Missing and Presumed Dead

The Crash

"This is not the Rodian boy I sent you to get," a bearded man with a nasty scar stretching from his left temple to his chin snarled the moment Luke was dragged aboard the Discril-class cruiser's command deck. His hands were cuffed, and three of the pirates had their double-barrel blasters jabbed into his back, reminding him that any wrong move he made would be met with disastrous consequences. "This is gonna to come outta your pay, Rayner."

The bearded man, who Luke decided he would call Beard and was probably the captain, glared at Mustache. So, Mustache's name was Rayner. Luke filed the information away for later, should he need it. "No, sir, this is better bounty, I promise," Rayner protested, gesturing to Luke. "He's a Jedi."

Luke did his best to give Captain Beard his most innocent look. "Not a Jedi. I told them already."

"Whatever you are, you used their powers. We all saw!" Rayner growled, pushing his blaster deeper into the soft part of Luke's back. He was sure there would be a bruise there in the morning.

"Are you as blind as you are stupid?" Captain Beard glared at Rayner. "Everyone knows the Empire wiped out everyone with those powers. The only ones left are Darth Vader and...well, not that Skywalker kid anymore. He's dead." The man sighed, his expression falling. "Kid would have brought in a steep bounty, too..."

"But it's true!" Rayner insisted, jabbing Luke in the back again. He winced--there would definitely be a bruise in the morning. "Show him!"

Luke looked at Rayner and the other two pirates holding him in exasperation. "I told you, I don't have those powers. You got the wrong guy."

The pirates stared at him as if he'd grown two heads.

"What the hell?" one of them breathed.

"You...you...!" Rayner stuttered, going red in the face.

A risky, risky move, pretending like what he'd done on Taris hadn't happened. He'd spent the five hour hyperspace journey planning this moment, planning what he'd do if it worked out in his favor, and what he'd do if it didn't. Now that he was staring at a captain of the Black Sun syndicate, he was less sure it would work. But he had to try. "Come on. If I really had those powers, do you honestly think the Emperor would let me live? Seriously? What would I be doing on Taris, of all places?"

Rayner recovered from his shock and slammed his fist into Luke's gut. The breath whooshed out of him, stars forming in his vision as he sank to the deck on his knees, struggling to suck air back into his lungs. "Liar! We all saw you, there's multiple witnesses..."

"Taris is pretty foggy," Luke gasped out. "Sure you didn't imagine it?"

That earned him a kick to the ribs. "Show him!" Rayner was shouting, pointing at Captain Beard as Luke struggled to focus on what was happening rather than the sharp pain in his ribs. "Show him your powers, Jedi!"

"I'm...not...a Jedi." Luke glared up at the pirate. "You have...no proof!"

Rayner let loose a guttural howl, raising his fist to strike Luke again, but the captain intervened. "Stop damaging the goods, you pile of bantha poodoo!"

Rayner's expression twisted furiously, but he reluctantly lowered his fist and stepped away. Carefully, Luke stood back up, still breathing hard, and faced the pirate captain.

The man looked him over, his eyes narrowing, the scar making his face look not quite human. "Anyone ever told you that you look like that Skywalker kid?"

Luke stood perfectly still. "No. Can't say they have."

"Your hair and eyes are wrong," the pirate admitted, "But you have similar facial structure. You look about the same age, too."