The Star Destroyer jumped out of hyperspace and approached the giant green planet at cruising speed. Soundlessly the main bay of the ship opened. There was a brief ignition-flash, as an Imperial shuttle emerged from the shelter of the hold, into the darkness of space.
In the cockpit, the shuttle pilot and his copilot took the final readings and monitored the descent. It was a sequence they'd each performed a thousand times, yet there was an unusual tension in the air now. The pilot flipped the transmitter switch, and spoke into his mouthpiece.
The pilots refrained from glancing back into the passenger section of the shuttle, now under lights-out for landing. The unmistakable sound of the mechanical breathing coming from the chamber's shadow filled the cabin with a terrible impatience.
They were protected by swarms of Twin Ion Engine fighters that flew back and forth around the battleship's perimeter: scouting, sounding, docking, and regrouping.
The planet in question was called Kashyyyk and it was in the middle of an uprising. The Wookies, the natives of the planet, were up in arms and were proving to be more of an issue than first suspected. The shuttle raced through the atmosphere and settled down near several massive AT AT walkers. As it grounded, the wings of the shuttle folded upright and it touched gently down onto the dirt. Suddenly the exit hatch of the shuttle opened, but, only darkness lowered from the exit at first. In the heavy pause, heavy metalized footsteps on metal deck planking echoed from the void, quickly accompanied by the ominous mechanical respirations of some great juggernaut could be heard approaching as finally, Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, emerged from the void.
The heavy footsteps came to a still as he stopped just off the ramp, his metallic breathing heard even over the roar of the ion engines from Tie Fighters. His head was covered in a pressurized mask which was goggle-eyed, fish-mouthed, short-snouted, and angular over the cheekbones, coupled with a flaring dome of helmet. The mask gave him the foreboding appearance of an ancient Sith war droid. The dark hemispheres that covered his eyes showed nothing behind them and made anyone who looked at them distinctly uneasy.
This was probably the point…
His body was covered in strips of dark armor with a control box strapped to his chest which beeped every so often. The Sith Lord paused as he exited the walkway, before seeming to sense his path. He strode forwards, an unstoppable tidal wave, sweeping everything out of its path and crashing down even the strongest of walls.
Vader strode down the ramp to be greeted abruptly by a jack booted and nervously sweating commander, "'Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure. We are honored by your presence."
"We can dispense with the pleasantries, Commander." Vader's words echoed as from the bottom of a well. Vader had a dislike of this particular commander as the man ducked out of the way from a bolt of energy that flew off into the distance, he was twitchy, jumpy and a coward. Vader had no time for him, "The Emperor is displeased with the lack of progress."
"My Lord we are trying our best," effused the twitching officer.
"Then it is obvious that is not good enough," Vader said raising a gloved finger, the man cowered back. "I will take charge of the strike forces and I will crush this threat once and for all."
"Yes my lord."
A large Wookie ran at him, roaring in anger, spreading its great furry arms in an attack. Without a pause, Vader swept his hand in front of him and the great beast was thrown off into the distance, and Vader strode onwards, even as the animal bounced off a surprised Tie Fighter pilots window.
Vader strolled down the roads with his soldiers by his side, his lightsaber was actively blocking and deflecting myriad green laser bolts as they struck at him.
It was during the journey that he first sensed it, a spike in the force. He lifted his head up and silently nodded.
"My Lord?"
"Follow me," Vader commanded, "But do not attack."
"Yes my Lord."
Men and women ran at him and found themselves either tossed away with a gesture or cut down by Vader's crimson lightsaber. Many were gunned down by Imperial Troopers – who were all but forgotten in the presence of the Dark Lord. He crossed a wooden bridge and, followed by the troopers, came to a small village. A middle aged man ran out from a wooden hut, pulled a lightsaber from his belt, and activated it with a snap hiss of energy.
"Excellent," Vader said, bringing his blade up in a flourish. "You cannot hide from me any longer. A pity though, I was wondering how many more I would get to kill before you showed yourself."
The Jedi ran forwards with an animalistic howl, he twirled the blade over his head in an attempt to catch Vader off guard.
The two fought a rapid exchange of blows culminating in the hut as the Dark Lord brought his sword up and blocked the last futile blow with relative ease, "Where is your master?"
"My Master?" The Jedi's eyes widened in surprise and indeed it even showed in the force, "The Dark side has blinded you. He's been dead for years. He was betrayed by his clones."
They fought, the troopers staying outside awaiting his orders as the force users' blades crashed together in a flurry of coruscating energies. "Impossible," Vader breathed as he dodged another attack, "I sense a Jedi here more powerful in the force than you."
"I don't know who that could be," the Jedi gritted his teeth, "I'm the only Jedi around here."
"So be it," Vader said with finality, "You have lost your purpose, the Jedi order exists no more, I know, I destroyed it."
"No!"
They clashed, the Jedi Padawan was weak and Vader could easily have crushed him by now, but as they battled inside the hut, he realized that he missed the challenge and relished the kill. Being the Emperors dog had its little rewards.
Vader raised his sword up for the killing blow and something quite unexpected happened.
His lightsaber slipped from his hand, the blade deactivating with a snap hiss, and he turned and contemplated the bewildered looking boy standing in the middle of the room.
"A boy," Vader said in awe, no one, not even the Emperor himself had managed to pull his lightsaber from his grip if he didn't want it taken. Vader could sense the sheer strength in the child, the young boy looked at his father and at the tall, intimidating figure and took a step back.
"James get away," gasped the Padawan.
Vader reached out with the force to gripped the man's neck while snapping it, and with a strangled 'urk' the man expired in a heap on the floor.
The doors of the hut burst open to allow the inrush of the Commander with Stormtroopers in tow. They stopped at the site of the boy and moved to threaten him.
'Idiots,' Vader thought as the men raised their rifles. Behind his mask, Vader's eyes widened in surprise. They actually were going to shoot the boy, a mere child, as though he could prove a threat to the Dark Lord of the Sith?
With a tug of the force, Vader whipped the hilt from the boys grip and activated it with a snap hiss, he blocked the red bolts of energy and roared forwards into the men.
The Sith Lord was more annoyed than anything, as if a ten year old boy would pose a threat to him. Vader turned around, his lightsaber raised, the saber casting an eerie red glow on the room. He was surprised to see that the child… wasn't there.
The boy was untrained in the ways of the force, no doubt his dead father did not have enough time to train him, and Vader attached his hilt to his belt and walked heavily through the piled corpses and headed towards his ship.
With the Jedi dead, the uprising was essentially over and Vader stalked towards his ship. With the ramp lowered, he walked up it and into the personal seating place and stopped, his mechanical susurrations was the only thing that could be heard in the room.
"Impressive."
Sitting in the corner of the room, was the young boy, shaggy haired and all.
The boy had not only managed to get away from him, but onto his personal shuttle, one of the most heavily guarded areas on the planet. The boy shrugged his shoulders and nodded his acknowledgment, Vader sat down on the seat next to him and the ship lifted from the planet.
The ship jumped into hyperspace instead of going to the fleet, as Vader was no long needed here.
When they neared his command ship, Vader called the boy to the front, where they could see the massive wedge shaped ship. It was like a city in its own right, bits and pieces of it were evidently unfinished and masses of tie fighters swarmed around it.
"This will be your new home," Vader said, "Here you will learn about the force and about life and death."
"What's the force?"
The boy had spoken finally, Vader nodded, "All life gives off energy, it is this energy that we, as Sith, control, wield and use to our advantage. It is a strong and powerful ally, as you will soon learn, my apprentice."