LOST KINGDOM ─ star wars

XXXVI. The Battle For Taris

Chapter Thirty-Six
Luke

There are stormtroopers everywhere, so it was fairly easy to get arrested. My hands were bound and my lightsaber confiscated, then I was dragged away from the village by three stormtroopers. It felt odd voluntarily getting arrested, even more odd allowing one of these bucket heads to carry my lightsaber. It felt wrong not having it on me, like missing a limb, of which I know a lot about. My replacement metal hand works just as well as my flesh one did, but it will never feel right, no matter how long I have it. Nor will being parted from my lightsaber ever feel right. Hopefully I won't be parted with it for long, the force knows I need it for the fight to come. I'll need all the help I can get.

The capital of Taris is just as littered with stormtroopers and land mines as we had suspected, and I can't help the pang of guilt I feel in my chest. I hate that I won't be there to help my friends with these two major issues. All I can do is hope that, with the help of Ragnar and the other citizens, they'll be able to clear the city and deactivate the shield in time. Looks like all I'm running on today is hope. If I told that to Holly she would tell me that hope is enough, that hope is all it takes to change the course of the future and of the galaxy. I want to believe she's right. I want to believe she and I will make it out of this alive, that not only will the galaxy have a future, but so will we.

Just gotta have hope.

The stormtroopers bring me to a large building that looks like an arrow, made of tan and orange stone, with large golden looking doors. It's beautiful, too beautiful for it's desolate surroundings. It gives me a window into what Taris used to look like before the Empire destroyed it.

Standing in front of the building is my father. He stares at me as I approach him, even as one of the stormtroopers escorting me addresses him: "Sir, this rebel turned himself over to us. He denies that there are others but I believe there might be more. He was armed with this."

The trooper hands over my lightsaber, and with a single nod his way, Vader says: "Do a search of the village."

"Yes, my lord." The trooper says, then as one, they scurry away, leaving me and my father alone.

"The Emperor has been expecting you." Vader says robotically.

"I know, Father." My voice sounds oddly quiet and calm, even to my own ears.

My words give him pause. "So, you've accepted the truth."

I consider this for a moment, then say: "I have accepted the truth that you were Anakin Skywalker, my father."

Vader points my unignited lightsaber my direction, his voice growing uneven. "That name no longer has any meaning to me." I can hear the lie just as much as I can sense it.

"That's not true," I argue, taking a step closer to him. "I know there is still good in you, I can sense it."

Vader says nothing, and instead peers down at the lightsaber in his hand. "I don't know why Obi Wan kept this." I don't know whether he's talking to me or himself.

"Because he loved you," I answer. "Because he believed in the man you used to be, and I believe that that man still exists, even if you don't."

"I made my choice long ago," He says solemnly. "I chose the dark side and whether you believe it or not, there's no coming back from it."

"Yes there is," I'm at the point of pleading now. "You only chose the dark side to save the woman you loved. You chose love above everything else. You could do it again. Help me stop the Emperor, help me save my mother's home and protect my sister. I can feel the conflict within you, all you have to do is let go of your anger and pain and chose hope again."