"So why's it good news that he left behind this mechno-chair?" Luke asked his father as Anakin got up, brushing himself off a little.
"We can get information off of it by looking through the holo-recordings on the chair, as well as communication codes," Obi-Wan informed him.
"And be one step closer to ending this Force-forsaken war..." Anakin grumbled bitterly.
Luke eyed his father, just for a moment, hiding his worry for his father at the hardened edge in his voice. Obi-Wan sighed a little wearily. "Yes, that's true, hopefully."
Anakin cautiously approached the mechno-chair this time, though it didn't set off poisonous gas again. He fiddled with it for a few moments, and soon a small blue image of someone Luke knew all too well appeared. He bit back a gasp as he saw Sidious appear from the mechno-chair, rubbing his mechanical hand subconsciously. There was the man responsible for all the misery of the galaxy.
Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan sharply. "It looks like we ended up with more than we anticipated."
The two Jedi listened intently to the recording of the transmission, though Luke wandered over to the landing pad to look out and see how the battle had panned out. There were skirmishes spotted over the land below them, and there were still some fights breaking out in the sky. But for the most part, it was over. He sighed, then returned to the room where his father and master stood talking in hushed tones. Anakin seemed aggravated at something Obi-Wan was saying, a hard edge in his eyes, and it seemed he was talking in an angry tone. Luke shifted uneasily at the tension in the room, quietly observing them.
Anakin made a disgruntled sound and waved a hand in the air, his eyes locking on Luke at the side. "I believe you still have explaining to do," Anakin said, turning away from Obi-Wan. Obviously he was trying to end the tense conversation they'd been having.
Luke frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm still trying to figure some things out myself, so you're not the only ones confused."
Anakin sized up Luke with an expert eye, and Luke tried not to shift nervously under his father's inspecting gaze. He noticed that they both had a glove over one hand, or in his father's case one arm. Finally Anakin spoke again.
"I watched you fighting earlier. You relied very heavily on your defense. I think I only saw you advance on a droid once or twice. The rest of the time you stuck with a very basic form for deflecting their shots: what's the extent of your training?" he inquired. His eyes challenged Luke to try and lie to him.
Luke grimaced. "Not very much. Just enough to get by and survive."
Anakin looked slightly amused. "I'd say. It looked like you're just past your Padawan training."
Obi-Wan cut in, walking up to stand next to Anakin. "Maybe we're asking the wrong questions...Luke, could you tell us the names of the Jedi in the Council?"
Luke froze, realizing he had been caught. He didn't know who was on the Council at this point in time. He wasn't even quite sure what point in time this was! What could he do, tell them the truth? He highly doubted they would believe him. Still...he didn't have much of an option right now. "For me, in my time...it's just...me," he said slowly.
Shock. Complete shock rolled off of them in waves and was evident in their features. Anakin was the first one to recover. "What do you mean in your time? Are you trying to tell us that you're from the future or the past or something, cause if that's true, I'll admit that's a new one I haven't heard yet. Probably because a sane person would realize that won't work because of how crazy it sounds."
"I know it sounds insane, but it's true," Luke said defensively.
"And I'm the Sith Lord the Republic is looking for," Anakin said sarcastically, though Luke stiffened at the statement. Obi-Wan chose that moment to intervene.
"Let's say that you are from the future, just for the sake of argument," he started, stepping forward. "Do you have any way to prove you are who you say you are? A Jedi from the future?"
Luke frowned in frustration. "No, there's not re—" he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes falling on his father's gloved right hand. "Actually, there is."
Anakin's eyes narrowed as Luke peeled off his black glove. "And what would this so called proof be?"
"Try not to distract me, I don't want to damage anything," Luke warned as he picked up a sharp piece of shrapnel from off the floor with the Force. A look of mild alarm appeared on Obi-Wan's face.
"What—" he started to say, but Luke had already made the small incision in the synthskin, approaching the two of them while he pinched a flap of the fake skin between his thumb and forefinger. He peeled back a little of the synthskin to reveal the mechanical hand underneath, right where flesh met metal. Anakin sucked in a sharp breath at the sight, and Luke noticed that he instinctively flexed his right hand at the revelation.
"Amazing," Obi-Wan breathed.
"I'm sure you don't have this technology right now, but I do, in my time," Luke said quietly, smoothing the synthskin back into place before he pulled the glove back on. It seemed that the proof was enough to relax Obi-Wan, who was the next to speak.
"Well then, uh, Luke...it's nice to meet you," he said with a small smile, shaking Luke's gloved hand. "I'm guessing the hand was a lightsaber injury?" he inquired.
Luke's hand fell away, and he rubbed the mechanical hand subconsciously. "Sith," he mumbled.
Anakin gave him a sympathetic look and Obi-Wan nodded. "I get that. Anakin suffered from a similar injury, though, ah, his was for his own rash mistake of trying to take him on alone."
Anakin gave Obi-Wan a sharp look but said nothing as Luke went to explain his injury, nodding in apparent agreement. "I wasn't ready to fight the Sith, but I needed to rescue my friends, and he cornered me. I was lucky he and his master wanted me alive, so all I lost was my hand and not my life."
"Did he capture you?" Obi-Wan asked with concern.
Luke shook his head. "No, I risked falling hundreds of feet down air ducts and out the bottom of the Cloud City building to avoid being captured, all one handed too. I was lucky that my sister and our friends had managed to escape and came to my rescue before I was spotted or fell to my death," Luke explained.
"It sounds like you've had your fair share of close calls," Anakin mused.
Luke shrugged. "Just another day for me..."
"If that was true you'd be missing quite a few limbs," Anakin pointed out.
"True, true," Luke said, smiling at his father. Obi-Wan cut the moment short, realization dawning on his face.
"Wait, Luke, you said that the only Jedi in the Council was you. How...?" Obi-Wan started, but Luke was already shaking his head.
"I'm the only Jedi in the Galaxy to my knowledge," he said quietly. Anakin was quick to voice his disbelief.
"Impossible! It can't be just you! There's got to be someone else, more than just one. Especially if you have such little training!" Anakin stated sharply.
"Isn't there anyone else?" Obi-Wan asked.
Luke sighed. "I'm training my twin sister. Though we're both hoping that any Jedi who might have been in hiding start to show up."
Their shock turned into confusion. "Why would the Jedi be in hiding?" Anakin asked, struggling to absorb what Luke was telling them.
"Wait, Luke, this is after the Clone Wars, right? Does something happen?" Obi-Wan asked him slowly, waiting tensely for his reply.
He sensed that the Force didn't want him to tell them about the rise of the Empire, but wanted him to wait for the right moment, so Luke chose his words very carefully. "The Clone Wars ended...decades ago for me. Though I can sense that the Force doesn't want me to tell the outcome of the war," he explained slowly, watching them closely.
Obi-Wan folded his arms over his chest, pondering what Luke had said with a look of mild surprise playing across his face, while Anakin gave him a sharp, frustrated look at not being able to learn what Luke knew about the outcome of the war he hated so much. "Who was your master?" Obi-Wan asked, effectively trying a new direction of the conversation.
Luke smiled a little. "A man I believed to be an old hermit for most of my life until one day he revealed to me he was a Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars, and that he was going to teach me the ways of the Force. Though when he died, I was taught by another crazy old man who was a Jedi in the Clone Wars; but I respect him highly, don't get me wrong. He died as well after I'd had three or four months of training with him."
Obi-Wan smiled sympathetically at Luke. "And what were their names? We might know them."
Luke smiled. "The second one I trained under was Master Yoda."
Obi-Wan was obviously surprised, as was Anakin. "Wow...you had a good master then," Obi-Wan told Luke.
"And the, ah, old hermit?" Anakin asked Luke.
Luke glanced at his father before looking back at Obi-Wan. "From the time I was little I knew him as Ben, though when he told me he'd been a Jedi, he also revealed that his real name was, in fact, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Obi-Wan was shocked at the revelation, suddenly looking at the young Jedi in a new light with this startling new revelation. Anakin, once he recovered from his shock as well, started to laugh, clapping Obi-Wan on the shoulder. "Well what do you know old man!" he teased.
Obi-Wan scowled. "Don't go teasing me yet Anakin, I'm sure you're not so young yourself in Luke's time." Luke shifted uncomfortably and a serious mood fell over the trio again. "So, do you have any idea why you're here?" Obi-Wan asked Luke.
Luke sighed. "I don't know. The Force must have some reason for taking me back to this time in this place."
"I just wish you could tell us more about the time you come from. You really are the only Jedi?" Anakin asked.
Luke nodded. "It automatically makes me a Master I guess, but after witnessing you two in action, I don't necessarily feel like it."
Anakin chuckled a little. "Well perhaps we could teach you a few things while you're here. Maybe that's why: so you can get the training you need."
I highly doubt that's the reason, Luke thought. Though it can't hurt to learn as much as I can while I'm here.
Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm sure we can. And I'm guessing you'll be rather grateful for it."
Luke bowed. "Thank you."
"It's our pleasure," Obi-Wan said.
A thought struck Anakin. "So if you're the only Jedi, and the Jedi went into hiding, what were you doing at the Jedi Temple? You said that was where you were before you ended up here," he asked.
"I'm restoring the Temple. I was getting anything that was salvageable from one of the more damaged sections," Luke said without thinking.
"Damaged? What happened!" Obi-Wan asked.
Luke hesitated, not sure if he should tell them.
Obi-Wan noticed, and he sighed. "If it is the will of the Force, then you don't have to tell us."
Anakin frowned. "You know, you never gave us your last name," Anakin told Luke.
"The Force doesn't want me sharing that information either. And I can actually see why," Luke admitted to him. Anakin sighed in frustration.
"Patience, Anakin. Perhaps it's simply not the right time for certain things to be revealed. I'm sure it will be in time."
Slowly, Anakin nodded in acknowledgment. "All right, Master."
Obi-Wan nodded, then walked back over to the mechno-chair. "I'm going to retransmit our findings to The Council."
Anakin nodded, then looked back at Luke. "So, where do you come from?"
"Tatooine," Luke told him.
"You too? I was found by Obi-Wan's master, Master Qui-Gon Jinn, in Mos Espa. What about you?" Anakin asked curiously.
"I lived with my aunt and uncle in the Jundland Wastelands. We lived on a homestead," Luke told him.
Anakin nodded slowly. "You must have had a few run ins with Tuskens out there," he said, a twinge of disgust in his voice as he said Tuskens.
Luke nodded, taking note of his obvious contempt for the Sand People. "Yeah, a few."
Anakin shook his head. "I don't miss that place at all. I'm glad that I left that Force-forsaken planet."
Luke smiled a little. "Same. There was nothing for me there anymore anyway."
"What happened?" Anakin asked him.
Luke looked away. "My aunt and uncle were killed."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Anakin told him sincerely.
"Thank you," Luke told him with a small smile.
Anakin gave him a nod of acknowledgement and went back over to Obi-Wan. "Did you send the information to the Council?" he asked him.
Obi-Wan nodded, looking a little tired. "Yes. And we're to track the makers of the chair to try and find Darth Sidious."
Anakin nodded, gaining an identical tired look in his eyes. "Give me a minute with this thing and I'll find something for us to follow."
Obi-Wan watched Anakin go over to the mechno-chair and turned to Luke. "So, Luke, while he's doing that, do you mind showing me where you are in your saber and Force techniques?"
Luke nodded. "Of course Master Kenobi," he said, taking care to use his proper title.
Obi-Wan took out his lightsaber, gesturing for Luke to do the same. "We'll do a short sparring session so I can see where you're at," Obi-Wan explained.
Anakin snickered. "Be glad you're sparring with the old man and not me."
Obi-Wan ignored him as the two ignited their sabers. "Your move."
Luke nodded, advancing on this younger version of the old hermit who had taught him so much. Obi-Wan easily parried Luke's advance, following up with a simple offensive move of his own, which Luke deflected as well. As the two went back and forth with the lightsaber advances and defenses, they gradually increased speed and the complicated forms. Not too far into the spar, however, Luke had used all that he knew with saber techniques, and started using his already utilized moves at simply a faster rate, adapting them to the situation and trying to learn and mirror Obi-Wan's movements in the moment.
Obi-Wan, noticing what was happening and guessing that they had already reached the extent of Luke's saber training, quickly and effortlessly disarmed Luke, taking the young Jedi's saber and deactivating it before handing it back to him with a slight frown. "You really did just get the basics you needed for survival. I'd almost say that you've developed your own form, but I do see a lot of Djem So and Soresu in your movements. You're also a natural, and an adaptive learner from what I've just seen. You were learning and applying the moves I used in the moment with no instruction; that's a rare and impressive gift."
"I'll say; he still needs some polishing though," Anakin muttered from over by the mechno-chair.
Luke struggled not to blush. "Yeah, I've realized that."
Obi-Wan sighed. "What can you do with the Force?"
Luke shrugged. "The basic moving objects, jumping, mind tricks, nothing big."
"What's most you've accomplished?" Obi-Wan inquired.
Luke thought for a moment. "Recently I lifted my protocol droid C-3PO and the large chair he was in and floated him over a crowd of Ewoks to get them to let me and my friends go. And I tried to deflect lightning away from me but the Sith was too powerful, so that didn't last long..."
Anakin had looked up sharply from what he was doing, and was swift to cut in. "C-3PO? How did you come into possession of my old protocol droid?" It seemed that was the only part of the conversation he'd heard.
Luke was, understandably, surprised. "Your protocol droid?"
Anakin nodded, getting up from the mechno-chair to walk over to him. "Yeah, I created him when I was still on Tatooine to help my...mother around the house. I came into possession of him again when I was about twenty and gave him to Senator Padmé Amidala. How did you come into possession of him?"
Luke was stunned. C-3PO had been his father's? Amazed, he barely found enough of his senses to answer him. "I picked him up from some Jawas on Tatooine, as well as my astro droid R2-D2—"
"You have R2 as well?!" Anakin asked incredulously.
"Yeah, he's my astro droid. He was with 3PO that day," Luke said, shocked.
"R2's my astro droid right now!" Anakin exclaimed.
"Really?" Luke asked, his excitement obvious in his expression. He'd found yet another thing he had in common with his father.
The excited glint slowly faded from Anakin's eyes, replaced by a deep worry. "Wait...I would never let R2 leave my possession...and Padmé uses 3PO for practically everything at home..." he frowned, looking Luke over. "Is there any chance you know what happened?"
Luke hesitated, thinking his words over. "No, I don't know," Luke said. He didn't know why his father fell to the dark side, or what exactly happened; only that he had.
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Both of the more experienced Jedi sensed the honesty of Luke's answer, though they both could also sense that he wasn't telling the complete truth, hiding what he did know.
Anakin gave Luke a narrowed look, his eyes raking over the Jedi as he sensed Luke's sudden feelings of sorrow and grief. However, he knew he couldn't get the young Jedi to reveal the information that he was hiding, and he made his way back over to the mechno-chair, his mind mulling over everything that Obi-Wan and he had been told so far.
What happened?