Retribution
Summary: The Imperial Prince Luke has been killed by Rebel assassins. The Emperor looks over the body with a smile. Darth looks over the body with barely held back rage and grief. Yet the Emperor doesn't know is that Vader has been planning for this event for years.
Darth Vader stood straight, tall, and unmoving. Even his cape was still. The only thing that marked him as alive was his breathing. It was an even kish-kosh of the respirator. His masked and helmeted head was pointed down. He was looking straight at the twisted body on the dark floor.
The body was twisted unnaturally. Its limbs were askew. Blood stained the black clothes and pooled around on the floor. Burn marks were spotted all over. The blond hair was caked in sweat and blood. The face was twisted and etched forever in a silent scream. The blue eyes were open and unseeing.
The sounds of steps approached, but Darth Vader still did not move. Emperor Palpatine walked up and stopped beside his Sith apprentice. He stood there unmoving as well, except for his face as a twisted smile slowly stretched across it. When he spoke, his tone was somber and serious.
"It is such a shame," the Emperor said slowly. "For your son to die so young and so cruelly. Assassinated by rebels."
Kish-kosh. Kish-kosh. Vader still did not stir. His unblinking lenses were still looking at the body of the sixteen year old.
"I have no doubt you will hunt these rebels down yourself Lord Vader," the Emperor said as he slowly turned away. "You will show them the wrath of the Empire."
Kish-kosh. Kish-kosh.
"Lord Vader?" the Emperor paused and looked over his shoulder.
Finally Vader moved. He straightened up then he turned to fully face the Emperor. He bowed down to one knee. "These rebels will be burned out of hiding, my master," Vader said. His voice was off. It was rough. Dry. Pained. "Whole systems will bleed rebel blood. The scum will finally be purged from the galaxy."
"Good, good," the Emperor said with a smile. "Now go. Execute your revenge. Bring peace and justice to our Empire."
"As you wish, my master," Vader said as he stood. But then he turned and looked back at the broken body.
The Emperor spoke up, "I will see to the boy. Now go."
Vader only hesitated a moment more, before he marched away. The Emperor eyed the corpse. His smile only grew larger.
Vader's fleet had just jumped to hyperspace. Vader had stood at his usual spot in front of the viewport on the bridge. The only thing he had said since coming on board was to order the fleet to Kestos Minor in the Kwymar Sector. Several officers jumped when Vader finally turned sharply on his heels. The entire bridge quieted down. All the small talk disappeared. Everyone at once appeared to be dutifully at work, but everyone was keeping track of their supreme commander.
However, Vader paid no attention to the bridge crew. He walked straight out of the bridge. He ignored all he passed in the hallways. Once inside his personal quarters, he paused. Then he moved deeper into the suite. He entered his private med room. The med droids stood powered down in a corner, yet he didn't activate them.
He walked up to a set of cabinets made of shiny metal. He waved his hand, and the shelves silently slid to the side revealing a hidden door. Vader keyed in a passcode into the door panel, and the door slid quietly open. Once inside, the door and the cabinet slid back into place. There was a short hallway with only one door. A wave of Vader's hand opened it.
The dark lord stepped inside and quickly made his way to the small bed against the wall. He lowered himself down to his knees at the edge of the bed. All was quiet except for Vader's loud breathing, kish-kosh kish-kosh, and the soft barely audible breathing of the sleeping boy in the bed. Cautiously Vader reached out his hand and placed it on the boy's head. He gently started to stroke the feathery blond hair.
The boy stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. Bright blue eyes blinked a few times and then settled on the black mask.
"Father," Luke said a bit sleepily. A lazy smile grew across his lips, but it was stopped by a yawn. "You're back."
Kish-kosh. Kish-kosh. Vader was unmoving. Only his hand stroking Luke's hair continued to move. Luke's brows wrinkled. Slowly he sat up.
"Father?" he whispered.
"It is done," Vader said as he slowly stood.
Luke's eyes widened. His hands clenched at the bed sheets. He took in a sharp breath and held it. Then he let it out in a soft hiss.
"He's . . . he's dead?" Luke said not looking up at his father.
"Yes," Vader said.
Luke clenched his teeth down. He knew he shouldn't get emotional. But his shoulders bunched up as he tried to stop himself from trembling. His eyes blinked rapidly trying to keep the tears at bay. A heavy weight settled on the edge of the bed. Luke saw in his blurry vision his father sit on down.
Vader wrapped an arm around his son and brought the boy into a hug. Luke wrapped his arms around his father and buried his head into the thick material of Vader's suit.
"It is okay," Vader said. "You are allowed to grieve."
"But-but I shouldn't," Luke mumbled.
"It was still a life," Vader said. "One you spent time with. Laughed with. Became attached to."
Luke nodded. The tears were now falling down his face. He tightly grabbed on to his father. Soon his whole body shook with sobs as the grief raked through his body. Vader shared his son's grief. He undid the iron tight grip on his emotions. Soon his heart pounded with pain.
It was foolish. They both knew this. Neither one should have been this upset. They had planned for this. And yet, they both mourned for the life that ended. The life of a clone of Luke.
When the first attempt was made on Luke's life at the age of four, Vader's investigation quickly pointed to his master, Emperor Palpatine. The Emperor had tried very hard to hide any connection to himself, but Vader had found it. When a second attempt on Luke's life happened only three months later, Vader knew he needed to do something. That was when he had Luke cloned.
The clone, like those of the clone troopers, was modified to age fast. But once it reached the equivalent age of three, Vader had taken the boy away from the cloners. By then Vader had created secret little pockets like this room amongst his ships and homes. Places where he could keep an extra child. The clone needed to fool Palpatine. And for that, the clone needed to be like the real Luke. So the clone was raised with Luke.
The clone wasn't even given a proper name. He was called Luke, though often shortened to Lu. The clone knew he was to be the real Luke's double. They studied together, played together, trained together, and flew ships together. As the clone became closer and closer to Luke's age, the two were swapped out. It would be the clone who stood beside Vader at state functions, followed Vader onto his warships, sat in on tactical meetings with the military, and would go on test runs of the latest TIE fighters together.
Vader knew the fate of the clone. Knew it wasn't his son, his real son. But he also knew he was going to need to sell the illusion to Palpatine. He was going to have to become attached to the clone. He was reluctant at first, but slowly over time he came to care for the clone. He was very similar to Luke, but Lu was his own person.
Lu liked being social. He liked the grand parties of the Empire. He loved to dance. He followed all the trashy holonet gossip shows. He always seemed to know who was dating who. He enjoyed romantic novels. He also liked to play jokes. One time Lu had filled Vader's feeding tube in his meditation pod with toothpaste. Both he and Luke had rolled on the floor with laughter. Vader stood there, mouth filled with minty paste, as he watched the joyful boys.
Lu was never told of his fate. His fate to one day die, but perhaps he knew. The attempts on Luke's life never diminished. A few times Lu had come close to losing his own life. After the most recent attempt, Lu broke into tears. Vader sat down on his med bed, like he was now with Luke, and pulled the clone to him. Lu cried and cried. When the tears finally stopped, he pulled away. He grabbed Vader's large gloved hand.
"I'm glad you're ok," he whispered. "You and Luke. I'm glad you're both ok."
The attempt had placed a bomb on the star destroyer Vader was currently traveling on. Luke and Lu had been in Vader's private hangar. Luke had been dressed as a mechanic and wore a dark wig. When the bomb went off, Lu had thrown himself on top of Luke.
"You know," Lu said with a smile. "I read a quote once that said, 'Life is not worth living until you have found something worth living for.' I'm glad I have that." The clone squeezed Vader's hand.
So Vader mourned. Sobs shook his own body. Tears formed in his damaged eyes and ran down and burned his scarred skin. And in the quiet of the night of space, father and son mourned the loss of their brother and son.
Luke now had to work really hard to stay hidden. He had cut his hair and dyed it black. He wore lenses on his eyes, making them look brown. It was important no one recognized him, because the entire galaxy now thought Prince Luke was dead. Luke had insisted, despite the crazy risk, he attend the funeral. Vader had protested. The Emperor would be there. What if Luke's shields slipped and Palpatine sensed him?
But Luke didn't give up, and eventually Vader relented. However, Luke did have to compromise. He stood amongst the hundreds of mourners on Imperial Center who gathered in the large parade ground in front of the Imperial Palace. Palpatine's speech was waning on. Of course he would use this moment to be more about himself and the Empire, but Luke wasn't listening.
His eyes were drawn to the large black casket that sat on a podium behind the Emperor. A large bright red flag of the Empire was draped across it. Small white flowers littered the top. He wondered who had put the flowers there. They didn't seem to match the stark almost emotionless ceremony. Had it been his father? Darth Vader stood to the side of the casket. His head was held high. He looked straight ahead. But Luke knew he was hurting as he was.
It wasn't until two days later that father and son were reunited back on Vader's ship. Vader's fleet was returning to space to hunt down rebels.
"Did you put those flowers on Lu's casket?" Luke asked.
Vader paused. He was quiet for a long while, before he spoke up. "Yes," he said. "They were placed in your mother's casket as well."
Luke couldn't stop the wave of grief that tore through him. He tried to blink back the tears. He thought he would be over this, but it was still there. The pain was still too raw. Vader collected his son into his arms. Again the two mourned together.
"We will stop him, won't we?" Luke whispered.
"Yes," Vader replied softly. "We shall have our revenge. Lu's retribution."
Luke wasn't there when Vader finally drove his red lightsaber through Palpatine's heart. He didn't hear the curses Palpatine threw at Vader. He didn't see the light fade from his eyes as his body grew cold.
Instead Luke stood in large medical room. Large tubes filled the room. Luke held his green lightsaber in his hand. He was now nineteen. It had been three years since Lu's death. Three years of hiding and training with his father. Three years of planning for this moment. For the death of Palpatine.
Luke looked over his shoulder at the massive bodies of the dead Imperial Sentinels. They had given Luke quite a fight, but eventually they had fallen. A small beeping sound brought Luke's attention back to the tubes. The base holding one of the tubes was blinking and beeping. Suddenly the liquid started to drain.
Inside was a man. Various wires and tubes were connected to the body to keep him alive. They snapped off and the body fell to the floor. Slowly the man took a big gasp of air and unsteadily pushed himself up from the ground.
"Hello your majesty," Luke said.
The clone of Emperor Palpatine slowly looked at Luke. The clone looked nothing like the Emperor. He was young with smooth skin. But the scowl he gave looked was completely that of Palpatine.
"Luke," he hissed. "You died. I saw it."
Luke shrugged. "You died as well."
"So you are a clone," Palpatine said as he pulled himself up to his full height.
"No," Luke said softly.
"The one who died was," Palpatine said. "I am going to enjoy cutting you down myself this time, but tell me boy are there more of you running around? Will I get to enjoy this experience again?"
"No," Luke said grimly. "But I will."
He lunged, and the body of Palpatine fell. This time Luke watched as the light faded from the eyes and the body cooled until the beeping of the base of the tube started to beep. Luke watched as the liquid drained and the next clone fell out. This time he didn't even let the clone say anything before the lightsaber slashed through it.
Luke was patient. He could have blown the whole facility up. Destroying all the clones in one go. But no this was personal. As the Emperor transferred his spirit essence from one clone to the next, Luke waited. Luke waited until the new clone stumbled out of its cloning tube. He made sure Palpatine knew that each of his deaths were at the hand of a Skywalker.
When Vader finally arrived on the planet Byss, Luke had made it through all the clones. It had taken hours, but finally there was only one. It was still alive, though Luke had cut off its arms, legs, and tongue. Vader and Luke wasted no time. They took the wiggling husk of Palpatine and threw him into the carbon-freezing chamber. There the last fragment of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious, was frozen into carbonite.
Neither Luke nor Vader wanted to risk Palpatine transferring his spirit into someone else. Perhaps in a way Palpatine was getting his wish. He had mastered immortality. He would live forever as a limbless torso screaming silently as a slab of rock.
Luke stood in the tomb that was marked was once marked with his name. After Palpatine's death and Vader's rise to throne, the name had been changed. It now bore the proper name, Lu. Luke was now twenty-five. He placed a hand on the black casket.
"Thank you," he said.
He left the catacombs and returned back to the palace. He made his way through the hallways until he came to a room next to the gardens. The windows were open and outside the flowers were in full bloom. Luke smiled as he made his way to the crib that was placed next to the window. Inside was his son. He looked just his father. Blond hair and blue eyes.
The baby was awake. He wiggled happily as he recognized his father. Flowers had floated in from the window and into the crib. The baby held one flower tightly in his hand.
"What do you have there, little one?" Luke asked as he opened the baby's hands. It was a small white flower. The same the had been placed on Lu's casket. Luke looked out the window. Those flowers didn't grow in the garden. There weren't even any flowers that were similar currently in bloom.
He looked back down. The baby had wrapped his fingers back around the flower. Luke fought back a wave of sadness as he picked up his son and cradled him to his chest. He walked over to a window. Suddenly the baby let go of the flower. The wind picked up and blew it out into the garden. Both father and son watched it float away.