Feel free to join my Discord server: . disc ord. gg /3b3B xdHQKG (delete the spaces). You can talk about whatever you want in there. SW and RDR channels are in there as well.
Chapter 8
The scarred form of Vader slept soundly in the bacta tank, the aftermath of the surgery taking a huge toll on his body.
Two big scars-one on the top of his head and one under his eye, marked his face for all to see. Since his skin gained color again, Luke took in his appearance and felt revolting horror and protective anger. His skin had so many scars of different sizes. Some small scars on different sides of his forehead. Some implied intensive injuries such as a line of scars on the left side of his head and cheek. The nose, cheekbones, and chin had the least of the worst scarring. None of them would ever heal.
Luke knew all too well about the conflicting emotions with his arrival. Admittedly, Luke was unprepared for the Emperor's reaching out, and he and the doctors mutually agreed that he should be next to Vader's side as they checked for any injuries he may have inflicted on his body.
It was only with years of sedating Dark Jedi and counseling them that he knew exactly what to say and how to reach him. The mention of his mother was enough. Had it not been, he would have pushed with his grandmother, and it was surprisingly lax to convince him to remove that medical abomination.
Vader lost everyone he cared about. His mother, his wife… once he discovered he had a son, a spark of light was ignited. After decades spent in self-loathing, Vader finally had something to hold onto. Someone who could truly be at his side. Vader started considering overthrowing Palpatine with a purpose now.
Luke refused him, so ultimately Vader was left to continue his service to the Emperor, but the spark wasn't gone. And after their duel on the Death Star, Vader learned he had another child.
Once again, Vader had so much to lose. His fear of loss kicked in as he watched Luke writhing in agony because of Sidious. There was no end. No end unless Palpatine died. Finally, letting go, and accepting his fate, Vader did what he was always supposed to do.
Had he not interfered, Palpatine would've killed Luke. The Battle of Endor was already lost, and Vader would have left with Sidious, escaping to continue with the Empire.
Vader would be trapped with even more self-loathing alongside his Master, who would likely seek out his replacement in Leia now.
Luke banished the thought, for the icy chill that shot through his core threatened to consume him. That monster would not get his hands on his sister-not as he did to his father, as he ruined his parents.
In the Emperor's palace on the second Death Star, Luke was a young Jedi to boot. Powerful but still required training.
It's been years since then, and this time, he would be prepared when he had to do the inevitable and destroy the Emperor. There was no turning someone that far from the Dark Side. It would be meaningless.
But that would still leave behind many complications. It was not like Luke would be able to kill the Emperor and walk off into the sunset; for that was not how the galaxy worked. It had been established the Emperor sensed Vader's betrayal and would likely increase security around the planet, if not the entire Sector. Additionally, he needed to find out where Mara was; leaving her in the Dark Side was not an option.
Naturally, his thoughts swayed. What about Han and Chewie?!
Was his friend going to survive?!
Kark, he had altered the entire timeline, somewhat recklessly.
Oh, damn, he'd forgotten the trouble Han got into this time, and the small detail that Jabba the Hutt was still alive.
Jabba wasn't just a galactic gangster; now, he was the sole head of the Hutt Cartel, which was the largest criminal organization in the galaxy. Han had just karked up; he had dumped his cargo of valuable spice he was smuggling when Imperials boarded and searched his ship. He was in Mos Eisley looking for a way to make the credits to pay Jabba back because he knew that if he tried to run, he'd be dead. The Hutt Cartel was so powerful; it maintained its own standing Army and Navy. How were you going to run from a criminal organization that didn't care about laws and had the resources of an entire government? Essentially, he was trying to save his life in the only way he could think of.
It was him and Obi-Wan who convinced Han to come along. Luke groaned, feeling like smashing his head against the closest wall.
This whole adventure was going to be harder the second time around, wasn't it?
Luke took a deep breath to calm himself and shook his head in vexation. He needed to use a punching bag to vent.
'Focus on the here and now, Skywalker,' Luke reprimanded himself, chewing his lower lip, 'you can worry about all of your concerns later.'
"Irritated with the changing past, son?" A youthful voice asked, yet Luke would recognize that aura anywhere. Even sleeping, his father felt strongly in the Force.
It was childish and not very Jedi-like. But a part of Luke wanted Vader to shut up. It was probably a part of his younger self with which he had merged. He disregarded that echo; the pale shadow of himself. That querulous, immature, boy was, for most intents and purposes, gone. He had been absorbed by the older personality of a scarred veteran and Grandmaster that now define Luke Skywalker these days.
Amusement over disappointment stirred around the Sith in the bacta tank.
"Wishing me to "shut up" is unbecoming, Son," Vader quipped.
Luke leveled Vader with a glare, and he sensed that the impossible form of his father was enjoying this far too much. "You know, you make it so difficult sometimes."
Han aside, he'd briefly thought of Obi-Wan, a part of him wondering what he was thinking about the tiny detail that Leia was on Tatooine and Luke was not. That was a storm Luke would have to prepare to fend off. Contributing this to the fact that Vader would be accompanying him back to Tatooine, Luke couldn't help but smile with merriment. Yoda was a whole other story.
He held no animosity in his heart for both men, but their secrecy led to many problems. He would have to talk with them about it. Vader, too. Clear this up. Because they all represented problems of the old Jedi Order.
It was no irony that Darth Vader was "stoic, impassive, cold". For that didn't only represent the Sith, but the Jedi in the days of old. Leaving Shmi Skywalker to die was the beginning of the end, leading his father to desperation.
Luke knew even now he might do the same. Their connection, albeit barely formed, always existed due to his genetic contribution to her. The Dark Side only blinded his vision from realizing the truth about Leia when he first spotted her all those years ago.
Another hour passed in a blur, and Luke felt like he was ready for what he was about to do.
Luke placed his hand on the bacta tank and closed his eyes, reaching out to the Force to gently nudge against Vader's barriers. Vader accepted without argument.
"Luke," Vader said slowly. Yet still, physically, the man didn't stir.
"We have to separate that bond before he tries it again," retorted Luke strictly.
Faint displeasure surrounded his father, "It is going to be dangerous fo-"
Irritation engulfed him, "I'm not a child, Father, I am well-trained beyond my years... You have to let me do this."
Now Luke could feel Vader's seething glare on him, and this was more paternal than expected.
"If it becomes hazardous and you do not retreat, there will be swift consequences."
Admittedly, a part of him felt amused at that. The thought of Vader trying to punish him for disobedience. Newsflash, it wouldn't work.
"Okay, Father," Luke said, not taking the threat seriously.
Oops, Luke may have underestimated him. The Dark Side wrapped around him, growling. It wasn't painful, yet it enforced Vader's stance on the situation.
Vader's molten eyes boiled within Luke's vision. "I am not playing."
"Alright, Alright," he finally consented. Sithspit, he couldn't wait to reunite with Leia. Let Vader baby her around for a bit. Hopefully, Leia would be a lot more willing to bond with their father this time.
Moments passed as Luke began digging deep. Currently, he had to be as fragile as he could be unless Vader's pain would increase. The harder, longer, and strenuous road compared to the easier, quicker to accomplish, and faster one.
Eventually, he found it and tugged at it, frowning a bit when he spotted a powerful barrier between him and his accomplishment, the Force mourning in sadness. In all his years as Jedi Master, Luke had never seen something just as vile as this...
Cackling came from behind him, and Luke turned to face the one he'd expected, who had a sardonic grin across his lips. "Do you think he will ever be freed from me?"
"What have you done, Sidious," Luke demanded coldly. He tried to hold no hatred in his heart for none, but that would be a lie to claim that no one reached that list upon recollection. It would be an excuse to say that same remnant within him loathed Darth Sidious's presence, viewing him as a bastard who had ruined his parents' relationship, along with robbing Luke and Leia of a normal childhood, he knew that one day he would have to put that merciless parasite down.
"Anger," Sidious tsked, sensing his hatred, "I thought Yoda would instruct you how that led to the Dark Side. Then again, his last student wasn't exactly the paragon of virtue either."
"You're an abomination, Darth Sidious," Luke thundered, "and for every life you have converted or ruined, you have violated the Will of the Force. You will never reach him again."
The Emperor cackled maniacally, "Another student of Vader? I believe my disobedient Apprentice has learned his place, though I am intrigued to know who you are and why you are so important to him. I have to assuage the effects of what this will mean after all."
Luke didn't trust a word out of that serpent's mouth. He'd almost reached him before. He wouldn't do so again.
Vader beat him into responding, "You've forced me to comply with your orders, Darth Sidious, you've enslaved me because you always hold the fear I would one day destroy you. That is yet another reason why you assaulted my mind. You're afraid."
A nonchalant air about him, Sidious waved his hand dismissively, "Had you not gone out of your place, I would not have raised my hand against you. Your insubordination has been noted and is to be punished. Next time, my impecunious young servant, you will recall what happens if you grate on my patience. Do try to make this display somewhat entertaining for me."
"You let me live. You tell me I'm a clone, but I chose to spare you. Maybe this is all a trick, a way to unbalance me that I'd forget who I really am and become your slave again. But either way, I let you live. I've finally broken your hold over me." Vader responded though Luke sensed the small source of trepidation flooding him.
"As long as you live, I will always control you." The Emperor replied, undisturbed. "This rebellion of yours will end the same as it always did, Vader."
A source of fury coursed through Vader. "You think this is a joke, Sidious?"
Chillness filled his voice, hard, tinted with stoicism. "Far from it, Skywalker. I can't remember the last time when I was this angry. Your place belongs at my side, slave."
"Your feelings for Amidala were not real."
"They were real to me," Vader snapped. "And you took her from me."
"All I 'did to you' was a learning experience," snarled the Sith Emperor, "which you continually again fail to learn."
Vader snarled. "Did I?"
"I was not the one who forced you to choke your beloved," the Emperor replied, "I wasn't the one who forced you to slaughter those children in the Temple. I wasn't the one who forced you to forget your place next to Amidala's side. You chose to run at my side, wanting ultimate power in a selfish ambition, damning all else because you couldn't control your power and maintain your stability. Yet again, you flailed around and chose to act on your feelings on the Death Star." He sighed. "All that power and potential, wasted on you. You have betrayed your master and your allies both; I knew you would betray me as well! And you have doomed yourself and your friends."
Vader snarled, the Dark Side tossing around and through him, but he provided no response, for there was some truth to Sidious's words, and both of them knew it.
Nevertheless, Luke's jaw clenched protectively. "You manipulated, seduced, and groomed him since he was young. You played at his fears, his negative attributes, twisted him into a tool in a state of his lowest. You're an abomination of genes and midichlorians who have no respect over the natural order, always choosing the quick and easiest path."
"Oh, and what makes you so protective over him?" he taunted.
Vader subtly attempted to shift the topic, "We both know I could have murdered you long ago."
"Oh, and that's why you abandoned Marek in your pitiful endeavors to overthrow me because you knew it would end in failure. Are you going to do the same with him as you did with Marek?" he tilted his head towards Luke. "Kill him? After all, you have a tendency to betray."
Sidious was observing him, though Luke knew that he wasn't attempting to probe him.
"Don't listen to him any further," he advised Vader, laying a hand on him through the Force. He shouldn't have indulged Sidious any further than he had before. But he had to, for the Emperor always pushed the right buttons. He was a master manipulator.
Luke began to poke and prod, and what he found was far more sickening and reprehensible than Mara Jade's command. This was worse than that. While it was hardwired into her mind, Vader's enslavement explained many things. Vader was never able to think coherently without him.
Luke spoke, horrified, "This is no bond. It doesn't just bind you to one another; it digs into your mind, roots into your very essence, like a parasite through your very soul."
Sidious laughed mockingly, "Sith bonds are different from Jedi ones."
"It is a mark between Master and Apprentice," Vader added, keeping up the act of insouciance.
"I suggest you prepare yourself," Luke responded, "deracinating and extracting the bond is going to be a painful process, and it is going to be nothing short of displeasurable."
"This isn't the first time I have felt pain," Vader replied. Although his tone was indefatigable, Luke still felt a pang in his chest.
Of course, of course, his father's pain was incredibly terrible. The Emperor fed shields into him since he was nine. It honestly explained so much. On the Second Death Star, how it had taken so long for his father to act. He had to resist not only against the Dark Side but against the poison Sidious had enrolled into his mind.
He was not only enslaved by a contraption but also enslaved to Sidious without much choice, for if he acted out of line, Sidious would have hunted him down through his resources and killed him. It was only due to a moment of luck that Luke was in proximity to prevent him from learning the location of Vader.
His mind had been tormented for a lifetime already.
The Force engulfed Luke in that moment, and Luke communicated with it as always. The Sith Emperor, lingering behind, eyes fixed with contentment and anticipation as he stared at Vader. Vader returned the look with resentment, but also patience. Neither said anything and did anything, merely analyzing the other as Luke slowly started to open the bond...