The day came.

Luke sighed while entering the Royal Palace, this was it.

He knew that the Imperials would arrive in one hour, so the troops and students went to the docking bay and aligned themselves. After 20 minutes Luke cursed inwards, remembering that he forgot to take his pill… He thought that there was a bottle of pills in Carth room, for whenever Luke forgot to take the pills… That was when he heard the engines of a shuttle. He realized he must focus really hard that day.

The shuttle landed and the ramp lowered, then stormtroopers marched out. Great, bucket heads. Luke thought and stood straighter. He and his classmates were at the end of the line, so they were the furthest away from the scene. Then red imperials came, Luke didn't recognize their uniform, but remained still. Then he heard it, even from the huge distance, the mechanical breathing. He braced himself and for a glimpse he looked at his father. He could see an old figure coming down too so he quickly retook his posture of blank face, straight back. Just like a trooper.

The Imperials were greeted by one of Luke's teachers and a General. Not long after they began walking down the lane, which was full of troops on both sides. Luke was distressed, he could see clearly why he needed his pills. They walked slowly and Luke was getting agitated as time went on, he could feel like he was watched sometimes, but he couldn't move, not even stir. He had to stay perfectly. He could feel some emotions from those around him… He messed this up, badly. He tried to get focused. The Imperials came closer. Get yourself together Skywa… Vader was walking in front of him and suddenly stopped. Luke cursed inwards, but kept the blank face. Vader tilted his mask to Luke, the boy however didn't move.

"What is it, Lord Vader?" came the old voice of the Emperor, as he turned to see the boy.

"He looks overly familiar." stated Vader. Luke's heart was pounding hardly, he focused on his breathing, trying to calm himself down.

"What is your name, boy?" asked the Emperor and Luke looked at his teacher.

"He cannot speak, Your Highness. His name is Luke Skyward." explained the teacher.

"Skyward, interesting name. Who were your parents?" the Emperor pushed on and Luke panicked in his mind.

"We don't know, he was adopted, probably some low-life scums, giving the fact that the boy was with a smuggler crew." Luke flinched inwards at the words, but didn't show it, and tried not to think about anything, since he could deduce that Vader was capable of reading minds. How dare he?! He could feel Vader and the Emperor watching him and stars he hated it. "He was adopted by the Starroy family, Your Highness." was that coldness that he felt? The Emperor cackled, but Luke remained unmoving, anger still there, inside of him, but slowly calming.

"Interesting." the Emperor commented and resumed his walk, Vader followed him, Luke released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was almost done for today.

After the meeting, Luke and the other students along with the Imperial troops were waiting for the Royals and the Imperials to come out. The door opened and they stepped out. Robert and his wife looked at Luke and smiled, Luke nodded, they led the way and the Emperor and Vader followed closely, he could basically feel their eyes in him and it burnt him, but remained as stoic as he was taught to be, then came the students and then the troops, both royals and imperials.

They were talking about the core worlds and they stopped when they came to the panorama, which was high above the city. Luke positioned himself as instructed and remained blank. The troops left, only the students remained.

"I cannot permit anything to happen with my capital planet nor with my Kingdom. I cannot risk all of that for a war." said Robert.

Luke didn't really listen to what they were saying.

"Luke, isn't that your brother?" Luke looked at the king and moved out the lane, going to the viewing point. He looked down, there were some holographic images showing… Tanry. His heart skipped a beat. Missing. He felt numb. He didn't care that he was watched, he had to do what he was told to do. He chose this. He had to let it go, even if it hurt, even if it enraged him. He looked at Robert and nodded, then moved back to the line and took the position he was told to take. He could not let feelings get the best of him. The Emperor and Vader watched him, waiting for a particular reaction, but Luke felt too numb to react. Brother…

"As I was saying discipline is important for me…" the king went on and eventually they forgot about Luke. Luke though didn't forgot.

After some time the king asked them to show one of their training routines with swords and they all did it, synchronized. Luke didn't make any mistakes, even when he got a glimpse of the Emperor's yellow eyes watching him. After that they were dismissed.

Luke began running. He ran down the palace and ran on the streets until he got home. The police was there and Luke busted in the house. He saw that his parents were devastated and the cops were just about to leave. After they left Luke looked at his mother, she was crying, he looked at his father, wanting to ask him what had happened, but the man shook his head sadly.

Luke went in his and Tanry's room and dug in all the drawers his brother had. Then he remembered the secret compartment. He pulled out the drawer, under the bed, and gazed the inside of it until he felt a button, he pushed it and the compartment opened. Digging in all he got was a piece of red fabric, but when he turned it the Empire's logo was painted on it.