Luke Vader Part 7

Luke Vader: From Slave to Dark Lord of the Sith
Part 7: The Destroyers
By SJ 15-10-00/12-12-00

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Disclaimers: None of this belong to me; everything in the Star Wars Universe
belongs to George Lucas.
See my home page for more details.
Http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702

Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving
me some of your precious time, my friend :)

__________________

Five months had gone by since Luke Vader and his friend had graduated; five
months during which they had served the Emperor as best as they could. They had
never displeased him, nor were they going to displease him now, Luke reflected
as he silently pressed himself against his chosen column of metal.

He bent his arm to bring his blaster to shoulder level, then reached out to
check on his target; it still hadn't moved from its position. Carefully, he
peeked around the edge of the column, slowly aiming at the form of his target as
it came into view. Silently, he stepped around the column and prepared for the
kill. He pulled the trigger.

Jade had already rolled out of the way and was aiming her own blaster at him.
Solely relying on his reflexes, he blocked her first bolt with the Force, then
flipped sideways to avoid another hit. Before she could fire again though, he
fired four quick shots her way, forcing her back into cover behind a column.
He didn't give her time to catch her breath and immediately sought her out,
rendering her cover-less once more. She didn't freeze in fear; instead, she
dove away, whirled around and returned his intense fire around his legs.

Luke scampered all over the place, stepping away from the sizzling bolts mere
nano-seconds before they hit him while, he tracked the girl with his own
repetitive fire, trying to hit his mark. Five other shots and he cartwheeled
away from her aim while keeping up his own fire. While he was in mid motion,
though her bolts grazed the soles of his boots; he bent his supporting arm and
dropped to the steel floor, then instantly rolled sideways and away from her
tracking fire before he flipped back to his feet.

"You're not winning this time, Luke," she commented him as he ran away from her
fire--- then he flipped backward over a bolt.

"You ain't either, Jade," he bantered back, landing near her and opening fire on
her.

It was her turn to be on the run.

And so it went for nearly twenty minutes; both children tried to hit a mark
while skillfully avoiding the other's accurate aim, but neither ever managed to
hit that mark.

The weapon in his hand was hot; he knew it was a bad sign. He had to change
weapon or else burn himself, but at the same time, he couldn't stop firing or
Mara would hit him. Reaching a decision, he continued to exchange fire with his
friend while avoiding her own fire, then, just as he fired the last bolt of
energy that his weapon could produce, Luke drew his other weapon from his back
and continued his attack/defense with a fresh weapon without breaking his
rhythm.

So did Mara.

Neither managed to hit anything except the walls, floor and columns.

Since their weapons weren't designed for a sustained use such as the one they
were pulling on them, their second blaster also reached a 'dry' state another
fifteen minutes later, but the children were far from done; neither of them had
won a point yet.

Luke rolled out of the way as a small metallic star embedded itself on the
Floor where he had been, then he whipped out his own knives and threw them at
his friend. While she avoided them, he jumped back to his feet and narrowed the
distance between them. He meant to surprise her by hitting her neck while she
was still unbalanced, but she knew him better than that. She let herself fall
on the floor, square in his legs.

Mara winced as she landed almost on her friend's feet, but the tactic served her
purpose. Her friend toppled over her and fell down. She hurried to pin him to
the floor before he could recover his complete alertness. He would have to work
on his landings, she noted. She pinned his wrists on each side of his head
while pinning his hips so that he couldn't pull his legs up to pull her off of
him.

"I win, flyboy," she smiled victoriously.

Just like she would have, had she been in his position, he tested her hold
before relenting.

"Sure, but next time, I won't fall for your tricks," he informed her seriously
while catching his breath.

"I'll make sure you don't fall again, my friend," she answered him between two
pants, letting him go.

She herself left her seat on his hips and chose a spot on the floor, then
proceeded to bring her breath to a more normal rate while she pulled her sweaty
locks out of her eyes. She had won today, yes, but only because he hadn't
mastered his landings yet. Otherwise, he would have been a tough adversary.
He was growing stronger and faster than she was and unfortunately, she couldn't
do anything in this area to catch up with him.

He was a boy and she was a girl. She flicked her stray hair out of her sweaty
brows once again, then refocused on her friend.

"What now?" she asked him.

Like herself, he was catching his breath. They were both breathing fast and
felt quite comfortable in their sitting or laying positions. That had been one
of their most demanding work out ever.

"I loaded the data about the armors. We could study them here," he
suggested, calling his utility bag to his hand.

"Okay. I think we should try to remain inconspicuous tomorrow night," she
reflected out loud.

"Yeah, I agree. We were good here, but we don't need to look for this kind of
trouble during the mission."

"Exactly. So, what does it say?" she asked him as she moved closer to him.

He showed her his activated datapad.

"Their armors are vulnerable to beta-7 energy bolts," he read out loud. "Any
other frequency doesn't pierce them."

"Okay. They'll be expecting the enemies to wear standard armor. What can we
select to surprise them?.." she wondered out loud.

The two children mentally checked all their options.

"How about the Zephyrian shells?" Luke offered. "It's invulnerable to almost
anything and light enough to be worn by a shock trooper."

"Yeah, or else, the Caalan design," she suggested. "It allows a lot of mobility
if needed and it has a high ratio of resistance to high-energy bolts."

Luke took a moment to think about her suggestion, then searched in his bag and
drew out another pad.

"Here, write this down. I don't want to forget it," he told her.

"Me neither," she agreed as she began to type in her idea.

As they continued to work on their planning, and that both of them typed down
their most clever ideas, Mara admitted that her friend had an interesting way to
consider his options. While she herself was always thinking in term of
efficiency, he was thinking in terms of dangerousness for the enemy. Together,
they made up excellent plans and they both knew it... and so did their master,
she reminded herself. He was still letting them work together, something
totally unheard of in the rest of the spying ranks. As she gazed at her friend
lost in thoughts, she admitted that being matched with Luke Vader as a partner
had spoiled her; she couldn't imagine not having a partner anymore. She really
preferred team work to individual work now. She refocused on their task.

******

Three months later, the children were still together, still hidden from
everybody but Luke's father and their master.

At the moment, they were en route for another mission, this time on a dreary
moon-like natural satellite. While Mara was catching up on her sleep, Luke sat
in the piloting chair of their small shuttle, keeping an eye on the instruments.
He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees, allowing himself a
moment of relaxation before their mission. How he liked being in space, he
thought wistfully. Whether he was flying in a fighter or a shuttle, he never
wanted that moment to end. He literally felt at home when he was amongst the
stars. He knew that his real name was Skywalker, but like his father, he
preferred Vader. However, he conceded that Skywalker was saying something about
his true nature. Sky Walker... A walker in the Sky... a pilot. A Jedi pilot.
This was what his life was supposed to be and he knew it. Moreover, he admitted
seriously, he couldn't deny it, even if he had wanted to. The pull of the
stars, of the shifting patters of hyperspace was too clear in him to deny it.
And if he hadn't met his father, he began more grimly... if that cursed Kenobi
had won... he wouldn't be a pilot, he fumed as his anger grew in him. The Jedi
had done everything he could to ruin his life; he deserved to die, he mentally
spat in disgust. If only he could kill him, he thought darkly, images of how he
would attack and destroy the Jedi roaming freely in his head. How proud he
would be to capture his lightsaber and present it to his master and father...
but he couldn't, he reminded himself. He was bound to obey his master, and his
master wanted Kenobi alive. He had promised him that he would be allowed to
kill him someday; his master always kept his promise, he reminded himself
sternly so he would patiently wait for his permission. It was his duty.
He spent the rest of his shift gazing at the shifting pattern of hyperspace.

Time to roll, Mara thought as she finished concealing her different weapons on
herself. On the other side of the hold, her friend did the same thing before
checking his stealth speeder bike. She herself finished with her new
lightsaber, fastening it to her belt. Unlike her friend, she couldn't hope to
deflect a blaster bolt with it, but she now knew how to manipulate the long
blade to cut through 'anything'.

"Ready?" he asked her, turning on his engine.

"Yes. Have you rechecked the location of the base?"

"Three miles south of here, in the mountains," he told her.

Unlike the first times when she had asked him the information anew, her partner
remained calm and serene, aware now that it could only help them to be perfect
if they asked each other those kind of questions.

"Let's get this over with," he smiled grimly.

She could only agree with him. The small docking bay of their ship opened up
and they swiftly revved their engines. One after the other, they left their
concealed ship and silently flew toward their target who was unaware that he was
living his last hour.

Since the base was located high in the mountain, they made sure to remain in the
blind spots of their surveillance network. Once at the foot of the mountain
range, they found small, convenient caves to hide their speeder bikes, then
pulled out their climbing equipment and began their ascension. Carefully yet
swiftly, they made their way upward. Luke constantly scanned the rocks to
detect any alarm system. Fifty meters above the ground, they began to run into
some of them; they took some extra time to reach a safer place to continue their
climb.

Finally, they reached their target's level, then location. They crouched low,
careful to remain out of sight. Guards were patrolling around the strange
construction which reminded Luke of a tavern more than a base. Since the young
spies knew that the guards had to report every twenty minutes, they didn't
kill them right away; instead, they waited for their attentions to drift away
from a shadowy area of the courtyard, then ran as fast as they could from their
hiding spot to the side wall that was pressed close to the surrounding rocky
wall of the mountain.

*Cover me.* Mara sent to Luke as she turned toward the wall and scanned it for a
place to carve a hole.

She found it in the middle of the long wall; it was the storage room. The other
rooms around it were full of people, but above it, it was deserted. It was
exactly what they needed, she reflected. Their target was located on the second
floor.

Twenty seconds later, she closed up her shortened lightsaber, reset its length,
then pushed the carved concrete inside. Her friend reached out with the Force
and kept it from making too much noise when it landed on the floor. She was the
first inside the small room. Another hole later and they were on the second
floor of the refuge.

*He's in the rooms at the end of the corridor,* Luke sent her.

*With five guards between him and us,* Mara added.

*Let's get closer.*

They silently crept closer to the adults' presences, planting bombs every five
meters on their way toward them. Once they didn't have anymore bombs to hide,
they kept their blasters and other weapons handy; an alien, dart-throwing weapon
for Mara and knives for Luke.

*Ready?* she asked him as they came up on a junction which led to a guarded
corridor.

Luke silently nodded, then they both pushed themselves against the far wall of
new the corridor, surprising the unwary guards with their sudden appearance;
Luke covered the higher targets while Mara took care of the lower ones. Two
breaths later, it was over.

They hurried to reach the now unguarded room where their target was having a
meeting with his chief-councilors.

*Cover me,* Mara sent Luke.

The door had barely opened when they both tumbled inside the room, stunning
their target with their appearance. Mara immediately set her sight on the
leader while Luke focused on the two other men. Seconds later, she set about
stealing the information which she had to retrieve from her victim, Luke covered
their backs and closed the room---- when an unfortunate man stepped inside the
room. He shared his companions fate.

*Time to go,* Mara sent Luke, already working on their chosen way out.

The boy Force-retrieved his weapon before joining her, then they initiated the
bombs' count down, giving themselves fifteen seconds to leave the building.
Once the courtyard was fairly deserted, they jumped down from their perch, using
the Force to lighten their landing. They had ten seconds left. The moment that
they touched the ground, they instantly ran away from the doomed building.
Unfortunately for them, some alien with a very sharp eyesight spotted them and
gave the alarm. Having no choice but to kill those people, Luke and Mara turned
in mid-run and returned their fire.

Five seconds to go.

They ran as fast as they could, perfectly aware that if they hadn't cleared a
certain area, they were goners too. They neared the edge of the landing, now
ignoring the new blaster bolts that were tracking them.

Three--- two---

They jumped as far as they could, literally flying in the air--- The pirate's
base, as well as the whole side of the mountain, burst up in a blinding display
of fireworks. The two young Hands landed on the nearest, smaller rocky
formation, then resumed their run to avoid being too close to the explosion.
Behind them, a second conflagration put the final touch to their complete
annihilation of their target's base. A sizzling rock tried to catch up with
Mara; Luke felt it and shielded her back. She wordlessly thanked him by
grabbing his hand and urging him onward. They slid down a very steep slope as a
third explosion resounded in the distance.

When quiet returned to the mountain range, the children were already half-done
with their climb downward. Fifteen minutes later, they had called their speeder
bikes back up to their position and were silently speeding their way back to
their ship.

They remained focused on their mission for as long as they weren't a good
fifteen minutes safe in hyperspace. Only then did they let go of their rigid
self-control. Luke broke their self-imposed silence.

"You're lucky that I was there to watch your back," he teased her as he pulled
his feet up on his piloting chair.

"What do you mean?" she asked him while she pinned her stray hair back in place.

"Well," the boy smiled teasingly, "I saved your life."

Mara's eyes bulged in unwelcome surprise; she dropped her hands as she glared
at her friend.

"Did not," she stated adamantly.

"Did too," Luke argued playfully.

"Did not."

"I even did it twice," he smugly pointed out.

"Only once," Jade defended proudly. "That blaster---" she suddenly stopped when
she realized what she had just said.

"See?" Luke crowed as he mockingly raised his chin in pride. "Told ya that you
needed me to watch over you."

Beaten, the girl crossed her arms in frustration and pouted.

"I still don't need you to watch my back," she muttered unhappily.

"Sure," he retorted in playful self-satisfaction, "you just need to work on your
focus," he ribbed her.

Mara's face now matched her hair. For a moment, Luke expected her to jump at
his throat... but just to prove him that she didn't need to work on her focus
because it was already excellent, she restrained herself.

*I'll have my revenge some other way, flyboy,* she sent him angrily, then lapsed
into silence once more.

******

She didn't speak to him until they reached Coruscant. There, she argued with
him to let her fly them in. Knowing how proud she was, and thus, how far he
could push her, Luke relinquished the stick to her more than capable hands.
The moment they began their landing, they recovered their seriousness and self-
control, preparing themselves for their report to their master.

Five minutes after they had landed in their secret docking bay, then used the
secret corridors to reach their assigned report room which was beside the main
throne room. There, they knelt on the floor and waited for their master's
convenience. They didn't pay any attention to the time they spent in this
position; it was their duty to wait after their Emperor.

A long while later, he finally entered the room; the children didn't raise
their heads, waiting for his permission to do so. The Emperor regally sat down
in his throne.

"Your report, children," he told them in his dry voice.

"The traitor Vuki is dead, Master," Mara began. "He and his closest associates
have received two bolts each in the head."

Luke continued without prompting. "The base is also completely destroyed,
Master. We used C-4 to blow it up; nobody survived the explosion."

"Neither did the mountain I'd say from the images I saw, children," he
pointed out seriously even as he activated a viewscreen which showed the said
images of the destroyed base.

"One third of it went up with the explosion, Master," Luke answered, providing
information related to the image of their last handy-work.

"And his list of contacts?" the Emperor asked.

Mara produced a small data disk. "I copied all his files, Master," she
told him as she set the disk on the floor.

It flew straight into his outstretched hand.

"Most excellent, children," he praised them, his pleasure more than obvious in
his voice. "With results such as these, I shall not address you as children
anymore. From now on, I shall code-name you: Destroyers," he smiled with a
touch of irony in his voice.

Luke and Mara bowed their heads in acceptance, then exchanged a quick, serious
grin of understanding. That name fit their team quite well.

A short while later, the Emperor sat once again in his regular throne room and
considered his latest meeting with his young prodigies. The Destroyers, he
smiled to himself. It was truer about the boy than the girl, he admitted
coolly, but he hadn t been able to pass up the occasion to deepen the boy's
involvement in the Dark Side. By acknowledging him and his friends as
Destroyers of life, he knew that it would force the child to acknowledge himself
as thus, hence, make him 'embrace' his dark destiny, not just accept it.

No matter how much he made the boy kill for him, he then thought more seriously,
giving him the covering duties while Jade took care of the main target, the
child's good nature still survived, coming back the moment that he was done with
his duty. Naturally, he sneered in despise, it had to be expected that two
children who were constantly together would develop a genuine friendship, but he
had to admit that he had never considered its enduring nature as possible now
that they were active assassins. It puzzled him, yet after weighting the fors
and againsts of the situation for the fiftieth time in the past five months, he
decided once again to let them be for the moment. It served his purposes
better.

However, he mused unhappily, he would keep a very close eye on the boy and not
give him leeway about his care and compassion. His feelings for his father and
his partner were tolerable, at the most, but he wouldn't allow him to feel
anything for anybody else, he resolved coldly. He 'would' extinguish the last
light of the last Jedi child and turn him into his own greatest servant.

******

Meanwhile, back in their secret training rooms, the children proceeded to relax,
clean up and file away what they had to code in regards of their last mission.
Then, they began to prepare for their new mission.

Unlike their last mission, Mara reflected as she studied the layout of the ship
they would infiltrate, they wouldn't be on solid ground. The vacuum of space
could either be part of the weapons, or could play against them. Lightly
scratching her head in puzzlement, she turned her pad to study the ship from
another angle.

Their was only one sealed entrance on this design; their weren't any emergency
traps to penetrate it without anybody being the wiser, and other than the
engines and the ventilation ducts for the exhaust ports, the ship was sealed as
tightly as a can of rations.

Beside her, Luke shifted on his seat, then looked away, taking on that faraway
look when he was considering their options. She was dimly aware that she was
counting on him to solve their infiltration puzzle; even though she didn't like
to be less good than he was, she had to admit that he was more imaginative than
she was when it came to sticky situations. During their training, she had tried
to outdo him in planning in strategy courses, but every time that she had come
up with something truly great for her, he too had outdid himself, scoring higher
than her. At first, it had greatly frustrated her, had even irate her when the
Emperor had pointed out that strength in her friend and rebuked her for not
having it, but she had learnt to accept it. If she were working alone, she was
convinced that she would find other ways to accomplish her missions but she
wasn't thinking about them at the moment because she had to think in term of a
team, and, she added with a smug smirk, she was better than he was when it came
to choosing the most feasible option amongst the ones he was thinking about.

Finally, she suggested an idea.

"I think we could space-walk around the ship," she told him as she refocused on
the huge holo that was in front of them.

"Hmm, sure..." he agreed inarticulately.

"We could poison them through the ducts of their ships," she continued
thoughtfully

"Huh-uh," her friend nodded wordlessly once more.

Nah, she scolded herself, they wouldn't be certain that they would kill
everyone.

"Or how about---" she began as she turned toward him, then froze in disbelief.

Her companion hadn't been listening to her at all. Instead, he had been gaping
at the far away vid set that was showing images of the young princess of
Alderaan who had made her first appearance in the Senate building today. She
noticed that her friend was literally mesmerized by the girl's soft-spoken voice
as she said that she'd like to be a senator, eventually, but that for now, she
had to continue her studies.

Unable to resist the chance to rib him where it hurt, she planted her fingers in
the curves of his hips; young Vader almost fell off of his seat in surprise.

"Hey!!!!" he exclaimed "What's that for?" he whined even as he rubbed his hip.

"Now who's got to work on his focus?" she teased lightly.

Luke wanted to argue, she could feel it, but in the end, he seemed to consider
otherwise and smiled lamely. He knew that she had won. Sometimes, she admitted
playfully, he was wise.

******

Four months later:

*Nothing new for the moment,* Luke sent his accomplice as he refilled his
serving tray.

He had infiltrated the Rodian's spa complex almost a week before, laying low
while gathering info on his 'boss' and his clients; Mara was miles away, on a
boat that could come to his rescue in less than five minutes if he had to leave
the dangerous island. He was now nearing his goal, he smiled inwardly, he could
feel it. Soon, he would get access to his target, and when he would, he would
finally be able to eavesdrop on him for as long as he wanted. Their target was
a big boss in a big company in the inner rim.

Since their master wanted to know if he was hiding other, illegal companies,
Luke and his companion had decided that it would be easier to find that
information by following the big boss in his vacation spot than to hack in files
which were perhaps non-existent. Considering that the 'spas' were a far from
legal vacation spot, both he and Mara knew that they would find the answers to
their questions, if only he himself could get in the private stall the target
was in, he thought in dark frustration. Up to now, they hadn't called on a
slave's service except twice, and Luke had been beaten by another boy both
times. But next time, it would be his turn, he promised himself.

He remained near the target's location, serving the other patrons while keeping
an eye on the calling signal. As he served the men who were lounging in the hot
waters or mud, he reflected that if he could, he would kick all those deprived,
pro-slave beings senseless, leaving them to drown in their vats, but that wasn't
his mission, he sternly reminded himself. His mission was to get close to the
president of New-Icom.

The calling button of the private room finally glowed. Luke hurriedly
disentangled a drunken alien's disgusting tentacle from around his arm and
rushed toward the door. The other boy almost beat him to it.

'Not this time,', Luke thought darkly.

He sent an invisible bar through the boy's legs, thus making him trip. The
other kid fell into a pool, attracting the spa's owner unwanted attention.
Meanwhile, Luke answered the call, took the special order, then, after getting
it, entered the first room. The guards scanned him for any harmful device, then
allowed him to enter the private room.

The humidity was choking, Luke reflected, but he focused past it.

"Ah, at last, what kept you, boy?" his target asked.

As he walked closer, Luke reflected that the man looked nicer with than without
hair.

"I'm sorry, masters. I hope this will be to your liking," he apologized humbly,
then moved to exit the room.

He sent a small tendril of Force into the president's mind.

"Wait, wait, wait, you aren't leaving us already. It takes darn too long to be
served here; you stay here," he ordered.

Luke bowed his head in acceptance, then retreated in a corner of the room. He
then listened to everything the man said about: from his wife he didn't like
anymore to his pet cryats who were eating each other, the man babbled on as if
he were unable to stop talking... then his friends asked him about his company,
or rather, the companies Luke didn't know about until now. Their master had
been right, he smiled inwardly.

Traffic of spice... from transformation to package... Ship yards he wasn't
paying taxes for... Slave market... Illegal casinos, etc. Miles away, on the
boat, Mara overheard everything through their mental link and compiled
everything on a pad before she contacted their master.

His orders came as quite simple: kill the man and make it look as a warning.
In other words, he reflected as he considered his options, he had to be
'spotted', kind of, but leave them in turmoil. Well that wouldn't be a problem,
he mentally smirked darkly as he waited on the soon-to-be-dead man.

When he finished his shift, late at night, he went to the slave's quarters, then
disappeared in the shadows. There, he exited the place the same way he had
entered it, then retrieved his gear from its hiding place, high in the rocky
walls. He quickly suited up, then checked his weapons.

*I'm going in,* he warned his friend.

*Watch your back,* she warned him.

Luke ran around the small cliff side of the beach on which the spa was located,
then climbed up when he found a discreet place to reach the higher part of the
cliff.

Naturally, the president's guards were patrolling the area, but it didn't cause
Luke any problem. He patiently waited for them to be out of his sight, then he
ran closer to a tree and jumped. A walk down a sturdy branch later and he was
into the rented house. The moment he entered it, he checked with his senses:
two guards in the corridor. Carefully, he opened the door, then threw himself
down and opened fire. Seconds later, he jumped back to his feet and crept
inside the room where the man was, also dispatched him, then waited for the
other guards to come and check that everything was okay; he had no doubt that
they had heard his blaster shots. While he waited for them, he prepared his
escape route. Perfect.

When they finally came up, he threw his daggers, forcing them back under cover
while leaving his 'warning' via one of them, then he jumped through the nearby
window and down onto the mossy ground. There, he ran as fast as he could toward
the nearest cliff and the waiting sea. Blaster bolts tracked him all the way to
the edge---- and a fast runner of a man began to catch up with him. Luke poured
more speed into his already singing muscles.

Just as Luke had reached his destination, the enemy tackled him down to the
ground. The boy reflexively rolled with the impact, thus making them tumble
over the edge; he and the man fell down toward the tumultuous waters. While he
was falling, the young dark Jedi landed a few good, judicious hits with his
elbows and head, thus freeing himself from the struggling man to be able to flip
and dive into the mildly cold waters instead of falling in it like the other man
would. After all, he quickly thought as he shifted his position, he had no
intention to break his neck.

He entered the water with nothing more than a splash, then began to swim away
from his actual location. He suddenly felt danger and whirled around. The
other man wasn't dead.

Luke blocked his first attempt to slash at him with a knife, missed the second
cut that swiped a rather deep gouge in his shin, then kicked him hard in the
face with the heel of his boot, then again with his other foot. Finally, he
pulled the knife to himself with the Force and finished the man. He then
hurried to leave the area before his and his victim's blood could attract the
predators of the area.

He finally broke the surface, took a deep breath as he removed his hood and
mask, spotted his safe heaven, then resumed pulling water, pointedly ignoring
the lancing pain in his leg.

Mara heard him as well as felt him swim closer and closer. She waited for him
to be safely aboard before turning on the engines to their full capabilities.

"Did they get the warning?" she asked him.

"Yes," Luke nodded as he used one of their towels to stop the bleeding on his
shin.

"Good."

They silently sped away, progressing much faster than any radar could hope to
track.

******

Six months later:

Lord Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, right arm of the galactic Emperor as well as
most dreaded killer of Jedis rarely felt tired to the bones, but tonight, he
did. He had finally caught up with his two targets, somewhere on a way, way
backwater planet. It had been yet another months-long chase which had been
interrupted by pacifying operations here and there. He himself personally
referred to them as being quieting missions, but the Emperor didn't like the
underlying meaning of this expression so he kept it for himself.

After all, he mentally mimicked his master's righteous sneer, they were merely
bringing them the much desired, even wanted Imperial Peace. Desired, Vader
sneered slightly, he had his doubts about that, but he had to concede that he
sometimes had to resort to violent means to keep the confused citizens from
destroying themselves via their chaos. As he always said, he conceded, the end
always justified the means he used to reach it. Still, as far as innocents were
concerned, he admitted that he preferred to resort to other means than violent
ones.

He didn't have such qualms when it came to Jedis though; they had destroyed
both him and his family, had almost orphaned his son, and even now that they
were together, they were still managing to keep them apart. They deserved what
he was doing to them, he decided darkly.

He entered his library where he knew his son was hiding, well more like
avidly devouring yet another book, he amended, but given the size of the room,
any commoner would have to search him out to find him.

Two minutes later, he found him, comfortably ensconced in a leather-covered
reading chair that was on one of the balconies which were surrounding his actual
location on the main floor. He dimly noted that he was in the mechanics section
of the balcony. Since he had managed to catch him unaware, he continued to hide
his presence, thus having one rare opportunity to study his thirteen-year-old
son without his being aware of it. He had always been curious to know how his
son was behaving when he was alone at home... and now he could see it for
himself.

He wasn't that different from when he was with him, he reflected, just a trifle
more relaxed. Right now, he was chewing at his lower lip, obviously trying to
register what he was reading. He was dressed casually with ample clothes, but
Vader could see that he was even more in shape then the last time he had seen
him, almost four months ago now. He also knew that he had turned thirteen while
he had been away. Up on the balcony, the boy slightly shifted in his seat,
thus exposing his arm... and his latest serious injury which now secluded him
home until he was healed.

The Emperor's report hadn't lied, Vader realized; his son had gravely injured
his arm. On the other hand, he reflected in fatherly pride, the youth had taken
very good care of his wound since even bacta treatment wouldn't have resealed
his tissues this fast. He smiled inwardly at that. The boy was improving. He
had already known that, thanks to his constant successes, but it wasn't the same
thing to merely be aware of the fact and to see it for real.

Up on the balcony, Luke dropped his pad on his lap, closed his eyes before
working his kinks out of his neck, then he stopped and snapped his eyes open.
They became alight with delight when he realized that he was being observed by
him.

"Father!" he exclaimed joyfully as he jumped to his feet.

Before Vader had initiated any action, his son had used his unharmed arm to
vault over the railing of the balcony. He landed a few feet away from his, his
feet slightly spread apart for balance, then quickly covered the short distance
that was separating them. He didn't throw himself in his arms, of course, but
Lord Vader could feel his very strong temptation to do so.

"When did you come back?" he asked eagerly.

"I just landed," he reassured him, knowing that his son didn't like to loose
one single minute of his presence on planet. "I wanted to surprise you,"
he admitted.

His son smirked while blushing ruefully. "Well you've succeeded," he nodded
reluctantly.

Vader knew that being caught unaware normally was almost a crime for an agent,
even more so for a Hand, but this time, he had purposefully hidden his very
existence from his boy to be able to observe him at his leisure.

"Don't berate yourself for this, Luke," he gently scolded him. "Let me take a
look at you instead," he added more seriously.

"You mean that you haven't done so already?" the young teenager asked him wryly
as he turned sideways to give him a better look at his wound.

Vader delicately took hold of the injured limb and gazed at it.

"What happened?" he asked him.

"A moment of inattention while I was shrugging off a stun bolt," his son
admitted shamefully.

"Was it the first time that you had to do that?" the dark lord asked him
seriously, still studying the unpleasant remnant of his son's last mission.

"It was the second time, but its setting was much higher than I'm used to," he
barely defended himself.

He was obviously feeling responsible for what had happened, Vader noted with a
purse of his lips. He himself knew that Luke had no reason to think so. He
hadn't exactly hit a wall with his skills,... merely learnt how to climb over a
new one.

"You did what you could, Son," he reassured him. "There's no need for you
to feel bad about that accident. It wasn't a failure," he told him seriously.

"But I---" Luke began to argue.

"Luke," Vader sighed, setting his hand on his son's shoulder and gently guided
him toward the nearest seats. "stopping a stun bolt is one of the most advanced
skills there is to master," he reminded him.

Luke followed him silently, attentively listening to him.

"To shrug its effect off," the dark lord continued, "is a challenge in itself,
especially for the first times. Hence to avoid an attack while doing it
requires masterful skills," he pointed out.

"Skills I don't have yet," Luke pouted as he let himself drop in an armchair.

Vader shook his head in disagreement as he sat down in the next chair. "I
wouldn't be so sure," he commented thoughtfully.

Luke swiftly looked up at him, his eyes betraying his expectations of good news.

"After all," he continued as if he hadn't noticed his son's yearning for
encouragement, "you would've lost your arm if you hadn't had at least half of
the skills we're talking about, young dark Jedi," he finished seriously,
reminding him of his already fully trained status.

As expected, his son flashed him a satisfied, almost delighted smile; Vader knew
that he had made his point with his stubborn, sometimes too-demanding-on-himself
teenager.

"Thanks, Father," he told him gratefully, confirming his feeling.

Vader reached over and affectionately ruffled his son's hair.

"What wouldn't I do for my favorite son?" he asked him warmly.

"Yeah right, I'm your only son," Luke reminded him teasingly.

"And I missed you very much, Son," he added earnestly, suddenly remembering
that he would soon have to return to his flagship. Too soon... he thought in
regret.

"So have I, Father," his son told him in kind, pulling him back to the present.
"How long will you be home this time?" he queried though he knew that it
wouldn't be for a long while.

"A few weeks at most," Vader admitted. "The Emperor says that he has a new lead
for me."

"Has he said anything about my helping you?" Luke asked eagerly.

He still hadn't given up on his dream to serve alongside him, he noticed,
something which didn't exactly please the Emperor since it denoted a lack of
absolute devotion to him in his son. He himself preferred not to bring up that
subject with the ruler; he had enough of reassuring him about his son's caring
nature. He himself knew that it would never cause them any problems given his
son's integration in the imperial world and the Emperor's higher ranks, but the
old ruler still wasn't convinced, no matter how well Luke served him. At least,
he sighed in relief, the Emperor's wariness was just this, a feeling; he didn't
feel the need to take measures against the boy, but, he admitted to himself, it
did made 'him' wary about the sujbects that he chose to breach with him in
regards of his son. He definitely preferred to not push their master about his
son helping him.

"I'm afraid not," he finally answered his son's last question.

"I thought so," the boy conceded, downcast.

"Don't worry, your time of recognition will come sooner than later, Son," he
reassured him, setting his hand on his son's shoulder once again.

He himself had no doubt that his son would be able to help him, but at the same
time, he knew that he was still too impetuous to be trusted with personal
matters like their vendetta against the Jedis, and he had yet to learn how to
use all his old and new skills in action. He unfortunately knew that wasn't
ready yet for a Jedi chase.

Beside him, Luke kept his head bent for a few moments, then he slowly looked
back at him.

"Tell me what happened during your last mission," he asked him earnestly.

At first, Vader slightly hesitated, then he acceded to his request; the Emperor
wouldn't mind that kind of sharing since it could only drive the boy to earn his
favor that much faster. Besides, he added to himself, the boy would still
remained under his control. Thus, he told him how he had hunted down and killed
four more Jedis.

******

To be continued in part 8: Teenagers

Well, liked it?

Copyright 2000, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
(Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff will go to the garbage
smasher without being read.)