, the bothan girl approached him voluntarily.
"Lord Vader, sir, we just wanted to say … thank you for coming to rescue us."
"You were amazing!" the boy next to her added. "I finally got to see an actual lightsaber! This was the greatest night of my life!"
"We're sorry we were a handful," the girl continued. "You were a really good sleepover dad."
Artoo made a chuckling noise, while Vader beckoned to the nearest stormtroopers, who rushed over.
"Take them away," he said, pointing at the teenagers. "Immediately!"
They obliged by herding them towards the transport. "Bye Luke," the boy called. "Best sleepover ever! Ben … you're a sharpshooting legend!"
Ben, meanwhile, was trying to stay with Luke, but a trooper grabbed him by the arm.
"That one can stay," Vader relented, causing Ben to smile in relief and rush back to Luke's side. He looked at the two boys for a moment, noticing they seemed to have resolved whatever conflict had existed over the whole shooting contest.
"In the speeder," he said, turning around.
"Wow," Luke said, when he came up alongside the passenger door. "This speeder is looking pretty beat up!"
"Indeed," Vader said, shifting into the pilot's seat. "You will no doubt find time to repair it, considering you are grounded for the rest of the year."
"Come on," Luke said, looking up with pleading blue eyes. "It worked out for the best! You destroyed the Liberators and rescued Sunny. It will keep the PR office happy for weeks! They might even let you back in the Empire Day school pageant. If I hadn't left to go after Ben, you'd still be stuck in endless meetings with ISB."
"You make a good case," Vader said. "Perhaps I can be convinced to be more lenient. But it will take you some time to seal that tunnel you used to leave the palace."
"You know about that?" Luke said, raising an eyebrow.
"It was very useful when I was your age."
Luke sighed. "Fine."
"I'll come over and help," Ben said. "Presuming I'm still alive when my father finds out about all this."
"You may find him more forgiving than I am when he sees your newfound talent for shooting," Vader said, lifting the speeder into the air.
"Maybe," Ben agreed. "But … tonight was an experience, but I've realized shooting isn't really my thing."
"Are you more into swords?" Luke asked. "Or perhaps force pikes?"
"No. I actually think words are more me. But I haven't been using them properly either. I'm going to tell my dad I'd prefer it if we entered a different contest for the family day. There's gotta be something we can do together that we'd both enjoy."
"Pity they don't have a 'scariest father' contest, or we could enter," Luke said, nudging Vader's arm as he steered the speeder down towards the palace.
"I will suggest they start a 'most reckless son' category, and then we could win," Vader said.
Luke rolled his eyes, while Artoo made his chuckling noise.
When the speeder came into land, Vader noticed a palace assistant waiting by the elevator. No doubt he wanted to pass on a request for a debrief with the ISB commander and head of PR as soon as possible.
"You boys go immediately to bed. I will return shortly, by which time I will expect to find you asleep. Artoo—ensure my orders are obeyed."
There was some grumbling from Luke, but Artoo whistled in agreement and then herded them towards the elevators.
As Luke had predicted, PR was overjoyed with the outcome, and were already planning a week's worth of constant news coverage lauding the Empire's victory. News of Sunny's rescue had already broken, along with pictures of him reuniting with his parents. Of more interest to Vader was whether the droid he had encountered deep underground was one of several leaders of this Liberator droid army, or whether he was the sole instigator of all this terror. If so, he had to admit he had some grudging respect for the now destroyed machine. Operating directly underneath them for weeks now, and unleashing more chaos than a several organised rebellions could hope to do.
When he finally returned to their personal living space, now more than ready to rest himself, he paused outside Luke's bedroom, listening for any sign of activity. There was only silence, both auditory and through the Force. When he opened the door, he found Luke and Ben had sunk down on the air mattresses at the foot of Luke's bed, still dressed. Artoo made a soft beep, indicating he had everything under control.
It seemed his night's work was finally done.
Luke's muscles felt strangely creaky when he woke the next morning, rubbing his face. Artoo was chirping, and he could hear the door-comm in his ears.
"Coming," he called, wondering if it was one of the laundry droids. Judging by the sunlight streaming through the blinds, it was a lot closer to midday than it had been when he'd finally fallen asleep.
But waiting on the other side of the doors was Captain Jarnet, looking far more orderly in his off-duty black uniform.
"Luke," he said, sounding relieved. "Is Ben all right?"
"Dad?" Ben called, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "How … where …?"
Luke stepped back, gesturing for him to come in. "He's fine. We … uh … were just waking up. You heard about last night?"
"Captain Baryuth filled me in," he said, a hint of parental admonishment entering his tone. "Apparently I owe him a cover shift for having to supervise all of you."
"Oh, please," Luke said, grinning. "Ben was the best behaved out of everyone when he was in charge. My father handled the real drama."
"I haven't heard about the real drama," Captain Jarnet said. "But Lord Vader did tell me I should give you both a few hours to sleep in before coming to get you. Something about not getting to bed until well after midnight." He glanced around at the empty popcorn bowls and the gaming controllers and said, "Looks like it was a fun night. Did you hear they found Sunny?"
"Yeah, I'll let Ben fill you in about that," Luke said, grinning at his friend's anxious expression.
"I didn't get much sleep myself," Captain Jarnet said, sitting down on the end of the bed. "All I could think about was how terrible it would be if either of you were kidnapped, and I wished I was over here. And—" He reached down to guide Ben up to sit beside him. "I was thinking about how there were some hurt feelings this week and how I should have handled it better. A lot better."
"It wasn't your fault," Ben said, bowing his head. "I was … working through some things."
"I miss the days when you used to tell me about the things instead of leaving me to guess," Captain Jarnet said, patting Ben on the back.
Luke decided this was a good time to go and have a shower and leave father and son to talk it out. His own father would no doubt be wanting to leave for Mustafar, as he always did when he had been forced to attend meetings all week. Hopefully the environment there wouldn't throw off the experiment results.
When he returned to the main room, he found Captain Jarnet was fully embracing a much-happier Ben, in the way he wished his own father might do occasionally. Ben really had nothing at all to be envious of. His friend's father smiled at the sight of him, and then released Ben, patting him as he stood up.
"Luke, I hate to do this, but I might have to dump you as my shooting partner for the contest."
"No problem at all," Luke said, grinning. "So Ben wants to do it?"
"We worked out a compromise," Ben said, nodding. "I'll be in the shooting contest, as long as he agrees to be in the trivia contest with me."
"I'll look forward to cheering you on from the sideline," Luke said, a peaceful feeling of relief settling in. It might have taken getting kidnapped by a crazy droid, but things were finally working out.
Another week was soon off to a start, and Luke picked up Ben outside his apartment as usual. His friend was carefully holding the experiment samples in a secure box.
"I just hope the others actually bothered to do the work," Luke said.
"If not, we can make a good argument for another extension," Ben suggested.
When they stepped out of the speeder, Luke was surprised to see a younger student standing nearby, clearly waiting for him. It was Parayla, the girl he'd met at the mall and taken up to meet Sunny. She had a slightly dreamy smile on her face that made Luke feel wary. But it was a relief to see her natural blue spots were now back on display.
"Hi, Parayla," he said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine," she said. "I have a gift for you."
"For me?"
She held up another canvas, with the painting facing her. "See, I was watching the HoloNet about Sunny's rescue all weekend, and I realized something. You were right about him. He wasn't worth it."
"Really?"
Parayla nodded. "He's so entitled. He did nothing but complain about how long it took to find him. Then someone uploaded a video on our Sunny fan channel showing him shouting abuse at the stormtroopers who rescued him." She shook her head. "Just because they wouldn't give him ionized water! A few people are still defending him, but I can't."
Luke nodded, trying to hide a smile. He had heard from Robi that various unflattering holo recordings of Sunny's post-rescue behavior had been doing the rounds among the stormtroopers at the palace. It wasn't surprising they were leaking out.
"But I felt really inspired by someone else," Parayla continued, smirking at him.
"Someone else?" Luke tried not to look as nervous as he was currently feeling. "Who?"
Her smile grew wider. "Well … let me just show you ..." She turned the canvas around, revealing an amazingly detailed painting of his father, lightsaber drawn, with a red Imperial flag in the background.
It took Luke a few long seconds to have any reaction at all. "That's … incredible artwork."
"Could you give it to him? Just as a thank you gift for saving Sunny. I know he won't be getting any thanks from him."
Ben grinned. "Of course he will."
"Uh … yes, I'll do that," Luke said, accepting the canvas. "Thanks, Parayla."
She smiled again and then walked off, leaving Luke staring at the painting with a mix of awe and dread.
"I can't give this to him," he said. "He'll want it destroyed. Lev's office receives tons of fan mail from all over the Empire, and there's a standing order to have it all vaporized. He doesn't really do adulation."
"Maybe you could sell it on the HoloNet," Ben suggested.
"I can't do that to her artwork! She's put a lot of work into this."
"Or you could just put it up somewhere in the Imperial Palace where he doesn't go."
"Hmm." His father didn't go down to the admin floors, so maybe it could go in a hallway there. Although, he wasn't sure what Lev would think about a giant painting of his father watching them all the time.
Just then, he felt an arm across his shoulders, and found Greein had snuck up behind and grabbed both he and Ben in a half-embrace. "Hey, guys. Get some rest? Oh, stars!" He'd caught sight of the painting then. "Who did that? It's incredible!"
"A girl from the middle years named Parayla," Luke said.
"There we go," Ben said. "Greein can have it."
"Can I?" he said, his eyes shining. "I know just where I can put it, too."
"I hope she doesn't mind," Luke said, passing it to Greein. "Just hide it, will ya? She wanted it to go to my father, but he'll destroy it."
"It will never be as appreciated by anyone as much as it will by me," Greein said.
"Did you do the experiments?" Ben asked.
He shrugged. "I figured we'd get an extension after the crazy weekend we had!"
Luke could only shake his head.
Fortunately, Ms Triseeta was so relieved to see Ophelia was safe, she not only said it was more than okay they hadn't completed all the experiments, but said their project would be graded based on their plans. There was some melancholy in the group once they realized this was the final day they'd be working together.
"This was fun," Juno said, as she finished her final word on the project's concluding paragraphs. "I'm … uh … glad I didn't swap."
Ophelia shrugged. "Could have been worse."
The two girls smiled at each other then, and Ben said, "So … maybe we could partner up again next time?"
"You can dream," Ophelia said. But her tone was surprisingly warm.
"If we do, we're definitely working at Luke's place," Greein said.
"Huh," Luke said. "I don't think I've ever heard the Imperial Palace called 'my place'."
"That reminds me," Juno said. "Can you apologise to your dad from me? For pretty much everything. And for referring to him as a dad to his … uh, mask. I forgot about what that officer said."
"I think he'll recover," Luke said. "I'll give him a few days of peace and quiet, at least. He's earned it."
Giving his father peace and quiet was a lot easier when there was enough going on at the Imperial Palace to make him forget he was grounded. Luke was soon busy helping the various teams prepare for the Palace Staff Family Day, including decorating the security office and setting up the royal guard gym for the various athletic contests.
The staff families and friends began to arrive at 10am on the first day of the weekend, and Luke was recruited to help pass out mini Imperial flags to the kids, along with another familiar face. Ben arrived at lunchtime, carrying some bags of takeout at Luke's request.
"Are you going through another growth spurt?" he asked, as Luke led him into the outdoor courtyard. "Three combos? Really?"
"It's not all for me," Luke said, smirking. "I invited someone to join us."
Commander Julius' niece, Tesa, waved to them, and then gestured at the bench beside her.
"Oh," Ben said, his voice strangely tense.
"You look less nervous when you see my father," Luke said, nudging him. "Come on. If I can survive Ophelia and Juno wearing my underwear, you can survive this."
Ben soon did relax, and Luke wandered back inside after a few minutes, giving the two of them a chance to get to know each other a little better. But then a harried Captain Jarnet ran up, looking everywhere.
"Luke, have you seen Ben? Trivia contest in five minutes." Captain Jarnet's eyes narrowed as he looked past Luke, out to the courtyard. "Why is he talking to Commander Julius' niece?!"
"Uh … he's just getting some inside info that you'll be able to use against them in the shooting contest," Luke said, smirking. "Wait here. I'll get him."
He thought perhaps Ben might regret his entry into the trivia contest after this, but Tesa came too, joining Luke in the supporter seats. They started out relaxed and relatively calm compared to some of the other guests, but soon shifted to the edge of their seats as Ben and his father were early leaders, and then went through three final rounds to emerge victorious. They were giving out plushie souvenirs as prizes, and Ben's father chose a cuddly royal guard doll, much to Ben's embarrassment.
The shooting contest was the final event of the day, and Luke found himself feeling far more anxious than either Ben or his father. Winning the trivia seemed to have taken the pressure off, and they were both looking calm as they stood in the observation line and watched stormtrooper Robi and his girlfriend shoot anywhere but at the actual targets.
"I was going to say they should have made him take his helmet off, as targeting displays are against the rules," Captain Jarnet said. "But I don't think it's going to make any difference."
"His girlfriend's better than him," Ben observed. "I wonder what she does for a job."
"I met her this morning," Luke said. "She grooms people's pets. Maybe they should swap jobs."
Ben and Captain Jarnet were up next, and they easily looked like seasoned professionals after that. Luke grinned at Robi as he came to join him.
"Nice one."
"We were just messing around," he said, reaching out to hold his girlfriend's hand. "It's just a fun contest, right?"
"Um …" Luke glanced down the line, where Commander Julius and Tesa were waiting for their turn. Despite Tesa's mocking of her aunt taking this too seriously, she was standing with her arms folded and her gaze laser focused on the growing score being wracked up. "Let's just say some contestants are taking this more seriously than others."
Two minutes later, the chime sounded for the end of the round, and Ben and Captain Jarnet gave each other a high-five as they came off. It was easily the best score both of them had ever done, and it had put them at the top of the leaderboard.
"Commander, you're up," Lieutenant Hicks said, from his post at the administration desk.
"Nice try, Captain," Commander Julius said, stepping up to collect her blaster from the armory. "It seems you make a worthy adversary after all. Now. Watch the master."
Despite his promise not to make this all about winning, Luke could see Captain Jarnet was struggling not to offer some trash talk in response. But Tesa winked at Ben, causing him to smile back and mouth 'good luck'.
What followed was a masterclass in shooting, with both contestants adopting a relaxed stance as they aimed and hit target after target, wracking up quick wins and more thoughtful choices to boost their score. Luke watched with his hands gripping the safety railing as the total approached, and then exceeded Captain Jarnet and Ben's score, resulting in a round of applause for the end of the set. Ben joined in, holding his hands above his head, but Captain Jarnet's was far more subdued.
"Another year, another victory over royal guards," Commander Julius said, putting her blaster back in the armory. "This is getting boring." She then came back and draped her arm over Lieutenant Hicks' shoulders. "Are there any royal guard plushies left? I wouldn't mind one to use as a stress toy."
"There's another pair of contestants still to go," Lieutenant Hicks said, looking at the list. "A late sign-up."
"Who is it?" Commander Julius asked. "They might as well forfeit right now."
Lieutenant Hicks looked down at the line of observers, and his gaze rested on Luke. "Luke? Looks like you're up."
"Me?" Luke said, hoisting himself up and over the railing and then walking across the floor to the desk. "I didn't enter. Who's my partner?"
"I don't know. Black 1? Sounds like a TIE pilot callsign. Maybe it's a joke."
"Did you say Black 1?" Luke's eyes grew wide.
"That's what it says."
"Oh no, please—"
The doors at the end of the hall slid open with a loud hiss, and everyone fell deadly silent as a familiar silhouette filled the doorway. His cape flared behind him as he strode down the length of the room, coming to a halt beside Luke.
"Seriously?" Luke said, looking up. "Seriously?! You don't even own a blaster!"
Lieutenant Hicks hastily stood up and straightened to attention, but his father didn't look at him. He simply stretched out a hand towards the armory, causing two blasters to fly across the room. One of them swerved towards Luke, and he reached up to take it.
"You know I've forgiven you for the whole throwing away the project thing!" Luke insisted. "You don't have to do this!"
His father merely gestured for him to join him at the shooting range.
"All right," Luke said, trying to keep the sigh out of his voice. He looked back at Lieutenant Hicks. "Let's do this."
The length of the contest shooting programme had seemed long while watching other people do it, but Luke found the time absolutely flew by when doing it side-by-side with his father. His own performance wasn't his best, as he kept looking sideways, amazed that his father even knew how to fire a blaster. He held it one-handed, shooting at targets a micro-second before they'd even appeared, and making use of the various reflective surfaces to take out multiple targets with a single bouncing shot. Just as Luke took out a diving blue target, the chime for the end of the set sounded, and he looked up at the scoreboard. A shower of virtual confetti exploded around his father's score, followed by a flashing 'perfect!' sign, and then his own score merged into it. Between them, they had nearly doubled Commander Julius' score.
There was no applause. Only expressions of awe and terror. Then Luke met Ben's gaze, and found his friend was grinning like this was the best day of his life. Luke could only smile back.
Then, his father passed Luke his blaster, and strode back out of the room without a single word.
ooxOO**OOxoo
Acknowledgements: A thousand Dad Vader hugs to everyone who has been commenting on this for the last seven weeks. I've loved sharing this with you all. Take care wherever in the world you are xx
-Kitt