"No." Hallin said immediately.
"Then you think I'm about to."
Again that telling hesitation.
Luke couldn't keep the edge from his voice, "Do you disagree with what I've said?"
"No."
"Is it contrary to anything I've said in the past?"
"Luke, please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to catch you out- that isn't the reason I'm saying this. I just want you to understand that your injuries may be more than the obvious".
"The people whom I trusted with my life - the people whom I would have given my life to protect three years ago have just tried to kill me. Of course my injury is more than physical." Luke set his head to one side, a little of the anger softening now, "But you want to know that this is more than just revenge."
Hallin almost flinched; had Luke read his mind? He couldn't remember the last time Luke had done that without consent... but he held firm. "Tell me this is all part of some greater strategy. Not just to gain power or some level of independence - I need to know it's more than just that." he needed desperately to hear it.
Luke hesitated just for a second, tempted in a way he'd never been before - to push Hallin simply to see how far he could be pushed. "And if it wasn't?"
He caught himself immediately; now wasn't the time for idle games. "You know it's more than that. This - Mothma, Palpatine- it's a means to an end Hallin, it's not an end in itself. It never has been to me - I thought you knew that. But I thought, hoped , that when the time was right, when everything was in place, I would eventually be able to open negotiations with the Rebellion - with Mon Mothma. That's not going to happen; Mothma's now made it clear that she'll never be an ally and I won't leave an enemy that powerful at my back when I have an opportunity to remove her. I can't fight on two fronts and I can't afford to be trapped in the middle any more."
Squeamish morals had held him to inaction for too long and he knew it now. It had been an expensive lesson hard-learned, but as his Master was so fond of saying, they were the ones that were remembered. "We need to put ourselves beyond that kind of threat on both fronts. We need to move forward- I need to move forward, or this was all for nothing. It's not enough to learn; the lesson's not realized until you act upon it."
Hallin frowned, looking at his friend anew. Luke had always been someone who, so much like Hallin himself, had always endeavoured to sit on the sideline and not get involved; to do the minimum that was expected of him and try as much as possible to remain under the radar. Yes, he was headstrong and wilful and all the things that the Emperor had always accused him of, but essentially, Luke had tried his hardest to remain neutral and detached. To the point in fact, that Hallin had always wondered at the Emperor's zeal in controlling him.
Only once did Hallin think he'd seen a glimpse of what Luke was capable of, and that had been when he had so single-mindedly set out to get his friend, the Corellian, free from the Palace. And then, with a goal, all that unassailable will had been pinpoint-focused; relentless, resolute and indomitable- and shockingly effective. Was that the real Luke Skywalker? Was that why he had been considered so dangerous when he had been allied to the Rebels? Was the true Luke Skywalker that man- a man who, once he had a mission, an objective - a belief - pursued it relentlessly and unwaveringly to the exclusion of everything else, his own safety included?
Luke held Nathan's eyes without compunction, feeling not a trace of misgiving. Everything that he had done to this point had been in avoidance or defence. Now, with a terrible clarity, he could see just how pointless that had been. Was it true what Nathan had said- had his injuries changed him... or was it the Emperor, with his mind-games and manipulations? Or was it simply circumstance; his visceral realisation of just how vulnerable he really was.
Regardless, Luke had made the basic error of letting events overtake him, believing he could stand back, impartial and nonaligned, and it had made him an easy target. The only way to remedy that was to start moving again; to take control, to take events into his own hands and push forward- to be pro-active, not reactive.
And as heir to the Empire, there was only one position left for him to strive for; only one goal to secure.
Hallin still held Luke's eye, searching to understand whether his injuries had sharpened his edge, overwhelmed it, or simply returned it to his previous nature - was Hallin finally seeing Palpatine's wolf?
He stilled, realization like a blow to the gut;
"You're going after the throne aren't you?" Hallin uttered the unthinkable - and Luke didn't even blink.
Chapter 9
"Where is he this morning?" Mara leaned into the Staff Offices at the edge of Luke's apartments, an edge to her voice. Though the Royal Guards stood to stiff attention at the apartment's open doors and Clem, Luke's Palace-assigned bodyguard, was stood in the main cupola, Mara had made a slow loop of the apartments and he was nowhere to be seen. Why did he always do this on her shift?
Reece rose from a holo-screen, glancing sideways to her, "That's just what I'm trying to find out, Commander." he said flatly, glancing back down, "He was here a few minutes ago."
"I swear he does it on purpose." Mara walked easily into the room, not yet alarmed - it was the third morning that Luke had gone missing, but he generally turned up pretty quickly, and no-where unusual. She'd actually made the effort to get up a little earlier this morning, in an attempt to try to catch him out.
"Yes," Reece agreed absently, "I think he just gets a kick out of knowing that I have to fill in a report sheet every time he goes walkabout."
"Have you tried the Practice Halls?" she asked, though she knew that Reece would be doing so; it was where Luke generally turned up.
"Just patching in." Reece said, eyes still on the translucent display - and there he was, the view distorted by the small ceiling-height lens.
"Got him." Reece declared, "Will you go or shall I?"
"I'll go," Mara said, "It's my shift." She had in truth been a few minutes late to arrive despite her early rise, caught in the corridor by Hallin, in a talkative mood for once.
Reece stood as she headed for the door, keeping his voice casual, "I would... imagine The Heir may well make this a regular thing, now that his health is improving. As long as we find him quickly, I see no cause for alarm. I think we're perfectly capable of dealing with this in-house."
Mara glanced back, realising what he was saying... "Sure." she said at last, "I see no problem with that."
.
.
"Well, well, well," Mara said lazily as she crossed the hall toward him, her own saber in hand, "You're a hard man to find."
He gave her an easy smile, "Clearly you were looking in the wrong places."
"No, I was looking in the right places, you just weren't there."
"That's 'cos I was here." he said as she drew level.
"Without your guards." She couldn't quite keep the chastising tone from her voice.
He swung his lightsaber nonchalantly, tip down, "Just keeping in practice."
Mara didn't fail to spot the double meaning in his words, but let it pass. "Yeah, well, keep in practice on..." she almost slipped and said Reece's shift, but caught herself in time, "Someone else's shift, please."
He shifted his grip on his lightsaber, holding it hilt upwards so the blade pointed down, and swung it in a lazy infinity loop to either side of his body, his tone light and genial. "What's wrong, Red- bit of a stretch at this time on a morning? Maybe you're slipping."
"Maybe you're just trying to get my back up." Mara retorted.
"Everything's always about you, isn't it Red?" he accused lightly, still swinging the blade, eyes on Mara.
"Hey, I'm not a morning person, okay?" She grumbled, made aware by his amused tone that she was overreacting. "And would you stop swinging that saber around when you're not watching the blade."