Chapter 18

Aftermath

Obi-wan stepped into the cockpit, now bathed in the spiraling blue haze of the hyperspace tunnel. The faint acrid scent of burnt wires and smoke teased his nostrils and the fried control panel off to the side attested to the damage the ship had taken in the TIE fighter attack, but they were safe… for now.

Captain Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca barely noticed him come in, so enthralled in their own conversation.

"Yeah, I know this isn't what we bargained for Chewie," Solo said. "And I don't like it anymore than you do. But better these guys than that imperial assassin."

The wookiee with a few grunts and groans, clearly voicing his overall discontent with the situation and probably throwing in a few choice words about the state of the ship. No small wonder, since it appeared to Obi-wan that this thing had probably been falling apart back during the Clone Wars

"Look, as soon as we get to their base we can put in for some repairs," Solo said. "Figure they owe us that much."

"A great deal more than that," Obi-wan said, taking a seat. "I'm certain the Rebel Alliance will be most grateful for your help Captain Solo."

"They'd better be," Solo replied. "The Empire probably will put an even bigger bounty on my head than the one that Jabba the Hutt already has."

"Don't bet on it Solo," another voice appeared as Boba Fett entered. Chewbacca let out a fierce howl but the bounty hunter proceeded to enter regardless. "To the Empire, you're still small time. With Jabba? That's personal. I almost took the job of bringing you in rather than this one."

"And I'll bet you're just kicking yourself that you didn't," Solo said then looked to Obi-wan. "You didn't mention that he'd be coming with us."

"Yes well, a bit of an oversight on my part I suppose," Obi-wan said. "But to be fair, how was I to know the two of you have a history? Though I shouldn't think you have to worry about him turning you in for a bounty in the near future. We are sure to be very busy the moment we arrive at the Rebellion's base."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Solo said.

"The ease of our escape? The fact that Darth Vader waited for me to arrive at your ship? There must be a homing device somewhere aboard."

"Easy? You think that was easy? We barely got out of that with our exhaust port in one piece."

"He's right," Fett said. "Your typical star destroyer has a compliment of six squadrons of TIE fighters, imagine how many more that station has. They could have swarmed around us like bloodgnats. Instead they sent six, which Darklighter and I took care of."

"Thanks to my flying," Solo said. "And I'm telling you, there's no way they're tracking this ship."

"Believe what you will," Obi-wan said. "We shall just have to hope that some sort of defect can be found in the stations defenses once they analyze the plans R2 has. You are certain that the droid has the plans Fett?"

For half second the bounty hunter, even with his helmet on, appeared somewhat evasive, cagey even. Then he shrugged, "According to the protocol droid he does. The imperial technicians never managed to extract the information."

"Then that will have to do," Obi-wan said as he got up.

"Your Rebel friends better come through when we get there," Solo said. "I got a lot of debts to pay off, plus the damage done to the Falcon during your scrap with Vader."

"That goes double for me," Fett said. "I expect to be paid in full for delivering the princess safely."

"I assure you gentlemen," Obi-wan said. "You'll both be amply rewarded for your efforts today."

"That's a big promise to make from someone that's never even had a conversation with the top brass of the Rebellion," Fett said.

"Bail Organa was among them," Obi-wan said. "He was as noble a man as I've ever known. I have no doubt that his associates will honor his debts. Now if you'll excuse me gentlemen."

Obi-wan left the cockpit, hearing Chewbacca growl something before he was out of earshot and into the corridor. Once there, his hand drifted to his back where the pain from Vader's assault still resided. It would heal, but it might take some time. If Obi-wan believed in luck he would surely believe that he got off lucky during his encounter with Vader.

It was a foolish, arrogant move to try and goad Vader into jumping up there, atop the Falcon, and it nearly cost him his life; a mistake that he knew never to make again. The next time he encountered his former apprentice, Obi-wan knew that he had to fight him as a new man, not as Anakin.

But mistakes in battle were hardly the true issue pressing on the Jedi Master's mind. Nor was it the impending Imperial attack or the loss of Bail. No, the true source of Obi-wan's anxiety centered around Luke.

How could the boy have been there? What's worse, what could have happened that would have led him to defending Darth Vader? This wasn't how things were supposed to have happened. Leia told him that Qui-gon's spirit had taken up his vigil in the desert; which meant, unknown to her, that Qui-gon had watched over Luke. And yet, now Luke was in the hands of the Empire and Vader knew his true origin.

Obi-wan could scarcely imagine it being worse.

Then he came into the main hold and his eyes fell on Leia then settled with Winter over the dejarick table. No, he was wrong. Vader still did not know of Leia. What's more, Obi-wan had not sensed the taint of the dark side in Luke. There was still time to save the boy and nothing to tie to his relation to Leia. Not that Vader would find anyway.

Leia looked up, both she and Winter, sported slightly puffy cheeks, no doubt from recently shed tears over the loss of their homeworld and more poignantly, her father. Obi-wan had consoled her the best he could as they took off, but just as quickly had had to assist with their escape.

After a few muted words shared with one another, Leia broke off from Winter and approached him, a look of quiet determination on her face. Obi-wan raised a brow, sensing something deep on her mind.

"Can I talk to you alone?" she said.

"Of course," Obi-wan said and motioned for her to follow him into the cargo hold. Once there he stood with his arms folded, awaiting her to gain her composure and prepare herself for what she had to say.

"When we get…" she said. "I've put a lot of thought into this… I…

Finally she sighed and fumbled under her sleeve for a moment before removing her lightsaber. She held it up and shook her head, almost wistfully.

"I keep losing it, only to have it stumble back into my hands," she said. "The imperial agent that you fought at the tractor pylon took it from me. Fett took it from her during the battle. It seems I was truly meant to have it."

"It would seem so," Obi-wan nodded.

"When we get to Yavin, and all of this is over, I want to take you up on your offer. I want to learn the ways of the Force so I can protect people in the way I couldn't for my father."

Obi-wan nodded, sensing her thoughts would be something along those lines. Part of him rejoiced at the idea of being able to train her, but he lamented the price it took for her to come to that decision.

"I understand," he said. "Then known this, I will train you and teach you in the ways of the Force. You will be a Jedi, I swear it."

"Thank you," she said and put her weapon away. "I will not disappoint you."

Obi-wan placed a hand on her shoulder and did his best to radiate compassion and warmth through the Force.

"No my dear, I have no doubt that you will not."

The Emdee droids had long since given up on their quest to shoo him from the room and resigned themselves to ignoring him so long as he remained in the corner away from their patient. Initially they'd tried to treat him, somehow maybe sensing the likely bruises he'd earned from his brief clash with Kenobi, but they'd given up on that too.

Instead Luke just sat alone off in the corner, watching as they worked on saving Mara's life.

In spite of growing up on a backwater world like Tatooine, Luke wasn't exactly sheltered from the harshness of life. He still had vivid memories of seeing a farmhand in the aftermath of a Sand People raid. They'd almost split his head open with their gaffi sticks.

But in the last week, Luke had seen violence to a level he'd never encountered before. From the smoldering corpses of his family, to the stray blaster bolt he took to the shoulder to this… a shot that by all rights should have killed Mara. With all of the blaster burns and blood, Luke hadn't even been sure how much of her ribs began and chest ended.

The Emdee units informed him that had the damage been any worse, or been a centimeter to either side, there would be no hope. As it stood, it didn't look great either. He'd been told her chances were at best fifty fifty. They would only know after they were finished operating. Which left Luke nothing to do but wait and mull over everything that happened.

A few days earlier, if someone had asked him if he would ever have helped the Empire, let alone stood to defend one of its leaders, Luke would have laughed. He'd always heard of the Empire's brutality and injustice and it had kindled a desire to, if not outright rebel, at least stay away from it. And on a place like Tatooine, that seemed possible. Apart from heavy taxes, the Empire rarely intruded in their life.

So much didn't make sense now. He'd been surrounded by the Empire and until just recently hadn't seen any of the supposed horrors he'd always heard about. Yet Commander Topelli, Mara, Commander Cody, even Lord Vader himself had, at least at first, challenged many of Luke's preconceptions of the Empire's evil.

It was the side he always thought he'd eventually be on, the side of the rebellion, that had come off as the most violent in the entire fray. Running around the station, starting a prison riot, shooting up the hanger and siding with the Jedi that had killed Luke's father.

Seeing the destruction and havoc they caused, pushed Luke more and more into thinking that Mara was right, that the rebellion had killed Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. And for a single moment, back in the hanger, Luke had thought things were black and white. When he stood in front of Kenobi, lightsaber drawn, stopping him from murdering Vader. The Empire was good, the Rebellion was evil.

Then with a simple gesture, Vader had broken a man's neck. Luke still had no idea who he was, but he didn't even have a weapon. He had just been standing there, watching the fight unfold. Yet Vader had killed him simply as a way of stopping Kenobi?

Deep in the pit of Luke's stomach, something had twisted inside when that happened. Suddenly he'd seen Imperial brutality up close and personally. Biggs and the others with him only attacked others in a combat situation, at least as far as Luke could tell. But try as he might he couldn't justify Vader murdering that man.

Part of him wanted to be on that ship as it blasted out of the hanger. Instead he was left standing next to a man he didn't know if he should have saved, Mara had been hurt, and Luke found his emotions a complete jumble. He didn't know who to trust at this point.

With his thoughts so muddled and confused, he didn't hear the door open up off to the side and didn't realize someone had approached him until the white armor came right in front of him.

"Commander Cody," Luke said. "Sorry I didn't…"

"Sure kid, whatever," the stormtrooper replied. "You got a lot on your mind. Come with me."

"But I can't leave-"

"You're not going to make a difference for that girl one way or another. Lord Vader wants another blood test done on you and he wants me to be there to oversee it."

"What?" Luke narrowed his eyes. "Why does he need more… and why do you need to be here?"

"Didn't ask," Cody said. "Now come along to the next room and we'll get this over with."

"But with the blast shield down I can't see a thing in this helmet," Leia said as Biggs and Winter watched on.

"Your eyes can deceive you," Obi-wan said, taking a step away. "Don't trust them."

"Alright I'll-" Leia started, holding her lightsaber at the ready, until she heard the footsteps of someone entering the room.

"We're coming in on…" Captain Solo's voice came but suddenly trailed off. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

"It's just a simply training exercise my good Captain," Obi-wan said and Leia pulled the helmet off to see Han glaring at the Jedi, his hand even twitching toward his blaster.

"Yeah, I've seen this show before," Han said. "And you can just shut it down right now."

"I assure you she's in no peril," Obi-wan said. "The remote is on the lowest setting, all she'll get is a mild sting if she misses."

"I know, and every time she misses it's going to go up until it's shooting live blaster bolts," Han said. "And I'm not having it on my ship. Shut it down."

"Live blaster bolts?" Obi-wan said.

"Han," Leia said. "What are you talking about? The remote isn't programmed to do that. Why would that even be something you'd worry about?"

Han looked slightly confused then brushed past Obi-wan and grabbed the remote out of the air, examining its settings for a moment before looking only slightly sheepish at Leia. She did her best not to smile; she had assumed he didn't want Jedi training on his ship. But that brief look said a lot more than any of his words had.

"Okay fine," Han turned back to Obi-wan. "But you better promise me that the power setting stays there. I don't have a med-bay or anything."

"Reiterating Leia's question from before," Obi-wan said. "Why would you assume that the power setting was going to go up?"

"Nevermind," Han shook his head and made for the exit. "We're coming up on Yavin, at least one of you needs to be up in the cockpit so I can prove we're who we say we are."

"I'll be right there," Leia said but Winter stood up and started after Han.

"You continue with your training your Highness," Winter said. "I can transmit a clearance code just as well as you can."

"If you're sure," Leia said but Winter was already nodding and heading out, she watched her dear friend leave then turned to see Obi-wan stroking his beard pensively. "You alright?"

"What?" Obi-wan snapped his head her direction. "Oh yes, suppose so. I was just attempting to decipher what Captain Solo meant with his comments."

"With the face you were pulling, not good?"

"No, I'm afraid not. He clearly had seen something very similar to this before. And given that we know he travelled with the Sith Assassin Mara Jade and Luke, I can't help but fear she subjected him to such training."

"You're kidding," Biggs piped up from the corner where he'd remained during the entire training session. "You mean that Imp witch shot live blaster bolts at my friend?"

"I suspect so," Obi-wan said.

"If you don't mind my asking," Leia said. "And I'm not trying to sound insensitive but… why is Luke so important that the Empire has him tagging along with an assassin?"

"Luke Skywalker is the son of a powerful Jedi Knight," Obi-wan said. "He has much potential in the Force. The Empire seeks to lure him to the Dark Side, just as it did Darth Vader."

"Wait, Vader was a Jedi?" Biggs said. "What was that like?"

"Very different," Obi-wan said. "We must find a way to rescue Luke."

"Yeah?" Biggs stood up. "Do you have a plan?"

"Not as of yet," Obi-wan said. "I don't imagine infiltrating that station will be so easy a task to repeat."

"Then what are we going to do?" Leia said.

Obi-wan wrinkled his brow in thought, after a few moments he began rubbing the beard on his chin once again before finally sighing and handing Leia the helmet she'd removed.

"We will wait and see," he said. "The Force will guide us. Luke's destiny is not yet written."

"That's it?" Biggs said. "You're not going to do anything?"

Leia was about to add her two creds when Obi-wan waved his hand and the blast shield came down. She heard the remote whoosh past her and she ignited her blade just in time to take a stun bolt to the leg. She cringed at the sting but otherwise shrugged it off, hearing Biggs' boots clomp over to them.

"I never said I would do nothing, I will trust in the Force," Obi-wan said. "As you must do as well Leia, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through her!"

"Luke is probably being put through some sort of Dark Jedi training right now!" Biggs said. "If we're going to help him we need to do more than just wait around."

"Concentrate," Obi-wan said forcing Biggs distracting argument out of her mind. She pulled her thoughts to her surroundings to the sound of the remote swooshing about. Obi-wan continued to talk, his voice almost taking a hypnotic tone. "Through the Force all things are possible. You can feel where the remote is. Through the Force you will find the ability to block blaster bolts, cast enemies aside and even…"

There was a flash of… something and Leia twisted the lightsaber from one side of her body to another, feeling no pain but hearing satisfying clicks of the stun bolts crashing against her saber blade. Triumphant, she removed her helmet to see Obi-wan smiling broadly at her then turning to Biggs.

"…Even find a way to do the impossible and rescue a comrade," the Jedi Master said.

Biggs stared at Leia with a slight look of disbelief and for her part she just took deep breaths. Her fingers tingled and she felt like smiling and crying at the same time and had no idea why. Only that she knew that for a moment she had thought she could see the remote.

"I still say we need to come up with a plan," Biggs muttered and left.

Obi-wan nodded and approached Leia, giving her a warm squeeze on the arm and a knowing smile. She'd just taken her first steps into a much bigger world.

He heard boot steps marching in unison every time he closed his eyes. He could smell the acrid scent of blaster fire mixed with droid lubricant and blood. He sometimes thought he could feel the thrumming of a siege tank beneath his feet. And yet when he opened his eyes he was still on the Death Star, still surrounded by strangers, the rest of his brothers long gone.

And now he served escort duty, conveying the kid to Darth Vader's personal quarters. At the very least they had good news to deliver… possibly. As far as Cody knew, Anakin Skywalker died during Operation Knightfall, he had no idea what interest Lord Vader had in his offspring.

Of course Cody had never even considered that the general would have had a kid, though when he really thought about it he suspected he knew who the mother was. He'd served with Skywalker enough to know his particular fondness for the Senator from Naboo.

He almost even brought it up to the kid. But decided better of it. He still didn't know what Vader would do. For all Cody knew, the Dark Lord would kill the lad. He'd seen the Sith murder plenty of his brothers or even officers for nothing less than incompetence. Back in the Clone Wars when things made sense they just demoted people.

Deep down inside, a fire rose up into Cody's chest. He had been bred, raised, and trained to serve the Republic and its successor the Empire. And he never struggled too hard to follow orders. Even when he saw his superiors doing things that he personally viewed as excessive force… some of it downright criminal.

So why now did he feel a renewed sense that the Empire felt like the Confederacy?

No. Those weren't the kind of thoughts he was trained to think. The Empire was the lawful, legitimate government that his life was created to serve. Even if he might be the only clone left of the Grand Army of the Republic, he still owed them his everything.

Which still didn't explain why he choked when he saw Kenobi.

He tried to think it was simply the shock of seeing the Jedi General anew, and the fact that he apparently found some way to cheat time. But as the duel continued, and more and more memories forced their way back into Cody's mind… a new realization had crept into the back of Cody's mind.

Watching the fight was just like… no. No. It was nothing like that.

"It looks like we're here," the kid said.

Cody pulled himself from his ill advised musings and nodded. Lord Vader's quarters. He reached to hit the call switch but the door slid open on its own accord, revealing a mostly darkened room. Deep from within, the sound of hollow breathing reached their ears and Cody had to fight the impulse to tell the kid to make a break for it.

Instead he gripped the results of the test firmly in hand and motioned for Skywalker's kid to follow him inside.

He'd never been here before but he'd seen the plans of all the major rooms so as to analyze any possibility of infiltration from assassins. All in all it wasn't much too look at. An almost entirely bare room save for a holo-projector and a central mediation chamber for the dark lord. Off to the side sat a workbench and that was about it. Any needs Darth Vader had could be found in the small circular chamber.

A chamber that stood open with the dark lord sitting in it, staring at the pair. Unconsciously, Cody's eyes went to Vader's armrests, where it appeared that he had apparently taken the time to replace the hand that Kenobi had struck from him. A hand Cody had seen murder almost countless people at this point.

Of course Vader's helmet remained impassive, so Cody could only imagine what was going through the sith lord's mind at this point. Was it murder or something else entirely? But he quickly put any questions to the side and stood up straight with his arms gripped behind his back.

The kid followed right beside Cody, his breath catching just a bit as they approached the intimidating sith lord. At least the boy's thoughts were something he could guess, anybody approaching Vader in such a setting would be thinking along the same lines. So he had to give the boy credit for keeping his nerve.

"You have the results?" Vader said without preamble.

"Yes my lord," Cody nodded and held out the data crystal.

The crystal twitched then flew out of Cody's hand and landed in an input slot in Vader's chair. A holographic image appeared before them, showing the recorded results of the boy's parentage. Vader studied it for a long time then switched off the holo.

"So it is true then," he said. "You are Skywalker's son."

"Yes sir," Luke said. "Though I just found out who he was a few days ago. My Uncle Owen always told me he was a navigator on a spice freighter."

"Owen… Lars?" Vader said.

"Yes," Luke narrowed his eyes surprised Vader would have that information. "Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru raised me."

"What of your mother?"

"I never knew her," the boy's eyes fell. "She died in childbirth, or at least that's what I was told."

Vader was silent for a long moment and Cody wondered if he ought to leave. Clearly the dark lord had no interest in him, only Skywalker. Yet he hadn't been dismissed so he just remained there standing in place, waiting for the order to be given. He just had to hope that Lord Vader didn't later see fit to assume Cody should have left.

"So you grew up on Tatooine," Vader finally said. "Until you were found by the Emperor's Hand."

"Who?"

"Mara Jade," Vader said. "She is a servant of the Emperor."

"Of the Emperor himself?" Luke raised his brows. "She said she was taking me to Coruscant for training."

"I will complete you training, she should have informed me at once when you were found," Vader said and Cody couldn't help but notice the kid flinch just a bit.

"I'm sure that Mara didn't mean to do anything that went around you back," Luke said. "And… and I need to thank you again for what you're doing to save her."

"Commander Cody," Vader turned to him. "What is the status of the woman?"

"The Emdee droids informed us just before we left that she looks like she'll make it. Though she's still going to be a bit touch and go for the next few days."

"Very good, you will keep yourself informed of her condition and report to me of any changes."

"Yes my lord," Cody bowed, again expecting to be dismissed but receiving no such order.

"If I can ask you a question sir," Luke said. "Mara told me that my Father was betrayed and murdered by Obi-wan Kenobi, that's why I attacked him. I heard you were… active during the Clone Wars. Do you know if he killed my father?"

Again for a long minute Vader didn't answer, but instead stared with his menacing mask at the boy. Finally he flicked a finger and the door behind them shut. Cody fought the instinct to go for his blaster, this man was his superior and he had done nothing wrong.

"Yes," Vader finally said. "From a certain point of view you may say that Obi-wan did kill Anakin Skywalker."

"A certain point of view?" Luke said.

"Indeed," Vader said. "But the Force was with you today young Skywalker, Obi-wan could easily have destroyed you. Only by accepting training from me will you be powerful enough to avenge your father's death."

"I… just acted in the moment, and he's with my friends right now…"

"Your friends that shot Jade in the chest?"

"We don't know who shot her…"

"Commander Cody," Vader said. "You managed to get out into the room when the firefight started. Did you see who shot Commander Jade?"

Deep in the back of his mind, Cody thought he heard something tell him not to tell the Dark Lord the answer. Clearly he was playing the kid and this was as blatant an attempt to sway him as any, but it left a foul feeling in the pit of his stomach. Yet, Cody never disobeyed orders.

"It was the Corellian Smuggler," Cody said. "He aimed directly at her."

"Han? Han shot Mara?"

"If that's the name of the smuggler then yes," Cody said.

"But he knew how much she…" Luke shook his head. "I mean he saw that…"

"He is a traitor to the Empire, just like the others," Vader said. "They will stop at nothing in their efforts to destroy the peace of the Galaxy. Join me and together we can put a stop to it."

"I… need… I thought Han was my… and Biggs…" Luke shook his head. Finally he straightened up but almost looked as if something in him had broken. "You can promise me that you will help me bring Kenobi and Han to justice?"

"Yes," Vader said. "We will bring them all to justice."

"Then I… I will accept your training."

"Good," Vader said then turned to Cody. "Take the boy and get him the best quarters available. As before, I leave him as your personal charge until the time that he is powerful enough to protect himself."

"Yes my lord," Cody said, supplying one final vow.

"When this battle is done," Vader said to Luke. "Your training will begin. You will soon come to know the true definition of power."

With that, Vader's the gears and servos in the floor and ceiling whined and Vader's mediation pod closed down, sealing the dark lord inside. Cody let out a breath and looked at the kid who looked just as drained from the encounter as he did.

"You okay kid?" Cody said.

"I don't know. I really don't know," Luke said. "My head says yes but my… another part says no. That doesn't make any sense."

"Actually kid," Cody said. "It does."

Vader kept his eyes close as he felt the mechanical arms clamp around his helmet. The gas released the internal pressure and the helmet lifted off. A moment later the mask peeled away and he sat back, easing his head onto the head rest, his eyes remaining sealed.

Around him the pressurized meditation sphere contained the specialized atmosphere that allowed him to breathe without the aid of his suit. If he opened his eyes he'd find the chamber dimmed into a red hue so as to protect the damage to his corneas and retinas long ago.

With the time he spent in the cumbersome suit, he relished the moments he had in the chamber where he could at least be free of the helmet. While inside he often went through mediation and healing techniques, attempting to find a way to rid himself of the suit forever. Thus far he'd made little progress.

Anakin look what you've allowed them to do to you!

Obi-wan's voice came unbidden, the dark lord still felt an uneasy shakiness when he thought on his former master's return. The enigma of his youth burned at his mind and probably would have completely consumed his focus if not for more pressing matters.

Outside the sphere, Vader could still feel Luke's presence; uncertain, doubtful, curious, and fascinated. Luke's emotions ran the gamut of the spectrum. Even amid the doubts, Vader sensed a boy determined to do the right thing. He only needed to be taught what the right thing was to do.

Luke.

Did Padme give him that name? Or was it Owen Lars? If Vader had not once been to Naboo and seen her body himself, he would even wonder if Padme had indeed survived and Luke was merely told she was dead.

The Emperor knew. The Emperor knew she had lived at least for a time and yet told Vader that he was responsible. If they were not in the middle of destroying the rebellion, Vader would be on his way to Coruscant to demand answers. In the mean time he would get those answers from Mara Jade and she would wish that she had died when the smuggler shot her.

You're more machine now than man, twisted and evil.

Vader's eyes cinched tighter and his teeth ground.

Obi-wan. Obi-wan had taken Padme from Mustafar. He took Luke away from him just as he turned Padme away. Now he was with the rebels. He had survived their latest encounter but would meet his end with the rest of them when they reached the rebel base. Vader would make sure of it.

And then he would take Luke and train him in the ways of the Force.

When they had been talking, Vader had wanted nothing more than to tell the boy who he was and how important he was. Instead he restrained himself. Feeling the boy's uncertainty and doubt, it became quickly apparent that at the moment, Mara Jade's life and his desire to see Obi-wan brought to justice were what would command his loyalty.

For now, Vader would exploit those desires until the time came to reveal that they were father and son. That Vader had done everything he had done for the boy's mother. And that they were destined to rule the Galaxy side by side.

Next time: The Battle of Yavin begins.

Author Note: Hey! Thanks to everyone that's been reading and commenting. I really love it! Now in times past I've included an author answer section at the end of the chapters to respond to any questions that had been posed in comments. Personally I like the interaction with you guys but also don't care too much for devoting an entire page worth of QA at the end of my chapters. So, I've gone ahead and created a forum here on . In it, I'll answer all questions about the story that anyone feels they really need answered (not that I'll be giving away spoilers). So from here on out, I'll be checking out the comments and responding to questions raised in them in the forum. Hopefully it will be something we can all get something out of! Thanks again for reading! Here's the address.

forum/Lost-Knight-A-new-dawn-QA/144552/