Captain Rex, once known as Clone Trooper CT-7567, had seen a lot in his life and there was very little could surprise him anymore.
So when he bumped into an old friend he had not expected to see again, as he exited Home One's mess on the way to prep gear for the assault on Endor, Rex was rather pleased. A familiar R2 droid had been about to enter the hatch, and instead let out a trill of recognition and happiness.
"R2-D2, is that you, old friend?" Rex asked, as he squatted down on his aged, but still limber knees to get a better look at the droid. It let out a series of alternating beeps, trills, and whistles as it rocked back and forth.
"I'm shocked you're still operational and haven't been memory wiped. Last time I saw you was just before the Battle of Courscant, right before Ahsoka headed to Mandalore. How did you survive the war, I thought General Skywalker died during Order 66? I know Senator Amaidala died about that time as well, I thought he had been killed with her." Rex asked, so many questions, that he'd long put aside as unanswerable, rushing to the forefront of his mind.
The way R2-D2 went completely silent and still, before spinning his dome to see who was around, and let out a short trill.
"Follow you? Why? What's going on, what happened? Why can't you tell me here?" Rex asked as R2 instructed him to follow the droid.
R2 led Rex down several corridors to one of the squadron common rooms. On the hatch was the emblem of Rogue Squadron, one of the Rebellion's elite starfighter squadrons. The droid opened the door, and headed inside.
"...Wedge, you'll do fine without me up there with you. I'm needed on the ground this time; there is something I must do that cannot be done in a cockpit." a young male voice was saying as Rex entered the room, before R2 went up to the man.
"R2, I thought you were helping make sure C-3PO was getting last minute oiling before the mission? Huh, what do you mean we need to talk in private?" the young man said as the droid started trilling and whistling at him.
"Sorry sir, the droid and I are old comrades, and he said he wanted to me follow him when I asked him how he survived the Clone Wars. I'm not sure why he brought me to you." Rex said, trying to figure out why the young man he was talking to seemed so familiar.
"R2, you never told me you fought in the Clone Wars? Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Luke Skywalker, what's your name." The young man said, causing Rex's mouth to drop open.
"Pardon me, did you say your last name is Skywalker?! I...sir, my name is Captain Rex; are you related to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, by chance?" Rex asked, feeling like he was dreaming. Maybe some how General Skywalker had saved the child Padme had been carrying, even if he couldn't save her.
However, the look on the younger Skywalker's face darken and twisted in a way that made Rex very uneasy.
"Wedge, can you excuse us for a few minutes." Luke said quietly. The other pilot nodded, reading the room and heading through the hatch.
Luke waited till the door shut, before he took a seat; R2 simply moving over to the side quietly.
"Captain, I am the son of Anakin Skywalker, but before we begin, what we are about to discuss cannot leave this room, not for now. I take it you knew my father and R2-D2 during the Clone Wars?" Luke asked, his eyes seeming to be looking far away from the room they were in.
"That I did; served along side him, General Kenobi, his apprentince Commander Tano, and the Jedi throughout most of the war. He was a great leader, a great man, and we saved each other's lives many times. That R2 unit was your mother's gift to your father after their secret wedding, and he saved both of me and your father countless times." Rex replied, which caused a surprised look on Luke's face, before he looked at R2.
"Why did you never say anything R2? You knew who Obi-wan was the second you landed on Tatooine, didn't you? That's why you headed out on your own that night. You even knew who my mother was; not even Aunt Beru or Uncle Owen would say anything about her. Neither did Obi-wan or Yoda." Luke said, almost accusingly, at the droid.
"Wait, you met General Kenobi and Master Yoda?" Rex replied, his head swimming with the news.
"Yes, though they are both dead now. Obi-wan was killed on the Death Star shortly before the Battle of Yavin, while Yoda passed away only a few days ago after instructing me as best he could. Captain, I have some news you are not going to like to hear. You may want to sit down yourself." Luke said, grimacing as he rubbed the wrist of his right hand.
Rex could tell something ugly was coming, but he decided to stand. "With due respect sir, I've seen, heard, and done enough ugly things things in my life. I'll take it standing, if it's all the same to you."
Luke looked at R2, who let out a mournful sound, then looked at Rex. "So you know part of it R2. Ok, well, there is no easy way for me to say this, I have barely accepted myself. Captain, R2, my father is Darth Vader; Obi-wan said he betrayed the Jedi and destroyed them. He tried to recruit me to overthrow the Emperor on Cloud City, where he told me the truth about who he is." Luke said, looking Rex straight in the eye.
Rex was stunned, it was like someone had told him the Hutts where starting an anti-slavery crusade. It clashed with everything he knew, with everything he had thought about General Skywalker, and yet when he remembered Ahsoka's words just before the inhibitor chip forced him to fire on her, and how she'd reacted to Vader's involvement with the campaign around Lothal and Ezra Bridger. He remember the warning Ahsoka had gotten from Maul during the Seige of Mandalore. Suddenly, Rex understood why the Jedi had been destroyed so thoroughly, and why the Emperor had chosen Vader as his right hand man. But some things weren't adding up; Padme's death and the suit foremost among them.
"I...sir, I do not know what to say. What you are telling me...some of it makes sense, some of it...I don't understand how your father ended up turning on the Jedi Order or why he has chosen to disguise himself in that suit under that name. He was a hero of the Republic, and a good man when I knew him. But I also know the Jedi were betrayed and destroyed by those they had trusted. The Emperor turned the Jedi's own troops against them, and a few Jedi like your father joined the Empire after turning on their fellows or being broken. R2 was still your father's astromech when I last saw him, and you mentioned a droid named C-3PO when I was coming in...sir, your father build C-3PO as a child and gave him to your mother, Senator Padme Amidala, as an aide. Your parents couldn't be open about there love due to Jedi rules, but those droids were always around them." Rex said, trying to figure out what the hell had happened to change Anakin into Vader, and how Luke was alive when Padme had died without giving birth, from what Rex had been able to glean off the holonet after the end of the Clone Wars.
"You knew my mother? She was a Senator?! And 3PO knows too? R2, you knew all this an never told me; why did 3PO never say anything?" Luke said looking between Rex and the droid. R2 let out a sound, and both of them were taken aback by what the droid said.
"They wiped 3PO's memory when you and him were sent to Alderaan with...Leia?" Luke asked, looking perplexed. R2's answer came shortly, and both there jaws dropped.
"Anything else you are hiding? Do you know what happened to my father to make him change?" Luke asked, while Rex stroked his beard, trying to take in everything he was learning. R2's reply was hesitant, and he actually began backing away from the two men.
"You won't tell us! What the kriff R2, I've trusted you with my life many times, and you won't tell me what happened to cause him to change into Vader?!" Luke said as he began to get out of his seat.
"Calm down sir; R2-D2 was at your father's side for years and I know this droid won't hold things back without a reason. R2, I was with Ahsoka when Order 66 happened, I was able to tell her about Fives before the chip took complete control, and she took the it out of my head before we both escaped. She said something awful had happened with General Skywalker, and I know his rep as Vader. Did losing Padme drive him over the edge?" Rex asked, kneeling down in front of the droid. R2's answer was short and to the point.
"Ask him myself, since I'm going to confront Vader at Endor anyway." Luke said before he grimly nodded.
"You know he's going to be at Endor? How...wait, you're Force sensitive, aren't you? What do you hope to accomplish confronting Vader? Where's your lightsaber?" Rex said, things all falling together.
"Yes, I can touch the Force like my father. Obi-wan and Yoda instructed me as best they could, even from beyond the grave in Obi-wan's case. There is still good in my father, I felt it when I fought him, and I want to bring him back to the light. My lightsaber is charging onboard the Falcon at the moment; I was planning to retrieve it just before the ground team launched." Luke said, as he leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling of the room. Rex was trying to figure out what to say, what to do, when he decided Luke needed back up.
"Well sir, if it's all the same to you, there is a call I need to make. Can that Lambda fit another ground team member?" Rex asked, coming to a decision.
"Sure, though it'll be tight. Why do you ask?" Luke said, looking at him and trying to read the clone trooper.
"There is someone who needs to be there, to help you, if there is truly good left in your father. I'm not sure where she is right now, but if I can find her, Ahsoka Tano needs to accompany us to confront your father. She was one of the people he trusted and cared about most. And if your father is serving Palpatine, who also goes by the name Darth Sidious, that means the Emperor has the Force as well, and you will need back up to defeat him. Lady Tano is one of the most powerful Light-Side Force wielders left in the galaxy. I thought she'd died on Malachor IV for a while, but I found out she's been on a personal mission to find her disappeared apprentice Ezra Bridger for several years now. But I expect she might break off that search for this. Give me a few minutes." Rex said as he pulled up his personal comm, and hit his personal channel to General Hera Syndulla.
"Well this is a surprise, Rex. I thought you'd be busy prepping gear for the ground assault. What can I do for you?" The green skinned Twi'lek female said through the comm.
"Do you have an emergency contact for Ahsoka? I know she wanted to stay deep cover till she found Ezra, but something's come up that she needs to hear." Rex said as he looked at Luke, who was looking at Rex while putting his hand on R2's dome.
"I have that channel, but I haven't had any contact with Ahsoka for over a year. I have no idea where she is or if she'll even be able to answer. Here, I'll send you the channel, you can speak to her yourself; I need to get the Ghost prepped before we head to Endor with the Fleet. Hope she can help with whatever it is you need to speak with her about." Hera said, before Rex's comm beeped, and her holo faded.
"So this Ahsoka Tano was close to my father, and his apprentice? How did she survive the destruction of the Jedi Order?" Luke asked.
"Well, for a while she was a Jedi Padawan, though I called her Commander; was a little rough to begin with but grew into a...person who could hold her own in any battle and has a noble heart better than 90% of the Jedi out there. But...the Jedi Order was far from perfect, and she was framed by another Jedi for crimes she didn't commit. She was ejected from the Order initially, but was offered a chance to rejoin when her name was cleared; Commander Tano turned it down, and left the Order for good over it's hypocrisy. Close to the end of the war she came back with intel on the person in charge of Mandalore at the time, and served the Republic as a citizen, not a Jedi. We escaped a sabotaged and crashing Venator cruiser when Order 66 came down; it was an ugly time during the Empire's rise and we drifted apart till Ezra found me for her. Ahsoka knew your father as well as anyone, probably better than even Obi-wan did in some ways, and her treatment by the Order definitely angered your father. She might be able to help you reach him." Rex said, inputting the new comm channel Hera had given him.
A few moments later the head of a Togruta female popped up, and stared at Rex for a second before speaking.
"Rex? I gave this channel to Hera, before I went searching. Both you and Hera know my search for Ezra requires I minimize contact with the Rebellion for now. But I felt a...tremor in the Force a few minutes ago, like something massive had shifted; what's going on? And who's that with you?" Ahsoka asked.
"Ahsoka, how quickly can you make it to the Sullust system rendezvous point?" Rex asked.
"Sullust...maybe 4 to 6 hours, if I push my ship's hyperdrive to the limit. Why?" She asked.
"Ahsoka, the young man behind me is Luke Skywalker; he's General Skywalker's son, and apparently Princess Leia of Alderaan is his twin sister. I'm sitting in a briefing room with him and kriffing R2-D2 on Home One. Did you know Anakin became Darth Vader?" Rex said, letting that sink in.
The Togruta's eye's widen, then closed and she sighed. "Yes Rex, I know Anakin became Vader. I never told you because I know how much you idolized and trusted Anakin. I had suspicions about who Vader was while we were fighting along side Ezra and Kanan, but I confirmed it on Malachor IV. But I had no idea Anakin had children; Padme was the mother, wasn't she? She died so suddenly at the end of the Clone Wars and I never found out what happened to her. I wonder if that's what broke him." Ahsoka said, as a small tear ran down her face.
"It seems that way, at least according to R2. The droid says he knows what happened to Anakin and Padme, but that we need to ask him ourselves. I'm calling because Luke says he's going to be confronting Vader at Endor, to try to bring him back to the light. I'm planning to help him as back up, see if maybe there is some of the General I proudly served somewhere under that black armor." Rex said, as Luke moved in closer.
"Bring him back to the light...there was no light left in him that I could feel when I fought him on Malachor. And without the Force Rex, you'd probably just end up a puppet of the Emperor again; Sith mind control powers are not to be underestimated by Force users, never mind regular people." Ahsoka said, her eyes taking a far-off look.
"Miss Tano, I know what I felt when I fought him on Bespin. When he thought I was going to die rather than join him, he felt fear, not for himself or his plans, but fear of being powerless to help someone he cared about. There is good in him, I know it. I wish Obi-wan, Yoda, and R2 had been honest from the beginning. Maybe I could have brought him back to the light on Cloud City if I had known. I don't think Vader knew he a child that was alive till after the Battle of Yavin." Luke said earnestly.
"You met Obi-wan and Yoda...they warned you about this as well I'm guessing. But Anakin didn't know he had living children when I fought him...I remember how much he cared for Padme and his friends. Maybe I didn't see the light in him, because it was too deeply buried till he found out about you. And you said Leia Organa is your twin sister; if R2 knew that, so he must have been there when you were born. This...this changes everything. Maybe Anakin...if he turns on Sidious, and we are there as back-up...If there is any light left in Anakin, I owe it to him to help you try to bring it out. I left your father's side when I should have stayed, left him alone, even if it was for the right reasons. I might have been able to keep him from falling if I was there." The Togruta woman said as she slowly shook her head at the memory.
"Then please help me save my father, now. We can fit you in on the ground team going to Endor to take down the shield generator complex, and once there, find a way to confront him. But we cannot delay launch of the mission for very long, or we will miss the Emperor's visit." Luke stated.
Ahsoka closed her eyes and nodded after a few seconds, but her eyes were weary.
"Will be there as fast as I can. May the Force be with us." The Togruta woman said, because closing the channel.
****
So this AU has been rolling around in my head since the end of The Clone Wars.
This will be a blend of Legends and Disney EU.
So when he bumped into an old friend he had not expected to see again, as he exited Home One's mess on the way to prep gear for the assault on Endor, Rex was rather pleased. A familiar R2 droid had been about to enter the hatch, and instead let out a trill of recognition and happiness.
"R2-D2, is that you, old friend?" Rex asked, as he squatted down on his aged, but still limber knees to get a better look at the droid. It let out a series of alternating beeps, trills, and whistles as it rocked back and forth.
"I'm shocked you're still operational and haven't been memory wiped. Last time I saw you was just before the Battle of Courscant, right before Ahsoka headed to Mandalore. How did you survive the war, I thought General Skywalker died during Order 66? I know Senator Amaidala died about that time as well, I thought he had been killed with her." Rex asked, so many questions, that he'd long put aside as unanswerable, rushing to the forefront of his mind.
The way R2-D2 went completely silent and still, before spinning his dome to see who was around, and let out a short trill.
"Follow you? Why? What's going on, what happened? Why can't you tell me here?" Rex asked as R2 instructed him to follow the droid.
R2 led Rex down several corridors to one of the squadron common rooms. On the hatch was the emblem of Rogue Squadron, one of the Rebellion's elite starfighter squadrons. The droid opened the door, and headed inside.
"...Wedge, you'll do fine without me up there with you. I'm needed on the ground this time; there is something I must do that cannot be done in a cockpit." a young male voice was saying as Rex entered the room, before R2 went up to the man.
"R2, I thought you were helping make sure C-3PO was getting last minute oiling before the mission? Huh, what do you mean we need to talk in private?" the young man said as the droid started trilling and whistling at him.
"Sorry sir, the droid and I are old comrades, and he said he wanted to me follow him when I asked him how he survived the Clone Wars. I'm not sure why he brought me to you." Rex said, trying to figure out why the young man he was talking to seemed so familiar.
"R2, you never told me you fought in the Clone Wars? Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Luke Skywalker, what's your name." The young man said, causing Rex's mouth to drop open.
"Pardon me, did you say your last name is Skywalker?! I...sir, my name is Captain Rex; are you related to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, by chance?" Rex asked, feeling like he was dreaming. Maybe some how General Skywalker had saved the child Padme had been carrying, even if he couldn't save her.
However, the look on the younger Skywalker's face darken and twisted in a way that made Rex very uneasy.
"Wedge, can you excuse us for a few minutes." Luke said quietly. The other pilot nodded, reading the room and heading through the hatch.
Luke waited till the door shut, before he took a seat; R2 simply moving over to the side quietly.
"Captain, I am the son of Anakin Skywalker, but before we begin, what we are about to discuss cannot leave this room, not for now. I take it you knew my father and R2-D2 during the Clone Wars?" Luke asked, his eyes seeming to be looking far away from the room they were in.
"That I did; served along side him, General Kenobi, his apprentince Commander Tano, and the Jedi throughout most of the war. He was a great leader, a great man, and we saved each other's lives many times. That R2 unit was your mother's gift to your father after their secret wedding, and he saved both of me and your father countless times." Rex replied, which caused a surprised look on Luke's face, before he looked at R2.
"Why did you never say anything R2? You knew who Obi-wan was the second you landed on Tatooine, didn't you? That's why you headed out on your own that night. You even knew who my mother was; not even Aunt Beru or Uncle Owen would say anything about her. Neither did Obi-wan or Yoda." Luke said, almost accusingly, at the droid.
"Wait, you met General Kenobi and Master Yoda?" Rex replied, his head swimming with the news.
"Yes, though they are both dead now. Obi-wan was killed on the Death Star shortly before the Battle of Yavin, while Yoda passed away only a few days ago after instructing me as best he could. Captain, I have some news you are not going to like to hear. You may want to sit down yourself." Luke said, grimacing as he rubbed the wrist of his right hand.
Rex could tell something ugly was coming, but he decided to stand. "With due respect sir, I've seen, heard, and done enough ugly things things in my life. I'll take it standing, if it's all the same to you."
Luke looked at R2, who let out a mournful sound, then looked at Rex. "So you know part of it R2. Ok, well, there is no easy way for me to say this, I have barely accepted myself. Captain, R2, my father is Darth Vader; Obi-wan said he betrayed the Jedi and destroyed them. He tried to recruit me to overthrow the Emperor on Cloud City, where he told me the truth about who he is." Luke said, looking Rex straight in the eye.
Rex was stunned, it was like someone had told him the Hutts where starting an anti-slavery crusade. It clashed with everything he knew, with everything he had thought about General Skywalker, and yet when he remembered Ahsoka's words just before the inhibitor chip forced him to fire on her, and how she'd reacted to Vader's involvement with the campaign around Lothal and Ezra Bridger. He remember the warning Ahsoka had gotten from Maul during the Seige of Mandalore. Suddenly, Rex understood why the Jedi had been destroyed so thoroughly, and why the Emperor had chosen Vader as his right hand man. But some things weren't adding up; Padme's death and the suit foremost among them.
"I...sir, I do not know what to say. What you are telling me...some of it makes sense, some of it...I don't understand how your father ended up turning on the Jedi Order or why he has chosen to disguise himself in that suit under that name. He was a hero of the Republic, and a good man when I knew him. But I also know the Jedi were betrayed and destroyed by those they had trusted. The Emperor turned the Jedi's own troops against them, and a few Jedi like your father joined the Empire after turning on their fellows or being broken. R2 was still your father's astromech when I last saw him, and you mentioned a droid named C-3PO when I was coming in...sir, your father build C-3PO as a child and gave him to your mother, Senator Padme Amidala, as an aide. Your parents couldn't be open about there love due to Jedi rules, but those droids were always around them." Rex said, trying to figure out what the hell had happened to change Anakin into Vader, and how Luke was alive when Padme had died without giving birth, from what Rex had been able to glean off the holonet after the end of the Clone Wars.
"You knew my mother? She was a Senator?! And 3PO knows too? R2, you knew all this an never told me; why did 3PO never say anything?" Luke said looking between Rex and the droid. R2 let out a sound, and both of them were taken aback by what the droid said.
"They wiped 3PO's memory when you and him were sent to Alderaan with...Leia?" Luke asked, looking perplexed. R2's answer came shortly, and both there jaws dropped.
"Anything else you are hiding? Do you know what happened to my father to make him change?" Luke asked, while Rex stroked his beard, trying to take in everything he was learning. R2's reply was hesitant, and he actually began backing away from the two men.
"You won't tell us! What the kriff R2, I've trusted you with my life many times, and you won't tell me what happened to cause him to change into Vader?!" Luke said as he began to get out of his seat.
"Calm down sir; R2-D2 was at your father's side for years and I know this droid won't hold things back without a reason. R2, I was with Ahsoka when Order 66 happened, I was able to tell her about Fives before the chip took complete control, and she took the it out of my head before we both escaped. She said something awful had happened with General Skywalker, and I know his rep as Vader. Did losing Padme drive him over the edge?" Rex asked, kneeling down in front of the droid. R2's answer was short and to the point.
"Ask him myself, since I'm going to confront Vader at Endor anyway." Luke said before he grimly nodded.
"You know he's going to be at Endor? How...wait, you're Force sensitive, aren't you? What do you hope to accomplish confronting Vader? Where's your lightsaber?" Rex said, things all falling together.
"Yes, I can touch the Force like my father. Obi-wan and Yoda instructed me as best they could, even from beyond the grave in Obi-wan's case. There is still good in my father, I felt it when I fought him, and I want to bring him back to the light. My lightsaber is charging onboard the Falcon at the moment; I was planning to retrieve it just before the ground team launched." Luke said, as he leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling of the room. Rex was trying to figure out what to say, what to do, when he decided Luke needed back up.
"Well sir, if it's all the same to you, there is a call I need to make. Can that Lambda fit another ground team member?" Rex asked, coming to a decision.
"Sure, though it'll be tight. Why do you ask?" Luke said, looking at him and trying to read the clone trooper.
"There is someone who needs to be there, to help you, if there is truly good left in your father. I'm not sure where she is right now, but if I can find her, Ahsoka Tano needs to accompany us to confront your father. She was one of the people he trusted and cared about most. And if your father is serving Palpatine, who also goes by the name Darth Sidious, that means the Emperor has the Force as well, and you will need back up to defeat him. Lady Tano is one of the most powerful Light-Side Force wielders left in the galaxy. I thought she'd died on Malachor IV for a while, but I found out she's been on a personal mission to find her disappeared apprentice Ezra Bridger for several years now. But I expect she might break off that search for this. Give me a few minutes." Rex said as he pulled up his personal comm, and hit his personal channel to General Hera Syndulla.
"Well this is a surprise, Rex. I thought you'd be busy prepping gear for the ground assault. What can I do for you?" The green skinned Twi'lek female said through the comm.
"Do you have an emergency contact for Ahsoka? I know she wanted to stay deep cover till she found Ezra, but something's come up that she needs to hear." Rex said as he looked at Luke, who was looking at Rex while putting his hand on R2's dome.
"I have that channel, but I haven't had any contact with Ahsoka for over a year. I have no idea where she is or if she'll even be able to answer. Here, I'll send you the channel, you can speak to her yourself; I need to get the Ghost prepped before we head to Endor with the Fleet. Hope she can help with whatever it is you need to speak with her about." Hera said, before Rex's comm beeped, and her holo faded.
"So this Ahsoka Tano was close to my father, and his apprentice? How did she survive the destruction of the Jedi Order?" Luke asked.
"Well, for a while she was a Jedi Padawan, though I called her Commander; was a little rough to begin with but grew into a...person who could hold her own in any battle and has a noble heart better than 90% of the Jedi out there. But...the Jedi Order was far from perfect, and she was framed by another Jedi for crimes she didn't commit. She was ejected from the Order initially, but was offered a chance to rejoin when her name was cleared; Commander Tano turned it down, and left the Order for good over it's hypocrisy. Close to the end of the war she came back with intel on the person in charge of Mandalore at the time, and served the Republic as a citizen, not a Jedi. We escaped a sabotaged and crashing Venator cruiser when Order 66 came down; it was an ugly time during the Empire's rise and we drifted apart till Ezra found me for her. Ahsoka knew your father as well as anyone, probably better than even Obi-wan did in some ways, and her treatment by the Order definitely angered your father. She might be able to help you reach him." Rex said, inputting the new comm channel Hera had given him.
A few moments later the head of a Togruta female popped up, and stared at Rex for a second before speaking.
"Rex? I gave this channel to Hera, before I went searching. Both you and Hera know my search for Ezra requires I minimize contact with the Rebellion for now. But I felt a...tremor in the Force a few minutes ago, like something massive had shifted; what's going on? And who's that with you?" Ahsoka asked.
"Ahsoka, how quickly can you make it to the Sullust system rendezvous point?" Rex asked.
"Sullust...maybe 4 to 6 hours, if I push my ship's hyperdrive to the limit. Why?" She asked.
"Ahsoka, the young man behind me is Luke Skywalker; he's General Skywalker's son, and apparently Princess Leia of Alderaan is his twin sister. I'm sitting in a briefing room with him and kriffing R2-D2 on Home One. Did you know Anakin became Darth Vader?" Rex said, letting that sink in.
The Togruta's eye's widen, then closed and she sighed. "Yes Rex, I know Anakin became Vader. I never told you because I know how much you idolized and trusted Anakin. I had suspicions about who Vader was while we were fighting along side Ezra and Kanan, but I confirmed it on Malachor IV. But I had no idea Anakin had children; Padme was the mother, wasn't she? She died so suddenly at the end of the Clone Wars and I never found out what happened to her. I wonder if that's what broke him." Ahsoka said, as a small tear ran down her face.
"It seems that way, at least according to R2. The droid says he knows what happened to Anakin and Padme, but that we need to ask him ourselves. I'm calling because Luke says he's going to be confronting Vader at Endor, to try to bring him back to the light. I'm planning to help him as back up, see if maybe there is some of the General I proudly served somewhere under that black armor." Rex said, as Luke moved in closer.
"Bring him back to the light...there was no light left in him that I could feel when I fought him on Malachor. And without the Force Rex, you'd probably just end up a puppet of the Emperor again; Sith mind control powers are not to be underestimated by Force users, never mind regular people." Ahsoka said, her eyes taking a far-off look.
"Miss Tano, I know what I felt when I fought him on Bespin. When he thought I was going to die rather than join him, he felt fear, not for himself or his plans, but fear of being powerless to help someone he cared about. There is good in him, I know it. I wish Obi-wan, Yoda, and R2 had been honest from the beginning. Maybe I could have brought him back to the light on Cloud City if I had known. I don't think Vader knew he a child that was alive till after the Battle of Yavin." Luke said earnestly.
"You met Obi-wan and Yoda...they warned you about this as well I'm guessing. But Anakin didn't know he had living children when I fought him...I remember how much he cared for Padme and his friends. Maybe I didn't see the light in him, because it was too deeply buried till he found out about you. And you said Leia Organa is your twin sister; if R2 knew that, so he must have been there when you were born. This...this changes everything. Maybe Anakin...if he turns on Sidious, and we are there as back-up...If there is any light left in Anakin, I owe it to him to help you try to bring it out. I left your father's side when I should have stayed, left him alone, even if it was for the right reasons. I might have been able to keep him from falling if I was there." The Togruta woman said as she slowly shook her head at the memory.
"Then please help me save my father, now. We can fit you in on the ground team going to Endor to take down the shield generator complex, and once there, find a way to confront him. But we cannot delay launch of the mission for very long, or we will miss the Emperor's visit." Luke stated.
Ahsoka closed her eyes and nodded after a few seconds, but her eyes were weary.
"Will be there as fast as I can. May the Force be with us." The Togruta woman said, because closing the channel.
****
So this AU has been rolling around in my head since the end of The Clone Wars.
This will be a blend of Legends and Disney EU.
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