Chapter Text
The frailty was obvious to look at him now, laid out and buckled in when Luke set the shuttle to autopilot to check on his father. The universal terror of the galaxy, nothing more than a weak old man, barely clinging to life with the aid of a basic oxygen mask, something he knew wouldn’t sustain him for long. Luke wondered what people might think if they knew that, in some respects, Darth Vader was just as much of a victim of the Empire.
Luke felt the floor rumble beneath his feet, drawing his attention back to the cockpit. The adrenalin from the events of the past few hours starting to wear off. A blast across the bow of an Imperial shuttle approaching the fleet, no distress signal, no communications received. He cursed to himself as he threw himself into the pilot’s seat.
“Imperial vessel. This is Home One. Identify yourself.”
Luke hurriedly pressed the comm. “This is Commander Luke Skywalker. Come in!”
Seconds passed in silence. Luke’s stomach felt as he awaited a reply. He reached for the comm again. “Come in. This is Commander Skywalker, over.”
“Imperial vessel. You have received your only warning. I repeat. Identify yourself.”
“I repeat, this is Commander Skywalker. I have a wounded passenger on board.”
His eyes scanned the horizon, each friendly ship becoming much more sinister. His fingers white knuckled on the controls. “Home One! Please respond, this -” the second shot was not a warning. As threatened, the fleet had engaged.
“Hold on!” Luke called to the back of the shuttle, not expecting a reply as he swiftly turned the shuttle, attempting an evasive manoeuvre as the sky was lit up with laser fire. He swerved and turned, weaving between streaks of blue and green as he made for the forest moon, his oblivious comrades on his tail, raining fire down on him.
Alarms screeched as red overhead lights flashed, Luke yelled as the shuttle shook violently, just catching himself against the control panel as a white outline of the left wing lit up on the screen, flashing red at the lower half, signalling a severe hit.
Luke gripped at the controls as they entered the lower atmosphere, the foliage coming up fast. He quickly scanned the incoming surroundings; if they hit the forest it would be all the more difficult to find them. He turned sharply to the left, the damaged wing causing heavy resistance. Black smoke billowed as the shuttle collided against tree tops, throwing Luke against the console and from his seat as the shuttle smashed into a tree, the blow spinning him out, the remainder of the wing coming free from the body of the ship, raining metal down onto the forest floor.
Grinding his teeth, he attempted to pull himself back into the chair but the force of the spiralling vessel left him pinned to the floor. His fingers gripped the side of the console, desperate for leverage as the spinning intensified only for it to halt immediately. Suddenly his world stopped spinning, the force of the crash throwing him into the air, his jaw pre-emptively clenching before coming down hard onto the floor.
His eyes opened slowly, lazily blinking, before closing again. When they opened, he didn’t know how much time had passed. A throbbing pain raged behind his eyes, vision blurry as he carefully moved to sit up against the wall, pulling himself to his feet. Wincing, he covered his eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. Gradually, his vision began to clear through the pain in his head persisted and his legs were unsteady. Bracing his hand against the wall with only the emergency lighting in the floor as his guide, he made his way towards the cargo bay.
He braced himself in the doorway, ignoring the dull ache in his bones. Gently he lowered himself to the bunk. “Father,” he whispered, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. As though sensing the presence beside him, the old man stirred, eyes slowly opening, tired and unfocused. It wasn’t long before he once again lost consciousness, eyes rolling back as his head lolled to the side. Sighing dejectedly, the young man adjusted the oxygen levels as best he could while insuring the mask remained secure. His father didn’t wake again, the noticeable wheeze told Luke that he didn’t have long.
He felt at a loss. He couldn’t risk leaving his father, but he couldn’t remain here like this.
His already hazy train of thought was suddenly derailed by a loud metallic sound echoing through the shuttle. Alert, Luke cautiously stepped back into the hall. If the fighting hadn’t stopped he knew he was still at risk of being discovered by Imperial troops. Bracing himself against the wall, he edged forward as light began to creep in around the ramp as it was slowly wrenched open, a series of voices on the other side.
Luke pulled the saber from his belt, igniting it. The green beam illuminated the darkened hallway as sun light poured into the shuttle, causing him to shield his eyes.
“Woah, hold your fire, hold your fire!” One of the voice’s shouted, his companions posed, ready to fire. “It’s Commander Skywalker!”
Luke’s eyes scanned the group of soldiers before his gaze fell to notice the plump little bodies standing at knee height, all holding branches, spears and rocks.
“Lutz!” Luke exclaimed, relief instantly rushing over him. Upon seeing the young Jedi, the Ewoks escorting the group cheered happily, running to their fellow tribe brother, dropping their weapons as both latched onto his legs, nuzzling and purring.
“Hey, hey!” He chuckled, patting them on the backs. “I missed you too, guys.”
“That was hell of a crash, Commander. Are you alright?” The Nautolan asked, stepping closer as he looked over the young man who was still trying to pry his legs free.
“Honestly,” he rubbed the back of his neck, wincing, “been better. Took a bad hit. I have a wounded passenger. He needs help.” He groaned, feeling the ache in his bones return stronger.
“You both do,” Lutz affirmed, signalling his men over. He looked over Luke’s shoulder into the shuttle, “where is he?”
“Follow me,” Luke replied, leading them into the shuttle. When they came to the cargo bay door Luke turned to Lutz. “In here. And Doctor?”
“What is it?”
“Have I ever given you any reason to doubt my judgement?”
Lutz’s eyes narrowed quizzically. “Never.” Luke only nodded in reply before stepping aside to allow the doctor access.
He entered the room, leaving the rest to follow. What they saw or what they believed they saw had each of them frozen in place. The large body of what appeared to be an elderly man lay motionless on a makeshift bunk, a black cape, blanketing him up to the neck. With only his head visible, Lutz could see his sickly, pale complexion, the sunken sockets of his eyes rimmed with purple discolouration. Underneath his left eye a large, jagged scar ran across his cheek to the side of his head while another large scar protruded from his hairless scalp, swollen and cracked.
Lutz lent down closer to the unconscious man, looking him over quickly. He lifted the oxygen mask off ever so slightly, only for the man’s chest to heave weakly. Placing the mask back, the doctor moved his hand to the patient’s neck, the other peeling back his eyelid with his thumb to look for any sign of response.
“This brace,” Lutz began, his fingers tracing the cold metal, “did you put this on him?”
“No.” Luke swallowed, his stomach sinking. “It’s a part of his suit.”
Suit. The doctor’s brow furrowed in confusion before realisation slowly began to dawn. Lutz looked over his shoulder, meeting Luke’s gaze. He removed his hand slowly from the man’s face, placing it cautiously on the grip of his blaster. He kept his index finger off the trigger, making sure Luke could see. Despite himself, Luke nodded in reply; the man had every right to defend himself should the need arise.
“None of you boys overreact, now.” Lutz said, coming to stand as he pulled the cover back, exposing the suit beneath.
Blasters were drawn and aimed instantly, ready to fire. In the same instant Luke had his lightsaber once again ignited only to be pushed aside by the doctor, his other hand halting his men.
“Stand down, all of you!” He ordered. The men looked at each other, hesitantly before looking back at their superior, weapons still trained. “I said stand down.” The men slowly lowered their weapons, though they never took their eyes off the man lying before them.
“We get him to the Redemption and figure out the rest when the time comes. Am I understood?”
“Yes sir,” his men responded.
“Good,” reaching into his jacket he pulled out a comm. “This is Lutz. I have a patient in need of immediate assistance. Condition critical. Urgently requesting provisions.”
“Copy, Lutz. What you need?”
“Hovergurney, oxygen and shock blanket. High priority. Sending men to retrieve them.”
“Copy that.”
Shutting the comm off, he looked to his men. “Go back to base, get the supplies. Anyone asks, you’re under orders.”
Wasting no time the men ran from the room, leaving Luke and the doctor alone while the Ewoks saw fit to guard the door.
Sitting down with his back to the wall, Luke just looked at the old man who still lay motionless, the only indication of life being the slow rise and fall of each laboured breath aided by the oxygen supply. His mind was still blank, this thoughts distant and the more he tried to think what outcome this would result in, he could only picture the worst which made him doubt himself even more. He achieved what others believed impossible and at the cost of almost not only his own life but his father’s too.
Come with me.
The more he thought on it and as sure as he was then in his conviction that good still remained somewhere in his father, in saving him now, was he just prolonging an inevitable fate that his father could have been spared if he had just let him die? Rubbing his face, he felt the fatigue begin to settle in.