Chapter Text
Medical bay, SSD Executor, Orbit of Coruscant
3 ABY
Luke did not know how much time has passed. It felt like years had gone by in the blink of an eye. Even if it did not feel like years, his body felt like it aged at least a decade.
He was now out of his bacta tank and transferred on to a hospital bed. Medical droids were working on his right hand, or the stump that used to be his right hand. There were so many of them that they obscured his view. He had no idea what they were doing, but at least he is getting medical attention, even if he was a prisoner.
Doctor Vesk approached him holding a datapad. “Good morning, my lord.”
Luke winced again at the title. “I told you I’m no lord. Just call me Luke.”
“You are Lord Vader’s son. While you have no formal title as of yet, my honor demands that I recognize and address you properly,” Vesk told him stiffly.
Luke rolled his eyes and scoffed. These imperials are so uptight its starting to suffocate him.
“My lord,” Doctor Vesk cleared his throat. “the superficial wounds on your face and shoulder have healed well during your cycle in the bacta tank. Any other abrasions on your skin have already been dealt with. Moreover, we have successfully installed the neural coupling on your arm. All we need to do now is to attach your prosthesis.”
Luke inwardly felt relief at this news. His right arm felt too light, like a sword missing its pommel. He felt unbalanced and incomplete.
“Will it happen today?” Luke asked Vesk.
The doctor frowned. “Unfortunately, tests are still being conducted by the medical engineers from the Imperial Medical Academy on Coruscant. You see, Lord Vader ordered a highly advanced yet experimental model of a right arm prosthesis. He made it clear that it should be designed specifically according to your measurements.”
Luke’s eyes widened at this revelation. “What?”
Vesk nodded. “Lord Vader was insisted that you receive the best medical treatment available. I am simply upholding my end of the deal.”
Luke’s mind blanked for a second. All this was overwhelming him.
"Did he tell you anything else? What else am I supposed to expect?" Luke attempted to cross his arms but fumbled slightly with the stump of his right hand.
"He did not tell me much, but to my understanding you are to be provided the finest services, one fit for the son of the heir of the imperial throne," Vesk replied.
Luke let out a sound that was in between a scoff and a laugh.
“If my father thinks that showering me with all this is enough to win me over, he’ll have to try harder,” Luke muttered sarcastically.
Vesk's eyebrows rose slightly.
“If that is what his lordship feels, I shall inform Lord Vader of your predicament,” Vesk almost too quickly.
Luke realized his mistake too late. “Wait no! I was kidding!” But his words fell on deaf ears. “Stop! Don’t tell him! Please!” Vesk was already leaving the medical wing with brisk strides.
“Kriff…” Luke cursed his luck and groaned internally.
“Your stress levels are hiking, my lord. Please do calm down before your break something,” The head medical droid told him condescendingly.
Luke gawked at the offending droid. “What did you just say to me?” He asked incredulously.
“Calm down before you break something. My programing allows me to detect midi-chlorians in the cells of living beings. Your abnormally high MC count could only mean you are Force-sensitive. A mere temper tantrum could spell disaster for all of us in the medical wing so I say again, relax and calm down my lord.
Luke scowled at it. “Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?”
“I am Medical Engineering Droid LC-43. I am programmed to oversee and manage the health and welfare of all hands on board, including Lord Vader himself,” The droid replied, almost proud.
“I am an assistant to Dr. Vesk and as his assistant, I became Lord Vader’s personal healthcare droid. Since he was assigned to you, I am now your personal healthcare droid,” If Elsie had the body of a human, she would have been puffing her chest in pride.
Luke’s expression morphed into something akin to a combination of curiosity and apprehension. “You’re my father’s droid?”
She gave a mechanical nod. “Yours for now, my lord.”
A million thoughts raced in his head, all of them incoherent and jumbled.
“Why is his breathing so loud?” Because that was a valid question to be asking now, Luke thought sarcastically.
“He had been severely injured and is in constant need of a respirator. Though the model that was provided to me by His Highness the emperor was severely outdated and obsolete. But I had no choice but to operate nonetheless.” She explained.
Luke grimaced at Elsie’s words. “What even happened to him? Are you saying the suit keeps him alive?”
“From a certain point of view, I suppose you could say that,” Elsie replied. “Although I cannot disclose any sensitive information regarding medical issues to anyone. It is part of my programming and the oath that I took,” She dismissed his queries.
Luke also noticed how eloquent the droid was when she talked, much like Threepio but without the unnecessary chatter and occasional mumbling. He also unfamiliar with the model of her chassis. Clearly, she was a very advanced model, but he does not know exactly what she was.
“How are you so… so…” Luke could not find the appropriate words without offending her.
“Smart?” Elsie even crossed her arms across her chrome chest. The audacity of this droid to look down on him.
At that moment, the hair on Luke’s neck stood on end and the temperature of the room suddenly dropped, which could only mean-
“I forbid you to speak to him about anything else further,” Darth Vader strode into the room along with Doctor Vesk. His presence alone was enough to make him feel uneasy.
“Apologies, my lord. Your son was quite curious about our operations here,” Elsie bowed respectfully to his father.
Vader stared down his son.
“He’s quite talkative, my lord,” She added unhelpfully. Luke swore he could hear the grin in her robotic voice.
“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Vader replied, his eyes not leaving him.
“Hello father,” Luke said with venom. “Have you come to punish me for my words?”
“On the contrary, I have heard that you are quite unsatisfied. As such I have contacted the Imperial Medical Academy. I have…persuaded them into hastening the development of your prosthesis,” Vader rested his hand on his belt.
“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t cut my hand off!” Luke exclaimed. Somewhere in the background, Elsie tutted Luke’s behavior, reminding him that he could in fact break something.
“I must confess, I admit to losing control. Indeed, it should not have ended this way,” Vader said somberly.
“But no longer. I have vowed to myself that I will not lose control the way I did,” He said with a determined tone.
Luke’s eyes widened a bit. Did his father just apologize?
"We will begin your training once you are discharged from the medical wing. You will report to me once you think you are well enough to train," Vader said as he pointed directly at Luke's face.
"What if I say no?" Luke mumbled sarcastically.
Vader said nothing. Silence reigned for a few seconds, except sound of the loud respirator.
"Elsie, restrain him and bring him to my quarters."
For a second time that day, Luke's eyes widened with surprise.
"Wait no!" He tried to get up but Elsie pushed him back down on the bed rather painfully.
"I'll go," He could feal the heat growing on his cheeks. "voluntarily."
"So you do not need to be restrained then? You will behave accordingly?" Vader scolded.
"Yes."
Vader leaned in closer.
"Yes what?"
Had circ*mstances been different, Luke would have laughed at his smug tone. Right now, he was frustrated and was sick of being treated like a child. He could even here the man smiling under his mask.
Smug bastard.
Language. Vader sounded positively offended through the Force.
"Yes father," He forced out.
Satisfied, Vader rose back to his full height. "Very good. Report to my chambers later. There are some things that I must tell you," He then strode out of the wing, leaving him.
Somewhere behind him, he heard something shatter.
Luke visibly winced at the sound.
Elsie came into his view. "Do you see what you do?" She held out her hand and Luke saw bits of glass in her palm. If only she had the face of a human, Luke would guess she would look as if she's saying "I told you so".
Luke let out a soft chuckle. "Sorry then."
Elsie let out a noise that sounded like a scoff.
Officer's wing, SSD Executor, Orbit of Coruscant
3 ABY
After he was discharged he was led to his temporary chambers, the ones near the officer's quarters. He felt incredibly awkward and out of place, seeing these imperials go about their days.
All his life he was told how the empire is evil and whatnot, but right now he is not seeing any of that. It was all so strange to him.
"These will be your quarters for the time being while Lord Vader is currently making space for you. In the meantime, why don't you get dressed? I'll wait out here and take you to his chambers later," Elsie led him into his room. It was strange that she effectively replaced Threepio and Artoo as his droid companion.
"Right," He mumbled to himself.
As the door hissed closed, he took in the room. It was not huge, but it was by no means small. It was larger than his room back on Tatooine. He had a bed on one side, a desk with a lamp and datapad on the other, and a large wardrobe. There was even a refresher installed.
All in all, not too shabby.
Still, Luke was on full alert. While these imperials were nothing but gracious to him, most surprisingly Darth Vader of all people, something in his gut told him they are not what they seem.
He may be right, he may be wrong, who knows. Luke grumbled and went to the wardrobe to change out of his hospital garb. Inside were sleepwear and standard imperial uniforms, all in black.
He's not even hiding it anymore,Luke laughed at himself.
He got in the uniform, complete with boots that reached just shy of his knees. He looked at himself in the mirror and almost did not recognize the person staring back at him.
There were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was not shiny anymore but more of a dirty blonde and a bit dull. He looked at the stump that used to be his right hand and saw a metal coupling, with hair-thin wires that run across its surface and a attachment socket for the prosthesis.
Despite the injuries and the haggardness, Luke thought he was sharp-dressed. Dare he say he even looked handsome.
These guys are driving me insane. Never in my life would I say something like that. Luke used his left hand to run it down his face in exasperation.
Fixing his collar and hiding the stump of his hand, He opened the door. The first thing he saw was an officer walking down the hallway. He expected to just walk past him and carry on with his day.
What he did not expect was for him to stop walking and stand at attention. "Good afternoon sir," He said while saluting.
Luke just stared at the man before he turned on his heel and continued on the same direction.
"What was that about?" He asked Elsie who was standing with her back straight as a rod and her hands behind her back.
"I must mention that as the son of the heir, you now have the rank of commander. Every non-commissioned officer on this vessel is now your subordinate, unless Lord Vader or Admiral Piett say otherwise," She said as she turned her head to look at him.
"I'm not even a soldier or whatever these people are," He whisper-hissed at her. "I'm just a farmer from Tatooine."
"You're not on Tatooine anymore, farm boy," Luke bristled at the nickname. "You're a commander now. Now come on, we kept Lord Vader waiting for too long."
She began walking and Luke followed close behind. It was hard to keep up as her strides were twice as long as his. Even more strange were the officers and stormtroopers greeting and saluting him as he walked past them.
He honestly had no idea what in the Sith hells he was doing.
"Through here," Elsie directed him to a hallway that ended with a large black door guarded by two stormtroopers.
"Halt. No droids beyond this point," The one on the left stuck his palm out, barring Elsie from entering.
"Whatever," She dismissed. "Commander Skywalker has been summoned and you will let him through."
The stormtroopers turned to look at him. He felt as if he was being scanned or as if they were seeing beyond this farce.
"Alright, but you can't enter," The stormtrooper replied to Elsie.
"I was leaving anyway," She turned on her heel. "Good luck, my lord."
The stormtrooper opened the doors to let him in.
As he walked in, he immediately felt the cold of the dark side of the Force. He could feel it slithering about his body, lovingly caressing him as if he were some sort of pet.
On the chair in the far end of the room sat his father, who he sensed to be in deep meditation. The closer he got to him, the stronger the Force felt. He walked closer to him slowly like he was a sleeping rancor.
"Luke," His voice made him jump.
"Father," He replied.
Vader slowly stood up from his chair and walked towards him. It took everything in Luke not to turn and run back out.
Vader then stopped just out of his reach.
Both men regarded each other in silence, before Vader reached out to him.
"Let me look at you, son," He cupped both his hands on his face as Luke flinched violently at the contact.
His hands were cold, as in ice-cold, and too hard to be bony; they felt like steel.
His hands inspected his face but was careful to avoid the still healing wounds. He tilted his head gently to inspect his features. "You may look like me, but you have you're mother's heart," His hands then rested on his shoulders.
Luke's attention was piqued. "Who was she?" Where is she?" The questions left him before he could think.
"She was among the fiercest and strongest women I have been blessed with in my life. She had a resolve of steel, much like yours and refused to take orders from anyone," Vader's tone was somber again.
"Is she still.. alive?" He asked slowly.
Vader wrapped his arms around his shoulder and walked him to the the window, where they had an unobstructed view of Coruscant. "She gave the last of her strength to bring you into the galaxy."
"Oh," Was all he could say.
The pair fell into an uneasy silence, broken occasionally by the respirator.
"Sooner or later," His father began, "we will be going on-world and meet with the emperor."
The air felt even colder and the Force swirled dangerously around them.
"He is eager to meet you," Luke cannot place it but there was something clipped with the way his father talked.
"When are we be leaving?"
"I do not know, but it is best to stay prepared. The emperor is a dangerous and powerful man. I will not leave you vulnerable in his presence."
He turned to look at him. "I will see to your training. I will make sure that you will surpass even my powers if we are to cast him down," He vowed.
Luke was fascinated and unsure about this. "You really want me to rule alongside you?"
"Your place is by my side, now and always. We will bring peace to the galaxy and rule justly." Vader replied.
Luke was conflicted by this. There was one part of him that wanted to be with his father, but the other part screamed that he was walking into a trap.
"I sense your conflict, my son. What makes you so uneasy?"
"What about my friends? What will you do to them?" He asked and dreaded the answer.
"I will do what I must if they force my hand," Luke could sense the anger in his statement.
"Please don't hurt them. I will join you and let you train me but please don't hurt them. They're like a family to me," Luke did not like begging, but if it meant that his friends and the Alliance would be spared, he would.
"I am your only family and no one else, but we shall see. The future is uncertain." was all Vader replied.
It did not bring relief to Luke, but at least he got an answer.
"Thank you father."
"You are welcome, son."
