Chapter 19

It took Luke quite a while to find the mess hall. The Exactor was huge and Luke couldn't help but get distracted by the ship's beauty. Finally though he found his way there, and the sight was beautiful.

Hundreds of men (and even a woman or two) sat at tables eating and laughing. As Luke walked through the place he heard a couple words he certainly was not supposed say in front of his father. He heard laughing and talking and joy. The weirdest bit was the realization that most of the men had stormtrooper helmets by their side. The officers tended for energy drinks, Luke remembered, so these men were the stormtroopers. The stormtroopers were real men.

Of course Luke knew they were. He'd always known that on an intellectual level, but he'd never really seen a stormtrooper without his helmet, never mind a hundred stormtroopers without their helmet.

"I don't care if I get discharged for it, if we end up on Lothal I'm shooting myself in the leg," Luke heard one guy saying as he passed. "I hear they've been having trouble with Jedi. Jedi, can you believe it?"

Luke certainly didn't.

The teen was about to approach the food line when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Luke jumped, one hand flying to where his lightsaber was concealed, but the only person who stood before Luke was a young-ish stormtrooper whose helmet was still off. "Sorry, but I'm a newb and the guys dared me to come and touch you," the trooper winched seeing Luke's anxiety. "I'm Cam."

"Luke."

Cam's eyes bulged, "So it is true! They're all saying you're Lord Vader's son but I didn't believe it. I'm lucky you didn't crush my throat for touching you."

Or snap your neck. "I don't do that," Luke reassured Cam. He didn't seem much older than Luke really, which probably explained what newb meant. He was probably right out of the academy, and either lucky enough or expendable enough to be placed in the Death Squadron.

"I'm sorry I didn't meant to imply…"

Luke hated when people were scared of his father, but he really hated when people were scared of Luke because they thought he'd act like his father. "It's okay, my father does do stuff like that but I don't. Just never be in his line of sight when you mess up and don't ever be the messenger and you'll be fine."

"Ah," Cam answered clearly unsure what else to say. "You seem alright kid. If your father is not expecting you, you can come and sit with us."

Luke could only imagine the sheer annoyance on the face of both his father and the Emperor if they knew he'd gone to sit with a bunch of stormtroopers, so he immediately took Cam up on his offer. "Us" ended up being six stormtroopers ranging from 19-30 all of whom looked both terrified and impressed that Cam had invited Lord Vader's son to eat with them.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" the oldest among them finally asked to break the tense silence. "What are you, twelve?"

"Fifteen," Luke answered wondering why he couldn't just be a very short teenager instead of some kid. "And yeah I guess I am playing hooky."

"Did you really fly a Tie-Fighter all the way from the planet surface?" another one piped up. The others looked at him, probably wondering why he'd ask that, but he shrugged. "I was patrolling the hanger bay when we pulled you in."

It wasn't really a big deal, not to Luke. "Yeah. I mean while I was in the atmosphere it wasn't very different from piloting my speeder, and I wasn't in space for long before my father caught on and pulled me in. I doubt I would have been able to land properly without the tractor beam though."

"Your father is the best Tie Pilot in the galaxy," Cam reminded as is Luke could somehow not know. Everyone was always reminding Luke that while he could fly well his father was the best. "On my first mission we were surrounded by rebels, but then your father comes and just knocks them all down without hitting a single one of us."

Luke could picture his father mowing down rebels, but it was weird to hear Cam sound so happy about it. It made sense of course, but people didn't often talk about anyone's death with such a genial tone. "Well he has the Force to help him aim and fly."

"The Force is real?"

The trooper who has asked was probably not much older than Cam which means he would have been about three years old when Order 66 destroyed the Jedi. Still for someone to be on Vader's flagship and not even know the Force… it was absurd!

But not as absurd as his companion's answer. "Of course the Force isn't real Deg. The kid is just pulling your leg."

"You were probably my age when the Jedi died and you don't believe in the Force?" Luke could hardly believe it. He always assumed everyone just believed in the Force. It was there a part of and surrounding everyone. Even if they couldn't sense it surely they had to know it was there! But here these stormtroopers were, and they didn't seem to have a clue.

"The Jedi were just a trick of the corrupt Republic. They just wanted to make us think we were winning the war so they gave us legends of great Generals who could call on a mystical force to do their bidding. Kid I know your father practices that religion, but it doesn't make it real."

Luke was not one for senseless displays of his power, but he simply could not let these men think the Force or the Jedi were just tales. They were very, very real. It didn't take much effort for Luke to pick up all six of their helmets using the Force, but actually juggling them was more difficult. All of his stormtrooper friends seemed astounded by Luke. In fact the whole mess hall went quiet as they watched the helmets floating through the air.

"The Force isn't just some old religion. It's very, very real," Luke told them gently setting the helmets back down. "And so are the Jedi. I've met one." I am one.

"Sith spawn," Cam laughed, but it didn't sound like a curse. No, no it actually sounded like he was amazed and impressed by Luke. "I always believed in the Force but I've never seen it in action. Can your father really do that too?"

Luke's good mood disappeared quickly. "How do you think he chokes people? I should go… He'll probably send a squadron out looking for me if I don't turn up soon."

The stormtroopers seemed disappointed to see Luke go, and the teen decided he'd have to search them out should he ever find himself stuck on the Exactor again. They were nice, like real people, which, he guessed, they were. Luke wondered why the Empire's Propaganda department worked so hard to disconnect the Stormtroopers from normal people. They were fathers, brothers, sons, and yet you never heard about drives to support the families of dead troopers. You found that with officers all the time. Luke couldn't remember how many times he'd seen an ad reminding people of how brutally the Alliance had cut down some officer or another, but never with a normal trooper. It was like the moment they put on the mask they became easily expendable. Perhaps that was the problem. Stormtroopers, especially those drafted, were expendable. The Empire didn't want to broadcast the number of them that died each year because sure it might rally resistance to the Alliance, but it would also make people question whether or not the Alliance was even worth fighting.

Despite what he had told the troopers, Luke wasn't really in a rush to go face his father. He knew he'd be the one who ended up apologizing and that his father would once again think it was just okay to kill people and call Luke a child. It was inevitable that this would happen, as a Sith never compromised and compromise was all a Jedi did, but Luke didn't want it to happen any time soon. No, no let his father think on his cruel words for a while.

But there were only so many places Luke could wander through between his father's quarters and the mess hall, so he eventually arrived back there. Curious as to if his father was even in there Luke reached out with the Force looking for his father's presence.

Luke could sense his father, but it was odd, muted, almost as if he was asleep. Luke was pretty sure he'd never caught his father sleeping before. It was an exciting prospect for the teen, to be able to slip into their shared room unnoticed. Yet there was something wrong. Luke's bad feeling was just growing worse, not better, now that he had eaten. Luke knew he was probably being a ridiculous child, but he ignited his saber before opening the door.

At first glance everything looked fine and so Luke shut his saber. Vader's hyperbaric chamber was shut, proving he actually was sleeping. Luke went over to look at it and saw that all the controls were functioning properly and that nothing was awry. For a moment Luke considered what would happen if he opened the chamber and caught a glimpse of his father without his mask. Luke knew his father was horribly scarred, but he'd never seen it. With the little 'release' button right there…

Luke was pulled from his temptation by the shuffling of feet, and suddenly Luke felt very young and stupid. He'd been so focused on what his father's Force presence felt like while asleep that he'd completely missed the other three presences in the room.

"We don't want any trouble," the first assassin, a Twi'lek woman with purple skin told Luke. She was holding a blaster in her hands, and they did not shake as she pointed it at Luke. "Put your hands up, sit in the corner quietly, and we'll let you live. We don't kill kids."

Luke could feel his saber at his side, ready to be used, but he did as she said. Luke needed to figure out how they were planning on killing his father before he could save him. Carefully he hid his saber and moved towards the corner.

"What's Vader even doing with a kid," another of the assassins, a human with eyes that looked ready to kill, whispered.

The Twi'lek's eyes didn't turn from Luke as she answered, "I heard he had a son, didn't believe it. You don't look all that scary though."

Luke was suddenly glad that he looked much younger than it was. It made it look far more impressive as he started to cry. "Please don't hurt my dad. He's not like they say he's good. He's just a slave to the Emperor, we all are."

"Well at least the kid knows something," another red-skinned Twi'lek laughed. The other two seemed at least somewhat nervous, but this one, the leader most likely, didn't seem to care at all that he was about to kill someone and orphan Luke. "But we're all slaves so long as Vader lives. Don't worry he won't suffer. We don't enjoy causing pain like a Sith does. Opa, is the charge in the power generator set?"

"Yeah," the Twi'lek women told her partner, still not looking away from Luke. "You might want to turn around kid. I watched my father die and it is not a pleasant experience."

It wasn't hard for Luke to keep crying; he was actually terrified. But as Luke pretended to hide his face his mind was actually spinning. Why would they need to turn off the power? It made sense to wait until Vader slept to attack, but what would turning off the power do. Unless…

They needed Vader to sleep to stand a chance, but when he slept he was safe in his chamber. The release button Luke was tempted by before probably wouldn't have actually worked without some sort of code they didn't know. The only way to get to Vader would be for the chamber to open, as it certainly would when the power went out.

Luke knew he had to time it perfectly. Even if the backup generators took a minute to power up the emergency glow lights would turn on after only a few seconds. He would need to take advantage of that short time of darkness; Jedi did not need light to survive.

The lights went out; Luke ignited his saber and cut Opa's blaster in half. The lights turned on and the human assassin began blasting Luke. The teen really didn't want to kill anyone, so he harmlessly deflected the blasts towards the walls. The assassins swore, obviously not having suspected Luke to be trained, but he didn't have time to relish in their surprise. His father's chamber was opening and the Twi'lek leader had already tossed his mask. Without that he couldn't breathe at all, and Luke's father would never wake up.

The human moved closer to Luke the same time Opa came up behind the teen and tried to grab him. Luke didn't even think about what he was doing. He simply swung his body around to get the Twi'lek off and the human shot her.

Despite everything Luke took the second to watch in horror as the blast tore through the Twi'lek woman, killing her. He knew he was responsible for her death. He knew he had killed her and even if it was just in defense Luke was horrified.

But he didn't have time to be. Enraged by his friend's death the human's blasts became more frantic. Luke swung his lightsaber back and forth trying desperately to not get hit and make it over to where his father was lying unconscious, completely exposed to the elements, dying.

Luke was desperate, and so when the next round of blasts came at him he deflected one a little bit less and struck the human assassin in the leg. The sound of his scream was horrifying, absolutely nothing like in the HoloDramas Luke watched. No, no the sound of a blaster bolt carving through someone's flesh and blood leg was horrible.

But the man was still alive, which he was grateful for, and his blaster had flown from his hands across the room, which Luke was also grateful for. The last remaining assassin obviously had not expected Luke to make it so far, as he was barely even paying attention to the fight. The Twi'lek stood over Vader's unconscious body and only noticed Luke upon his friend's scream. The teen came running towards the assassin, lightsaber aimed high, and found himself being knocked back by another lightsaber.

For a second Luke thought the Twi'lek was actually a Jedi who had managed to survive Order 66, but then he realized the blade was red. The assassin, upon seeing Luke's attack, had grabbed Vader's lightsaber and was attempting to fight blade to blade.

The Twi'lek had the advantage of size, but Luke had years of training and the Force. He could have easily defeated the Twi'lek if he wasn't attempting to protect his father as well. It seemed the assassin did not want to wait the couple of minutes it would take Vader to suffocate as his blows with the lightsaber were increasingly more directed towards Vader's prone body than Luke.

Luke fought on, pushing the Twi'lek across the room with the Force. With the fight temporarily ended Luke had to shut his saber to use the chamber's controls, desperately trying to close it. The ships power was back on, and Luke could hear sirens and screaming from outside the room. He cried once, twice, for help, but no one came.

Luke was so focused on trying to figure out how to close it that he didn't notice until it was too late that his Twi'lek opponent had regained his footing and come running. Burning on pure rage the Twi'lek swung the saber blindly.

The saber crashed into Luke's right arm before the teen Jedi could manage to grab his blade. His scream of agony shook the whole room. He fell to the floor, and the Twi'lek moved towards Vader, who had been awoken by his son's scream. The red blade went to take one final victim, its owner's life, when suddenly it crumpled to the floor.

Luke had managed to ignite his saber with his left hand, and had driven it through the assassin, killing him immediately. Each movement burned, but Luke pulled himself up and closed his father's chamber. The last thing Luke noticed before succumbing to the pain was his father's eyes; they were the same shade as his own.