Lady Obscura: Vader's Shadow [Star Wars | Luke Skywalker]

Chapter 18

She could only meet Vader's gaze, her own eyes widening with disbelief and anguish of her own. She tried to speak, but she couldn't find the words. The feeling of betrayal hit her like a punch in the gut.

He'd been hunting his own son.

Luke was Vader's son.

Gasping for air, Athara turned and ran, ignoring the tears of shock that threatened as she bolted for the surface of the city. She needed to escape. She needed to get away from him. In moments she was in the turbolift down to the tunnel, and minutes after that she was in another turbolift, speeding toward the city's concourse.

It was then that her legs gave way as the feelings that accompanied Vader's revelation crashed in on her. In an instant Qui-gon was there, comforting her, corporeal as she had only seen him on Dagobah. Looking up, tears streaming down her cheeks, she met his gentle gaze.

"Did you know? Does he know?" She barely managed to choke out the words. She knew he'd know who she meant; her Farmboy. She knew the answer already, but that didn't stop her from asking. The Jedi's eyes were the only answer she needed; they met her gaze with nothing but sympathy...and affirmation. Athara could only close her eyes against the renewed wave of grief. She didn't even know whom it was for, really. Herself, maybe, because things were now irrevocably changed between her and Vader. For Vader, who was hunting his own child, bound by his loyalty to the Emperor to either turn his son or kill him. But most acutely for Luke, who now knew a terrible truth, and had a heartbreaking task ahead of him.

"He's going to need your help, Athara, just as you are going to need his." Qui-gon's voice was quiet, but it cut through the silence of the turbolift like a knife.

Luke. Athara's eyes shot open. Luke was still alive. She hadn't even had to reach out to find him, she just knew. It was then, as if prompted by Qui-gon's reminder, that she heard him in her head, calling out for help, sounding more exhausted and pained than she'd ever heard before. Tamara. Reaching out, she could feel him calling through the Force, not just to her, looking for any sort of help. Reaching out further with her own senses, Athara began searching the underbelly of the city for any hint of her Farmboy through the Force. She needed to find him.

And she did. He was literally dangling from the bottom of the city. She didn't have time to dwell, though, not even to try brushing against his own thoughts with hers, because at that moment the turbolift doors opened. She knew exactly where she needed to go.

Thankfully she was close to the platform where Luke's X-wing was waiting, and in moments she was racing through the doors toward the snub fighter. With an anxious wave she sent the two troopers standing watch back onto the wall behind them. N3 chattered worriedly at her, but without a word she lifted the astro droid up onto the fighter. He took the hint, and within moments was settling himself into the fighter's droid socket and firing up primary systems.

Then a blasterbolt went sizzling past her ear; evidently she had been too distracted to knock the guards out properly. Another burned past her thigh, scorching her pant leg, causing a stinging burn to bloom on her skin. In a flash Luke's lightsaber was in her hand, its blue blade springing to life under her fingers. The blade spun in a single whirling arc, deftly deflecting the incoming bolts back from where they'd come. The two troopers crumpled. But she was already turning back to the fighter, the lightsaber once again safely clipped to her belt.

It took Athara a moment to find the flight suit, and another to somewhat shrug it on over her tunic and breeches. She didn't even bother to remove her cloak, she was in such a hurry. She was briefly interrupted, though, when a glint out of the corner of her eye drew her attention. Instinctively her hand fell to where the lightsaber lay beneath the flight suit. Not only was it a futile impulse, but it was an unnecessary one. It was a ship off in the distance that had caught her eye. A surge of relief went through her as she recognized the distinctive silhouette racing back toward the city, angling to pass underneath it.