A/N Luke is fifteen in this one!
Luke walked down the Imperial Palace's halls with his friend Aaron, this was yet another Imperial event dinner party. They were excruciatingly boring and long, Luke had already finished his meal and the party would be over within the hour. Luke was feeling tired and didn't want to fall asleep at the large table again, something he was prone to do at these events. Luke decided to walk the halls with his friend until his father connected through their bond and told them it was time to go.
"-And so my mother wants me to do some weird internship." Aaron laughed, Luke didn't say anything, he stared off into the distance. "Luke?" He heard Aaron say, Luke blinked quickly awakening from his gaze. He looked at Aaron who looked at Luke concerned. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Luke yawned, "Just tired." Aaron laughed.
"At least you haven't fallen asleep like usual." He nudged him, Luke screwed his face in embarrassment.
"I don't fall asleep all the time!" Luke retorted.
"Not all the time, but usually." Luke rolled his eyes as he laughed. Aaron then looked up and down the halls, "We should probably head back now." Luke nodded, it was getting late anyways and he wanted to get to bed soon. Luke stopped in the hall and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah probably." Aaron stopped as well then leaned back against the wall and folded his arms.
"Maybe there will be some dessert lef-" Aaron was cut off by a soft grinding, Aaron jumped from the wall and stood by Luke. They both stared in shock as a small rectangular shape on the lower half moved back a few centimeters and over to the side, revealing a small dark hole. They both stared in silence, their mouths agape.
"What is that?.." Luke finally said.
"I don't know.." Aaron whispered, they both stared for a few moments longer. Luke then glanced side to side down the hall, they were alone. Luke moved slowly towards the hole, "Hey! What are you doing!?" Aaron hissed.
Luke crouched down and turned his head back to Aaron, "I just want to see what's in there." Aaron's stared at him bewildered.
"Are you crazy?! It's probably dangerous!" he warned as he crouched by the small entrance by Luke, Luke shrugged.
"How? It's not like there is a monster down there or something." Luke laughed, he then hesitantly cleared the hole's entrance of cobwebs, they got caught on his sleeve and he frantically rubbed them off with a small groan of disgust. Aaron snickered, Luke inched closer to the entry and swallowed hard. "I'm going in."
Luke slid his feet in, his legs dangled as he sat on the floor. Luke began to wonder how far the drop was, Luke jumped in. Dust flew around his face once he made impact on the dusty ground, Luke squinted his eyes to adjust to the dark. He looked around, there was a dark long hallway ahead of him.
"You okay down there!?" Aaron asked, Luke looked up at the small entrance he jumped through.
"Yeah! Come down!" Luke said, he saw Aarons feet come through the hole slowly and he jumped down. Aaron coughed as he waved his hand to clear the dust that flew around in the air, he squinted his eyes down the dark hall.
"Woah.." he whispered, "A secret corridor?"
"I guess." They both stared down the dark and seemingly endless hallway. Luke started to get chills, the more he observed the hall the more creepy it looked. The walls were old cracked grey stone, splattered with stains of some mysterious liquid. Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling, along with a mysterious atmosphere. It smelled of old mildew, the ground was covered in dirt, it was like out of a holovid.
"We should probably get out of here," Luke said, Aaron nodded and they both looked up and realized that was quite impossible. The entrance they came through was too high up, but it didn't stop Luke from trying to jump. Luke stood close to the wall and jumped as high as he could with his hands stuck in the air so he could grab the ledge.
Unfortunately for Luke, he was not the tallest boy around. Luke kept trying until it was painfully obvious that he couldn't get out. He was considering opening his bond to his father to ask for help but he would probably be grounded for even jumping down in the secret tunnel. No, there had to be an exit at the other end of the hall.
"We need to go down the hall," Luke stated matter of factly, Aaron turned his head and looked down the hall.
"You think there will be another exit!?" he asked, slightly frantic.
"There has to be, why else would there be a hall if not to lead to somewhere?" Luke reasoned, Aaron stared at him for a minute, slightly concerned and nodded. "Follow me." Luke walked ahead and slowly made his way down the dark hallway. It was incredibly dark and Luke couldn't see a thing. Aaron walked close behind him, the only thing heard was the sound of their soft footsteps.
They walked down the hall in complete silence, they turned down every turn that came. Luke attempted to create a mental map of where they might be in the palace but it was almost impossible. Luke was wondering if this tunnel even had an end, and if it did, where did it lead to. More than once did Luke and Aaron sneeze due to the dust that wafted through the secret tunnel.
"Stars, this hallway is long." Aaron sighed, Luke then stopped quickly and Aaron bumped into his back."What is it?"
"Another path." Luke said, in front of him the hall way split into two going opposite directions. "Which one you want to take?" He asked, Aaron was silent for a moment.
"Left," he whispered, Luke let out a nervous breath and turned left. They continued to walk down the dark hall until they came to a wall. "Dead end." he huffed.
"Hey, maybe it has a secret entrance like the one we came in." Luke shrugged, he examined the wall. He ran his hand over the cold rough stone, seeing if maybe it was like the way they got in. Aaron pressed over the stone as well, Luke huffed and kicked the wall in frustration.
"Ow!" Luke hissed as he grabbed his foot, he then felt a quick tapping in his shoulder.
"Look! It's moving." Aaron whispered, Luke let out a breath of shock as they watched the wall move. Once the entryway was clear, Luke peered into the room. It was the Emperor's Throne room. Finally, they were out, and Luke knew where exactly they were in the palace. The Emperor was at the party so he was not in the throne room, so they could come back without anyone knowing they were gone.
"Follow me," Luke whispered back to Aaron, Luke exited the tunnel and stepped out into the throne room. Something red flashed in the corner of his eye and before Luke could react a bright red zapped in front of him and swung down. Luke fell to the ground and looked up in shock. Standing over him was a Praetorian guard, the guard took a couple of steps back and turned off their weapon.
"Luke!" Aaron breathed, Luke took a few moments and looked down on the ground and saw a gut-wrenching sight. A hand sat a few meters away from him, he stared at it in shock.
"W-Whos hand.." Luke choked then looked down where his hand was supposed to be but found that it was gone. He stared in shock and then the pain set it. Waves of searing pain spread through and he pulled his arm into himself and doubled over. His vision blurred slightly and he felt incredibly light-headed.
"Luke!" Aaron scrambled over from the tunnel entrance over to Lukes's side then looked up at the Praetorian guard. "Are you gonna help him!?" The guard stammered for a moment then grabbed Luke by the arm and helped pull him up, Luke staggered and felt like the room was spinning. The guard then looked at them for a few moments before running out of the throne room. "Wait!" Aaron yelled, he then turned back to Luke who was crumpled over.
"My-My hand," Luke muttered, Aaron wrapped Luke's arm over his shoulder and walked out of the throne room. They quickly walked down the hall, Luke held his stump close to his chest. He stumbled side to side, he felt light-headed from pure shock and seeing his hand on the ground. The pain was still strong, the shock began to wean and tears streamed out of his eyes. Aaron patted Luke's back reassuringly.
"It's gonna be okay!" Aaron insisted, Luke didn't say anything. He squeezed his eyes tightly as he held back more tears. Finally, they reached the grand dining room doors, Aaron pushed them open. Everyone in the dining room were all sitting around the large table, all chatting with each other. "Help!" Aaron yelled out to the crowd, if Luke didn't have his hand chopped off he would have felt embarrassed to have the entire dining room's attention drawn to him. Right now, he didn't care, he felt like collapsing on the floor out of pure shock.
Luke pulled away from Aaron and leaned against the frame of the doors, he looked into the crowd but his vision was blurring. Everyone stared at the two boys, Luke saw a large dark figure quickly make their way towards Luke. Luke then felt being lifted from the ground, Luke blinked his eyes trying to clear his vision.
"Father?" Luke asked, his father didn't respond, his father grabbed his wrist and looked where Lukes's hand was chopped off.
"Where is his hand currently?" He heard his father asked in a calm yet urgent voice, perhaps his father wasn't too worried or wasn't trying to scare his friend just yet. He then heard his friend Aaron let out a nervous breath.
"We- We left it.." Aaron said in a small voice, he felt his father grip Luke tightly.
"You left it?!" Aaron nodded dumbly, "Follow me, Luke's friend. Tell me everything that transpired." His father moved out of the doorway and started making his way down the hall. He heard his friend walking quickly, trying to keep up with his father's long strides. Luke just looked up at the ceiling, trying not to look at his injury again or he would faint. "How did this happen, who did this to him!?"
"Am I gonna die?" Luke asked nervously, Luke curled into himself slightly. He found he was shaking slightly.
"No! Do not say something like that ever again!" His father reprimanded. "Who has done this!? How did this happen!?" His father asked again, losing his patience. Aaron flinched slightly, they made it out to the landing pads.
"One of the guards in the throne room sir- er, my Lord." Aaron stammered, they had stopped in front of the shuttle. The ramp began to lower and Aaron shuffled awkwardly.
"You are dismissed, Luke's friend." His father said, "I will find out what you two were doing in the throne room afterward." Aaron nodded awkwardly and ran back into the palace, Luke's father walked into the shuttle and into the cockpit. He slowly placed Luke in the copilot's seat and started the ignition sequence. Luke held his arm close to his chest and hunched over, the pain still was unbelievable.
The ship lifted quickly and his father began to fly towards the hospital, "It...hurts.." Luke mumbled.
"I know my son, we shall have it mended soon." His father reassured him, the shuttle moved fast through Coruscanti traffic. Luke wavered side to side as his father swiftly maneuvered through the speeders, soon enough the speeder landed on a landing pad in front of the hospital. Luke moved to stand up but his father scooped him up again.
"You don't have to carry me." Luke weakly protested, his father didn't respond he just carried Luke off the shuttle and towards the entrance of the hospital. He quickly walked into the waiting room, Luke heard a collective gasp of everyone in the room.
His father was not going to wait apparently, his father went straight through the Emergency room doors. Doctors and nurses gasped at the sight, Luke closed his eyes in slight embarrassment. "Bring me a doctor right away." His father demanded. A nurse quickly rushed over with a gurney, Luke was then gently laid on the gurney.
Luke rolled his head to his shoulder and held tight to his father's cape. "I will bring him to a room right now, my Lord!" A nurse said, her voice wavered as she looked up at Luke's father. She then began to move the gurney down the hall to find a private room, Luke clutched his arm and rolled side to side holding in his cries.
In this midst of this, he felt his father brush up against their bond.
"I will not leave your side." His father reassured him.
Luke didn't get the chance to respond, but it reassured him.
Vader watched as his son was being fitted for a prosthetic hand, something Luke was too young to have to experience. He shouldn't have to do this, but that insolent guard had hurt his son. He would find that guard and make him pay, he was a coward for running. The dark side swirled around him and he clenched his fists tightly, Luke sat straight in his hospital bed with the blankets on as his prosthetic was fitted. Vader stood watching and then folded his arms over his chest.
"Can you try moving the hand, Luke?" The doctor asked, Luke sighed and wiggled the cybernetic hand. The synth skin was high quality, almost as if Luke never lost his hand. Luke frowned slightly and contorted his face.
"It feels weird.." Luke mumbled.
"I know." The doctor sighed, "It will take some time to get used to it, but it's in working condition."
"Thank you," Luke said softly as he held his hand closer to his face to observe it.
"Well, I'd say Luke is good to go, Lord Vader." The doctor said facing him, "I have a prescription for pain medicine for Luke ready."
"Send it to my Lieutenant," Vader instructed, the doctor bowed.
"At once, my Lord." The doctor then turned to Luke, "Goodbye, Luke. Let me know if something goes wrong with your cybernetics." Luke nodded and the doctor left. The room was silent as Vader stared at his son, who was staring at his hand.
"I wish doctors still gave lollipops if you were a good patient." Luke laughed awkwardly then looked up to Vader who was still staring at him. He blinked at him confused. "What?"
"Why were you and your friend in the throne room?" Vader asked, Luke jumped slightly in his bed and folded his arms.
"You're really asking me that now!?" Luke held up his cybernetic hand as in signaling bad timing, Luke looked at him baffled.
"Yes, I fail to see why this is a bad time to discuss it." Luke's eyes widened.
"Because I just lost my hand!" Luke grabbed his wrist and shook the prosthetic for emphasis.
"Do not try and change the subject, you are perfectly capable of telling me what transpired." Vader insisted, Luke slumped in his bed slightly and huffed.
"Well- me and Aaron were walking around the halls of the palace. We were about to turn back when Aaron leaned back on the wall revealing some weird hole in the wall!" Luke smiled and Vader felt a spike of excitement from his son as he retold his mini-adventure. "I-I wanted to explore it.." Luke paused, "So, we walked through the weird old tunnel and came to a dead end. We opened it and it led to the throne room."
Vader let out a sigh as his son finished the story and just stared at Luke, he truly was his father's son. He remembered in an old life exploring the same tunnels, even so, they were dangerous. "Do you realize how dangerous those tunnels are? Going through those tunnels is not allowed!" Vader reprimanded.
"Well I didn't know that!" Luke exclaimed, "It's not like there is a sign that says Don't go through the secret tunnels anywhere throughout the palace!"
"What about exploring a secret tunnel that was hidden seems acceptable to you?" Vader pointed at his son, "You should have known better!" Luke sighed.
"I am sorry.." Luke mumbled.
"You are grounded," Vader stated, Luke moved to get out of his hospital bed and sighed.
"For how long?" Luke asked as he walked towards his father.
"A few days, seeing as you lost your hand seems punishment enough." Luke groaned.
"Okaaay.." They walked out of the hospital room and out of the hospital. Once Luke spotted the shuttle he jumped slightly. "Oh, can I fly!? Please!"
"Luke, you are fifteen, as well as being grounded." The shuttle ramp began to lower, "Flying is out of the question."
"Will you teach me how to fly soon?" Luke asked as they boarded the ship.
"Yes, my son. I will teach you soon." Luke smiled and they entered the cockpit, Luke plopped into the co-pilot's seat and rubbed his cybernetics. Vader lifted the shuttle and flew back to his hangar.
A/N I hope you guys liked this update!
Aso, I am pretty sure praetorian guards weapons have plasma like a lightsaber so his skin kinda melted together. If I am wrong let me know so I can update the chapter.
Let me know what you guys think! I love to hear from you and comments fuel me lol anyways thank you for reading!