As agreed, the Jedi lowered their defenses. Or so they claimed. To be more accurate, Luke told them to stop hiding. What happened next can only be described as them taking one deep breath, and then they said it was done. Didn't think it would be that easy, but what do I know? As soon as that was done, the Jedi were preparing themselves for battle. But as they were, I saw something appear next to Maen's ship. It looked like a man, only transparent, almost like a ghost. But strangely, nobody else seemed to notice him.
"Er... Doc?" I asked, "Is that normal?"
The Doctor looked at what I was pointing: "Is what normal?"
Clearly, he didn't see what I saw.
"What's going o..." Luke decided to join in, but stopped before he finished his sentence.
I looked at Luke, and noticed how he was staring at the ship as well. From this, I could deduce he could see that ghost as well. As he did, he whispered something. I couldn't be sure, but it sounded like "father". As soon as he whispered that, he ran to the ship. As he ran, the ghost entered the ship. Maen, who saw Luke running, came to him, probably asking what was the matter, but Luke was telling her off by the looks of it.
"Doc, we might want to follow Luke." I suggested.
"Good, we agree on something after all." the Doctor replied.
We both ran to the ship, where we also ran into Maen: "What's wrong with Uncle Luke?"
"Only one way to find out." the Doctor replied.
We all entered the ship, where we saw Luke, talking to air. At least that was probably what the Doctor and Maen saw, but I saw the ghost that Luke was talking to.
"Luke." the ghost said, "Why were you hiding from me."
"Father..." Luke stammered, "Why... why are you doing all this?"
"I'm doing whatever is necessary for all." the ghost replied, "As I've always done."
"Necessary?" Luke questioned, "All the deaths, it was all necessary?"
Of course the Doctor and Maen were catching just one side of the conversation, so they had no idea what this was all about. But even if they could hear the full conversation, they wouldn't be any wiser than I was.
"Well, it isn't uncommon for leaders to lose their wits just before battle." the Doctor suddenly decided to come out of hiding.
"Doctor?" Luke seemed frightened at the sight of him.
"He's not losing anything." the ghost said, and judging from the look on the Doctor's face, as well as Maen's, they could suddenly see him now too.
"Are you... my great-grandfather?" Maen asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I've been trying to find you for a very long time." the ghost replied, "And now I have. And soon, so will my troops."
"You have an army that could help us?" Maen asked.
"Not help us." Luke said, though there was a hint of shame in his voice, "Kill us."
"Only if you resist." the ghost said.
"Wait." the Doctor brought up, "We are expecting Darth Vader's army to find us, and you're saying you have an army looking to kill us..."
I could see where the Doctor was going with this. Either there were two armies that want to rid the galaxy of all Jedi's, or the two armies were really one and the same. But if so, wouldn't that mean...? As an answer, the ghost changed from a man into... something that looked more like a machine than a man. It was completely covered in black, wore some kind of device on its chest, a large cape, a strangely shaped helmet, and breathed heavily.
"Vader?" Maen was astonished.
That machine-man was Darth Vader? So in other words... Luke's father was Darth Vader? I've heard of dysfunctional families before (I should know, as I'm part of one), but this deserved the cake.
"So you're the famous Darth Vader?" the Doctor acted like he wasn't at all surprised at the news, "Good, I was hoping I could talk to you."
"I have no concerns about insignificant conversations with outsiders." Vader replied.
"Not even if the conversation meant saving the universe?" I brought up.
"That is exactly why I have no concerns with you." Vader replied.
This made no sense: "Wait, what are you saying?"
"Listen to me, Vader." the Doctor said, "You've been using too much of the Force, it's changing the fabric of..."
"I am fully aware that using too much of the Force has repercussions." Vader interrupted him, "But I'm not the one to hold responsible for it."
"Oh yeah?" Maen couldn't hide her disgust, "Then who is?"
"The Jedi." Vader replied.
"Oh sure!" Maen didn't believe him, "Is that what helps you sleep at night?"
"I don't think he needs to sleep." Luke said.
"Wait!" the Doctor stopped them, "Let him talk. What do you mean?"
Vader explained: "Long ago, before the Empire, the Jedi were an elite force, tasked with..."
"Keeping the peace and order." I interrupted, "We already know that."
"By means of using the Force." Vader continued, as if I didn't interrupt him at all, "However, we were also taught to keep restraints on what we were doing, for reasons I'm sure you are aware of by now."
"So if you know the consequences of using the Force..." Maen asked, "... then why do you..."
"As I'm trying to explain..." Vader interrupted her, "... the Empire killed almost every Jedi. When the Empire fell, Luke was the last and only remaining Jedi. However, his training was brief, and he didn't learn everything he needed to know. Including the restraints to using the Force."
"So what you're saying is that because Luke didn't learn them..." the Doctor summarized, "... he didn't teach them to other Jedi's, so they use too much of the Force and..."
"Are you telling me that this whole time, we've been siding with the bad guys?" I asked.
"Now it makes sense." the Doctor started, "These Jedi's seemed to laid back, too eager to fight. They were nothing like the Jedi's that I've heard so much about."
"Hold on!" Maen couldn't believe it, "Are we really gonna believe Darth Vader?"
"He may have been the most ruthless man ever alive." Luke answered, "But I've never heard him lie."
"Even evil has standards." I remarked.
"This doesn't make things simple." Luke brought up, "If it were just you, father, we could just make you stop doing what you do, and be done with it. But instead, we have to deal with a whole group of people."
"Who don't listen easily, on top of that." I added.
"Maybe they won't have to." the Doctor realized, "Do you have an armada on its way to this planet?"
"Yes." Vader answered, "Why?"