Star Wars: Heart of the Giant Chapter 3 - Clarification

Star Wars: Heart of the Giant Chapter 3 - Clarification is the third chapter of Star Wars: Heart of the Giant written by Elizabeth Barton. It was finished on,.

Story
Luke caught his breath and held it, unwilling to make a sound and join his breath in the mechanical tones of Vader’s mask. He briefly closed his eyes to center himself again, to find that calm he had achieved earlier in his visions. Yet now, there was an icy cold wall that barred his way, cutting off all his ways of retreat. It was Vader’s presence, Luke realized, that caused his lack of balance. Before the great expanse of darkness, he felt like a little boy staring into a vast empty sea.

Luke opened his eyes a few seconds later, and realized Vader was becoming impatient. Resisting the man in black did not appear a wise option, at least over something trivial. Slowly, reluctantly, Luke rose to his feet, and commanded them to step forward, one after the other. When he neared the door, his progress was suddenly increased as an iron hand wove around Luke’s arm and snapped him forward. Vader marched down the hallway at a pace that made Luke jog to keep in step.

Luke had a few moments to cast his eyes around the halls, and saw that they were all grey, sterile, and uniform. Even the blinking control panels that broke up the expanse of grey were evenly spaced in a highly deliberate and unimaginative design. Then he looked ahead, and a premonition suddenly struck him. He was being taken to a training room.

Luke dug his heels into the floor suddenly, trying to cause enough friction with the smooth floor to slow his progress, “You’re not training me Vader.”

Vader stopped dead, and turned to stare at him for a moment from his superior height. The sound of his breathing remained steady, but Luke was unsure whether he imagined i or it really became more threatening. He shook his head, and tried to think calmly. Vader was only a man, like any other.

“What makes you think you are powerful enough to be worth my time?” Vader asked in a monotone.

Luke was taken aback for a moment, but quickly noticed his surroundings and looked ahead, “This looks suspiciously like we’re heading to a training room to me.”

“If you show ability, perhaps I’ll let you train.” Vader said coldly, “Otherwise, I enjoy good sport in a lightsaber duel.”

The words danced through Luke’s mind, “perhaps I’ll let you train.” Perhaps, perhaps... What would his fate be otherwise?

“All rebels deserve a miserable death in the eyes of the Empire.” Vader told Luke, presumably reading his mind. Luke’s eyes flashed in panic, and he hastily tried to build up some mental shield around his mind, to block out Vader.

“Your training is miserably behind, Skywalker,” Vader announced in a harsh voice, “The Jedi would never have accepted you into their ranks twenty years ago. You can hide nothing from me.”

Luke fought to keep his heart from racing. There was so much he knew that Vader should not know - could never know. The locations of rebel bases, plans of attack, codes, and then... His own personal memories rose over him like a wave. Times spent with Aunt Beru in the kitchen doing his homework, with Uncle Owen learning how to fix his first moisture evaporator, and his first time flying through Beggar’s Canyon!

“Such thoughts do not concern me.” Vader’s voice told him flatly, breaking into his revere.

Luke’s temper flew at the thought of Vader seeing his personal memories. HIS memories, the memories his father should have shared with him; the father Vader had killed.

“Stay out of my mind!” Luke snapped, the anger behind his eyes flashing.

“Your mind is mine, Skywalker.” Vader answered possessively.

“You...you...” Luke was trembling with rage. He felt Vader’s mind entering his, and felt him probing through his childhood memories. At once, Luke mentally assaulted Vader, summoning all the strength his anger could muster to fling him out of his mind. Luke almost gasped at the power he mustered, while Vader was thrown backwards into a wall with a loud crash. For a moment, the mechanical breathing stopped, and Luke wildly hoped he had killed Vader.

Then he felt his feet pulled out from under him, and everything spun as he flew backwards, landing on his chest with a hard thump. All the air was knocked from his lungs, forcing him to lie there gasping while his vision went spinning. How dare Vader do this to him!

Several stormtroopers had run over, hearing the commotion. Somehow Vader had risen to his feet, and was standing with his hands clasped behind his back in perfect control. “Make our young rebel friend comfortable.” He ordered the troopers.

Luke ground his teeth together in anger as the troopers grabbed his arms and dragged him down the hall towards the detention center. While he was still dizzy, the stormtroopers shackled his hands to the wall above his head. “I hate you Vader.” He hissed as they left him alone in the silence.

Time passed very slowly, and Luke leaned back against the wall. Slowly as the adrenaline in his system dissipated, Luke’s self discipline kicked in. Reckless he might have been, but Luke naturally was not an angry person.

Luke slowly realized with chagrin that Vader had been baiting him, and he had bit at the trap. Everything said had been intended to arouse the righteous anger in Luke that still lingered in the back of his mind. Perhaps Vader had hoped that leaving Luke in a cell would give his anger time to ferment and become more potent. It didn’t.

His anger evaporated away, replaced with shame that he had fallen so easily. Luke hung his head, contemplating his own weakness. He was only a naive farm boy who had been cast into a word of wizards and emperors.

“Learn from your mistakes, Luke.” Ben’s voice in his head admonished him, “I had worse falls in my time.”

Luke’s eyes flashed open, “Ben?”

Only silence answered him, but the response was just as strong. There was a battle to be fought, and Luke wasn’t ready to give up after the first torpedo that crashed into his x-wing’s shields.

Shields... There was a place to start preparing for combat. “Teach me Ben.” Luke pleaded silently. He closed his eyes, and focused, and felt Ben’s mind touch his own, gently, yet do nothing. Luke waited a moment for instruction, but received only encouragement from Ben’s presence to go deeper.

Luke took a deep breath, and slipped into meditation. There he lost all sense of time, but whether it happened slowly or quickly, Ben showed him how to raise mental shields to protect his mind. Then Ben suddenly withdrew his contact, and Luke was left alone in the quiet and peace of his own mind. Unbidden, images rose to his mind, and another vision began. Far different from anything he had seen before, the shapes twisted and shifted, and all was dark. Luke grabbed onto the elusive threads, and tried to understand what was happening.

He saw his father sitting beside a little green alien, dressed in Jedi robes. The alien turned towards his father, and said in a thoughtful voice, “Premonitions, premonitions. Hmmmm, these visions you have...”

Hesitantly, his father answered, “They are of pain, suffering, death...”

“Yourself you speak of, or someone you know?” the alien asked inquisitively.

“Someone...” Anakin answered reluctantly.

“…close to you?”

“Yes.” Anakin answered carefully. Luke suddenly realized it was his mother who was being discussed.

”Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.” the other Jedi told Anakin, his voice full of warning.

His father’s face was set with stony determination, “I won't let these visions come true, Master Yoda.”

The alien, Yoda, replied with admonishment, “Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.”

“What must I do, Master Yoda?” Anakin asked, fighting to hide his urgency from his voice.

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” Yoda answered stoically.

Luke pondered the words, as the visions blurred. Had his father known about his mother’s death before it happened? Surely that must have been a terrible burden, and a temptation to the darkside. Yet if Vader had killed his father, surely he had resisted it.

The vision changed again, and he saw his mother in great anguish, and obviously expecting, speaking to his father, “ I don't believe what I'm hearing... Obi-Wan was right. You've changed.”

Luke’s heart broke as he saw her in pain, while he waited for his father to reassure her with words of love. What he heard didn’t soothe his anguish, “I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan. The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me.” Anakin answered, his voice sharp with anger. That was all his mother could take before she broke into sobs, “I don't know you any more. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow!”

Luke snapped out of the vision, breathing hard as his heart raced. He gasped for breath, as he tried to control the emotions he had shared with his parents in the dream. He had felt the anguish and despair from his mother, as well as the conflicting hate and love from his father.

And above all, Luke was shattered and confused. What had happened to his father! Had he turned to the darkside?

Yet Luke had always believed that everything happened for a reason, and there must have been an important reason he had seen those visions. Was there something he was supposed to know about his father?

Luke shuddered, remembering how close he was to falling to the dark side. It was like a monster, waiting to snatch him up in its talons and carry him away into the darkness. Yet there was still a stubborn heart left within Luke, and the idea awakened an inner fire.

The darkside couldn’t just take him. He had a free will, he could make decisions! A glimmer of hope arose with that stubborn thought. Was joining the dark side a matter of choice, a giving in of the will? Could he remain strong and refuse?

Luke didn’t have any longer to think, for the door snapped open, and the guards came to claim him. He was glad to have the pressure removed from his wrists, and rubbed them to bring back the feeling. He expected to be put in binders, but the guards flanked him and led him down the hallways – to a training room.

Vader was fighting with training droids, equipped with lightsabers. The skill he demonstrated made Luke gulp, as he realized there was no way he could match Vader’s prowess in battle. In their fight on the planet, Vader had been holding back. “Are you ready to die, Skywalker?” Vader asked, turned towards him as he finished the last droid.

“Death is a natural part of life.” Luke answered, quoting Yoda, and smothering his fear in his determination, “I shall rejoice to be transformed into the force.”

Vader’s ever constant breathing for once faltered, before it resumed its normal course. “You are surprising, young one.” Vader answered at last.

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises.” Luke returned. Silently, he wondered what he had said that had surprised Vader. He felt the giant before him pry into his mind, but Luke’s newly prepared mental shields were ready.

“Very surprising.” Vader stated, his voice changing to a tone Luke could not identify. Was it pride?

He tossed Luke a lightsaber, which the Jedi nimbly caught. He eyed Vader warily, unsure of what to do. If Vader attacked him, he would have to defend himself or die, yet to fight would put him in danger of loosing control of his emotions.

Before Luke could finish his thoughts and decide on a course of actions, Vader charged him, his blood red blade at the ready. Luke parried his strokes, panting to keep up with Vader’s attack.

“The Jedi code weakens you.” Vader taunted.

Luke gritted his teeth, but decided to change tactics, and ask Vader the question that was on his mind, “How did you kill my father?”

It was obviously not the question Vader had expected. He took a step back for a moment, “Your father was weak, and constrained himself to the Jedi code. I did the universe a favour by ridding it of a weakling too full of youthful love.” Having said his part, Vader launched another assault.

Luke could barely hide his happiness, and could almost feel Vader’s puzzlement at his reaction, “Then...then my father didn’t turn to the darkside?” Luke asked, shaking with anticipation.

Vader froze in his place, and Luke himself stopped in confusion. Why had Vader reacted so? The lightsaber in Vader’s hand deactivated itself.

“Who told you he did!” Vader thundered.

Luke was more then confused, “N..no one.” Vader appeared unconvinced, “Look, why should you care, just tell me, please!” Luke told Vader, half berating, half pleading. He needed an answer.

“You would never love your father if you knew the truth, Luke.” Vader told him, his voice dropping to a whisper.

Luke tried to avoid cursing in the vilest Huttese he knew, “I’ll always love my father, something you’ll never understand. I must know, Vader, what happened to my father?” Luke stared at him for a moment, his deep blue eyes pleading where his words left off.

“Luke,” Vader answered quietly, “I am your father.”