Servant of the Emperor
Part 2 of Luke Vader 
By SJ 24-07-00/23-10-00

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Disclaimers:  None of this belong to me.  See my homepage for more details: 
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The shuttle touched down on the overheated sands that were nearby the moisture 
farm that had witnessed his first years of life.  
The appearance of the metallic bird had attracted attention.  Owen Lars had 
stepped outside to watch it land.  His stance, young Luke Vader reflected, 
betrayed his worried set of mind.
As it had always been with any visitor, his 'uncle' was probably wondering if he 
would be dealing with a friend or a foe.
In this case, he shouldn't think about a foe.
His father, the Dark lord of the Sith Darth Vader, had chosen a non-imperial 
design with a darkened canopy ; nobody could see inside the ship proper, thus 
protecting the identity of the pilot.  In this case, his father's presence 
wouldn't be revealed.
Luke eagerly undid his buckle and jumped down his seat.  
"I'll pick you up in two hours." his father told him.  "Remember---"
"Don't tell them about the truth, I know, Father." Luke assured him.   "I will 
be there in two hours.  Thanks again."
Vader ruffled his hair, then nudged him toward the exit.  
"Go now.  You've waited long enough for this."
Luke smiled at his father, then ran down the short corridor and the lowered 
ramp.  
He ran toward the farm, yelling:  "Uncle Owen!"
The man let go of his rag when he recognized the boy who had come out of the 
shuttle.  
"L---L---"
The boy stopped a few meters away from him, unsure whether he could throw 
himself in his arms or not.  He wouldn't have hesitated if it had been his 
'aunt' though.  
"Don't you recognize me, Uncle Owen?" he asked uncertainly.
"Luke?  Is that really you?" the man inquired. 
Luke smiled.  "Yes."
To his surprise, the large man engulfed him into a warm, bear-like embrace.  
"By the gods we were so worried about you.  Where have you been?  What happened?  
Who's with you?" he asked in quick succession.
Luke couldn't answer all those questions at the same time ; instead, he returned 
the hug.  Behind him, his father lifted off to leave him alone with his former 
guardians.  
Owen uncertainly watched the shuttle leave, then he refocused on his 'nephew'.
He couldn't believe that he was back.
"Come on inside, you don't know how happy your aunt will be to see you." he 
smiled.
Luke realized that he had never seen the man smile before ; he surmised that he 
obviously cared for him after all.  He had just never thought about his uncle as 
caring...
"I'm eager to see her too." he told his uncle, excitement clear in his voice.
The woman he remembered more than his own mother was standing at the foot of the 
stairs of the courtyard, like she had always done whenever a visitor had come 
by.  
She too gaped at him when she saw him.  
This time, Luke didn't hesitate and ran toward her.  
"Aunt Beru." he smiled, hugging her tightly in his small arms.  
His aunt crouched to his level and pulled him warmly against herself.  
"Oh, Luke, I've missed you so much." she said, her voice breaking up thanks to 
her tears of joy.  
"I missed you too, aunt Beru." he whispered, tightening his hold on her.  
She pulled away from him and studied him.  Luke was wearing his black, formal 
clothes, which left his slave marks very obvious to any good observer.  
Beru gasped and brought her hand to her mouth as she realized what had happened.  
The man behind him seemed to notice her loss of composure.  
"What is it?" he asked her.
"He's... He's been a slave." she finally managed to tell her husband.
"What?!" Owen gasped, worriedly turning his charge back toward himself.  
Luke hurried to reassure them.  "It's okay now."  he told them, touching both 
his aunt's shoulder and uncle's hand like his father had done so often with him 
when he had been sad or afraid.  
"How did you escape?" his uncle asked him, sitting in the steps to be at his 
height.  
The news seemed to be too much for even him, Luke reflected with some amusement.
"I didn't..." he said, shaking his head.  "I am still a slave." he admitted.  
"No, Luke..." Beru said, touching his face with her hand.  
"It's okay now." he repeated.  "I have a good master now." he told them 
earnestly.
"A good master?" Owen inquired, doubtful.
"Yes, he takes care of me and he treats me well. It was worse before ; the 
marks I bear were made before I ended up with him." he lied.  
"Marks?" Beru inquired, realizing that he had been hurt in the past.  "No..." 
she whispered, horrified that 'her' little boy had been through the horrors of 
slavery.  And, if he was still a slave, it meant---
"You're not staying." the woman said, her eyes filled with tears.  
"No, I'm sorry." Luke apologized sadly.  "I could only get a two-hour permission 
to spend time with you and reassure you.  I knew that you were worried about 
me."
"Worried?" Owen exclaimed.  "I searched the desert for weeks in hope to find 
you, boy."
"I prayed the gods to protect you, wherever you were." Beru said gently, 
touching his face yet again.  
"I know... but you don't have to be worried anymore.  I am well, and if I serve 
this master right, I will earn back my freedom." he told them eagerly.
"You shouldn't have lost it in the first place." his uncle commented angrily.  
Beru gently took hold of his arms.  
"Luke, what has happened exactly?" she asked him.
Luke took a moment to remember the events of that dreadful day... He took a deep 
breath and began his retelling.  He hated to dwell in the past, so he made it 
succinct.  
"I was playing in the desert when I got kidnapped.  Then, they sold me to Jabba, 
who in turn sold me to the highest bidder.  I was with a cruel master for a 
little over four months before he sold me to my new master."
"Who is he?" Owen and Beru asked simultaneously.
"He is a military commander, but I can't reveal his name."  He paused.  "I am 
his first slave ; he bought me to free me when I would be old enough to fend for 
myself." he finished, hoping to reassure them.  
It didn't exactly work.
"Then why not give you back to us?" Owen argued.
Luke looked at them, stars of excitement shining in his eyes.  
"Because I told him that I wanted to live with him."  He became slightly 
sadder when he realized he had hurt their feelings.  "I love you both, aunt 
Beru, uncle Owen, but my new life is great." he hurried to add.  "I don't want 
to become a farmer ; I want to become a pilot, and with my new master, I can 
begin my training right away." he explained.
Beru's hold on him slightly tightened.  
"Luke, don't do this.  You are still just a slave." she told him gently. "We 
love you; we've missed you and we'd give anything to have you back with us.".
Owen rested his large hand on his shoulder; he thus realized that the boy was 
stronger than he looked, hence that he was well treated.  That didn't change his 
mind about what he was going to tell him though.
"She's right, Luke.  Why don't you talk to your master and ask him to leave you 
with us?  You were happy here, weren't you?"
"Yes,---"
"Then come back with us." Beru pleaded gently.
Luke stepped away from their touches.  He locked his gaze with them, his eyes 
becoming less innocent.  
They had to understand that there was no changing his mind, he thought 
seriously.
"I was happy here, but I'm happier with my master." he stated.  "You can't 
understand what it means to be with him. I have more opportunities with him than 
I will ever have with you."  He turned toward his uncle.  "You always told me 
not to dream about some things, uncle Owen, remember?  Well now, I don't dream 
them ;"  He looked again at his aunt.  "I live them."
"But you're only nine years old!" she argued
"I'm not too young for him." he shrugged.
His uncle suddenly became angry.  
"He's sexually abusing you, isn't he?" he asked darkly.
"No.  He isn't abusing me in any way.  Do you need a proof?"
Before the adults could answer, he lifted his shirt up, showing his fine, 
unmarred skin, except for his old, healed scar.  They gasped as they also saw 
the muscles that hadn't been there before.  
Now they knew that he was well cared for.
"My service to him trains me and teaches me many things I want to learn."  he 
explained as he pulled his shirt back down and took hold of his tag.  
"Because of this, people see me as a slave, but with him, I am not.  He is my 
new guardian."
Upon hearing this, his former guardians began to argue more seriously with him.

His 'uncle' and 'aunt' tried to dissuade him for the rest of the time he spent 
with them, but when his father's shuttle came back to pick him up, they 
relented, perfectly aware that they wouldn't keep him with themselves.  
Luke slowly stepped back toward the higher up entrance.  
"Look," he told them, business-like even though his voice was still that of a 
child.  "I didn't come here to argue with you ; I wanted to reassure you and 
tell you that I will always love you, no matter what happens." He continued more 
gently: "I made my choice."
His aunt and uncle sadly shook their heads.  
"Remember that I am still happy." He reminded them warmly.  "Don't be worried 
about me anymore, please.  I will be all right." he assured them.
Beru took his small hand in hers ; she was crying.  
"I understand, Luke.  I wish it were different, that you'd stay with us, but I 
understand and I accept your choice.  I will continue to pray the gods that they 
protect you."  
Luke smiled at her, then twined his arms around her neck one last time.  "I'll 
miss you, aunt Beru.  You were like a surrogate mother for me." he said, 
conscious that he wasn't talking like a child at the moment.  He was 
talking like a servant of the Emperor.
He liked it.
Owen rested his hand on his shoulder, turning him toward himself.  The farmer 
sighed in resignation.  
"I do not approve, boy, but... I can't do a thing to change things, can I?" he 
asked him.
"No." Luke agreed.
"Then take care of yourself, Luke.  You will always be welcomed in our home when 
you'll be free." the man told him warmly.
Luke shook his uncle's large hand, demonstrating a maturity that hadn't been 
part of his character before, then let him pull him back in a last hug.  
"I will, uncle Owen." he said, restraining his sudden tears of sadness.
He pulled away from the two adults.  
"I love you both, I always will." he said yet again.  "Thank you for taking good 
care of me when I was little." he told them with all his heart.  
He slowly stepped away from them as they nodded, then he turned and ran up the 
stairs.  He stopped at the top, turned one last time to wave them farewell, then 
he ran toward the exit and his father's waiting shuttle.  

The moment he was aboard, the ship lifted off.  Luke came up in the cockpit, 
holding onto the seats to keep his balance.  
"How did it go?" his father asked him.
"They know that I'm happier with you, but they don't understand why I'd prefer 
to be a slave than be free."
"Hmm, I guess it's understandable." his father reasoned.  
"Yes.  At least they know that I'm fine now.  What about you?  I felt that 
something made you very angry a while back."
"Oh, nothing much, just that Kenobi had begun a trek toward the farm, but I 
convinced him to remain in hiding." his father said quickly.
"Kenobi?" Luke asked, his voice suddenly more dangerous.
"Yes."  his father rested his large hand on his short forearm that was still 
resting against his own armrest.  
"I know that you want to avenge yourself from him, Son, but the master has made 
it very clear that no harm is to come to him for the moment.  He is of no danger 
anyway."
"No, just cruel enough to separate a son from his father." he muttered, 
clenching his small fists.  
Vader's touch tightened on his bare arm.  
"Don't worry, Son, you'll have your shot at him when the time will be right.  
I've taken care of his memory while I was at it: he doesn't remember you 
anymore.  The only thing he remembers is that my son is somewhere, so well 
hidden that even 'he' doesn't know where he's placed you." 
The dark lord chuckled shortly at the thought of the distraught Jedi ; his son 
smiled darkly.  
"Like a squire, huh?" he commented.  
"Exactly like it." his father nodded.  
Luke liked the image of the cursed Jedi searching for him like a squire looked 
for the provisions he had stashed away too well before the cold days.
"In time, we'll use this to your advantage." Vader promised.
"Thank you, Father." Luke said, hitching himself in the co-pilot seat.
The shuttle left the stove-like atmosphere of Tatooine and headed for deep-space 
and Coruscant.  
The Emperor was waiting for Luke, and the child was eager to begin his training 
as an imperial agent.  

******

He didn't have long to wait.  
The day after their return from Tatooine, the Emperor summoned him.  
Since he was still a slave, he made it look as if he were doing his master's 
bidding.
Careful to keep his head low, Luke stepped inside the throne room and waited for 
his new master's command.  
He still didn't know what the Emperor's plans were exactly, but he somehow knew 
that he was about to learn about them.  
At the top of the stairs, his master conferred with dignitaries.  Luke waited 
silently, remaining immobile on the first landing of the stairs.  
The dignitaries finally left without giving him a single look.  
The Emperor beckoned him forward.  
"Come with me." he told him simply.  
Luke followed his master into yet another secret room of the throne room.  
Mara was there, waiting for them.  

"Sit down." the Emperor told them. 
The children obeyed, sitting at his feet.  He himself sat in a smaller replica 
of his throne.  
"It's time to tell you what your training will be as well as what it will 
require from you." he began, feeling a thrill of expectation run through him.
Those children represented much potential, potential he wanted to have in his 
ranks as soon as possible.
With the beginning of their training, he was setting in motion yet another plan 
to keep the galaxy under his yoke.
He truly enjoyed that part of the 'hard' work.
A screen activated on the normal looking wall.  
Young Vader gaped slightly at the wall-screen, then he focused on his master's 
words. 
The boy was still not completely used to the existence of hidden technology, the 
Emperor noted.  He would have to give instructions to put special attention on 
this aspect of his training. 
"You two will be my Hands, my ghosts if you will." he said proudly.  "As such, 
nobody but me and Lord Vader will know about your existences.  Your training 
will be done under the veil of secrecy, in a training center located away from 
the palace.  Since some of your possible targets will be inside those walls, 
avoid being seen in the palace in any other state than your actual ones."
He gazed at each child.  
"Young Vader, you are a slave, someone nobody pays attention to.  Make sure it 
remains so."
"Yes, Master." the boy answered, bowing his head in respect.  
The Emperor turned toward Jade.  "Mara Jade, my dear, everybody thinks that you 
will become a concubine.  When you won't be training with young Vader, begin to 
create this illusion."
"Yes, Master." she bowed too.
"Excellent.  Now, for your training."
The different skills that they were going to learn flashed on the screen: hand-
to-hand combat, shooting skills, flying skills, computer skills, languages, 
different jobs, etc, etc, etc.  
Soon, he thought in satisfaction, the children would become deadly weapons that 
would be completely loyal to him.
No one would stand in their way, hence his.
He had always meant to mold Jade as such, but the unexpected appearance of young 
Vader had made him reconsider his plan.  With the two of them working together 
as trained dark Jedi 'and' professional assassins, the possibilities were 
limitless.  
Hence, the children would be undergoing a much more demanding and rigorous 
training than the regular 'Hand' training.  
He put an end to his happy musings and jabbed on a control.  A map appeared on 
the screen.   
"This is where the training center is located." he told them.  "Nobody must see 
you go in, nor out."  He felt an unspoken question in the children's minds.  
"Don't worry about your trainers; they're handpicked for their absolute 
trustworthiness."
Indeed they were, he reflected.  After all, he had manipulated their brains so 
that they couldn't remember the identity of their wards. 
The Force was such a useful tool, he snickered smugly.
"Do you have any questions?" he asked the children.
They shook their heads in negative.  
"Good."  He tossed them each a small reader disc.  "You will have a test on the 
content of those discs in two days.  As you already know, failure is punished." 
he reminded them more harshly. "Go now and do not disappoint me.  Your trainers 
are waiting for you."  
"Yes, Master." the two children said in unison, then got to their feet.
A secret door opened in the wall behind them.  
Luke and Mara exited the room.  The Emperor began monitoring them while they 
were undergoing their first test.

Once inside the corridor, Luke turned toward his friend.  
"Do you know those corridors?" he asked her.  
"No" she answered.  "You?"
"No." He shook his head.
They exchanged a look, then an idea came to Luke.  He closed his eyes, focused 
his mind and searched a lead through the Force.
"That way." he indicated with his index.  
"How do you know?" his friend asked him.
"I'm using the Force.  Come on, I don't want to be late."
He set off at a fast run ; Mara was right on his heels.  
Following the Force, they made their way out of the inner maze of the Imperial 
Palace in less than half an hour.  

Once outside, Mara brought him to abandoned alleys on the lower levels of the 
city, then they continued their run.

Fifteen minutes later, they were inside the training center.  Their master spoke 
to them through the Force.
*Good work, young ones.  You've succeeded your first test.* he praised them.
*Thank you, Master.* they both sent.  
The contact broke ; both kids exchanged a wry look.  
"Guess we make a great team, huh?" Luke suggested.  
"That must be why he matched us together." Mara agreed.  
They walked away from the door.  
Once again, Luke used the Force to figure out where they were supposed to 
report.  They entered a room with many computers.
"Right on time." a man commented from the corner that was in their back.  
The two children turned around, startled.  
"Sit down." he told them.
Like their master, Luke reflected, this one wasn't much into formalities, 
preferring the straight-to-the-point approach.  
Luke and Mara both sat in front of a station.  
"Let's see what you can do.  Find the file numbered 83629."
The first search was easy and both found the said file, but as time passed, the 
searches became more complex until they had to hack their way into the system.  
Throughout the next hours, they learnt the basics of hacking skills.  

Next, another trainer came inside and exposed the scenario of a possible 
mission, then she told them to find how they'd disappear in the environment.  
It took them two hours to give her a satisfactory answer.
After this, they reported in a simulator room where a flight instructor taught 
them the basics of flying techniques. 
Both children caught up quite fast on them. Since they were proving to be 
skilled, they were then let loose against one another, pushing each other to the 
limits of their rudimentary skills.  
Finally, after a light meal, they began to learn alternate basic, the other, 
most frequently spoken language in the universe.  

******

Ten hours after their arrival at the training center, they prepared to return to 
their respective places.  Before they did though, they took a moment to rest in 
their assigned locker room and exit.  
They now knew that they weren't alone with the teachers ; other agents were 
being trained here as well.  
Luke yawned and stretched his sore shoulders.  
"Do you feel as tired as I am?" he asked his friend.
"Probably.  My brain feels like a constantly buzzing engine." she said, rubbing 
her temple.
"Yeah, that was a lot of things in a short time." he agreed tiredly
"Yes, I'm used to one thing at the time." she agreed with him.
"Me too." he said.  
His father had pushed him to his limits while he had been training him, but not 
like that.  
He had always worked on one limit at a time, not all of them at the same time.
Whereas he had begun to feel competent with his father, he felt quite 
disappointed from his first day as a servant of the Emperor.
Disappointed and exhausted, he thought as he yawned again.  And to think that 
the day wasn't over yet...
"Will you study the master's disc tonight?" he asked her.
"Don't have much choice?" she pointed out seriously.
"No..." he yawned yet again.  "but Father wanted to continue my training." he 
reflected out loud.
Yep, he wasn't done yet...  
"What time is it?" he asked her.  
"Twenty hundred." Mara said, checking her watch.
Luke grunted as he realized that he was in for a long evening.  Then he caught 
his thoughts and berated himself for complaining about his schedule.  Whining 
served no purpose except wasting time.
"Okay, then let's get going.  I want to sleep before tomorrow morning." he said 
as he stood up.
Mara followed his lead.

Their way back home was as easy as their trek to the center had been.  
*See you tomorrow.* Luke sent her.
*We'll meet here at 0600?* she asked him.
*Yes.  Good evening.*
*You too.*
He resumed his quick run toward his father's palace.  
He knew exactly where he could enter it without being spotted by anybody.  

The moment he stepped inside the castle's upper corridors, his father reached 
out to him.  
*Welcome back, Son.  Meet me in the training room.* he told him.
*I'll be right there.* Luke answered, restraining his tiredness from creeping 
into his mind.
He rode the lift up to the training rooms floor.  While he did so, he fished out 
the disc his master had given him.  
He wondered what information had been stored on it.  
The door of the lift opened.  He stepped forward and hurried to reach the 
training room where his father was waiting for him. 
"How was your first day?" his father asked him as he walked in the room.
"It's mind buzzing." he said. "but fun." he added.
And it was, he reflected.  He liked to learn all those things.
"They've worked on your intellectual skills." his father surmised.  "We'll work 
on a physical aspect then."
"Fencing?" Luke asked eagerly.  
Now there was a fun prospect.  He was always ready to fence, no matter how tired 
he was.  
His father tossed him a lightsaber.  He neatly caught it in his small hand.
"Yes." he confirmed.
Behind the dark lord, two remotes floated into a ready position.  
Luke swallowed in nervousness, becoming aware that the level of difficulty would 
be up yet another level tonight.  He put his data disc where nothing bad could 
happen to it, then prepared himself for a demanding exercise.  
He set his small feet in a ready stance and turned on his blade ; his father and 
the remotes swiftly came down on him.  
Luke, already deep in touch with the Force, followed its guidance and jumped 
away from the triple assault, landed behind his 'attackers' and slashed one 
remote into pieces.  His father's blade came down onto him ; he shifted his 
blade to present its longer side and blocked him again, and again.  Then, his 
feet moved by themselves, making him jump and hit his father in the groin.  
Luke was shocked by what he'd just done, but he had no time to dwell on it.  The 
remaining remote came at him, firing wildly.  Ignoring his mental fatigue, he 
shifted into a series of quick blocks, jumped away from his father's approaching 
blade and took care of the other remote while airborn.  
The tip of his blade grazed it, incapacitating its circuits.  It fell down on 
the floor, dead.  
Luke landed back on the floor and met his father's renewed attacks.  Unlike the 
other times, the dark lord wasn't holding back, pushing him to his limits.
Despite his young age and small body, Luke Vader was able to hold his ground 
without much problem.  

About forty minutes after the beginning of the exercise, he and his father were 
locked in a stalemate.  Then, the older Vader managed to hook his weapon around 
his son's and twist it out of his small hands.  Without wasting time, the young 
boy used the dark lord's less balanced stance, dropped low and knocked him off 
his feet.  
His father landed hard on his back ; Luke drew the red-bladed lightsaber to his 
hand--- and became aware of what he had just done.  
He could barely believe that he had just beaten his father.  
He dropped the captured weapon and knelt by his side.  
"Father!  Are you okay?  I'm sorry, I---" he stuttered. 
The older Vader shook his head as he propped himself on his elbows.  
"I'm fine, Son.  Don't worry." he reassured him.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I've done that.  I didn't mean to hurt you." he 
apologized profusely.
His father sat up and rested his hand on his son's shoulder.  
"It's okay, Luke.  You've done this because you had to.  You are a great sword 
fighter, Son." he said, pride clearly audible in his modulated voice.
"Thanks." Luke blushed.  "But I---"
"I think you're ready to build your own lightsaber now." his father told him in 
a more serious voice.
It shocked the boy.  
"B-B-build?  You mean?---"
"You have completed the training, Luke.  You are a Jedi now." he congratulated 
him.
"But--- but--- but I'm too young!" he finally managed.  
"You are the strongest." his father corrected.  
"Strongest?" he gaped.  Him?  "Does the master know?"
"Yes, and he agrees with me.  You are a Jedi now.  This was your last test." his 
father informed him.
Luke was speechless now.  Him, a Dark Jedi... Incredible! 
He smiled proudly.  "I've done it."
Vader proudly ruffled his hair.  "Yes, you've done it, Son.  Congratulations.  
Do you have any idea as to how you'll build your lightsaber?" he inquired with 
interest.
"Yes." he nodded enthusiastically.  
He had thought about that moment for the best part of the past year.  He knew 
exactly what he wanted.  
"Take the rest of the week then." his father told him.
"Thank you, Father." he smiled kindly.
"Now, I think you've got some studying to do, right?" he reminded him.
"Yes."
"Then what are you waiting for?  Get to it." he told him lightly.
"Okay."  Luke nodded.
He stood up, picked his disc from the remote's shelf, and left the room, but not 
without a last look at his father who had stood up.  
He was like him now, he smiled silently.  
He headed for his room where he'd be able to study his master's disk.  

Five minutes later, he stepped inside his room, kicked off his shoes while 
calling a datapad to his hand, then flopped down on his bed and loaded the disk.  
He gaped as he saw the directory: secret passages and safe, unknown places of 
the palace and Coruscant.  
He scrolled down the list and read all the subcategories as he had learned to do 
during the day ; he quickly became aware that he was about to learn about all 
the possible nooks and crannies of the whole planet called Coruscant.  
He began to read and memorize the data concerning his master's palace.  

Hours later, Lord Vader shut down his computer for the night.  Those cursed 
remaining Jedis were becoming a real nuisance.  He would have no choice but to  
hunt them down by himself now.  
He walked back to his quarters.  On his way there, he stopped by his son's.  The 
light was still shining from under the old-fashioned door, but when he opened 
it, he saw that it wasn't useful to anybody anymore.  
His son was slumped on his bed, deeply asleep, his pad still clutched in his 
hand.  
He reflected that he looked completely exhausted.  Careful not to wake him up, 
Vader gently pried the pad from his hand, then delicately helped him under his 
blankets.  
"Hmm, no, not there... better there." the boy mumbled in his sleep.  
'Probably planning for some future mission or another.' Vader thought wryly.  
He brushed the sandy-brown hair from his son's forehead, remembering the last 
times he had done so.  
They had been before he had freed him, before he had told him the truth.  
He looked around himself and scolded like he always did when he was in his son's 
room.  
It wasn't a room worthy of his boy ; it was a room meant for a lowly servant, 
not for a future servant of the Emperor.  The furniture was simple, sparse: a 
desk, a chair, a computer and a bed.  His son who had never known better than 
that didn't complain, but he himself wasn't satisfied.  
When his son wouldn't need to retain his 'slave' mask, he would give him 
quarters that would be worthy of him, of his heritage and his powers.  
It would be worthy of a Dark Jedi and second-in-command in the Empire.
He stroked the boy's hair one last time before leaving him alone for the night.  
"Good night, my little Jedi." he smiled under his mask.  
He was very proud of him.  
He rose to his full height and silently left the room.  He turned off the light 
when he exited.  

******

The following morning, Luke Vader woke up very early, starting slightly when he 
found himself in his bed.  
He remembered falling asleep on it, not in it.  
Careful not to wake his father up with his senses, he changed clothes, stuffed 
some training clothes in a duffel bag, caught some breakfast on his way out of 
his father's castle, and, after checking his surroundings, left for his 
rendezvous point.  He wanted to make it on time.

Mara was there, waiting for him.  They didn't talk, didn't exchange any thought; 
they ran together toward their secret destination, making sure that no one was 
seeing them nor following them.  

The first part of the day resembled their previous day, except for one thing: 
the courses were fewer but longer.  
After working on their computer, language and flying skills, they reported in a 
new room.
The moment they stepped in, they realized that it was a firing range room.  
They stood at attention in front of the registration desk.  
"I was expecting you two ; come." their new teacher told them.  
Considering their previous day, both kids had quickly deduced that their 
teachers were nameless, or couldn't reveal their names in any case.  
The man brought them close to a table on which rested many different kinds of 
weapons.  
"When I will be finished with you two, you will be able to use, clean, 
construct, deconstruct and even modify any of those weapons." he informed them 
seriously.
He picked up two regular blasters and tossed them to the children.  Both caught 
them without fumbling.  
Luke gazed down at the small blaster.  He smiled as he saw in his mind what he'd 
be able to do with it once his training would be over.  
He threw a look at his friend and smiled grimly.  
Her expression was matching his.  
"First," the teacher began, hefting his own blaster.  
The two young Jedis focused their attention back on him, intent on learning 
everything they could from the man, just like they had resolved to do with all 
his other colleagues.  

Two hours later, they changed into their training clothes and began their more 
physically-oriented training with the help of a coach.  
For the next three hours, they rappelled up ropes, completed obstacles run in as 
little time as necessary, pitted their muscles against the gravity in various 
ways, tried to outdo their previous scores in different exercises ; in short, 
they tested and improved their self-defense skills, their general physical 
strength, as well as their individual weaknesses.  

When the trainer finally released them, Luke felt ready to collapse in 
exhaustion.  He laid back on the small bench in their locker room, wondering how 
he had made it back to their assigned room.  
"Thank the Force I don't have anymore training at home." he grunted.
"No, just studying." Jade sighed.  
"How far are you?" he asked her as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.  
"I'm half done, but I can't remember everything."
"Me either.  I try to use the Force to remember.  It helps, when I'm awake 
to use it." he shrugged lamely.
"Did you fall asleep at your work table too?" she asked incredulously.
"On my bed, but yeah.  Do you have your disk with yourself?" he asked her.  
Jade pulled her bag to herself with the Force and dug in a side pocket.  "Yeah, 
and a reader too."
"Great!" he exclaimed.  "Would you like to study with me? before going back 
home?" he suggested.
"Good idea." she agreed.  
She sat in front of him, straddling the narrow bench like he did, then loaded 
the disk and set her pad between them.
Exchanging tips and clues, the two children spent the following three hours 
studying and memorizing their data.  Luke guided Mara into how to use the Force 
to fixate her memory ; she in turn gave him pieces of advice on how to remember 
without it.  
Once they were finished, they changed clothes, not caring if the other saw them 
in underwear or not, then they went back home.  

******

After a quick check on his father, who had told him that he was going to leave 
the planet for a while, Luke crashed on his bed, exhausted yet satisfied.  He 
didn't wake up till the next morning.  

Unlike the previous morning though, he took a moment to bid farewell to his 
father who was leaving on a new Jedi hunt.  
For a fleeting moment, Luke wished that he could go with him, but he knew his 
training was more important to his master's overall plan than his helping his 
father.  
He accepted the separation as a proof of his and his father's loyalty to their 
master.  
"You promise that you'll be careful?" he asked his father even though he knew 
that it was a lame request.  
Nothing nor nobody could hurt his father anyway. 
"I promise, Son.  Be a good boy and do everything the Emperor or his trainers 
tell you to do." he advised him.
"I will, Father.  Don't worry.  I'll make you proud of me." he promised him.
Vader gently touched his son's cheek.  
"Luke, you already make me the proudest father in the universe." He told him 
warmly.  "I have no doubt that you will continue to do so.  I will be eager to 
see your lightsaber when I return." he reminded him.
"And I'll be eager to show it to you, Father." The young Jedi smiled sadly.  
He took hold of his father's hand and held it in his small one.  
Through that touch, both father and son felt the other's disappointment and 
sadness at the separation, yet both knew that they could only accept it and go 
on with their duties.  
They had both known that it would happen sooner or later.  They just wished that 
it could have happened later than sooner...
Luke locked his gaze with his father's obscured one for a last time, then he 
turned to leave.  
"Good bye, Father." he said simply, putting an end to those heart-rending 
farewells.  
"Good bye, Son."  his father answered. 
The door in front of Luke opened; he left for his 'school'.

'Be careful, my Son.' Vader thought to himself.  
He was fairly convinced his son wouldn't displease their master in any way, but 
since he was still a child, there was still a chance that it might happen.  

******

The children's first assignment when they arrived at the training center was to 
test their new knowledge against a computerized test.  
Each of them had to identify all the places that were pinpointed to them on 
their digital map.  
They had to both get all the right answers while doing it in as short a time as 
possible.  
Luke briefly looked up at his friend and noticed her worried eyes ; she was as 
nervous as he was.
They knew that each wrong answer would be punished, something which they both 
wanted to avoid with all their hearts.  
They would both give it all they had.
  
In the end, they both cumulated seven wrong answers; they were translated into 
seven strikes of a whip.  They accepted them as their due for not being perfect. 
If they were as good as they were supposed to be, they both knew, they wouldn't 
be punished.  
Once this 'formality' was over, their regular day began.  

During lunch time, they exchanged a look ; both of them were fighting to retain 
their tears of pain from escaping their eyes.  
They had had to perform in their physical training despite their painful 
Injuries ; their cuts were now all but burning through their skins.  
Luke pushed his tray aside, slowly stood up and headed toward the small 'fresher 
of their assigned room.  He took off his shirt and wetted it with cold water, 
then came back toward his friend.  
"Here." he told her gently.   "lay on your stomach."
"What about you?" she asked him warmly
"After you.  Come on, Mara, let me help you." he pleaded earnestly.
The nine-year-old girl laid on her stomach on the floor.  Luke knelt beside her, 
lifted her shirt and exposed her bloody welts.  
"Take a deep breath." he advised her.  
Slowly, delicately, he set his cold, humid shirt against her burning cuts.   She 
yelped upon the first contact, then relaxed as she got use to the cold touch.  
Luke closed his eyes and called on the Force to mimic the effect of the cold 
water on his own skin. 
"We didn't study enough." Mara sighed in a small voice.
Luke opened his eyes and looked at her.  
"Yeah, but..." his eyes locked with hers.  "It will never happen again."
"Never, ever." Mara agreed. 
They took the rest of their short lunch time to rest from their punishment.

When they exited their room, something had changed; they had matured, although 
their young minds didn't know it.  
Their trainers noticed it though.  

******

From that day on, the children spent most of their time at the training center, 
studying, learning, working together, doing everything they had to do to be 
perfect in everything, sometimes foregoing sleep if they had to.  
When it happened, they used refreshing trances to rest before the next morning.  

The Emperor watched their progress from his palace, pleased with their results.  
As he had suspected, the children were not too young to begin their training.  
It had taken a vicious incentive to push them on their right cruise speed, but 
now that they were there, they were excellent in everything, not that they were 
aware of it.  The trainers had orders to push them beyond their limits, so the 
children were convinced they were never good enough to satisfy the criteria ; 
new ones always added themselves to the ones they were working on.  
Because of that, the children were already better than the older teenagers that 
were being trained in other parts of the center ; they were also almost already 
better than some of his active agents.  Only a few things remained to consider 
them ready for their first mission.
He couldn't wait to see them at work.  He figured that their normally forbidden 
friendship was a worthy sacrifice to get results such as those the children were 
getting.  
Soon, it would be time to plan in more details how he was going to use those 
perfect tools.  With young Vader as a full-fledged Dark Jedi already and young 
Jade having reached the limits of her potential, he had some serious thinking to 
do.  He didn't have to restrain himself to vague plans anymore, he smiled in 
satisfaction.
He sent new instructions to the different trainers, ordering them to push their 
limits yet again.

******

Three months later, the children were still excellent in everything they learnt.  
Right now, they were working on their flying skills.
Mara and Luke checked the status of their fighters and waited for the signal to 
start the simulation.
"You'll buy the juice this time, Vader." Mara said in her mike.  
"Hope you've got enough money, Jade.  I'm thirsty." he bantered back.  
The signal came on.  Faster than light, both of them flipped out of each other's 
track and set about chasing the other.  
Outside the simulators, their piloting teacher watched his wards.  The boy's 
blue dot easily slid out of the way of the girl's green dot's aiming range, then 
he settled himself behind her.  
She barely avoided his blasts, but she did manage to elude him.  

Luke twisted his stick hard to the left, quickly following her.  
The moment he felt the connection through the Force, he fired and hit her.  
Since she too was using the Force, she didn't remain in his aim for a long 
while.  
She tried to make him overshoot her, but, feeling her intent, he pulled his 
stick toward himself, corkscrewed above her and came back again behind her.  
Another hit.  
Then it was his turn to be hit thanks to her quick re-angling.  
And so it went.

In the end, Luke won by two points.  Their mikes re-activated ; they were back 
on the same side.
"How did you do that?" she asked, referring to his last drop-quick maneuver.  
"I'll show you." he promised her, stretching his small legs and arms in the 
tight confines of the cockpit.  
"Enough chat." their trained cut in.  "Ready for the second simulation?"
"Yes, Sir." they both answered.  
The enemies came upon them in a flurry.  Both kids twisted out of harm's way and 
regrouped above the hornet of fighters.  
"I'm on the one on the right." Jade told him.  
"I'll cover you." Luke said, firing at one x-wing that came close enough to deal 
with it.
Jade tracked the fleeing x-wing like a hunting vornsk ; Luke shot any fighter 
that threatened her or himself.  

Fifteen minutes later, their 'mission' was over.  
"Great shooting!" Mara exclaimed as Luke saved her hide.  
"Thanks.  How long this time?" Luke asked in his mike.  
"It's a new record.  Let's lower it again." their teacher said.  
Their 'mission' began again, with more enemies this time.
Luke and Mara showed off yet again.

******

That night, unlike the rest of the week, Luke returned to his father's castle.  
He turned off his lightsaber when his remotes fell on the floor; their timer had 
reached the turn off time. 
The young dark Jedi took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let his feelings 
flow through him like his father had taught him to do.  His anger, which was 
directed at his 'opponents', made his blood sing in his ears while wiping off 
the tiredness from his system.
He gazed down at his newly constructed weapon.  
Well, he corrected, it was almost four months old now, but it was still new.  He 
had made it in an adult format because he had decided to keep the same weapon 
for his whole life.  The design looked like his father's, but with a ridged 
handle and a narrower tip.  The blade was a brilliant emerald green.
It was his lightsaber ; it seemed to complete his arm, feeling like an extension 
of his body even when he was simply holding it like he was at the moment.
His only disappointment was that he couldn't carry it at his hip like he had the 
right to.
A slave didn't carry any weapons, or so people thought.  
Since he had learned how to conceal weapons on himself, he was always armed with 
a least two vibroblades and a small pocket blaster.  
His friend Mara was armed the same way.  
Feeling like getting more exercise, he drew his small blaster, set its setting 
on low, then reactivated the remotes and turned on his lightsaber.  
He fired at the remotes, hitting them with each one of his shots even as his 
left hand deflected the bolts that came at him.
*Impressive.* his father's voice said in his mind.  
Luke instantly put an end to his exercise and reached out.  
*Father?  You're back?!* he asked in disbelief.
*Yes, I'm back.  I'll be home in less than an hour.* he informed him.
Luke didn't need anymore explanation.  He turned off the remotes, put his 
weapons away and prepared to welcome his father back home.  
He made sure that everything was fine in the castle, then ran toward his 
father's favorite landing platform.  
He scanned the night sky both with his eyes and senses.  
His father was back.  He had missed him so very much... He might not have seen 
him much if he had been on planet, but he had still missed his nearby presence.  
He had never been separated from his father for this long since he had 
met him for the first time, almost four years ago now.  
He hoped that his father would stay home for a while.
He continued to scan the sky.

Twenty minutes later, his father's shuttle became visible to his eyes.  Its 
appearance didn't surprise him though since he had been feeling the shuttle's 
presence for the past ten minutes.  He followed the little moving star as it 
made its way down to his location.
The graceful bird set down with little more than a rush of wind through his 
blond hair.  
He walked closer to welcome his 'master'.   He bowed his head and waited.  
His father's strong, sorely missed presence and familiar sounds rushed in to 
invade his senses.  
"Welcome back, my Lord." he said, playing his role to perfection.   
"How have things gone while I was away." he asked coolly, with no warmth 
creeping in his voice.  Luke wasn't worried ; he could feel warmth coming from 
him.
He stepped in behind his father's dark silhouette as he walked past him.  
"Everything is fine, Master.  Nothing special has happened." he informed him.
"Good."
They entered the castle proper ; the door closed behind them.  His father put an 
end to his acting and turned toward him.  He crouched to be at his height.  
Luke, unable to restrain himself any longer, stepped closer and wrapped his 
small arms around his father's neck.  His helmet made it slightly awkward, but 
it didn't matter to the young boy.  
The only important thing was that he was reunited with his father ; the strong 
arms held him tightly then lifted him off the floor when his father straightened 
up while carrying him.  
"I've missed you so very much, my Son." he whispered in his hair, setting his 
large hand against his back, hugging him against himself.  
"Me too, Father." Luke said earnestly.  He leaned away from his shoulder.  "How 
was your mission?" he asked in interest.
"Some Jedis have disappeared again, but most of them won't bother us again." he 
informed him.
"Then you'll have to leave again?" Luke asked him while they walked toward his 
father's office.  
Since he was still in his father's arms, he realized that no matter how cold and 
efficient he was growing thanks to his training, it didn't seem to affect his 
relationship with his father.
He was glad of that.
"Yes, but not for a while." his father explained.  "We'll wait for the Jedis to 
reveal themselves before we strike again.  And you?  How are you doing with your 
training?"  he asked in interest.
"Well, I haven't been punished again so I guess I'm doing okay, but I'm still 
not satisfying the Master's exigencies." he admitted in slight shame. "So's 
Mara." 
He dimly wondered how his father would react to his admission.
"How many times have you been punished?" his father asked him.  

He had known that it would happen, especially considering how close the Emperor 
was keeping an eye on his son.  He wished he had been there when it had 
happened.
"Only once." Luke answered him, obviously relieved that he hadn't scolded him 
about his admission of his weakness. 
Vader couldn't tell his son that he probably was above the exigencies and was 
just being pushed to his limits.
The Emperor wouldn't like it at all.
Luke continued to talk to him. "It hurt," he told him.  "but I used the Force 
to heal myself so it didn't last for too long."
The idea of his son being hurt by anyone made Vader's blood boil in his veins, 
but he knew that it was part of his son's service to their master.  Even his 
presence on planet wouldn't have changed anything to the situation, he reflected 
resignedly.  
"You haven't been punished again?" he demanded again, just to be sure.  
His son locked his young, serious gaze with his.  "I'm fine, Father.  I train 
with them like I trained with you."
Diligently, Vader knew.  And, talking about his Jedi training...
"Have you had time to build your lightsaber?" he asked him as they walked into 
his office.  
The boy smiled proudly.  "Yes."  
His father set him down ; the boy reached in his back and pulled his saber from 
under his shirt.  
"Here it is." he continued to smile.  "What do you think?" he asked his father.
The dark lord took the handle from his small hand and studied its craftsmanship.  
It was astounding for a child of his son's age.  He turned the blade on and 
tested it with a few, sure strokes in the air.  He smiled proudly when he 
realized that his son had built an even better lightsaber than any other he had 
ever seen... and he had seen many of them lately.
Luke watched him in expectation.  "So?" he prompted him.  
"Good work." he finally told him, giving him back the deactivated handle.  "I'm 
surprised that you've made it adult-sized though.  Isn't it difficult for you to 
hold it correctly?" he inquired expertly.
As if in reflex, his son hid his weapon back into his pants and shirt, hiding it 
once again from sight.  
'Probably a result of his spy training' his father reflected.  
Soon, he suspected that the boy's speech pattern would also begin to change 
thanks to his linguistic lessons.
If he wanted to be an efficient spy, he knew, he had to learn to speak properly, 
no matter how young he was.
The young boy smiled smugly at him.  "No, it's not, and, I won't have to rebuild 
it when I'll be older." he pointed out.  
"You're right.  You've done an excellent job on it, Son.  I'm proud of you." he 
said, trying to transfer his proud smile into his voice.  
It was a tough challenge, but his son seemed to understand how proud he was of 
him.  
"Thanks." he smiled hugely.    
"I have to check on a few things here." He told him almost regretfully.  "I 
guess you have to get up early tomorrow morning?" 
"Yes," Luke admitted, "but I want to stay with you." he stated.
"Are you sure?" the dark lord inquired seriously.
"Yes." he nodded decisively.  
"Okay." his father conceded.  "But only if you tell me everything that has 
happened to you since I've left." he warned him playfully.
"Deal." Luke smiled up at his father.  
Vader made a mental note that his son was indeed beginning to display verbal 
signs that his training was taking root in his personality.  He sounded more 
mature than when he had last seen him.  He was even beginning to use more 
complex verb tenses, something which could only come from his linguistic 
training he had been thinking about a few minutes earlier, he reflected as he 
rounded the corner of his desk.
Luke followed him to his desk and sat on its corner while his father checked 
some files and reports.  
He told him everything about his different trainings, his friend, his routine, 
his results.  
His father praised him for each one of his successes.  
His check up turned out to take longer than he had initially thought, so Luke 
left him two hours later.  
He really had to go to bed now, he knew.  He had no doubt that he would have a 
tough day tomorrow.

An hour later, Vader went into his son's room to tuck him in.  
How his son had changed since he had last seen him..., he reflected almost 
regretfully. 
 He was now independent on many aspects, his survival being one of those things.  
He was also moving about in a much more discreet way, if that was possible, as 
well as thinking on a much more efficient level.  He had always been 
intelligent, but now, he was getting very clever; his ideas concerning the Jedis 
had been downright inspiring, he admitted proudly.  His body was also slowly 
building up to face up with the physical requirements of his training.  His 
shoulders were more squarish than he remembered them, and his biceps were 
beginning to show with each of his movements.
He stepped inside the boy's room.
He was already asleep, tucked in under his blankets.  He was hugging his pillow 
to himself, laying more on his chest than on his side.  He had left his light on 
yet again, Vader smiled ruefully.  
He had probably wanted to remain awake until he would come in to see him.  He 
dimly wondered if his now maturing son would like to be tucked in anymore.  
After all, he had spent the last five months without any childish attentions and 
had fared well... on the other hand, he still demonstrated his love for his 
attentions. 
He delicately sat down on the soft mattress ; his son shifted slightly, 
muttering something unintelligible to his pillow.
Despite his rigorous training, he thought in slight relief, his son was still 
just a child.  
Just a child... he thought more grimly when he spotted the seven new scars that 
crisscrossed his son's small back.   He had done a great job healing them with 
the Force, but the traces still remained.  They weren't as ugly as the ones he 
retained from his lightsaber cuts, but still... he could have done without any 
new marks, he thought darkly.  
For the briefest of moments, he wished he could convince the Emperor never to 
hurt him again, but he knew that he couldn't.  His son was the Emperor's 
servant, just like himself was, and as such, the Emperor could do whatever he 
deemed necessary for their improvements.  
Moreover, if he argued, he might just cause more injuries to his son.  
With a last physical and mental caress, he left the sleeping young spy-in-
training, wishing him a restful night.  
When he got up, he noticed the array of weapons that were scattered on the floor 
at the head of the bed.  
Vader shook his head in mild amusement.
Yes, his son had changed a lot...

******
 
To Luke's greatest pleasure, his father remained on Coruscant for almost three 
weeks before he had to leave again.  
Even though he was often confined to the training center, he always managed to 
spend a few hours every day with his father.  
When he was working in his office, he contented himself by being with him, 
himself studying his new lessons, but when they had some free time, they either 
fenced together or challenged each other with remotes' exercises, or else they 
spent their evenings star gazing.  
The more he spent time with his father, the more Luke realized how great he was.  
He was proud to be Vader's son and could only dream of the day when he would be 
able to publicly claim his last name.  
As he watched his shuttle climb up for altitude, he dimly wondered if he'd ever 
measure up to his father.
He hoped he would.

******

Eight months later, he had decided that his trainers were giving him all the 
tools he needed to some day be as great as his father was, and he had redoubled 
his already admirable work.
The fact that he was improving pushed his friend to improve herself because she 
couldn't accept being less good than he was.  

'And he would certainly not beat her today.', she resolved as she circled her 
friend even as he circled her.
They were both drenched in sweat, their lithe bodies were beginning to show 
signs of tiredness, but both of them were too proud to step down until one of 
them had managed to mark the first and final point in their duel.  
Mara studied him yet again, looking for a place to strike.  His legs were too 
well camped on the group to attempt anything, and his chest moved too fast to 
try a hit there.  
No, his only weakness, if it could be called a weakness, were his arms.  If she 
could be faster than him, she would win.  
She took a quick step and chained up a series of hits and slashes with her hands 
and fists, which he blocked, then she felt an opening and struck while he 
switched to the offensive.  
Her flat hands connected with his chest even as his leg swept her aside.  
They both fell to the carpeted floor, trying to recover their breaths.  
"That will be enough for today, children.  I think you've both proven how 
unbeatable you are." their supervisor told them.  "Go home."
Luke sat up, tempted to argue, then he met Mara's eyes and saw that there was no 
point arguing to let them finish.  
They were both exhausted.  
"Yes, Sir." they both nodded, bowing their heads in acceptance.  

Five minutes later, the ten-year-old children slumped either on the floor or the 
bench of their locker room.  
Again.
Luke reflected that it was becoming somewhat of a routine at the end of the day.  
He looked at his friend and studied her for lack of anything else to do while 
resting.
She was wearing a tank top, just like himself, and like himself, her building 
muscles were now showing through her skin with any slight movement.
Both were quite muscled for almost eleven years old children, he knew.  In fact, 
considering the datas they had studied about regular children, they were much 
more athletic looking then the average, and they knew many more things than 
their fellow youngsters knew.  
Luke couldn't help but feel privileged by the differences.  He knew his life was 
much different than that of any other child, except for his friend's, but he 
didn't mind in the least.  
No, he reflected quite happily, he didn't mind the hard work, the more demanding 
programs and the more individualistic environment.  
Some day, he would be worthwhile to serve his Emperor like his father did, he 
knew it.
But for the moment, he would simply prove that he had reached the level he was 
suppose to have completed.  
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" he asked his friend.  
She opened her green eyes and looked at him.  
"You mean the mission?" she inquired seriously.
"Yes.  Do you feel ready to face adults?" he asked her more specifically.
"Yes and no." she admitted.  "I know I can defeat them if I have to..., but I 
still feel too small to take on them face to face." she told him hesitantly.
"Me too." Luke admitted.  
Fencing against his father was one thing, but fighting against adults to kill 
them was something else altogether.  
The targeted adults were going to be much taller than his friend and training 
partner.
"At what time do you want to begin our planning tomorrow?" he asked her.  
"Same as usual?" she suggested.  
"Excellent.  I'll ask Father what he knows about the target.  Perhaps he'll give 
me a tip or two." he said as he rubbed his aching arm.
"Are you sure you can talk to him about this?" she inquired as she sat up.
He shrugged.  "I don't see why not ; Father is the second in command of the 
Emperor and he knows about you and me.  How could it be problematic?" he asked 
her seriously.
Mara remained silent, pressing her lips together in concentration.  
You're right." she finally agreed.  "It doesn't matter if he knows about the 
mission.  When does he resume his hunting?" she asked him, standing up and 
opening her locker.  
Understanding that she was getting ready to leave, Luke pushed himself back to 
his feet and stood at the end of the arrayed lockers.  
"In a few days." he informed her.  "He's told me that he's found the Jedis' 
location and is waiting for a few last things to be settled before he leaves."
When she began to change, he crossed to the other side of the lockers and opened 
his own, shedding his sweaty clothes.  
By common agreement, they had decided to put some kind of screen between 
themselves since they now regularly had to strip of all their dirty clothes at 
the end of the day. 
When every bit of clothe was discarded, both set about putting on fresh clothes.  
"Say, how is your concubine training going?" he asked her as he put on a fresh 
pair of underwear.

Mara sighed before pulling her shirt over her slender and small shoulder and 
chest.  
"It's not so bad, but I don't know if I'll ever understand how to twist my hair 
the way they want it to be.  It always falls from its perch.  
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a trick." he told her lightly from his side 
of the lockers.  
Like she always did, she knew, but she always wanted to succeed as quickly as 
possible too.
Her hair was giving her a very hard time.  It was long, yes, but it was also 
thin which meant it didn't hold in place for a long time.  She preferred to 
simply braid it or even wear it loose.  
Illa, her assigned supervisor, had told her that it wasn't proper wear in the 
Emperor's court.  
She said, she reminded herself yet again, that a man should only see a woman's 
hair loose when she was going to make love to him within the next minute.  
Well, Luke had seen her that way many times, she thought yet again, and she had 
never made love to him.
She wouldn't want to either, yuck!  
They were just best friends and partners, nothing more.  
"Ready to go?" he asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts.  
She heard a panel closing, indicating that he had dropped his dirty clothes in 
the laundry bin.  
"Almost."
She hurried to put on her trousers and shoes, closed her locker and gathered her 
clothes in her arms.  
When she crossed on his side of the room, she saw that he was Vader's slave boy 
once more, wearing drab, black clothes.  
He looked so different in them than when he was training with her... she 
wondered how he'd look like with his hair dyed. 
She put an end to her musing and threw her clothes in the washing bin, then she 
turned back toward her friend.
"Let's go." he told her, settling his bag on his shoulders.  
"We've got a long evening in front of us." she nodded in agreement.  
For the first time, they had some planning to do.

******

The next day, they used the resources of their training center to prepare their 
first mission for their Emperor.
First, they used Luke's father's feedback to evaluate their approach, then they 
researched their target's habits and other datas, selected a way to accomplish 
their two goals without compromising themselves and, until the last possible 
minute, double-checked their plan with the security that would be in place in 
the palace.  

******

That evening, Luke served the Emperor's guests, exactly like all the other 
children his master had selected for his reception.
Almost an hour after his own arrival, Baron Tsui of Manale arrived with his 
retinue.
*Mara, he's just arrived.* he sent to his friend.
*I'm in position but I have to wait for the guard's shift, in one hour.* she 
informed him shortly.
*Okay, let me know when you've gotten the information.* he told her seriously.
*Will do.  Jade out.* she sent, then reintegrated her full senses.  
Luke picked up another platter of canapés and resumed offering them to his 
master's guests as he toured the room.  
While he fulfilled his role of servant, his senses never lost track of his 
target.  
After three other platters, he finally came around his target's group to offer 
them his food.  The adults practically ignored him as they served himself, and 
they paid him no attention whatsoever when he left them.
His target thus never noticed the small bug that the black-haired boy had left 
in the folds of his jacket.  
With his senses and the bug, Luke knew that he wouldn't lose track of him now.  
He brought his platter, in the servant's ready room, then took a moment in the 
'fresher to activate the tracking device via the large, metal bracelet that was 
around his right wrist.  The target appeared on the small screen.  Luke removed 
his left finger from the print reader and the image disappeared.  The gadget 
looked once more like the 'cuff' it was supposed to be.  He also made sure his 
other weapon was still secured under his shirt.
Everything was perfect.
He resumed his serving duties.  

An hour later, Mara crept toward the apartment doors of the baron, quickly 
hacking her way inside the quarters during the short guards' shift.  
Using the Force as her friend had taught her to do, she opened the door and 
slipped inside the baron's quarters.
The door had barely finished closing when she felt the return of the guards at 
the door.
Without wasting time, she went into the Baron's office, found his computer and 
turned it on.  
Her mission was to find his files concerning the new secret weapon his 
government hadn't given to the Emperor because they had hoped to use it against 
him.
Under her veil, Mara smiled grimly.  
Tonight, she resolved, Manale would learn not to cross their master.  
She set her gloved hands on the keypad and began to call for directories and 
protected files.  
She mentally sneered as she realized how amateur the encryption of the files 
was.  She broke into them in record time and cut them out of the computer and 
onto her reader disk. 
Next, she set a bomb in the office, next to the computer and gave herself two 
minutes.  
The baron's quarters would be such a mess that Security would never be able to 
figure exactly what had happened.  
She made her way back to the door, took her two pocket blasters in her small 
hands, took a deep breath and triggered the door open.  
The four guards fell before they knew that she was even there.  Once they were 
dead, she used the Force and pulled them inside one after the other.
Ten seconds from the explosion, she closed the door and ran as fast as she could 
toward the closest entrance of the secret corridors.  
Behind her, the deserted level was eerily quiet.  
But it didn't last.  The bomb went off in a cacophony of loud noises.
She closed the secret entrance behind herself, took a moment to remove her 
shroud and catch her breath, then she contacted her friend.
*It's done.*

Luke heard her message.  While he picked up another platter of food, he drew the 
small poisoned dart from his shirt and hid it under his silver plate.  
He checked once again where his target was ; he had just returned from his walk 
in the garden.  
Luke made his way toward the groups that were as far from him as possible, 
levitated his dart above the crowd until it was above his target, lowered it 
until he was in good position, and propelled it toward his target.  
While the other guests served themselves, the baron began to choke up in shock 
and poisoning, then his companions expressed their horror when he collapsed on 
the richly tiled floor, dead.  
The commotion he created was such that many guests ran out of the room in panic.  
Having recovered his full senses, Luke did his best to avoid being trampled 
while not making a mess of his glasses of champagne, just like every other 
servant who was in the room was attempting to do.  
When he disentangled himself from the throng of frantic guests, he found refuge 
behind the table with the rest of his 'team'.  
From there, he surveyed his handiwork.  
Baron Tsui of Manale was dead, and he could feel that the dart had already 
dissolved, making it look like an unexplainable death.  
Stormtroopers showed up and blocked the issues, entrapping everybody inside the 
room.  
Luke used that new distraction to destroy the microscopic bug on the baron's 
clothes.  
On the dais, his master barely nodded in his direction before refocusing on his 
advisors.  
Luke could feel that he was pleased with the results.  He could only hope that 
it would remain so after Security had studied the body.

Three hours later, the guests were let out of the room.  The investigator hadn't 
been able to figure out what had happened.  
An hour and a half later, the servant boys left, having finished their clean up 
of the reception room.  
Luke first walked with the others, then he swiftly disappeared in a secret nook 
behind a wall and entered the secret corridors.  

He and his friend rendezvoused in the secret corridor, knelt on one knee and 
waited for their master to acknowledge their presence.  
*Good work, children.  Today, you have officially completed level one of your 
training.* he told them solemnly.
*Thank you, Master.* they said together.
*I like your idea to make it look as if it were terrorism.  Whose idea was it?* 
he asked them.
*It was mine, Master* Luke said humbly.
*A good idea indeed, young Vader, but try not to destroy my whole palace in your 
next missions.* he warned him more seriously.
*Yes, Master, I will try to find other alternatives when we'll work in your 
palace.* he promised
*Good.  Mara Jade, do you still have the copy of what I've asked you to 
retrieve?* he inquired.
*Yes, Master.*
*Good, make a detour by my rooms before you retire for the night.  Dress the 
part.* he advised her.
*Yes, Master.*
*Excellent.  Report tomorrow like usual.* he told them before cutting the link.
*Yes, Master.* the children said, bowing their heads.
They reintegrated their full senses and looked at each other.  They smiled in 
dark satisfaction.
With this first flawless success, they both knew that they were going to see 
more real action.
At last.

****** 

The next morning, Luke and Mara showed up at the training center as if they 
hadn't been in a mission the previous night.  
Nobody could even tell that they had barely gotten three hours of sleep since 
they had used a refreshing trance to rest.
They reported to their flight instructor who then brought them in a new training 
room.
The children quickly realized that it was no training room; it was a real 
hangar, with real fighters in it.  Despite their growing control over their 
emotions, both children couldn't help but gape as they realized what was about 
to happen.
"What are you waiting for?" their instructor snapped.  "Get onboard and do your 
checks."
"Yes, Sir." they both saluted, then, after exchanging a glance of delight, ran 
toward the ships and climbed up their ladders.  
Mara chose the headhunter fighter ; Luke picked the zebulon ship.
Once inside, they both switched on the piloting mode and began their checks.  
Engines, weapons, navigators, shields, steering, everything turned out 
correctly.
Then, the signal came to lift off.  
Luke turned on the repulsorlifts, hovered until he was out of the opening 
hangar, then pulled on the throttle and soared toward the sky above them.  
Behind him, Mara followed suite with perhaps a little more flourish than he had 
displayed.  
"Go to the coordinates Mu-9076." their instructor ordered them.

While they made their way to their rendezvous, Luke and Mara exchanged a thought 
or two.
*What do you think is going on?* he asked his friend.
*I don't know.  Do you think he'll pit us against one another?* she suggested.
*It wouldn't be fair considering our different ships.* he observed.
*Yeah, but a fight is never fair, flyboy.* she reminded him.
*Touche.* he conceded.
*Besides----*
A volley of blast fire came their way, making them pull apart to regroup a few 
meters away.
*Heads up, it's us against them!* he told her, flipping the stick to avoid yet 
another volley of fire.
*No kidding.* she muttered humorlessly. *Sideways or linear?*
*I'll take the front.* he told her, bringing his ship in front of hers.  
In front of them, the drones began to disperse to take them from all sides at 
once.
Following the guidance of the Force, they both dropped under the line of fire 
before veering sharply and destroying two drones by attacking their 
underbellies.
Then they continued their flip, and twisted on their axis to avoid more fire. 
Luke came down hard again on another drone.  
Mara grazed the other's reactor and it also exploded.
With four enemies left, the children used a different tactic and separated, thus 
confusing the drones.
They managed to hit three more and destroyed the last one together.
"Can you see any other one?" Mara asked him.
"No, nor can I feel anybody but us." he added.
"Then we're done." she told him.  
Luke heard her open a channel with the 'base'. 
"We're done, Sir." he informed their instructor.
"Come back home." he said shortly before cutting off the transmission.
"All right, let's go." Mara told him.  
"You check the sensors, I'll find us a way in." he told her, closing his eyes to 
feel a guidance in the Force.
They were trained of course to find the whole in any kind of surveillance net, 
but the Force gave them an edge, and they had been taught to use every edge they 
had at their disposal.  
In this case, it always allowed them to pick the best option available to them.
"Got it." he told her.  
"All right, flyboy, lead the way." 
They flew in silence for perhaps thirty seconds before Luke spoke up again.  
"By the way, Jade, nice maneuver you've pulled back there." he congratulated 
her.
"Thanks, you were not too bad either.  If I didn't know better, I'd----"
Both children sensed the danger a nano-second before an attack group came upon 
them, straight out of a micro hyperspace jump.  
The kids pulled apart, reinforced their shields and tried to regroup, but this 
time, the attackers were faster, more agile, and wouldn't let them regroup.  
'All right.' Luke thought grimly.  'You want to play?  I'm game.'
He turned on the heavier weapons of his ship, kept on his evasive maneuvers, 
then shot two torpedoes.  With a Force barrage, the torpedoes were redirected 
backward and destroyed two of his four pursuers.  
He used the distraction to climb out of range, then came back on the two 
remaining ones.  It was his turn now.

Meanwhile, Mara had done a reversed flip, going down before coming back up, 
using the better strength of her engine to outdo the drones.  When she dove 
again, they were in her line of fire.
She hit three of them before they had been able to avoid her.  She spotted her 
companion, noticed that her quarry was trying to rally with its companion, and 
an idea came to her.  
*Luke, lead him toward me.  They'll take care of each other.* she sent her ally.
Young Vader was quick to answer.  He veered off and headed for the ranging 
distance of her own quarry.  
Naturally her quarry took potshots at him, but since his shields were stronger 
than the average, he bore this attack until he felt the other one fire at him 
from behind.  
He dove down; the two drones killed each other.  
Jade pulled up to avoid the two explosions.  

After that surprise attack, they warily made their way back to the training 
center. 
Luke shut down his fighter and leaned back in the seat.  
Whew, that had been quite some session.  Unlike the other ones, he might have 
been cooked for real...
He turned his head and saw his friend vault over the side of her cockpit and 
land on the floor.  She was giving no sign that this exercise had shaken her.  
'Fool', he berated himself.  'Of course you shouldn't be distraught ; you knew 
that it would happen sooner or later.  Besides, you were against real enemies 
yesterday ; if they had spotted you, you would've been against real weapons.'
He mentally shook himself and got out of his fighter.  
Their training had just taken a new, more challenging turn.

After that session, they reported for their armory training and demonstrated 
their skills with all kinds of weapons.  
Both mastered any model of blasters and bombs.
Mara was agile at knife attacks while Luke's forte was to throw them at his 
targets.
When it came to the heavier weaponry, Luke could easily manipulate almost any 
kind of weapons whereas Mara had to restrain herself to weapons that were no 
longer than her arm.  
She made up for that weakness by having a flawless aim with whatever she 
manipulated.
Finally, when they learnt the specs of different armies, they demonstrated their 
abilities with very heavy weapons such as quad guns, air-defense lasers, and 
more.
Last on the list of the day were the weapons from different species.  
They could both use a Stokhli stick any way they wanted, same thing with a 
bowcaster, a gaffi stick, and any other weapon that was traditional in the 
different civilizations they had studied for the past months.

******

Luke ignored his cramped arms and continued to strain against the bolt that 
would give him access to the compartment that he needed to reach to fix the 
navcomputer of the shuttle.
Beside him, Mara was busy fixing the hyperdrive.
Finally, he managed to pry the plate and calculator free and began to study what 
was wrong with it.
It was kind of like repairing repulsor lifts, he reflected, except that it was 
much more complex.  
Much like their training now, he conceded.  
Between missions, he and Mara were spending more and more time at the training 
center, facing down challenge after challenge.  They were no longer tested in 
one area only, but in many things at the same time.
Like for this shuttle, they had to practice their Huttese while fixing a 
mechanical mess.  
Their fighting session of the morning had pitted them against armed droids and 
Remotes ; they had needed both weapons and their self-defense to get out with 
only minor injuries.
He had almost sprained his ankle while Mara would have a blaster burn to nurse 
for a few days, but it didn't matter.  They had succeeded.
Having found the problem, he focused on his welding and redid the broken 
connections.  
The lights returned to green on the unit ; it had worked.  
He plugged it back in the navigator, then attacked the next problem: the missing 
connections between the console and the nav computer.
"Pass me the twelve." Mara told him, her head buried in the console.  
He gave it to her and they resumed their fixing.  They didn't waste time in 
pointless chit chat ; time was of the essence.  
The clock was ticking and if they didn't finish in time, well... they would 
improve themselves next time.
It was like that in every one of their sessions.  They never failed, working in 
perfect synergy to accomplish perfect scores all the time.

******

Another two months later, Luke arrived at his father's palace and sank into the 
couch of his father's favorite living room.  He closed his eyes and tried to 
decide if he was going to take a nap right now, or if he would go to bed early 
if not now. 
He decided to watch the news, perhaps try to catch something that would prove 
useful for his next mission, then he would go to bed.  
He turned on the vid, settled himself comfortably, then listened to the news 
person.  
Boring.
During the adds, he reflected on his and Mara's latest mission.  They had been 
with a group of tourist to infiltrate a factory, then they had quietly slipped 
away and stolen plans of a new kind of shielding apparatus.  Even now, nobody 
knew that the copy had taken place.
The master had been very pleased with this success, the latest in a series of 
five missions. 
And a new one was coming up, in a few days.  It was going to take place in the 
Palace once more, during the night.
The news person came back on line.  
"Today, the University of Alderaan has opened a new unit to her programs..." the 
woman began.
Luke watched the images, then sat, transfixed.  
He hadn't seen her ever since that first look when he had been aboard his 
father's ship, but the little girl was still captivating.
Princess Leia Organa was walking with the group of adults, looking around 
herself with great interest.  She was, of course, wearing very fine clothes and 
she was behaving most properly.  
When the journalist asked her if she wanted to study at the university when she 
would be older, he found himself literally drinking her words.  
Why did he have the feeling that she was familiar somehow?..  
The news changed and he recovered his cooler mood.  
This was ridiculous, he told himself,  he was spending much time with Jade, he 
considered her as a sister sometimes, but he had never drunken her words like he 
had done with the rich little princess.  
It was crazy of course.  
The thought of his companion brought a smile to his face.  He really enjoyed the 
time he was spending with her, he admitted.  She was cool, nice, a most reliable 
ally and... he could tell her things he couldn't talk about even with his 
father.  
He was sometimes more content to stay with her than to return home... but that 
was simply because he had company, he told himself.
He loved his father and wouldn't want to miss one minute of sharing with him... 
the problem being that his father wasn't home very often...
Cursed Jedis who were still keeping him separate from his father.
For the ten-and-a-half year old boy, the separations were getting longer and 
harder to bear up.
But he had to get used to it.  It was the price for serving the Emperor, and it 
was a price both he and his father gladly paid to have this honor.
He turned off the vid and laid back on the couch, selecting it as his bed for 
the night.
A little rough night would toughen him, he decided.

******

Three months later, they had yet another mission to accomplish in their master's 
palace, this time, during the day.  
The merchant was supposed to leave with his family for the day ; that would give 
him and Mara plenty of time to accomplish their mission.
Their master suspected that the merchant was covering a hiding-Jedi business and 
he wanted them to expose him.
Luke was more than glad to have been assigned to this mission.  The faster the 
Jedi would be killed, the faster his father would return home.
Garbed both like regular children of Imperial dignitaries, he with brown hair, 
she with black hair, they skipped their way in the corridors.  
For a long while, they waited for the alley to be desert, playing in the 
courtyard while they bid their time.
Then, they felt that the field was clear.  
Quickly, they returned in front of the unguarded door, set on the spying mode 
now, hacked their way inside and headed for the merchant's room,.  
They methodically scoured the room and his computer.  Luke uncovered a secret 
compartment in one of the suitcases and brought a small disc to his friend who 
was busy with the computer.  
*Let's try this.* he told her.
Wordlessly, Mara loaded the disc and called up the directory.
*Jack pot, flyboy.*  she said coldly.
Luke exchanged a grim glance with her, then began to put together the parts of 
the small bomb he would use to draw their master's security in here where they 
would find the data and put the man and his family under arrest.  
Luke tried to find where he could set it that would be the least damageable to 
his master's taste.  
He had heeded his warning about destruction in his palace in every mission he 
had had to ; he was resolute to continue to do so.
He selected the communication console which was the closest to the fire alarm.  
The fire would be controlled in no time, and the people in charge of the 
investigation would find the disc.
Mara put it in one of the most easy to think hiding places, then joined him in 
the living room.
*Time to go, flyboy.* she sent through the Force.
They waited for the corridor to be deserted, then resumed their childish 
skipping as if nothing had happened.  
When the surveillance cameras picked them on their screen, they knew that they 
would never be suspected of anything.
The bomb went off ; they pretended to be scared out of their wits and ran for 
all their worth. Well, not their full worth, but for what a child of their age 
could normally manage.

******

Luke gingerly sat in the seat that had been assigned to him ; he reflected that 
this was the part of his training that he hated most.
Sure, learning how to bear pain served him well during missions, but he didn't 
particularly relish the exercise involved to learn that.
And, unfortunately, the more he and Mara were advancing in their training, the 
more excruciating the simulations were becoming.
At first, they had learnt to bear simulations of broken bones, cuts and such, 
but now, it was a combination of many injuries.  
Even though it wasn't real, it still left him sore after the session.
He exchanged a slightly nervous look with his friend while the medics set the 
sensors on their temples, chest and neck.  
They both wondered what would be in store for them today.  Last time had been 
difficult enough.
The medics left them alone, closing up the soundproof cubicles.
Then, the training session began.
This time, it turned out to be a combination of almost any kind of possible 
pains, as if they were undergoing a torture session.
The goal was to last as long as they could, as always.
Luke clenched his teeth, fought to focus past his pain and began to tap in the 
Force to strengthen his resistance.
Even with the Force's help, he was in great torment.  He writhed in his bonds, 
screamed and howled in torture.  
When they increased the intensity of the pain, his young body couldn't take it 
anymore and he collapsed.  
He was unaware that his friend had done the same thing in her cubicle.  
He was also unaware that they had both broken a new record.  They had born pain 
that would be the equivalent of almost a full week of non-stop torture.

When she woke up, Mara was in the recovery room of the 'torture' room.  Her head 
was pounding, her throat felt raw, and her body was sore all over.
Darn, how she hated that exercise.  Of course, she also hated getting hurt in 
missions because of that.
Up to now, both she and Luke hadn't gotten hurt since they had always 
accomplished their missions under cover, but she could feel that someday, their 
pain-bearing training would come in handy.
Especially for her friend, but she couldn't say why though.  It was just a 
feeling, if a powerful one.  
She turned her head toward him and watched him as he rested.  
She was lucky to have him as a friend and partner, she knew.  No other servant 
had ever been allowed to fraternized with another one like she had.  
She didn't know if it was because he was Lord Vader's son, or if it was because 
her master had felt their potential as a team, but she was glad to have someone 
to talk to, someone of her age.  
Being an imperial servant was sometimes difficult and since admitting weaknesses 
was a flaw, she had nobody to talk to when she needed to share those things.
Except Luke.
She dimly wondered if they would be friends for the rest of their lives...
Ten minutes later, Luke awoke too, complained about the same aches she was 
feeling, then they were told to report to their next teacher.

******

Weeks later, at night, both children crept from one shadow to another, heading 
for the headquarters of yet another company.
This time, their target was creating computer programs and their master was 
particularly interested in their new droid concept.
He didn't want the businessmen to develop it ; he wanted that toy for himself.
Once the children reached a blind corner of the huge complex, they pulled out 
their climbing equipment, fastened the magnets to their hands and knees, then 
swiftly began the long climb.
Half-an-hour later, they had reached the higher, wind-swept levels.  They began 
to move sideways on the facade of the complex, heading for their target: a 
ventilation exhaust port. 
They unscrewed it and pulled it free, working as if there wasn't a kilometers-
long drop under them.  Luke held the grid with the Force while his companion 
stowed the screws in her pockets for later use.
Mara climbed first in the port, pulled the grid inside with herself, then Luke 
followed her.  
After getting rid of their magnets, they quickly but silently walked on four, 
following the path they had selected during their planning.  
Once they reached the research lab, Luke pulled a device from his pack while 
Mara took care of the new grid, then once his friend had pulled the grid free, 
he himself expertly deactivated the laser/alarm system.  
*Okay, count two minutes.* Mara told him before she dropped down in the 
laboratory.
Luke closely monitored her while keeping the alarm system in check.
One minute twenty seconds later, Mara was back.  She jumped ; he pulled her up 
with the Force and helped her back inside the pipe.
Twenty seconds later, they were back toward their exit, and thirty minutes 
later, heading for the nearest secret entrance of the Emperor's private 
corridors.  
Nobody would know that the data had been stolen, not erased by accident.
They knew that their master would be pleased.

******

The seekers were floating in the air, as if waiting for the children to make the 
first move.  
The children were also floating in the air, easily finding their equilibrium in 
the zero-gs environment.
At first, they had had to learn how to move and balance themselves in such an 
Environment ; they had naturally bumped into many walls before understanding the 
techniques, but now, they were ready for their first fight in zero-gs.
As usual, the remotes were set to kill.
Luke and Mara exchanged a grim look, then they turned on their lightsabers and 
drew their blasters.  
The remotes began to attack.  
Luke shifted his stance and deflected the bolts, then again and again, slowly 
pushing himself toward the far wall, then he barely pushed himself away from it, 
tumbled over the remotes and shot two of them dead before they had corrected 
their aim.  
He easily stopped his drifting with the other wall, controlling his rebound by 
keeping his touch as light as possible with the mentioned wall.
Behind him, Mara equally used the wall to move away from the little hornets.  
She pushed herself under them, barely moved to flip on her back and shot them 
from under.  
Luke saved her from a shot in the leg by pushing himself from the floor and 
intercepting the bolt with his lightsaber before slashing up the remote.
That was their first, easy victory.
Four, gradually more difficult exercises followed.

******

On the day of his eleventh birthday, Luke was given a great gift: his father 
returned home after months of absence.  
It was his only gift since a birthday wasn't an important thing for an imperial 
servant, merely a way to keep track of time, but for Luke, it was a special day 
this time.
He was proud to tell his father how he had accomplished many missions, always 
successfully, and that the training was continuing to be challenging.
His father's answer to this surprised him greatly.
"If you are as good as that, Son, then you and Mara can help me next time I 
leave the planet." He stated.
"You mean go with you in a mission?" Luke asked, gazing at his father in 
disbelief.
He had never been allowed to help his father before.
"Yes.  I have to leave next week, which will give you plenty of time to prepare 
for your part of the operation." he explained reasonably.  "If the Emperor give 
me the green light, do you feel ready for this?"
"Yes." he said, trying hard to hide his great joy.  
If it did come to be, he would finally fulfill one of his dream: to serve 
alongside his father.
What a pleasure it would be.

******

He did get the permission to take part to his father's mission, but it wasn't 
like what he had thought it would be.
Instead of seeing more action, his father attended a diplomatic reception on 
Alderaan.
At first, Luke had been slightly disappointed by the turn of events, but he had 
pushed back those unfaithful thoughts and focused on his task.
He and Mara had to set up discreet trackers that would allow his father's 
Intelligence to spy on Jedi-sympathetic individuals.
Luke's part of the operation was to scan each guest when they came near him and 
thus pick out the traitors from the allies. Then he had to transmit the names to 
his friend who would then either take care to plant the listening device, or 
else transmit the information to the other spies who were there with them.
It was a very important mission, he reminded himself, and a lot rested on his 
shoulders.  
His father was here as a dressing window while 'he' was at the core of the 
operation.  He had no time for sulking.
So, he waited patiently out of the main room, standing still like a good 
slave boy.  He was allegedly taking care of his master's comlink, filtrating the 
calls to warn him if something extremely important came up.
In fact though, whenever someone came out of the doors, he scanned them for Jedi 
sympathy.

Two hours later, and at least a hundred and fifty scans, a new figure came out 
of the room.
Luke inconspicuously scanned her too, then froze in mid-scan.  
She was the young princess, the young girl he had seen only twice in his life.
He couldn't resist his curiosity and dared look up to see her for real.  
She was looking in her back, as if checking if she were followed.  She was 
dressed in a fine light-blue dress and her small neck was adorned with a very 
delicate pearl necklace.  
She turned around, and for the shortest of moments, their eyes met.  
They both gaped at each other, as if sensing something that was drawing them 
toward the other while unable to follow its guidance.
Remembering his role of a slave, Luke hurried to drop his gaze back to the 
floor.  
He felt her pity, her curiosity, but she didn't come closer.  She was tempted to 
though.  
Luke had no doubts that she didn't address him because she knew not to put a 
slave in harm's way by talking to him.  Even though slavery wasn't allowed on 
her planet, the young girl surely knew that the best way to help slaves if they 
came to her home planet was to not talk to them.
To his surprise, the young girl took a step toward him, then the door of the 
reception room opened again and a woman's voice spoke.
"Leia, what are you doing?" the woman asked the young girl.  
"Nothing, Mother, I was just tired to be in that room." the princess answered 
primly.
Luke scanned the woman while she spoke with her daughter.  She was Jedi 
sympathetic.  So was the girl in fact.
"Come now, don't stay here." the queen gently prompted her.
Luke felt her indicate him, then she lowered her voice to whisper in the girl's 
hear.  Luke easily enhanced his hearing with the Force.
"You don't want Vader to hurt him because of you, do you?  He looks fragile 
enough as it is." the adult said to her daughter.
Luke felt the young princess's eyes on him once more, then she followed her 
mother back inside the room.
Luke had to restrain a slight smirk from crossing his lips.  Fragile?  Really?  
He was far from fragile, but his long, ample-sleeved shirt was creating that 
illusion.  Since his arms were covered, so as to not betray his intensive 
training, he had a forged slave mark on his neck to identify him as a his 
father's servant.  
The comlink beeped in his hand.

Mara finished to plant her listening/tracking device in her target's ship, then 
checked which other ones she had to take care of.  
Lord Vader's agents had barred off three ships while she had been busy with her 
chosen target.  
That left four targets, Alderaan's castle included.  
She selected that one as her own, gathered her equipment, then found her stealth 
speeder bike and flew in the castle's direction.

Once she was above it, she jumped and landed lightly on the curved roof, 
controlled her slide downward with the Force, then grabbed hold of the window 
ledge and pulled herself inside.
Since she didn't know where the Viceroy's apartments were, she waited for her 
friend to pull the information out of the Viceroy's mind.

Three minutes later, she was on her way.
The corridors were mostly deserted, as if the viceroy didn't need guards, she 
reflected.
He was a fool.
But she certainly wasn't.  She kept her senses alert, cat-footing closer and 
closer to her target, then slipped inside the unprotected door.
She studied the layout of the room and decided to plant her device near the 
couple's bed table.  
Once this was done, she pulled out her remote caller and contacted her speeder 
bike.

Two minutes later, she had jumped from the window ledge and back on its saddle 
and she was heading back for the dark lord's shuttle.  
Luke had just warned her that he was on his way out.
On her way in, she let a smirk crease her lips.
That, she reflected, had been one of her easiest infiltration ever.

Luke stepped in behind his father, keeping his head lowered.
The viceroy was escorting the dark lord toward the lift.  Behind himself, Luke 
felt the young princess's presence.
She was looking at him.  
He was tempted to look at her one last time, but he knew that he couldn't.  He 
wondered why she was paying him so much attention, unless... she had never seen 
a slave of her age before.
Yeah, that was probably it, he surmised.  She was too sensitive for her own 
good, he thought in mild disgust.
It was a shame ; she looked like an interesting person otherwise.
He climbed in front of the speeder and brought his father to his waiting 
shuttle.

They were now settled in the shuttle and ready for the less than half-an-hour 
long ride up to his father's ship, but when the pilots tried to turn on the 
repulsorlifts, they died out on them.  
To Luke's surprise, his father didn't seem too upset by the small problem. In 
fact, he told the pilots to fix the anomaly, then left the shuttle.
Luke watched him leave, bemused.  
Now there was a strange reaction coming from his father.  His own first impulse 
was to berate the pilots for fools, then to shove them away from the compartment 
and fix the problem himself, but of course, he couldn't give in to his desires.
Instead, he remained in the prisoners' compartment.
While he waited for them to do their job, he felt his father search something 
with the Force but always coming up empty.  There was something here, he 
realized, something his powerful father had detected.  
He tried to help him, but instead, he fell asleep before he was aware of what 
was happening.
He hadn't realized that he was dead to the world.

When they finally reached the Executor, Vader still hadn't been able to pierce 
the secret of the strange feeling he had had as long as he had been on Alderaan.
He had had the feeling to be leaving something behind.
Something important.
He had scanned the Force, opened up his mind to its guidance, but had come up 
dry.
There was something on Alderaan though; something that was attracting him in a 
strange way.  It wasn't power, it wasn't danger, it was... something else.
The shuttle set down.  He stood up and headed for the ramp.  He expected his son 
to join him, but Luke failed to show up.  
He retreated on his steps and checked in the prisoners' compartment ; Luke was 
fast asleep, looking as vulnerable as any eleven-year-old boy in the galaxy.  
For a moment, Vader simply gazed at him, then he conceded that he was moot to 
wake him up.  
The boy had done a great job tonight, deserving every second of sleep he could 
get.  He was also aware that his son's young body had to recharge himself after 
his skillful uses of the Force.
He had no doubt that the young girl Mara was also fast asleep in her secret 
cubicle.  He wouldn't wake her up either.
Careful not to wake his son up, he delicately picked him off his sitting 
position on the bench and took him in his right arm.  The boy muttered slightly, 
then he laid his head on his father's shoulder and sleepily wound an arm around 
his neck.
At that moment, Vader felt a warm feeling of love for his son.  He was tempted 
to cradle him in his two arms, to hold him close to himself, but he knew that it 
wouldn't be a good idea.  He had to keep up the illusion of his son being his 
slave.
He settled for carrying him in one arm.
The pilots gaped at the sight of their lord carrying his slave.  
"Sleep is his reward when he serves me well." he said curtly, not wanting to see  
any rumors start up in his ranks about himself and the boy. 
The two pilots bowed their heads in understanding.  Vader walked down the plank 
and headed for his quarters, his son balanced in his right arm.   
Luke never steered, completely unaware in blissful sleep.

******

The next day, Vader brought the two young people back to Coruscant, pretending 
that he had to report in person to the Emperor.  The first thing he did once 
they were on their way was to remove the fake slave mark on his son's neck.  
The boy sat on the bunk while he himself lightly scraped it off with a special 
solution.  The less he saw his son's different marks, even faked ones, the 
better he felt.
"I have had word that the operation is a success." he told the two children.  He 
continued: "Intelligence is currently tracking them down.  The dignitaries will 
lead us to the Jedis."
"That's great, Father." Luke smiled, bending his head to the side to allow easy 
access to another part of his special tattoo. 

Luke reflected that he liked those moments of closeness with his father.  His 
gloved fingers on his neck... his strong presence very close by... it was making 
him feel strong too, and invincible, and completely contented.
He was with his father ; he couldn't ask for anything else at the moment.
"Princess Leia has been close to you, hasn't she?" his father asked him.
"Yes.  I think that she perhaps wanted to talk with me, but her mother stopped 
her." he informed him.
"Princess Leia?" Mara asked from her perch on the other bunk.
She was nursing a blaster burn she had gotten aboard one of her targets ; even 
though his friend was as tough as he was, he could feel her relief to finally be 
able to tend herself.
She was also tired.
"She was there yesterday," Luke explained.  "and, around midnight, I think she 
tried to escape her parents' notice to talk with me."
"Why would she do that?" Mara wondered.
A slave was beyond notice, they both knew.
"Because she's never seen a slave this close before." his father supplied before 
Luke could answer.  "That girl is sheltered so much that real life will hit her 
in the guts when she will face it for the first time.  Luke was probably nothing 
more than a curiosity for her." he said wisely.
"Oh." Jade nodded shortly.
"Anyway," Luke continued while obeying his father's wordless request and bending 
his head toward the left, "she is already weak.  She feels too much and doesn't 
think enough." he commented coolly.  
His father finished to clean up the special ink, then gently wiped the solution 
from his skin.
"You are absolutely right, Son." he agreed with him.  "There, it's done." he 
said, taking his hands away from his shoulders.  
"Thanks, Father.  It was getting itchy." Luke smiled, turning toward his father.
"I have no doubt of that." he answered him.  
The two of them gazed at each other, then his father's hand touched his face. 
Luke knew that something was troubling him.  
"What is it?" he asked.
Mara watched them, then she turned away, giving them their privacy.
*I wish I could do the same thing with your real marks, Luke.* he sent him 
through the Force. *You deserve so much more than what you have because we have 
to keep up that charade.* he said in mild frustration.
*I know, Father, but without that charade,* he reminded him, *we wouldn't have 
met.  I guess it's the price to pay.* he said in precocious wisdom.
*You shouldn't pay any price.* his father explained, definitely frustrated now.  
*You haven't done anything; the Jedis have... I have.*
Luke took his father's hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.  *No, Father, 
none of this is your fault.  It's the Jedis'...* he said wisely, then took on a 
more dangerous mental tone of voice.  *And that is why they will pay with all of 
their lives, Father.  We will destroy them all.* he said, a dark fire of revenge 
blazing in his cool eyes.
*Yes, we will.* Vader agreed, returning his squeeze.  
He then leaned down to hug his son.
"I love you, Father." Luke said as he wound his arms around his father's chest.
"And I love you, Son." Vader said, hugging his child to himself.
The Jedi would pay dearly, Luke promised himself.  No one had the right to hurt 
his father, to make him think that he was at fault.  No one could do this to 
him, except their master of course.  
He himself was going to dare ask if he and Mara could be assigned to the Jedi 
cases.  He could feel that he would be able to help his father if he were 
allowed to.
Behind them, Luke felt his friend's curiosity about the scene that was unfolding 
less than a meter away from her.
His father disentangled himself from him and straightened.  
"I will be in the cockpit." He told him coolly, indicating that he would leave 
the two friends alone for a while.
"Okay." both Luke and Mara answered lightly.  
The dark lord silently exited the small cabin.
"You know," Mara began, turning toward him,  "having a family seems like a very 
nice experience." she commented thoughtfully.
"It is." Luke agreed.  "And, it isn't the same thing to have a real family than 
a fake one.  I've never been as close to my guardians as I am to my father... 
perhaps my aunt... but certainly not my uncle." he told her, disgruntled.
"I don't doubt it after what you've told me of him.  Was he really this mean to 
you?" she inquired seriously.
Luke hoped down his bunk and onto the other one to sit beside her.  She turned 
toward him.  
"Yes and no," he admitted.  "He was just very cold, very demanding, and never 
satisfied.  He's never showed me much care while I was with them, and he never 
hesitated to hit me good if I disobeyed him." he told her wistfully as he 
remembered the past.  "At least, Father showed care for me, even when he was my 
'master'.  He's given me more than Owen has ever given me." he finished 
seriously, earnestly.
Mara nodded in agreement.  "I can understand the comparison, but I am just 
beginning to understand what a family is about." she told him, applying a new 
bacta patch to her burn.  
"What do you mean?" he frowned slightly.
His friend sigh sadly.  "I wasn't with my real parents when the Emperor saved 
me.  They had abandoned me and those other people were simply 'grooming' me 
until I was old enough to be sold for a good price.  I simply can't say how my 
parents were." she sighed again, this time in resignation.
"It's sad," Luke tried to comfort her, "You were truly lucky to be found by the 
master then."
"Yes I was." she agreed. "But while he is a good guardian, he is not a father." 
she pointed out glumly, casting her eyes down as if in regret to have said her 
last words.
"Well," Luke sighed, leaning back on his hands and trying to lighten the mood of 
the suddenly heartrending discussion.  "if you look on the positive side, Mara, 
you don't have a weak heart like I do." he commented lightly.
She rose her small eyebrows in confusion.  "Weak heart?"
"Every time I am separated from my father," he explained.  "I miss him.  I 
really, really miss him." Luke said wistfully.  "And, no matter how I try to 
harden myself, my heart is still my weakness.  You don't have any flaws, my 
friend." he told her in envy, touching her shoulder with his hand.  
"Well," she smirked, letting him draw her out of her blue mood.  "I have to 
disagree with you since I am currently nursing the result of such a weakness." 
Luke returned her smirk.  "We'll just have to work harder on that." he nudged 
her with the knuckle of his left index.
"Count on it." she returned.  
Ever since they had begun their training, they had develop the automatism to 
learn from their mistake, he thought, not whine over them.  It had served them 
right up to now, he knew, and he could see that his friend would do everything 
she could to prove it useful once more.
He watched her as she dropped her patch and tried to wrap her forearm in a 
bandage.  He knew that she wanted to do everything on her own, but when she 
failed her first attempt, he decided to help her.  
Wordlessly, he took the two ends of the bandage and began to expertly wrap her 
arm with it.  
"I could do it, you know?" she told him, obviously irked.  
"I know." he acquiesced.  "I'm just saving you time."
"Right."
"Besides, I owe you one for tending my back after that near miss back home." He 
reminded her.
"Right..." she conceded, somewhat grudgingly.  She 'had' patched him up when he 
had gotten hurt during a zero-gs simulation.  
"You know," Luke began thoughtfully.  "I prefer to be with my father, even if we 
are often apart, then to have a family like the princess's.  She is our age, yet 
she can't even think on her own." He explained in incredulity.  "They are still 
telling her what to do.  I prefer my independence." he stated seriously.
"I think I prefer being alone." Mara told him in a similar fashion.
"Yeah.  Solitude fortifies one's soul." Luke agreed as he finished the bandage.  
"Although... personally, if I could, I would like to have a pet." he admitted 
wistfully.
"A pet?" his friend asked her, bemused.
"Yeah, a small, cuddly animal that you can pet and play with when you want to... 
I know it's not worthy of an Imperial servant but..."
"Then why would you want one?" Mara asked.  
Luke sighed and ran his hand in his short hair.
"Because it's something I've always wanted ever since I was three.  Long habits 
die hard, you know?" he smiled lamely.
"Well, personally, I want what the Emperor wants, and I do not think about the 
other things." his friend told him.  "I know he wants the best for me anyway." 
"And that is why you are very lucky." Luke explained, lightly nudging her good 
arm yet again.  "You don't have to unlearn what you have learnt and lived.  I, 
on the other hand, have to work hard on that." he sighed in resignation.
"Perhaps, but," she began with a smirk.  "you haven't had to sleep in a small 
compartment yesterday.  I have."
Luke returned her smirk and jumped down from the bunk.
"I'm keeping you from getting some more sleep, right?  I'll let you rest." he 
told her.
"Luke, wait, that wasn't what I meant." Mara said, touching his shoulder to keep 
him from leaving.
"But it's still true, Jade.  You do need to sleep you know."  He rose an 
eyebrow at her.  "Or didn't you see yourself in a mirror?  You would 
recognize the signs we're supposed to avoid at all costs." he told her.
If the trainers back home saw her right now, they would punish her for being 
puffy eyed and tired-looking.
She seemed to understand this as well.
"Okay, you go then.  I'll get rid of those."
"Excellent." he told her, flashing her a small smile, then he headed for the 
nearby door.
Behind him, his friend settled in for a restful rejuvenation trance.

Luke exited the medbay and joined his father in the cockpit.  
He sat in the copilot seat and reflexively surveyed the board.
Everything was in order ; they were a little less than ten hours away from 
Coruscant.  
"I take it she's catching up on her sleep." his father stated from his seat.  
"Yes.  She's not going to be punished, don't worry."  Luke said, then he 
hesitated a bit before saying his next sentence.  "By the way, Father, sorry to 
have fallen asleep yesterday." He then hurried to ask.  "Why haven't you---" 
His father shut him up by resting his gloved finger over his small lips.
"First, Son, after making that much use of the Force, rest was more than normal, 
especially for a child of your age, and two, even if I had wanted to, I wouldn't 
have been able to rouse you.  You were too deep asleep.  The best option was to 
just let you sleep." he told him in his cool, modulated voice. 
"But you have had to carry me!" Luke defended once his father withdrew his 
finger.  "A master doesn't carry a slave.  You should have at least left me 
there for the night." he tried to argue.
"That was out of question." his father said in a mildly irritated voice.  "You 
have it rough enough as it is.  I carried you ; nobody will question it." he 
finished in a tone that meant that no other argument was welcome.
Luke pursed his lips, then relented.  Who was he to argue with his father 
anyway?  
"If you say so." he said, subdued.  
A silent moment passed between them.
"Are you going to stay home with me?" he asked his father even though he knew 
the answer.
"No, I'm sorry.  With the leads you've uncovered, the Jedi hunt has started 
anew."
"Do you think the master would allow Mara and I to take part to it if I asked 
him?" he queried hopefully.
"You mean before finishing your training?" the dark lord asked him, turning back 
toward him.
Oh, right..., Luke conceded, he had forgotten about that.  
"Once it is done?" he inquired uncertainly.
"This is in the future, Son, and in the future, I will be done with the Jedis." 
his father assured him.
"So it's no." Luke accepted, feeling glum.
He wanted so much to help his father in this thing, to be at his side when he 
killed the hated Jedis.  He wanted to kill them himself.
He too had a personal vendetta against them.
But of course, he was a mere child, not even a fully-trained agent ; the adults 
couldn't risk endangering their plan with his mistakes, even if he was a dark 
Jedi.
It all made sense in fact, even if it didn't make it any easier for him to truly 
accept it.  

Vader sensed his son's disappointment ; the boy wanted so much to destroy the 
Jedis that he still forgot himself in the process.  That was probably why, out 
of other reasons, he wasn't allowed to leave with him.
He was not ready yet.
But it was touching in a way.  It meant that the boy was sharing his hatred of 
the Jedis, of the men who had separated his family before Luke's birth.
His family ; their family.
What would it have been like to have Amidala with them?  Would they be like they 
were today?  Or would things be completely different?  
The boy sighed and slumped in his chair.  His gaze never left the motley blue of 
hyperspace.  
Luke was barely eleven years old, he reminded himself, yet when he took on that 
faraway look, lost in thoughts, he looked like he was eons older.  
The agent training had given him access to a level of knowledge that even a 
royal child such as Princess Leia Organa would never reach, and his Jedi 
training had given him access to a source of unlimited power, wisdom and extra 
knowledge.
Luke's mind, he reflected, was more like that of a regular sixteen-year-old 
teenager, perhaps even eighteen, than that of a child.  
His heart though was grounded in the present and he was a child, with all the 
dreams, the yearnings and the impatience it meant.  
His training had taught him not to focus on them, but they were still there.  He 
was a Skywalker/Vader, which meant that for him, the future wouldn't come fast 
enough. 
"Luke." he called gently.
The boy focused on him with his serene gaze.  
"Come here." he invited him.
At first, pride battled with his son's desire to be with his father ; his 
pride lost.
He walked over the chair and sat on his father's lap.  
"Don't worry, Son," Vader said kindly, resting his arms around his boy. "you 
will have all the time in the galaxy to live adventures with me.  You are still 
only a child." he told him wisely.
"I know, Father, but I----it's too long to wait." Luke pouted childishly.
A true Skywalker/Vader, Vader smiled inwardly.  Gods how he loved that boy, his 
son.
"Yes," he conceded, more coolly, "but patience is a virtue that even a dark Jedi 
can use, Luke.  The Emperor is a very patient man, and so am I.  We wait for 
events to happen, just like you should wait for your time of recognition to 
come." he advised more seriously.
"Some day, Father," Luke said, leaning against his father's chest.  "I promise I 
will be as good a servant as you are."  He craned his neck to look up at his 
father.  "I will be a very powerful, invincible dark Jedi and I will make you 
and the Emperor proud of me."
Vader ruffled his son's hair, hoping yet again that he could show him the smile 
that was creasing his lips at the moment.  
"I am already proud of you, my son... my little dark Jedi." he finished, 
wrapping his arms around the boy.  "Now enough gloomy talk." he commented, then 
he began to tickle his ribs to change his mood.  
Luke jumped up, trying to draw away from his fingers, but he was unable to of 
course.  
Besides, Vader liked too much to hear his son laugh to make it easy for him to 
put an end to it.  A child was made to smile and laugh, he now knew, and the 
best way to balance his boy's very serious life was to allow him to be a child 
once in a while.  
So, he made him laugh, and laugh, and laugh until he begged for mercy.  
After that, they sat together and silently watched hyperspace fly by them, 
content to be together for the moment.

******

It took Luke and his friend almost another year to complete the training, a year 
during which they alternated between missions, learning new skills, living on 
different planets for a while to practice their survival skills, and more.  At 
one point, the two children wondered if it would ever end...
But finally, it was time to report to the Emperor and wait for his final 
decision.  

The children waited in the corridor, nervous despite the fact that they knew 
that the outcome of the meeting could only be positive.  
Their trainers had taught them their whole curriculum and they themselves had 
faced down anything they had thrown at them during the final tests.  
They were ready and they knew it.
They could crack, reprogram and take advantage of any kind of computer system, 
they could use any kind of weapon from blasters to planetary defense systems, 
they could also blend in any civilization in the galaxy as well as spy on them 
without ever being detected, and they could pilot anything that could fly, roll, 
skim the water or any other possibility of transport.
They could also kill any kind of being in less than ten seconds with little more 
than their hands and feet, no matter what they were.
Luke could feel, deep inside him, that they were worthy to serve their master 
now, not just on sparse mission but as regular spies.
He threw a look at his friend, saw that she was sharing his opinion, and 
refocused on the floor.
They were finally summoned in the throne room.
They walked inside, Luke following Mara as if he were her assigned slave.  They 
noticed that the guards had left the room ; they were alone with their master--- 
and his father, he realized in delight when his father dropped his shield.  
He hadn't thought that he would be present for their final report; the last he 
had heard about him, he had been stuck in a small guerilla-afflicted zone, 
chasing a few remaining, straggling Jedis while trying to keep the locals from 
destroying Imperial material.
He rose his head and walked proudly beside his friend.  They knelt together.
"Rise, children." their master said, himself getting to his feet.  "I have had 
word that you have completed the training." he told them with a touch of pride 
in his voice.
"Yes, Master." the children bowed.
"With honors, I shall mention.  Congratulations, both of you."  he smiled 
slightly, standing in front of the two children.
"Thank you."
"From now on," he said, resting his spindly hands on the children's heads, "you 
will be my ghosts, my hands, my will.  I nominate you Emperor's Hands." he said 
solemnly.
Luke stood tall, like a good imperial servant.  Beside him, his friend beamed 
with pride.  He flicked a very quick glance in his father's direction.
He was glowing with pride and contentment.
Luke reveled in the thought that this was the greatest day of his life.

Less than half an hour later, he was following his father again, pretending to 
be his slave once more.
They entered a small room where they would be able to take a break from their 
parody.
His father turned toward him and crouched to be at his level; he set his hands 
on his shoulders.  Luke knew that he wouldn't hug him, they hadn't done that for 
a while now.  Ever since his father had come back from his most important 
victory against the Jedis, namely the destruction of their secret rendezvous 
point, they had decided that he himself was old enough to need a less effusive 
manner to demonstrate his care.  He was in fact, and today, he was going to dare 
show it in a new way.
His father spoke, bringing him back to the present.
"I am so very proud of you, Luke.  Do you realize the honor that is yours 
today?" he asked him seriously.
"Yes, I do... Dad." he said, forcing himself to say that new word. Yes, he had 
finally resolved to narrow any distance there still was between them.  'Father' 
had been one of them.
His father seemed to be surprised by his new address ; Luke slightly cringed in 
uneasiness, afraid that it wasn't proper for a Hand to address his father that 
way.
"I'm sorry, have I offended you?.." Luke hurried to ask.  "I---"
His father shook his head slightly, pulling him closer to himself.  
"No, I've just never expected to hear you address me that way.  I thought 
you'd always defer to me considering our first meeting..."
"No, I love you, Dad, and I want to be as close to you as I can... even with my 
words." he assured him.
Vader drew him in his arms, hugging him warmly.  "And I love you too, Luke." he 
told him, ignoring their mutual decision to be less effusive.  
Luke didn't complain.  He gladly wrapped his arms around his father's neck, too 
happy to really mind if it was proper or not.
"I guess this is our last hug, huh?" he asked his father.
"I'm afraid so, Son," his father agreed, "but we never know.  The future is 
always in motion." He reminded him wisely.
Luke pulled away from his tight embrace to gaze into his father's mask.  
"I know, and it was good while it lasted.  Nothing will come from crying over 
it." he smiled, finishing his father's sentence.
"Exactly.  Now, dear son, what do you want to do to celebrate your nomination?" 
he asked him.
Luke took a moment to consider, then a sly grin curved his lips.  
"I have an idea." he told his dad.  "If you're up to it, Dad." he finished, 
teasing his father.

Ten minutes later, he found out that his father was indeed up to his challenge.  
Both of them soared above the water in their TIEs, pulled stunts that had never 
been seen before, skimming the surface of the small sea every time they came out 
of them, then kicking up again to regain altitude.  
Luke had to restrain himself from whooping in delight, but it was okay.
He was flying with his father, challenging each other to mimic each other's 
moves and having a great time together.  
It was almost as thrilling as flying in combat with him, or among the stars, 
something which, he reminded himself, he would soon be doing on a very regular 
basis.
He couldn't wait to soar among the stars in the service of his master.

Continued in part 3: the Destroyers.

Copyright 2000, SJ (skyjade@oricom.ca) 
(Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff won't even be read.)