eluvio | [video;] un: gen.skywalker

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[video;] un: gen.skywalker

First off, whoever built these buckets of bolts in the hangar bay need to be let go. This is what happens when you let factories churn out garbage in large numbers: who's quality checking?

[He is. He's been here all of a few days, and he's already sequestered in the hangar, lamenting (loudly) over the sad state of automated affairs. This is where the video starts: he has the communicator propped up a short distance away as he's digging into the mechanics of one of the robots that had glitched out and come to a jerking halt with a wrench still clenched in its hand.

He mutters something about matrices before finally looking back up. This isn't the real point behind the message, regardless of how distracted he currently seems.]

Sad state of mechanical affairs aside, I have a question. [He sounds suddenly hesitant, as if he honestly doesn't want to ask it at all. He even rolls his shoulders back uncomfortably, before taking a long, deliberate breath.] I'm looking for a sparring partner. Swordsmanship proficiency if I can find it.

[Hoping against hope, but he doesn't sound too hopeful at all. As far as he knows, those who can really challenge him in this area are all back home, and neither side of that equation has a way to get back to the other... ~~yet~~.]

Might as well make the most of being stuck out here, anyway.

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[ Luke had wanted to know who his father was, where he'd come from, what he was like, but he'd never imagined he'd get the chance. He was supposed to be dead and the man he was speaking to via holo looked far too young. But he said he was Anakin Skywalker and somehow, something at the back of his mind told him he was telling the truth.A pained expression flickers over his face at the question of how. ]

I wish I knew . I still don't understand how I ended up here or what's going on, but... I think you're my father. His name - your name - was Anakin Skywalker and he was a Jedi Knight. That's all I really know about him. About you.

[ Read: that's all Ben told him. ]

[It's both the explanation he wanted, and not one he knows what to do with right away. He's not blind to that upset, and he frowns as his glance averts for a moment.]

We never planned for-- [children. No. But hadn't he always wanted them? Regardless of what the Order had to say about it? Does a lacking plan make that less plausible? No. And the kid has a point: the whole situation already makes no sense.

He takes a deep breath. Alright. So he's a father. Oh stars.

He has a million questions about what this means, but the only one he can't swallow is:]

Obi-Wan knew about this?

[ Anakin's - his father's - confusion is a bit painful to watch. If Lando had been telling the truth, then maybe he shouldn't be surprised by this. Besides, Cassian was from before Yavin. Right? Luke swallows and tries to think if something that isn't completely frustrating. ]

He knew about you and he apparently knew who I was. He -

[ Maybe he should do this in person. But he's already in motion. He unclips something and holds up a lightsaber. ]

He said this was yours when he gave it to me.

[Of course he knew about me, is where the pedant in him immediately goes, but the words taste sour, and they sit instead. Luke answers the question succinctly enough for him in Obi-Wan knowing who he is--and if Kenobi knows that, then he sure enough knows about Padmé too, stang--but even more certain is that final gesture.

A lightsaber is a tool for many things, and apparently one of them is putting final nails in coffins--namely his own. A metaphor that rings far too true when he considers the implication of seeing an exact double of the weapon hanging on his own belt in Luke's hand.

This weapon is your life.

Suddenly things make so much more sense. Especially when he can't ignore the nuances of implications in Luke's story. To anyone else, this might have seemed a coincidence. Pure conjecture and jumping to conclusions. But there is no other answer that he can fathom.]

It is.

[Once wide eyes avert quickly as he tries desperately to rein in the upset. On one hand: Luke is irrefutably his son as far as he's concerned, and in this, he feels nothing other than elation. On the other: his son is his own age (or nearly so), and the world that's been painted even with the broadest of strokes leaves him with little more than dread.]

Was, I suppose.

[So the old man does have an empathic bone in his body still--that's something else to celebrate, at least. But in all of this, he can surmise well enough what's happened to him, even without a concrete explanation. Obi-Wan being the one to give scant details and pass on heirlooms? Obi-Wan having anything to do with this at all, when Anakin knows he'd never have settled for anything less than raising his own child? He knows he's dead. It's worrying on some level, though self-preservation hasn't ever been a particular strong point, and that recklessness had to prove Kenobi right eventually.

The unspoken part of this affair is what worries him more.]

And what did your mother have to say about any of this?

[Please tell me I'm wrong.]

[ It crushes Luke inside to watch Anakin - his father - react to this. He can't imagine how it would feel to find out that in the far flung future you were not only dead, but that your son was ignorant of anything but the barest bones of your existence. Luke takes a slow breath, trying to get a better reading on Anakin as he speaks. He doesn't know what to say to make this any easier. And when Anakin asks his question, Luke winces. He knows this will likely make it worse. ]

I... don't know. I never knew my mother, either. My aunt and uncle raised me.

[ His father knows them. Knew them. Right? They were related. That's all he can really think of. The dim hope that his father might at least be reassured by having some family around to help his son. Even if Owen had been a bit rough on him at times, he and Beru had loved him dearly and a part of Luke still mourned for them. ]

[Even if he had wanted to try to hide that frown, he can't. Faced with his own mortality is frightening enough, but this, sadly, would not be the first time. Three years of constant war tend to make that threat an easily-dismissed everyday occurrence. The circumstances here make this less ignorable, like apparently missing the entire upbringing of his own child.

But his own losses are negligible in the face of Luke's answer. He isn't the only one gone. He loses Padmé. Somehow. Sometime soon. The proof stares him in the face, and he hasn't felt himself at a loss this much since....

How could this have happened?

He takes a breath and lets it back out in an unsteady staccato.]

Please tell me you mean Naboo.

[What he ideally wants to hear, in the confines of these circumstances, is that this second home, this foster family, is the one that his wife had left behind. He doesn't recall having met the father of Sola's children, or if he's even in the picture. But Padmé's family had seemed so...normal. She'd grown up with resources. Security. Water.

But Luke doesn't carry his maternal family's name. She hadn't come up until Anakin himself had pressed the point, and even with Obi-Wan's influence, that seems difficult to swallow.

And his luck with ideals is dicey at best. He frowns sympathetically. He doesn't mean Naboo at all, does he?]

[ Luke doesn't have any good answers for Anakin. Not on that front. The details of his birth and the death of his parents are entirely lost to him. Until a few years ago, he'd thought his father had been a navigator on a freighter. He has so many questions for him, but there's no real good way to ask about any of it. Not like this, anyway.

If possible, he looks even more confused, face a bit pinched. He gets the feeling Anakin won't like the answer he's going to give. ]

Naboo? No, I've never been.

[ Luke frowns and runs a hand through his hair. ]

No, I grew up on Uncle Owen's moisture farm, out by the Dune Sea. Tatooine.

[The groan that follows may be short and to the point, but the exaggeration remains in the slump and rolling of his eyes that accompanies it. This is literally the last thing he would have wanted for anyone in his family; why does it always seem to come back to this? Why would Obi-Wan encourage this?]

Why is it always Tatooine?

[It's more a rhetorical question than something he wants an answer to, even if Luke actually has one. He huffs quietly, rolls his shoulders back, and with it, the fit is mostly abated.]

Were they--did they-- [He knows Owen and Beru are good people, if a bit boring, but he's met them once. How could he possibly ever expect them to take to this without complaint? Did they love him? Had he been happy? Anakin doesn't know where to start.] How are Owen and Beru?

[It's a start. This is what family does, isn't it? Checking in on each other? It's been years, and he's done a terrible job of it, but...without his mother, did this even still count?]

Uh - you know Tatooine?

[ Of course he does, his brother has a farm there. Why wouldn't he know Tatooine? At the same time, he understands his exasperation. All Luke wanted to do for most of his young life was get away. And then the galaxy came to his doorstep in the most horrific way possible. He can sitll remember the black smoke and the charred skeletons of the only family he'd ever known. His lips set into a thin line and he glances away from his communicator for a moment, the line of his shoulders tense. ]

They're - gone. The Empire killed them because they were looking for a pair of droids. For me.

[ That still hurts, even three years later. He never got a chance to really say goodbye. ]

They were - good. They loved me, even if Uncle Owen was kind of strict. I think he was worried about me running off into the galaxy and getting hurt.

Well enough to wish you didn't.

[It's grumbled and complete with a roll of his eyes in exasperation, but there's little he can do about this here and now. But he makes a silent vow: whatever he can do to change this when he makes it home, he's doing it. Even if that comes down to finally coming clean.

But the attitude is dropped immediately upon that news, and he slips all too easily back into that horrified shock. His expression sets into a grim line, as he feels chastised silently by those bitter thoughts.]

Luke, I'm sorry.

[He pauses for a beat, and then follows with a:]

...The "Empire"?

[Knowing that this picture continues to grow bleaker the more he asks, he knows he won't like this answer. But he can't ignore it.]

[ Oh boy. His father doesn't even know about the Empire? But it's been around since... well, basically since he was born, right? Almost to the day, honestly. Which is kind of strange, but he's never really thought about that. His frown deepens. ]

Yeah, the Empire. It replaced the Old Republic around the same time I was born, apparently. The Emperor dissolved the senate a few years ago and... well.

[ Luke blows out a breath. ]

They haven't been good for anyone outside the Core and it hasn't even been that great for people in the Core. They built a space station called the Death Star to kill planets. They enslave people. They hurt people and I - I'm part of the Rebellion.

[ His eyes light up and his body language is right back into excitement and enthusiasm. ]

We're fighting them - and we don't always win, but we're bringing hope back to the galaxy! And I'm a Jedi. Just like you were before me.

[ OK, technically he's still in training, but that counts. ]

[In order to kill planets. Such a thing seems not only insurmountable, but utterly horrifying. Of all the terrible things he's seen done at the hands of the enemy he's still fighting: exploitation, subjugation, usurpation, and far, far too much death, he can barely fathom the idea beyond words. The shock sits clear on his face as all expressions seem to, as he works through the rest of the explanation he'd asked for but hadn't imagined like this at all.]

So we lost. [How else do you end up with an Empire? With him gone? With Padmé? That would explain the need to hide, wouldn't it? He couldn't blame Obi-Wan in that condition, even if he still loathes the idea of it. He lets out a breath and shakes his head. Even if he is right--if it is true--it still isn't the point, is it?]

I'm sorry, this is... [a lot. Never mind that.] Is Obi-Wan training you well, then?

[It's a reasonable assumption, if the man's passing down weaponry like an heirloom. Obi-Wan has a sentimental bone in him after all. ~~He'll never hear the end of it.~~]

Lost...? You mean the Clone Wars?

[ Luke's brow furrows for a moment. That doesn't sound right. Not that he's a huge student of history. ]

The Republic... won, I think, but the Emperor took power almost immediately afterward. I don't know that much about it. Sorry...

[ He's apologetic, unsure of how to explain to his dead father how this all works. What happened, when Luke isn't even sure he totally understands himself. Of course, then his father -- Anakin -- mentions Obi-Wan and his expression settles again, pained. ]

He... did what he could. But he was killed before we could get very far. He was murdered by Darth Vader. The... same man who killed you.

[ This hurts, but he can't know how much this will hurt Anakin. ]

I found Master Yoda, instead.

[Stuck out on the edge of the known galaxy like he has been, it's not as if Anakin should expect endless explanation. He knows how quiet it is out there, how a small bit of news feels like something breaking and at least twice as important as it is, and politics of the Core have always been too far removed from Hutt Space (except when the Republic wants him to barter and play nice with slavers for Hyperspace lanes...he can only hope something in that has evened out in the last--what--20 or so years?

Somehow he heavily doubts it.

The name doesn't register. He's heard "Darth" before. He knows all too well what that half of the confession entails. But the moniker attached is unknown. Dooku's replacement, probably. He frowns. He knows he isn't supposed to want revenge, especially when he knows so little of the context, but the desire burns in his chest regardless.] If I find that Sith scum, they're--

[Pull it in, Skywalker. He doesn't need to see this. Failure compounded on failure. The threat dies just as quickly, with a heavy sigh.]

Let me guess. Yoda was thrilled.

[Anakin doesn't sound too excited in response.]

He, uh, took some convincing.

[ Luke admits and chooses to gloss over his father's anger. He can imagine how he feels. He breathes out and stares down at the little communicator in his hands, trying to figure out what else he can say about his life. How does he explain everything about his life? Anakin wasn't there. He was... dead. ]

But he did train me. Not sure I was the best student, though...

[ And he kind of ran off to fight Darth Vader. Oops. ]

No one is the best student for Yoda, Luke. Trust me.

[He's fairly certain, judging from glances at Council meetings that even Yoda and Master Windu have their differences. For as much as Obi-Wan's criticism can grate, there are small favors in never being left to anyone else on the Council for a significant length of time.

Though it doesn't sound as if the Council matters much anymore, if the Republic is no longer a republic.

Does that mean his relationship is a secret he no longer needs to keep? He's always known there would come a point where neither he nor Padmé could continue to hide it, and Luke's existence seems to make its denial a swiftly moot point.

There's a silver lining in all of that failure. Thin, perhaps, and not what he'd ever expected. But if he doesn't have to lie anymore...]

I'm surprised he didn't tell you that you were too old.

[ That actually makes Luke laugh. He definitely remembers Yoda spouting on about that. ]

He... did, actually. At least once I figured out he was actually Yoda and tried to convince him to train me. I didn't make the best first impression.

[ It was an interesting encounter, but a very long story. ]

Ben convinced him, though. Or... Ben's ghost, I guess.

[ Force ghosts are weird, OK? ]

Ben's...ghost?

[They've moved past the part where Anakin and near everyone dear to him is dead. He's choosing to ignore most of it, lest he gets caught up in trying to prevent something he can't when he's here alone with no way to effect change.

But that, he can't ignore. Force ghosts are weird. Because they shouldn't exist.]

That's not--that's possible?

...it isn't?

[ Luke thought that was... basically just the Force being the Force. Luke frowns, brow furrowed. ]

But... Yoda told me that we're luminous beings. I mean, I almost didn't believe it myself when Ben talked to me again, but he was there. He spoke to me. He spoke to Yoda.

Not that I've ever been taught.

[He doesn't doubt it--he doesn't have a reason. In fact, quite the opposite. This only reaffirms an assumption that the Order is holding back. That they've always been holding back.]

I don't--I don't doubt you. This is just...new.

["New." As if this isn't just one more secret in a life he apparently never gets to finish living.]

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[video;] un: gen.skywalker

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pls forgive my being late, fff.

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