Eyelashes fluttered as the humming of the bacta tank filled the space around Luke Skywalker, the warm liquid bubbling up to the surface, finding an escape. He could see nothing beyond the bacta that restoratively clung to his skin, the room beyond dark as night. His body was numb, possibly sedated, with every extremity holding the weight of a thousand pounds.
"Father," Luke attempted to squeak out, but the respirator connected to his nose and mouth refused to allow him. The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground in the Throne Room, calling out for Darth Vader to save him from the torment of the Emperor.
Had he done it?
Something felt incredibly off, though Luke couldn't quite come up with a thought for it. His brow twisted, the young Jedi used all his strength to raise his left hand and pound it against the glass. There was a flicker of light in the room surrounding him, a wiring sound that soon joined the humming of the tank.
Luke could see himself, his glazed eyes seeing the blurred pink of his skin and the white of his underclothes beneath. As his vision began to come back to him, Luke started to notice the light dressing of purple lines that glimmered across his chest and to his arms. They were so faint, only the right amount of glare made it obvious. Peering past his white briefs, Luke could see the same pattern along his thighs. Scars? From the lightning, no doubt.
The harness clipped to Luke's waist suddenly began to lift him out of the bacta tank; the air was cold, causing him to instantly begin shivering and longing for the comfort of the warm fluid. As he looked around at his surroundings, a mechanical arm from the device above him wrapped around the respirator, unlocking it from the bridge of his nose and causing it to fall to the ground.
Luke's breathing was hard and ragged between his shivers.
"Where am I?"
He trembled, somewhat equally from the cold and also out of fear. Did his father help him after all? And if he didn't, why would the Emperor spare him? What about his friends on Endor, his sister? None of this was right and dread continued to creep on him.
The apparatus that hoisted him in the air moved him to the opposite side of the empty room, where only a small central device cackled with static above it. His stomach turned in knots - a containment field. "No," he shouted under his breath, futilely attempting to struggle and free himself from the harness that would lead him to captivity; but it was of no use, whatever had sedated him made it almost impossible to move, additionally causing his mind to be too clouded to draw on the Force. By the time he'd managed to kick his leg in defiance, the straps of the harness came loose and dropped Luke dead center on the device, levitating him in the air.
"Welcome, young Skywalker," a familiar gravelly voice spoke out over an intercom. A neon red light activated around what must be the door out, with a white circle centrally fixed. It must be watching him. "You claimed to be a Jedi when we lost spoke; so fitting is it, then, for you to be prisoner inside my palace: the former Jedi Temple."
"Let go of me," Luke replied, but the voice continued on, speaking over him. It must be a recording of some sort.
"It would be foolish to give up on you after only one attempt, as Lord Vader had said. Perhaps you are already see the failure of your pitiful ways. You will change your mind.. and you will embrace your destiny."
"You haven't learned a thing about me," Luke spat to the recording, venom and feeling coming to him as the effects of the sedative began to wear off. The youth was trapped in this cycle. But then his heart raced as he realized that Vader was still here - he had saved him, it seemed, at least from a certain point of view. But now the tables had been turned, and Luke was in greater danger than ever before. He wasn't sure how he would get out of this.. but he would.
The containment field made it impossible for him to externally use the Force but he could still sense and feel with it. With his concentration back and his mind unclouded, Luke sensed for the bond that had equally betrayed him as it did saved him. His eyelashes fluttered as it took a great will to reach out; but soon enough, he did.
"Father."
There was a great silence.
Luke.
Someone stood at the opposite side of the door, waiting to enter. A tall and mighty presence. There was trepidation and intense self-loathing within, a mind filled with regret. It was him: Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker swallowed as he waited for the door to open; his journey would have to start all over, and it would be the greatest test of his life, but there was still a chance.
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