This isn't exactly Tosche Station, huh?

Fresh from his mission to Hanoon (and really, getting instructions from random dead Jedi Masters was never going to be less strange), Luke took a very long shower and decided to check his email.

It had, after all, been a few months. He hoped it wasn't all spam and fanmail based on that stupid holothriller about the battle of Mindor.

[OOC: So very open. Communication from Jaina comes first chronologically!]

"Unidentified Rebel command cruiser, I am Lord Shadowspawn," the voice intoned through the holoprojection as Luke watched from aboard Justice, his ship. "You have defeated us. I respectfully request permission to board, that I may formally treat for the lives of my men."

( Plot be here! )

[OOC: Um. Oops? Taken from Shadows of Mindor, by Matthew Stover. Truncated version of book to follow later!]

"Artoo, I swear that if you play Luke Skywalker and the Dragon of Tatooine one more time, I will lock you in a room with Threepio and tell him that you want to hear his list of six million forms of communication," Luke snapped, looking up from his computer.

Artoo let out a low whistle.

"No, you can't sell copies to my friends, either," Luke replied.

Which reminded him...

To: [usual suspects]
From: farmboy@holonet.com
RE: About that retirement thing...

About a month back, I resigned my commission from the Rogues, figuring I could do more good restoring the Jedi if my time wasn't being taken up being a snubjockey for one the most annoying squadrons in the galaxy (I say with love, Jaina and Gavin. Not so much love if you've hacked into my communications, Janson...). Turns out that I wasn't exactly resigning from the military as I'd planned.

They promoted me. I'm now General Skywalker, in charge of the New Republic (we have a new name! How spiffy are we?) Rapid Response Task Force.

AND ALL OF THE OTHER GENERALS THINK I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT BECAUSE I'M A JEDI AND I SOOOOOO DON'T.

So. How are you all?

--Luke

PS: If Artoo tries to get you to buy one of several (sigh) movies that have been made about me, DON'T DO IT.

Luke was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

Not that he was afraid to close his eyes or anything. Um. Much.

But he hadn't ended up eaten or in the clinic, which meant that the mission, as far as Luke was concerned, was a win. And if he kept glancing towards the open door, waiting for a certain member of an away team to show back up, well, you couldn't really blame him.

A hyperactive vampire puppy had taken up residence on his stomach, deciding that it was the perfect place for a nap.

[OOC: Post is totally open, yay!]

The Moth - Aimee Mann

Luke's hand kept straying back to the lightsaber at his waist as he glanced over at Jo while they walked through the quiet town. "So what are we going to do with him if we find him?" he asked quietly.

I Alone - Live

Luke bit his lip as the Earth finally began to fill the window in front of him.

The trip back had been a long, quiet one.

His father had disappeared into the back of the shuttle and hadn't spoken more than three words together the entire time.

Luke was exhausted and worried, but he knew that there was someone else who would be equally exhausted and worried. As soon as they were in range, he picked up his comlink and made a call.

Rory needed to know what had happened.

( Of course he called Rory. Are you new? )


[OOC: Preplayed with the lovely rory__gilmore, no IC interaction possible. That Anakin is back--very much for broadcast. The conversations? Not so much.]

After the third recitation of Threepio's history of the Alliance, Luke had to get some air.

He slipped out and stared down towards the forest bottom a hundred feet below them, trying to screw up the courage to do something potentially stupid.

Leia's voice came from behind him almost immediately. "Luke? What's troubling you?"

He bit back a wry smile. Of course she'd picked up on that. It was their father in her.

But the other half would be easier to talk about.

"Leia," he said, turning to face her. "Do you remember about your mother? Your real mother?"

Maybe she'd gone with Leia. Vader had never said. Neither had Ben.

Leia gave him a confused look. She didn't, but he seemed to want to know so badly..."Just a little bit. She died when I was very young."

That's what her father had told her.

Luke's eyes lit up. "What do you remember?"

Crap. Leia hedged. "Just images, really. Feelings."

"Tell me," Luke insisted.

"She was very beautiful," Leia said, keeping it general. "Kind...but sad." Something else her father had told her. "Why are you asking me about this?"

Luke sighed and stared off into the mist. "I have no memory of my mother," he said, his tone without accusation. He knew Leia had been making most of her memories up. "I never knew her."

Leia bit her lip. "Luke, tell me. What's troubling you?"

"Vader's here," Luke said. "On this moon." Or near enough.

The color drained from her face. "How do you know?"

"I felt his presence," Luke said quietly. "He can feel when I'm near. That's why I have to go." He turned to face her. "As long as I stay, I'm endangering the group and our mission here." He swallowed hard. "I have to face him."

Leia blinked. "Why?"

Because I promised Rory. Because it's what Ben wanted. Luke finally went with the absolute truth.

"Because he's my father."

She recoiled. "Your father?"

Luke moved closer. "There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear it, but you must. If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance."

Leia stepped away. "Luke, don't talk that way. You have a power I--I don't understand." She smiled nervously. "And could never have."

He shook his head. "You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time...you'll learn to use it as I have." He took a deep breath. "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it...I have it..." he looked into Leia's eyes..."And my sister has it."

Leia stared back, realization slowly dawning in her eyes.

"It's you, Leia," Luke said quietly.

"I know," she replied, voice sounding far away even to her own ears. "Somehow...I've always known."

Luke nodded. "Then you know why I have to go," he said.

"No!" she said sharply. "Luke, run away! Far away. If he can feel your presence, then leave this place. I wish I could go with you."

Luke was reminded sharply of Rory only a few days before. He shook his head.

"Why must you confront him?" Leia asked, holding back tears.

"Because...there is good in him. I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor. I can save him. I can turn him back to the good side." Luke shrugged. "I have to try."

Leia flung herself at him, holding on for a long moment before finally letting go.

There was really nothing left to say.

Luke'd had a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind all of yesterday that something was missing.

When he heard the radio, everything snapped into place.

Vader was gone.

After a sleepless night staring at his comlink and wondering if he was being paranoid, he finally called Leia.

"It's me," he began.

He didn't get another word in edgewise for a solid five minutes, but his eyes got wider and wider.

"I'm on my way," he said. "Give me the coordinates." His expression turned stern. "Leia? This time you wait for me. I have something I need to tell you."

He flipped the comlink off with a sigh, then began packing.

Again.

He had a bad feeling about this.

[OOC: Posted early because of work of doom tomorrow. SP is love for anyone Luke might've handwavily called to let know he was off to face his destiny home for a bit.]

Luke, completely unaware of Artoo's edits to his messages, stopped his intensive study of the wall by the foot of his bed, took a deep breath and then reached for his comm equipment.

He had some disturbing news to tell Leia. Not the part about her being his sister--that needed to be told in person.

There was no sign of Han here. And there was a project going on at home that was big enough Vader was required to check on its progress. That was never good.

He took another breath, then turned on his comlink.

A few minutes of conversation later and he was back to staring at the wall. "Why did Han have to be on Tatooine?" he whined to the room. "Stupid Jabba."

Luke would've liked to blame the new hand or forgetting how to fly with an astromech droid, but the simple truth was that the instrument panel went dead and he ended up crashing the X-Wing into what he soon discovered to be one of the many, many swamps of Dagobah.

( And lo, Luke met with a green Muppet and an Obi-Wan who had a lot of explaining to do... )