DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all related media is the property of The Disney Corporation. Talk about an Evil Empire, am I right? Anyway, I own none of the characters, places, or anything else in this story save for the situations and events. Enjoy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this story is going to be very AU. we've got a Sith Luke, Jedi Leia, and the inclusion of the Rebels story-line, because as much as we may not appreachiate it, it's canon. Anywho I have a good feeling about this story so...enjoy!
Once Upon A Time In The Empire
Chapter 1: Nobody Expects the Imperial Inquisition
The training drone whirred about. Calculating before its next move. Leia watched it carefully, her sky blue lightsaber held ready to defend against the coming strike. She centered her focus, eyes squinting. Sweat ran down her forehead, and greased her palms.
The probed fired, Leia moved to deflect the nerfed blast, but it was faster, and struck her in the leg. She hissed from sting.
"You're thinking too much." Obi-Wan commented from behind her, "You must clear your mid. Let the Force guide you.
"I'm trying, Master." Said Leia, "I really am, it's just…hard."
Kenobi walked over and deactivated the drone.
"I understand." Obi-Wan explained, "Learning to abandon your bodily senses and give their trust is not a fast nor an easy process. It took your father some time to achieve, himself."
"It did?" She question, curious and anxious to learn more about the man.
"Indeed." Obi-Wan said, drifting off into nostalgia, "But, I managed to make a break through with him using a certain method."
"Really?" asked Leia, "Can we try it?"
Obi-Wan thought for a minute.
"Yes. I think that might be best." He said approvingly, "I shall go retrieve the helmet. In the meantime, wash off your hands. Your sweat is making gripping your saber difficult."
"Yes, sir." She replied.
Obi-Wan walked through the door and up the stairs leading to their highly secret training room. After all, it had to be. Alderaan held a significant role in the galactic economy, and an even greater role in its politics. Therefore, it was frequently visited by Imperial forces of a wide range of ranks. This was made worse by the fact that the planet's leader, Viceroy Bail Organa, repeatedly lead resistance against Emperor Palpatine in the senate, and had on many occasions gotten himself on the bad side of Lord Vader. This made Leia's training highly dangerous, hence the secrecy. If anyone were to know, Kenobi would be captured and killed, and Leia would likely land in the clutches of her father, just as her brother had some years before.
Lei finished washing her hands, and returned to the training room, where she waited for Kenobi to return with the mysterious helmet.
'How is a helmet of all things going to help me with my Force training?' she thought, 'No. I'm getting ahead of myself. Master Kenobi knows what he's talking about. And he said it helped my father learn, so it must work, right?'
She sat waiting for a moment or two longer before Kenobi re-entered the room, holding the dingy old helmet in his hands.
"That's the helmet?" Leia questioned, astonished by what she saw, "How am I supposed to see out of it? It has a blinder over where my eyes would be!"
"Precisely, my padawan. The goal of this odd, yet useful, helmet is to help you give yourself over to the Force. Your current problem is that you place too much trust in your eyes, but ass you will realize, your eyes can deceive you." Obi-Wan said, handing the helmet over to Leia, "Now, put it on."
Leia gave the helmet a worrying glance. She looked to Obi-Wan, as if to question, before looking back to the helmet. She cautiously lowered it onto her head, standing at attention once it was all the way on.
"Now," Obi-Wan began, "Remember not to think, feel. Feel the Force. Let it flow through you."
Kenobi reactivated the drone, and it once again began to hover about, preparing to fire. Leia concentrated, letting go of herself, letting the Force guide her senses. The sphere-shaped drone shot once, and Leia successfully deflected it back, damaging the orb's shields. It shot again, and again she bounced the blast back. So it went again and again until at las the shields cracked, and the droid's circuits were fried by its own tazzer blast. It fell to the floor in smoke, at last defeated.
Leia pulled off the helmet, shaking her hair out.
"I did it!" She exclaimed, "Did you see, master? I did it!"
"Very good, young one." Kenobi praised, "Your progress continues to pride and surprise me every day."
Leia walked over to Kenobi's side.
"What's next, master?" She asked eagerly.
"Nothing more for today, my padawan." He responded, patting her on the shoulder, "I think its best that you head upstairs and clean-up, now. It is getting late, after all."
Leia bowed, and Kenobi returned the gesture before his new apprentice bolted up the stairs.
'She has so much of her father in her.' He thought.
"So, how is Leia's training?" asked Bail Organa.
"Quite well, my friend." Obi-Wan replied, "She takes after Anakin in that way."
Bail snorted a dry laugh, "Here's to hoping that's the only thing she takes after him in."
"Don't worry yourself, Bail. She does not possess her father's darkness." Obi-Wan assured him.
Bail nodded, and took a sip of his drink. A quiet lay between the two.
"How goes our other investment?" asked Obi-Wan.
"Far better than we had been expecting." said Bail, "Perhaps better than we would like."
"We have a ceiling to our desires of their success?" Obi-Wan question, confused to the Viceroy's assertion.
"In case you have not heard, they recently killed the Grand Inquisitor in battle." Bail explained.
Obi-Wan understood, as was portrayed by his silence.
"Soon Vader will be after them," Bail bemoaned, "And they will lead him to us, and we will lead him to Leia."
"It is far too early to make such grave assumptions, friend. Besides, the Force has sent me a different impression."
"Oh, has it?" Bail inquired.
"Yes. I have consulted with Yoda on this matter. There is a new darkness in the Force. One that while not as powerful, is just as terrible as Vader and his master in its nature." Obi-Wan explained, "I feel Vader may no longer be the greatest of our fears."
There was a knock on door. The man opened it. On the other side stood a very young man, who turned around to face him. He wore the standard black imperial uniform, with a long leather coat draped over his shoulders, and the black officer's cap perched ever so slightly lopsided atop his golden blonde head. There was a warm smile spread across his face, and it was meet by the lively glimmer in his icy blue eyes.
"Good Afternoon," he spoke, sticking out his hand, "I am Agent Luke Skywalker of the Imperial Inquisitorious. Do I have the pleasure of addressing one Vin Katar?"
The man took his hand, and they shook.
"Yes, I am Vin Katar." He replied, "May I ask what business an Inquisitor has on my farm?"
"You certainly may!" Agent Skywalker responded jollily.
There was silence between the two.
Skywalker raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Well aren't you going to ask me?"
Katar was taken by surprise, "Ask you what?"
Skywalker huffed a giggle, "You asked me if you could ask me what my business here was. I said you certainly could."
Katar was still stricken with confusion, "O-okay" he cleared his throat, "What business does an Inquisitor have on my farm?"
"Well, since you've finallyasked, I have been placed in charge of locating any surviving Jedi hiding in the Outer Rim. I received word that one or more of these undesirable persons may be hiding in this sector of Dantooine, so my men and I are running a routine search of the area." Skywalker answered.
Katar began to speak, "I-I'm not hiding any-
"Don't worry yourself Mr. Katar, no one is accusing you of anything. This is nothing more than simple regulation. Paperwork mostly."
There was an awkward silence as Katar took the young Inquisitor's words in mind.
"I apologize if I'm being presumptive,"' Skywalker began, "But might we step inside? It would make my job so much easier."
"Of course, of course." Katar moved from the door way, inviting Agent Skywalker into his home.
It was small house, having only 4 rooms. Vin's bedroom, the bedroom of his two children, the refresher, and one large room that served as the kitchen, dining room, and holovid room all in one. Vin's children were cleaning the dishes over at the sink.
"Children." Vin said, demanding their attention, "This young man," he pointed in Skywalker's direction, "is Agent Luke Skywalker. He's an Imperial Inquisitor, introduce yourselves."
The male child, who looked to be around seven or eight years old, stepped forward first. "Hi…sir?"
Skywalker nodded in approval.
"I'm Jex Katar." He concluded, bowing a little as he did.
Next his sister, slightly his older, stepped forward, "Hello sir, I am Vespa Cornelia Katar." She curtsied, and shot her brother a smug glance, silently bragging about how much more proper she had been. He simply rolled his eyes.
"You've your children very well trained, Mr. Katar." Skywalker said before changing his attention to the two children, "As lovely as it has been to meet the two of you, I'm afraid your dad and I need to be alone so we can have a little grown up talk, okay?"
The children nodded, hanging their heads in disappointment.
"But," Skywalker continued, "There are some very nice men outside whom I'm sure would be positively delighted to meet the two of you. So why don't you go say hello to them?"
"Uh, okay then. I mean, okay then sir." Jex spoke up, "come one Vespa. Who knows maybe they'll have something fun to do."
As Jex turned made his way out the door, Vespa delayed for a second or two, staring into Skywalker's smiling eyes. For some reason, despite the young man's warm demeanor, she suddenly found herself unsure of whether or not she should trust him.
The moment was interrupted by Jex, who had popped his head in through the door, "Coming, Sis?" he asked.
Vespa was jolted from the trance, "Yes, I'm right behind you, Jex." She said, making her way out the door he waited in, never quite taking her eyes off the Inquisitor, who returned the gesture. She shut the door behind her.
The still and quiet was eerie for a moment after the pair's departure, Skywalker starring at the now closed door.
"Would you like to take a seat Agent Skywalker?" Vin said gesturing to a chair he had pulled away from the table.
Skywalker snapped from his gaze, "Why yes, I would." He said as he made his way to the chair. "Thank you for the offer." He added as he sat.
Vin took the seat across from him.
"So what would you like to ask me?" Vin inquired.
"Oh yes, the questions!" Agent Skywalker exclaimed, smacking himself on the forehead. "How foolish of me to forget."
The two chuckled at the mishap.
"Now, Mr. Katar." Skywalker said, "Have you ever heard of me before?"
Vin was taken by surprise, "excuse me?"
"Have you ever heard of me before, Mr. Katar?" Skywalker asked again, a little more prodding this time.
"I've heard your name mentioned in the news a few times, but that's about it." Vin answered, a tinge of nervousness creeping up on him.
"You have? Then perhaps you know of the little….nickname, the media has so kindly granted me?" Skywalker asked.
"They call you…" Katar began.
"They call me what?" Skywalker prodded.
"They…they call you 'The Jedi Hunter'." Katar answered, fear coming into his voice.
"Yes, they do, don't they." Skywalker said, "The title awarded unto me by the people of our glorious empire. One I am quite proud of as well, I might add."
"I'm sure you must be." Katar replied, eyes cast to the table top.
"Why am I proud of it?" Skywalker continued, "I am proud of it because I have earned it. Do you know how many Jedi I have successfully liquidated within the past year, Mr. Katar?"
"No." Vin answered, "I do not."
"Twenty-Seven!" Skywalker exclaimed, "Twenty-Seven of these traitors have hidden themselves away, thinking they could save themselves from the hands of justice, and twenty-seven of these traitors I have sought out and destroyed for their perjury."
"That is quite an accomplishment, Agent Skywalker." Katar said quietly.
"Would you like to know what makes me such an effective hunter of the Jedi, Mr. Katar?" Luke asked, "Because I know how to think like a Jedi. Meanwhile most of my fellow Imperial Inquisitors only know how to think like, well, Imperial Inquisitors."
There was silence.
"You see, Mr. Katar, the Jedi are much like rats in their nature." Skywalker began, drawing Katar's unusual attention, which of course Skywalker noted, "Now Emperor Palpatine's propaganda has told you more or less the same thing. 'Report the Jedi Rats!', 'Wipe out the Rat Jedi!' so on and so forth. But where his majesty and I come to a disagreement is in the conclusion we draw from this assertion. I, Mr. Katar, do not see the comparison to be an insult. Consider, if you will, the world of a rat. It's a very hostile one, I can tell you that much. Imagine you are a rat. Everywhere you go, everyone is trying to kill you. And for no discernable reason, I might add. You've done nothing to them other than make the presence of your very existence known, and it is apparently offensive enough to them that they warrant it worthy of death. Not a fun life is it? No, I wouldn't say so. So you run, you hide, you flee to places no one but a rat could think of, because if you were to go anywhere else, no matter what you did, people find you disgusting. People want to kill you. But you won't let them. It's that tenacity the Jedi possess that I admire so much, Mr. Katar."
"Don't you think it's a little dangerous for someone in your position to have admiration for the Jedi?" Katar questioned.
"Ah, you misunderstand me, Mr. Katar." Skywalker replied, "I admire their tenacity, I do not admire them. It is that admiration that makes me so good at m work. I admire that tenacity, so I understand it. I understand that tenacity, therefore I understand the Jedi, which Mr. Katar, is why his majesty Emperor Palpatine has sent me here to the Outer-Rim. Because while the Jedi hide in places it wouldn't even occur to most Inquisitors to search, it does occur to me."
Again, silence consumed the room.
"But I have gotten off topic, haven't I?" Skywalker concluded, "Now, the parameters of my duty dictate that my men must conduct a thorough investigation of your household."
Katar refused eye contact, boring holes into the table. Skywalker's happy and friendly demeanor withered and died. His smile remolding into a cold hard line, his eyes becoming black holes devoid of emotion.
"So if there are any…irregularities to be found, you may rest assured they will be."
Katar again refused to respond.
"However, now this bit may interest you, any action on your part that makes the completion of my task easier will not be meet with punishment. In fact, it will be rewarded. That reward being exemption from any and all Imperial inspection or harassment of you and your family in this or any other system."
Katar raised his eyes to meet Skywalker's.
"Now, do you have anything to tell me, Mr. Katar?" Skywalker asked coldly.
Katar would not answer. Skywalker got up and looked out the window, to see Katar's children playing ball with his black-armored Stormtroopers.
"Think of your children, Mr. Katar." Said Skywalker, "The futures they have ahead of them. The lives they have yet to lead. Are you sure you have nothing to tell me?"
Katar began to tremble. Skywalker walked slowly over him, his boots thumping against the wooden floors as he did so. He leaned down next to Vin's face.
"You are harboring enemies of the empire, correct?" Skywalker whispered.
"Yes." Katar whispered back, voice shaking.
"How many?" Skywalker asked.
"There are five." Vin said, eyes watering, "One knight, and four padawans."
Skywalker nodded, "What is your relationship to them? Are you or your children force-sensitive?"
"The knight was a friend of my mother's. Neither I or my children are sensitive." Katar answered.
"They are hidden underneath the floor, aren't they?" Skywalker asked further.
"Yes." Katar replied, crying.
"You will point out to me the exact areas where they are hiding." Skywalker ordered.
Vin turned in his seat, pointing towards the area where the sink was located. He pointed left and right along the floor, hand shaking.
"Now, Mr. Katar, I am going to pretend that all is well and that I am going to leave. You are to go along with everything I say, is that clear?" Skywalker ordered.
"Yes." Katar said, still weeping.
Skywalker stood back up straight, and began making his way towards the door.
"Well, Mr. Katar, it appears that there is nothing out of the ordinary here. I will leave you and your family alone now. The Empire thanks you for your hospitality and your time." He said, his feigned friendliness returned to him.
He opened the door, and motioned for the Stormtroopers to enter.
"Ah, children!" Skywalker exclaimed, "Your father and I were just finishing up. He's a very good imperial citizen, you know."
He pointed the soldiers over to the area where the refugees were hidden.
"Anyhow, my business here is done,"
Skywalker raised his hand into the air, and the Stormtroopers prepared their blaster rifles.
"So, I bid you farewell."
He slashed his hand back down, and the troopers opened fire all along the floor, the blasts from their rifles ripping the wooden floor panels to shreds. They didn't stop their barrage until their charges were empty.
A clang was heard outdoors, a padawan had escaped the firing squad, and fled through a vent on the side of the house. He ran and he ran, his breathing loud and heavy. Skywalker simply stood in the doorway and smirked. He blissfully made his way down the steps, stopping just infront of them. The child would soon be out of sight. Skywalker raised up his left arm, as if to aim it at the fleeing Jedi-trainee. The air cracking about his hand, Skywalker stretched out his fingers, and wicked blue lightning sprung forth from his fingertips. The child screamed as the burst of dark electricity engulfed him, toppling him to the ground. Skywalker sauntered over to his writhing body, and cast it a cold glare, in stark contrast to the increasingly vicious smile reaching across his face. He gave the boy shock after shock, until at last he stopped thrashing, and the air ceased to flow through his lungs. He kicked the corpse about to for a second or two, confirming what he already knew. A twisted laugh escaping from him.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: VIN KATAR IS THE NAME I IMAGINED FOR THE FARM BOY WE SEE BEFORE THE BATTLE OF DANTOOINE IN THE ORIGINAL CLONE WARS CHARTOON FROM 2003. I KNOW IT'S NOT NECCESSARY, BUT I DO ENJOY SUCH TRIVIAL LITTLE THINGS.
ANY WAY, IF YOU LIKED THIS AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE, LEAVE A LIKE, OR WHATEVER. THIS IS MY FIRST STORY SO I'M NOT TO SURE AS TO LINGO. DO LEAVE A REVIEW THOUGH, I LIKE TO HEAR BOTH MY PRAISES AND MY CRTICISMS. BOTH ARE EQUALLY VALUED.
SEE YOU NEXT TIME.
-RogerMcClane.