Under The Cover Of Darkness

Chapter Two

"I'm sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell," Obi-Wan said, his expression still dry and what Luke suspected was deceptively mild.

"Continue to deny it," the Inquisitor scoffed, "but even if there were anyone in the Galaxy that didn't know the name Luke Skywalker, I heard you and your men yelling for Skywalker during the fight."

"Yeah, no," a new voice came as the door opened. "They were calling for me."

And standing in the doorway was the other human Jedi from the fight—young, blond, and cocky, with a Force presence stronger than any Luke had ever felt, except for one.

"And you are?" Mara drawled, eyebrow raised. She sounded carelessly disdainful, but Luke was pretty sure he saw the corner of her mouth tighten a hint more than usual.

Which made sense given that, from what she had said, Mara hadn't exactly been friendly with Vader back when she had been the Emperor's personal spy and assassin. Not that anyone had been friendly with Vader, ever.

Except, of course, back when he'd felt like this in the Force.

Time travel was hard to believe, yes, and Luke hadn't been sure. But the second his father walked in, the second he felt those two the shining, familiar Force presences... Combined with the way the season and vegetation around the old Sith Temple where he'd been held had suddenly changed, not to mention Mara's ship disappearing from behind them, Luke found himself willing to believe that it had actually happened.

"General Anakin Skywalker. And you are?"

"Darth Vexion. But you can call me 'My Lord.'"

"Oh, great, another one," said the last Jedi occupant of the room—judging by the lightsaber at her belt—a teenage Togruta who had trailed in behind his father. Between the three Jedi, the two armored soldiers, and the four cells, it was starting to get crowded.

One of the soldiers—the one with blue decorating his unnervingly stormtrooper-esque armor—scoffed at almost the exact same moment. "Yeah, over a whole mound of dead bodies."

"That can be arranged."

"If you're done posturing, Vexion," Obi-Wan said. His emphasis on the title suggested he did not exactly take it seriously. "I don't suppose you have a name we might actually find in a database? Some sort of documentation of your position in the Separatist military, perhaps."

"What, so you can look up all my history?" Mara smirked. "Not that knowing will help you at all, seeing as I haven't been born yet."

Several baffled looks were directed at Mara. Luke was amused to see that even the tilted helmets of the soldiers looked utterly confused and utterly unimpressed.

"Oh, really now?" Obi-Wan asked after a moment.

"Yeah," Volyn said sharply. "Question seconded."

Before Mara could answer, the Inquisitor started chuckling. "General Obi-Wan Kenobi. One of the Most Wanted enemies of the Empire for almost two decades. So, Vexion, you're telling me you think this isn't some pathetically transparent gambit by the New Republic?"

"It's not a gambit," Luke cut in, much as he enjoyed watching Mara at work, so entirely in her element. "I felt their Force signatures during our battle. I knew Obi-Wan Kenobi. That's his Force signature. And the man standing next to him has the Force signature of my father."

All eyes snapped to Luke.

"Excuse me?" the future Darth Vader demanded.

"That's right," Luke said quietly, his voice echoing in the utter silence despite it. "I'm your son from the future."