Title:

Chapter: 2. Brave New World

Summary: After Bespin, the force grants Luke's wish and throws him, with Darth Vader for good measure, into another universe where everything is 'right' but nothing is quite right enough.

Keywords:

Rating: G

Genre: Adventure/Humour

Timeline: Post ESB/ Legacy Era

Author: Wellingtonboots

Archive: Slytherin Serpent,

Status: Short Multi-chapter

Luke stiffened as his X-wing came out of hyperspace. The force was making him agitated and nervous. The ominous sense of impending doom had only intensified in the last few hours and for once in his life, Luke regretted volunteering for a mission.

If only Wes and Hobbie had not been grounded, they could easily have filled his post.

To his left, the small sleek craft carrying several technicians, a geologist and Princess Leia glided smoothly between its honorary escort of X-wings.

R2 was beeping happily away about his upcoming oil bath and Luke sensed the other Rogues were calm but alert. However that did nothing to sooth his raw nerves.

Something was going to happen…something big.

The beacon loomed ahead like an abominable finger and Luke felt an impulsive unexplainable hatred towards the pile of durasteel.

Suddenly an explosion of fear wracked the force and Luke felt as though he had been electrocuted but a flash of recognition registered in his shocked mind.

TIE fighters!

"Incoming, TIE fighters!" he screamed down the comm link without even providing an explanation.

Wedge responded immediately swinging to attack mode and one by one the Rogue squad followed without too much hesitation even though nothing was registering on their scopes.

"Convoy, preparing for combat," reported the captain of the vessel with a strained voice. The small craft had been a leisure yacht for a moderately wealthy couple but since its donation to the Rebel Cause the ship sported four guns and torpedoes on each side.

Luke fervently hoped that the convoy would not be exposed but right now there were only seven Rogues against what felt like an outlandishly large Empire force.

They must have known we were coming…somehow they knew.

But there was no more time for wide speculation for his alarm systems flared to life and two full squadrons of Imperial TIEs appeared on the scope like a horde of lizard-ants. Thankfully this gave them the advantage for Luke knew that X-wing scopes had twice the range of any Imperial vessel.

Right now, he had to save Leia and the technicians.

"Convoy retreat now! We will cover you!" ordered Luke, hoping for once that Leia's suicidal streak would not interfere.

"Commander you cannot take those ships on your own," protested the Captain.

"We're not taking them on; we'll get out on our own. Just get the Princess and the others to safety. That is an order!"

He hated to pull rank but in this case anything would do.

"Very well, Commander. May the Force be with you."

There was no time for reflection or even a weary smile; the TIEs were coming around the moon with the X-wings on their scopes.

White fighters swarmed the scene but Luke saw the convoy escape into Hyperspace before the first Imperial ship was in shooting range. His sense of relief was short lived for three screaming ships rushed towards him, each one intent on blowing him to pieces.

Ha, let's see how good you are! thought Luke as he felt his fear morph into excitement.

Swerving to his left, Luke nimbly dodged the first fighter and with force assisted precision fired upon the second. Before him the unfortunate TIE exploded, engulfing its partner in the flames.

Two down, another twenty to go…

Pushing his craft to its top speed Luke plunged into the midst of the TIE formation hoping to catch them off guard. Streaks of green and red light shot randomly in all directions lit up the battle field and enveloped the remaining Rogue fighters.

Using the force to guide his path, Luke ducked and dived, shooting only when he knew the bolt would find its target. All around him great fire balls of light sparked into existence as more and more TIE were hit but there were simply too many of them.

Suddenly the heat of the battle was stripped from his veins and his blood seemed to freeze even as his heart pounded away. A single TIE Advanced was pulling out of formation, heading directly for him. The force suddenly shifted as though its entire balance had changed and a cold dark presence gushed into Luke's mind like poisoned vapour.

Son, we meet again…

Luke screamed with fright and felt his whole being convulse as he felt the Dark Lord of the Sith stretching the cold tentacles of the Dark Side into his mind. The X-wing spun out of control and careered towards the incoming TIE Advanced. A sudden, urgent call sparked through their bond.

Control your ship!

It was too late, the X-wing was moving too fast and Luke's mind was still frozen from shock. His eyes only registered the ghostly form of Vader's TIE as it flew in to meet his own craft. They were going to die…together.

Just as Luke prepared to feel the heat of an explosion, the TIE veered to his left and nicked the X-Wing sending them both tumbling out of the battlefield and into the tiny moon.

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Wedge Antilles could only watch helplessly as the ferocious magnetic field bashed the X-wing and the TIE like insects. Just as he thought they were going to crash into the moon both crafts disappeared.

Wedge did the only thing he could think of,

"Retreat! Rogues retreat!"

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Sunlight hit Luke's eyes like a laser and thawed out his frozen mind in an instant. Luke jerked forwards to control his craft even as the forest covered ground rushed up to meet him. All his alarm systems were blaring and R2 was screaming: engine failure!

Drawing on the force, Luke sought out a clearing in the jungle and desperately manoeuvred his shattering craft towards it. In a second the jungle had swallowed his craft the ground crashed into his view screen. With one mighty shudder his X-Wing came to a stop with half its nose buried in the ground.

Luke drew a shaky breath and grinned despite his condition,

I made it,

The strangeness of his situation dawned on him and without even bothering to ask R2 whether this foreign planet was habitable, Luke eagerly scrambled out of his craft…only to come face to face with a red lightsabre pointed directly at his throat.

The Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader stared down at him from a great height.

Oh Sithspawn!

In the moment of distraction his blaster ripped itself from his hip and handed in Vader's outstretched hand.

Oh double Sithspawn!

"Get of the X-wing and take off your flight suit," rumbled Vader. "You won't be going anywhere."

Luke had not choice but to obey. Behind him R2 beeped noisily at Vader as though warning him to back off.

"Quiet R2, you don't to be fried," said Luke as calmly as possible. Some of the initial adrenaline had worn off and as he stripped off his orange flight suite he had the luck to see Vader's TIE lying mangled amongst the nearby trees.

So he's not going anywhere either.

Luke felt a sense of petty delight at seeing that he had made the better landing despite being a less experienced pilot.

However the horrid reality dawned on him. He was stuck in a jungle with an asthmatic Sith, a cheeky astromech droid, two busted snub fighter and no means of escape.

Ah, the father-son camping trip you always wanted, said that evil little voice in the back of his head.

After Vader had successfully used the force pulled R2 out of the wreckage of the X-wing, Luke sat back next to the TIE Advanced and contemplated escape. Considering his hands and feet were locked in binders, escape was going to be rather hard.

"I would not attempt it then, my son," said Vader as he released R2 from the invisible grip.

"Stop reading my mind," hissed Luke in agitation.

"Do not speak to me like that," rumbled Vader and waved a disapproving finger in Luke's direction. "Just because I do not plan on killing you, does not mean I will tolerate any insubordination."

Luke merely scowled back at the towering figure, who did not look so fearsome standing in the bright sunlight of the forest surrounded by bird song and colourful flowers.

Perhaps loosing his blinding fear of the Dark Lord was a good thing, for as Luke studied Darth Vader, he realised how human he now seemed in this non-combative situation. The old fear and hatred seemed to have faded into the background and now all he felt was wariness and…curiosity.

But he cut off my arm! snarled the righteously indignant part of his ego that refused to believe in anything other than complete revenge.

How could you do that…to your own son?

Vader must have heard him for with one magnificent sweep of his cloak, he turned round to face the young rebel and suddenly the Dark Lord looked much more fearsome.

"You would have done exactly the same to me," replied Vader in his baritone voice. "I was merely acting out of self defence."

The words stung Luke as though he had hoped for another explanation, or no explanation at all, but Vader sounded so flippant, so uncaring.

If Vader had felt Luke's pain he ignored it and carried on the more important task of retrieving supplies from his crashed TIE fighter. Luke had not bought anything with him save R2 for he had not expected to crash onto a foliage covered planet.

Where are we anyway?

"I do not know, young one," replied Vader, who had evidently not given up reading Luke's thoughts. "The wormhole could have dropped us anywhere in time and space."

"Wormhole?" said Luke totally forgetting whom he was talking to, "What's that?"

"A wormhole is a tear in the fabric of space-time, like a Black Hole but it does not absorb matter. However it seems that matter can travel through it as we have done."

"So can we go back if we fix our ship?" asked Luke eagerly but Vader merely stared back at him as though he had suggested calling the Emperor for help.

"A wormhole has no fixed origin in time or space. If we retrace our steps, we would simply end up in another point in space-time."

"You mean we're stuck here, forever!" cried Luke feeling a sudden coldness descend upon him even though the atmosphere was hot and humid.

Vader did not answer instead he pulled out another rucksack from his TIE fighter and dropped it on top of R2 who whistled in protest.

"Hand it to my son," order Vader and R2 obliged with a few electronic insults.

Inside the stand Imperial issue bag was a fortnight's worth of rations and a med pack for two. However Luke thrust it aside and glared back up at Vader.

"Is there no other way of getting back and don't lie!"

"You are in no position to demand anything from me, Luke," rumbled Vader not even looking in his direction. "You will be informed on what I deem fit, but as an answer to your question, I do not know."

"What?"

"I do not know," repeated Vader sounding dangerously annoyed and Luke slumped back against the underbelly of the snub fighter. Of all the replies he didn't want to hear…it just had to be I don't know. If Vader didn't have a clue, then Luke, the uneducated farm boy from Tatooine, may as well throw in the towel and build a mud hut on this deserted moon.

"It is not deserted," said Vader as he closed the entrance to the TIE fight having extracted everything of use.

"What?" cried Luke again; he was not a very articulate person, particularly when surprised.

"There is a civilisation some twenty kilometres to the north that showed on my scopes."

"Really, but I thought we could be like in a time before civilisation or maybe it's all just primitive non-space travelling…"

"I do not think we are that far in the past, my son, for I managed to pick up a recognisable signal."

Luke had half a mind to tell Vader that he did not like being referred to as my son because he clearly wasn't much of a father but he would be stuck with the Sith Lord for some time…

"How long will it take for us to get there?" demanded Luke and R2 beeped in annoyance at the idea of travelling on foot for twenty kilometres.

"A day at the most, if you are as fit as you appear."

Luke tried to look affronted but the remark had been something of a compliment, though it made him green just thinking about compliments from Vader.

With one slight gesture of the force, the binders fell away and for half a moment Luke wanted to run but common sense got the better of him. His best chance of survival on this strange planet was Vader.

A sudden idea dawned in his mind as Luke picked up the discarded Imperial rucksack.

"Why can't we just fix one of our ships and fly there or something?"

R2 seemed to welcome the idea greatly and wobbled on his short little struts with appreciation.

"Both our engines are beyond repair for we have damaged the same part,"

"You gathered that just by looking at my ship?" asked Luke hoping to disguise the awe in his voice.

Vader did not grace him with a reply. Picking up a large black bag he had retrieved from the TIE fighter, the Dark Lord strolled away into the forest clearly indicating that Luke and R2 should follow him.

Without much choice the two of them trailed after him.

"Well at least I've got you to keep me sane, R2" said Luke cheerful just as the little astromech droid let a squeal and disappeared from sight.

AN: Please review, your comments really help me to keep writing and constructive criticism is the best way of improving writing skills!