Consequences

Chapter 6 - Vader

Luke stiffens, slipping away his blaster and pulling out his lightsaber. Finally. I take a deep breath. Honestly, I highly doubt we stand a chance here, not if Vader is really the one who helped destroy the Jedi. I may be a good fighter, but I'm not a Knight yet. And Luke hardly has any training at all.

We both approach the dark figure warily. "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet," Vader says, tone as ominous as his appearance. Luke activates his blue lightsaber in response.

Then, I feel the dark presence brushing against my shielded mind. The action hardly surprises me, but what does is what follows. My bond with Anakin suddenly flares to life. I knew it. I knew he was still alive. I would have been – I don't know, excited perhaps? – if the bond didn't lead me straight to the Sith Lord standing right in front of us.

Shock and denial hit me first. No, this is impossible... it can't be true. There's no way this can be real. No. But the Force doesn't lie. It is him. But how could such a thing even be possible? He would never become a Sith! He would never destroy the Jedi, and certainly never kill Obi-Wan. Or the long list of things about the future that I have yet to discover. I open my mouth to say something, some sort of denial, maybe, but nothing comes out.

"Time travel?" growls Vader, or Anakin, whomever he is, "That is impossible." He obviously just realized who I am, as well, and for some reason, I have the feeling that's very bad. The Force is screaming danger, warning me to run. I can't. I won't leave Luke here alone. I'm rooted to the spot. Even if I wanted to move, I don't think I could.

"Anything is possible with the Force," I blurt randomly. The news refuses to sink in. How could any of this possibly happen? It's not possible. It can't be! I can't accept it. I just can't. Luke glances between both of us, confusion evident. I'll definitely have a lot of explaining to do once we get out of here. If we get out of here, whispers a voice in the back of my mind. I can't do anything but stare at Vader, silently begging that this be a nightmare. The worst nightmare I'd ever had, and that I just wake up... two weeks ago. Or a lifetime ago. Whenever that was.

"You won't get away this time," Vader snarls in response, the rage in his voice sending shivers through me. In a swift move, he activates his red lightsaber and lunges at me. The move and force of the blow catch me off guard, though I manage to block the strike in time. I feel numb with the shock of it all. It just – it's too much. Everything else, yes, but this could never have happened. But it did, and I don't know why.

Luke instantly swings his lightsaber at Vader, who easily parries the blow. I back away, with a pointless wish of ending the fight, but Vader clearly doesn't want me to escape, just like he promised. Our lightsabers begin clashing furiously, and both Luke and I are on the defensive in moments. I'm backing up with every movement, hardly taking a single swing at him. This – this must've been what Anakin felt like on Mortis when I attacked him. Except he's not being mind-controlled. I almost wish he were.

I want to try to talk to him, to convince him to come back, but... where'd I even start? What would I even say? Except – "I don't want to fight you, Master." I back farther along the edge of the carbon freezing pit. Vader swings his lightsaber at me, and I duck. His blade slashes through a column next to me.

The noise that escapes his vocoder sounds suspiciously like a venomous snarl, and the Dark Side surges. A sudden powerful Force shove hits me, one which I don't have a chance to counter. I'm sent flying across the room before smashing into the wall and falling to the floor in a heap, dazed, head spinning.

Luke at tacks Vader with renewed fury. "You have learned much, young one," Vader remarks to – to Luke, his son.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Luke boasts, and as if to counter that statement, Vader spins his blade, wrenching Luke's from his hands and sending it clattering to the floor. Losing your lightsaber so easily to my master's favorite move definitely counts.