A March 2005 challenge posted on the
Luke/Vader Writers List: Write an L/V story based on from this plot
bunny:
Someone is masquerading about the galaxy under the name of "Anakin
Skywalker." The information reaches both Imperial and Alliance
networks.
Both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker hear of it and react accordingly.
Facsimile
by MJ Mink
"I am not going to
forget
about Han! Stars, Leia, how can you even think that?" Irritated, he
flung
the rest of his gear in the duffel.
"I didn't mean it that way,"
she said hastily, reacting to Luke's indignation. "But if our plan is
going to succeed, you need to arrive at Jabba's palace at the right
time, and
if you're chasing around the galaxy looking for someone you know is
dead--"
"It's not 'someone', Leia,"
Luke
corrected, drawing a deep breath to subdue the agitation that seemed to
constantly claw at him. He fastened his duffel and swung it over his
shoulder.
"It's my father. Of all people, you should understand why I want to
find
out who this man is. You're an orphan, too."
Her small hand grasped his
sleeve.
"Anakin Skywalker died years ago, Luke. You know that. Why do you want
to
put yourself through the futility of chasing an imposter?" She
hesitated,
her hand drifting upward to lightly touch his cheek. "You do
believe he's an imposter, don't you?"
Reflexively, he pulled away
from her
caress and didn’t reply. For someone who thought she knew it all, she
didn't
understand how she affected him. She couldn’t know about Vader’s
shattering
revelation, but she knew how he felt about her. One minute she was
kissing him
and the next thing he knew, she was in love with his best friend.
"Luke, it could be an Imperial
tr--"
"Enough!" Immediately he
regretted his harsh tone and tried to soften it. "I'll meet you on
Tatooine on time and we'll get Han back. Don't worry about him."
"I'm worried about you, too."
Her eyes reflected both compassion and guilt, and he felt a perverse
pleasure
knowing she was thinking about their kiss.
With nothing more to say, Luke
nodded and
left her standing in his quarters as he headed for the docking bay.
* * *
"I strongly discourage your
proposed
action, Lord Vader," the Emperor stated, static interference making his
holographic image twitch like a puppet on strings.
"I must investigate, Master,"
he persisted. "This imposter is using my...former name. He must be
stopped."
"You have duties that require
your
attention, to me and to the Empire."
"I will fulfill them. It will
only
take a short amount of time to find this imposter and dispatch him." He
was determined to have his way; this was one time Vader would not bend
to his
master’s wishes.
"You are aware that this could
be a
Rebel trap." When Vader did not respond, the ruler added, "As
stubborn as ever, I see." Palpatine's cowl tilted back, revealing what
appeared to be a small smile playing on his decaying face. "Very well,
my
lord, I give you leave to pursue this phantom Skywalker. You won't take
too
long, will you."
It wasn't a question. Vader
bowed his
head in acquiescence, not looking up again until the image was gone.
Then he
rose to his feet and stalked through the gray corridors of the
Executor. From
the moment he had learned that a man calling himself Anakin Skywalker
had
surfaced from nowhere and was cavorting about the galaxy wearing Jedi
robes and
performing so-called 'miracles', he had been determined to track down
the
scoundrel. It was contemptible enough that his name had been stolen,
but what
if Luke should hear of this? He could feel the boy’s fragile mental
state, and
there existed the danger that Luke might take emotional refuge with the
imposter who declared himself a father. Such an event would create
considerable
disruption in Vader’s plans for their future.
"Prepare my TIE," he snapped
to
the aide who appeared briefly at his side and disappeared just as
quickly. His
mind continued racing, searching for possible clues to the man's
identity. A
Jedi who escaped the purge? If Kenobi had managed, perhaps others had.
But why
assume his old identity? Unless the plan was to draw him out. Perhaps
it was a
foolish trap, set by a cohort of Obi-Wan's, someone who knew his former
identity. Or perhaps his master was
correct and it was a trap set by the Rebel Alliance... or by his son.
No
matter. Whoever it was would pay for the deception with his life.
Unless, of course, it was
Luke’s trap for
him. Then the net would be dropped on the pursuer.
* * *
He could've used Artoo's
navigational
help, but the droid was already on his way to Tatooine. Rorra's
atmosphere was
thick and murky with clouds that would've done Dagobah proud. It was an
odd
place for 'Anakin Skywalker' to be located, far off the well-traveled
trade
routes. There had been rumors circulating for months about the alleged
Jedi,
though the information had been kept from Luke until he returned from
Bespin,
wounded and lost in a shocked depression. Mon Mothma had finally told
him then,
perhaps thinking the news would lift his spirits.
Information has been received
that a man
declaring himself to be Anakin Skywalker has visited several planets
along the
Outer Rim.
Instead of cheering him, the
revelation
sent him spiraling into a state of confusion. First his father had been
navigator, then a heroic Jedi knight murdered by Vader, then
Vader...and now
here was someone claiming to be Anakin Skywalker back from the dead.
Turbulence buffeted his ship
and Luke
refocused on the task at hand: landing safely. Once through the thick
cloud
cover, he saw green, rain-soaked fields and distant white-topped
mountains. Not
as soggy as Dagobah, and hopefully more hospitable. A village
registered on his
scanner, but he chose to land a discreet distance from it, hoping to
avoid
detection so he could observe 'Anakin' in secret.
Stripping out of his flight
suit, Luke
brushed off his plain black pants and shirt, an outfit neutral enough
to blend
in with the native dress. A light mist dampened his head, and he pulled
a black
rain poncho out of his duffel before stowing his belongings in the
cockpit and
heading toward the village. Without warning, his heart began to pound
faster
and his stomach tightened as he considered just whom he would be
meeting.
Had Vader lied? Was Anakin
Skywalker
alive? Or had Ben told the truth and Vader had murdered his father? Was
this a
trap set by the Dark Lord? Maybe Vader intended to finish what he had
started
on Bespin by forcing Luke to join him.
No, it couldn't be. There had
been
several sightings of this Skywalker. It could hardly be Vader,
considering he
couldn't live without his mask and that wasn’t a terrifically subtle
disguise.
Anyway, Vader certainly wouldn't take leave from the Empire for the
sole
purpose of capturing Luke--that was a ridiculous idea.
Is it?
He came to a halt, then shook
his head.
He'd been hearing that voice since returning from Bespin. At first he
was
certain that it was the Dark Lord and that this contact was proof of
their
relationship. But in the last few days he'd decided that it was his own
confused mind playing devil's advocate with his more rational side.
Anyway, even
if it was Vader, it was simply communication through the Force,
not
evidence of any stronger connection between them.
“The Force is all I have in
common with
you,” he whispered, waiting for a reply that, to his relief, didn’t
come.
* * *
The Force, indeed! It was
annoying enough
that Luke had come running to meet this poser, but to deny their
relationship--! It was absurd to even consider that he could be hurt by
the
boy's rebuff. Darth Vader’s pride was piqued, simply that and nothing
more, he
reassured himself. He would not allow Luke’s stubborn denial to cloud
his mood;
his pride had cost him dearly over the years and he forbid it dominion
over him
again.
The surface of the damn planet
was soggy.
He hated being wet. Maybe it was a natural reaction to his upbringing
on
Tatooine; maybe it was simply the fact that his hem of his cloak became
hopelessly wet and muddy in such environments. Whatever the reason, he
already
intensely disliked Rorra and that dislike made him even more inclined
to
execute the pretender immediately, without pointless discussion.
His boots made sucking noises
when he
pulled them out of the mud, step by step, picking a careful path up the
incline. At the top of the hill he paused in the shadow of a wide fir
tree and
watched Luke traverse the opposite hill, half-running, half-skidding.
Be careful, he Sent, and had the
satisfaction, petty
as it was, of watching Luke snap his head around, then slip and land on
his
rump in the mud. Vader folded his arms. Typical. His offspring was
reckless,
always jumping into situations without considering the consequences. He
must
have inherited that trait from his mother.
Luke recovered, brushed
futilely at his
clothing, glared upward at the sky, and then continued on his way.
Vader
continued to watch as he mirrored Luke’s path from the opposite side of
the
narrow valley that sheltered the village. As they both neared the site,
his
systematic scan of the area caught the figure of a man wearing Jedi
robes.
Still some distance from Luke, the man spread his arms and the boy came
to an
abrupt halt.
Vader cursed under his breath.
He’d hoped
to locate the pretender and remove him before Luke made contact. With
mixed
feelings of resentment and bitterness, he watched his son approach the
stranger
and saw the man embrace his son. It was a small gratification to
observe that
Luke did not immediately respond and did, in fact, withdraw from the
offensive
contact. But the youngster remained close and the two became engaged in
conversation.
Enough! It was time to
intervene.
* * *
Luke couldn’t stop staring.
Without a
doubt, he knew that he was looking at himself in twenty years. Sandy
blond
hair, blue eyes, cleft chin— If this wasn’t Anakin Skywalker, who was
it?
“I’m so glad you found me,”
Anakin said
warmly. “I have been trying to contact you for months, but the Rebel
forces are
difficult to locate.”
He gulped, struggling to
breathe around
his wildly pounding heart. “Wh—where have you been?”
“Frozen in carbonite, as Vader
left me
two decades ago.” One hand reached out and clasped Luke’s shoulder.
“What a
fine man you have become, my son. You are everything I hoped you would
be.”
He couldn’t bear the touch and
backed
off, wrenching his gaze away. This should be a joyous moment, but he
felt a no
happiness. Betrayal, loss, anger, longing—violent emotions raged
through him,
swirling and stinging like a desert sandstorm. Where was the elation he
should
feel, where was a son’s immediate, joyful recognition of his father?
He’d
identified more with Vader during their confrontation.
The realization stunned him.
“Why didn’t you—Why—I don’t—”
he
stammered, unable to articulate his anguish and confusion.
“I couldn’t come for you,”
Anakin replied
gently. “Nor could I send a message. No one was present when I was
captured, so
they supposed I had been killed. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you while
you
were growing up, Luke. But I’m here now.”
“How touching,” a deep voice
drawled, and
Luke spun around, drawing his blaster.
"Vader! I should have known!"
Why hadn’t he heard the Dark Lord’s approach? Why hadn’t he felt
his
presence? And why in the name of all hells was a feeling of relief
underlying
his consternation?
The Sith folded his arms.
"Known
what? That I would walk willingly into a trap?"
Luke stepped back a few paces,
pointing
his weapon toward the older man. "If there's any trap here, it's of
your
making." He looked wildly at Anakin. His father—whichever one of them
it
was—wouldn’t try to trap him, would he?
Oh, stupid question!
"Unlikely." Vader gestured
toward his weapon. "For shame...a Jedi student, contemplating
patricide? I
do not believe Obi-Wan would approve."
"Well, we'll never know, will
we,
because he's dead and you killed him." But Luke flushed in reaction to
the
mockery and holstered the blaster. It was useless anyway, assuming
Leia's
description of Vader stopping laser blasts with his hand were accurate.
"What're you doing here? If you think you’re going to finish what you
started with him, you’ll have to get through me.”
Vader ignored him and studied
Anakin. “A
fascinating replication...but of Luke, not of me.”
The Jedi smiled. “I’m not
afraid of you,
Darth. I am stronger than I was twenty years ago. And with my son at my
side—we
are invincible. So attack if you must, but together we will defeat you.”
* * *
“I have no idea who you are,”
Vader
replied coolly, though in truth he was unnerved by the Force presence
he
sensed. It was subtle and indefinable, familiar yet elusive.
“Permit me to introduce Anakin
Skywalker,” Luke interjected with a surprisingly sarcastic edge to his
voice.
“There is no such person.” He
laced his
voice with practiced persuasion. “The one named Anakin Skywalker ceased
to
exist many years ago, before you were born.”
“Oh, yeah?” Force, the boy was
not
influenced! “Then just who is this?”
“The very question I am
asking.” He
turned a calculating gaze on the charlatan. “A renegade of some
sort...a Force
user of no particular loyalty. One who is eager to deceive you, to lure
you to
his side in order to achieve his own ambitions to which we are not
privy. Luke,
he is not your father. I have that singular honor.”
Anakin shook his head. “You
haven’t
changed, Darth. Your speeches are still filled with lies.”
“I do not lie,” he growled
icily,
simultaneously deeply affronted and secretly mortified.
“Ah, that’s right. You ‘alter’
the
truth.” The fraud drew out a lightsaber. Ignited, it flashed a blade
the color
of dried blood. “Luke, join me and together we will vanquish the evil
that is
Vader.”
Immediately Vader ignited his
own blade
and held it in a defensive position, alert for an attack upon Luke. “It
is you
who must die. You are an imposter, and I will not allow you to deceive
the
galaxy using the name of a great Jedi.”
Luke stepped nearer, foolishly
brave and
too close to the lit sabers for Vader’s comfort. “Stop! Don’t fight—I
don’t
want to lose my—my father...again,” the boy said miserably, his
distraught gaze
flickering between them.
The Sith felt the youngster’s
terror and
emotional torment. It distressed him when it should not even concern
him. “He
must be destroyed. Stand aside, Luke.”
“Stand with me, Luke,” the
other said
quickly. “I need your help. The carbonite imprisonment sapped my
strength. Will
you not defend me? Use your blaster!”
“No!” Vader snapped. “Move
away,
Skywalker, or suffer the consequences.”
Anakin stared at Vader. “My
son will stay
by me. We will die together, if we must.”
Half-mesmerized by the
powerful gaze,
Vader forced his eyes free and refocused them on his offspring. “I will
have
the truth from him, Luke. Stand aside. Do not make me injure you
further,” he
added harshly, nodding to the boy’s prosthetic hand.
The young Jedi stared at him,
then the
trickster, then back at Vader, his eyes reflecting his uncertainty. The
Dark
Lord recognized the moment when the boy reached a conclusion. He drew
his
blaster. In one graceful movement he was at Vader’s side.
“You are not my father,” he
told the
imposter firmly. “Vader’s right. Who are you?”
The man shrugged, smiling
derisively. His
form wavered, gradually turning transparent, and he began to shrink as
though
sucked slowly down a powerful drain. The two Force users stared in
silence as
the last of the form disappeared into the solid earth, leaving them
alone.
After another long moment,
Luke turned
wide eyes toward him. “What was that?” he demanded.
“Someone very powerful in the
Force,”
Vader answered heavily, disarming his lightsaber and hooking it back on
his
belt.
Luke blinked a few times. “Who
would that
be?”
Vader nearly snorted before
dismissing
the question as youthful naivete. “I know of only one person who is
more
powerful than I am.”
“Who--? Oh. The Emperor.” The
youngster
paused, and for a moment they seemed almost equals as they contemplated
Palpatine’s motives. “He wanted to...?”
Disturbed, he ventured:
“Destroy you...or
me. Keep us apart. Take you for himself. As I have said, he fears you.
He knows
that if you join me, together we have the potential to destroy him.” He
let the
reminder hang in several seconds of silence while he studied the boy,
curious.
With uncharacteristic hesitance, he asked, “Tell me, why did you choose
to
stand with me rather than with the one who looked so like you?”
“Too like me. Besides,” Luke
smiled tightly, “he was eager to
sacrifice me. You warned me out of harm’s way. It was obvious that—
Well, it
was just obvious.”
Evidently Luke was not ready
to verbalize
the truth of his heritage, but it was clear that in his heart he had
accepted
the Sith as his father. The knowledge gave Vader a moment of pleasure,
touching
something inside him that he had not felt for decades.
He pushed away memories that
he could not
afford to recall. The past was dead and buried, and resurrecting it
would be a
dangerously irrational act. What mattered now were the boy’s powers and
using
them to unite father and son against Palpatine. “I have something for
you.”
Reaching inside his cloak, he drew out a small velvet pouch and dropped
it in
Luke’s outstretched hand.
“What is it?” With a
surprising amount of
trust, his son turned the pouch upside down and an icy green gem
tumbled into
his palm.
“It is a power crystal. You
will need it
for the new lightsaber you will build.”
“Build?” Luke repeated
incredulously. “I
have no idea how to build a lightsaber!”
“You had better learn.” Vader
tilted his
head in salute. “You will need it for our next encounter.”
Several expressions flashed
across the
transparent face of his son: shock, anger, understanding... and
something
resembling respect. Luke nodded, accepting the challenge, and Vader
turned his
back on his child, beginning the short trip back to his ship and the
long
journey back to his cunning master.
“So...you’re leaving? Just
like that? You
don’t want to...capture me?”
Vader smiled and continued
walking. “It
is not time for us, boy. Accept this reprieve as a gift from your
father.”
“Well...okay, then.... See you
around,”
Luke called with casual bravado.
Sooner than you think, he Sent back.
No. Not until I’m
ready, came
the surprising reply, and Vader
realized that his son was a fast learner, indeed.
Just like his father.
End