WAIT FOR ME ⇾ LUKE SKYWALKER AU

chapter nineteen

For a moment, I fought against his words, but I soon realized he was right. They didn't care. They abandoned me when I needed them most on Bespin. I pulled myself up to my feet and simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good. Now, I would like for you to return to the ship and focus on your task. I don't have to remind you what would happen should you fail, right?"

I shook my head quickly in response, "No, Master. I will be on board within the next hour."

"Remember, Darth Malevolence, that a Jedi will say anything to make you trust them. Be aware of her deceptions," the cloaked man warned.

The transmission shut off, leaving me alone once more with nothing but my thoughts. I couldn't fail him. Not again. I wouldn't survive another punishment.

Another knock on the door caught my attention, reminding me once more of my duties. I didn't have time to worry and fret over this matter, all I could do was focus on the task itself: turning Soyara to the dark side before the Emperor lost his patience with me. I closed the distance to the wooden door, opening it to find my personal squad of stormtroopers ready to escort me back to the Supremacy. Their red painted armor immediately caused me to stiffen, but I was able to relax as one trooper took off their helmet, reminding me that these troopers were humanoids, not the cold-hearted soldiers as I had once feared them to be. "Sir?"

I sighed to the female trooper, "Let's go." She pulled her helmet back over her head, hiding her undoubtedly worried expression underneath. I found it quite strange that these troopers seemed comfortable enough to show their faces to me, but it hadn't yet occurred to me that it was due to the fact that they didn't fear me as they did my father.

My personal squad of stormtroopers accompanied me to the shuttle waiting to take us back to the Supremacy. We walked in complete silence, except for the sound of our boots marching to the same, synchronized rhythm.

As we marched, my mind began to wander. I thought about all that had happened to lead up to this point. I thought about Tatooine, about Uncle Own and Aunt Beru. I remembered the events that led me to join the Rebellion, flying with Han, saving Leia, blowing up the Death Star, and meeting Soyara. I reminisced over the missions we went on together and the day she entrusted me with her most guarded secret, that she was just like me, a Jedi. Oh how far we'd strayed since those days.

"Sir?" One of the stormtrooper's voices snapped me back into reality. Only then did I realize that we'd stopped walking. Cautiously, the trooper asked, "Sir, is everything alright?" I didn't reply immediately.

Instead, I took a breath before responding, "Yes, captain. I just got lost in thought. Let's continue to the shuttle." The captain quickly signaled to the others to continue, but I noticed how they slowed their pace to match mine.

Once we reached the shuttle, the crowds of Coruscant begin to cheer once more. I stopped and glanced over my shoulder to see the multitude of species celebrating as an image of Emperor Palpatine was shown on the holos around the city center. There wouldn't be anything like that in Mos Eisely tonight. It would be the same old governor, giving the same old speech while these people celebrated with parades, banners, and guest speakers. Then again, Tatooine didn't deserve this grand sort of celebration. It deserved nothing the Empire had to offer. Selfishly I mumbled, "If only it had been destroyed rather than Alderaan."

Once on board, I took a seat with a hand to my head, two gloved fingers rubbing a tender spot on my temple where I was starting to nurse what I thought was just a small headache. As the pain started to worsen, I bit down harshly on my cheek, trying to redirect the pain somewhere more manageable.

The sudden jostling of the ship caused me to look up from where I had once had my eyes fixed on the floor to see the pilots in distress, struggling to gain control of the shuttle. I could sense the fear radiating off each trooper, so I slowly rose to my feet and made my way over to the cockpit. However, once I reached the cockpit, the shuttle suspiciously leveled out. I raised an eyebrow, perplexed at how it could stop all of the sudden. Without a word, I probed the minds of each trooper. I saw all levels of fear, most it coming from my presence and fear of the "malfunctioning" ship. When I opened my eyes, I resisted the urge to groan. Nothing.

     I walked back to where I could clearly get a reading from the shuttle's control panel when the pain in my head returned, worse than before. This time, I was brought to my knees, holding back tears. Make it stop. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit harder on the inside of my cheek, drawing blood. The shuttle started to sputter even louder now, the warning alarms could be heard all the way in the back of the shuttle. To their credit, the troopers didn't panic. They immediately began radioing back to the Supremacy, explaining the situation. When I finally mustered the strength to stand, I made a beeline for the cockpit. The pilot took one look at my frustrated state before getting up from his seat and switching all controls over to me. Within a matter of minutes, I leveled the ship and punched it to the Supremacy, landing harshly in the docking bay just before I lost consciousness.

author's note
sorry for the delay, so much has happened over the past month. i can't guarantee a solid update schedule for a little bit as i'm trying to get through senior year, but i promise i'm not sure giving up on this book. i won't be very active for a while, but i'm gonna try and pop in once a week or so to write a little. love y'all!
May the Force be with you!
-Sarah