So, quick disclaimer in multiple areas. First of all; I own nothing. Disney owns everything except the characters created for this fic. Second, it doesn't count The Force Awakens or the Expanded Universe; this is my own sequel to the Star Wars saga as it existed before this year, beginning 25 years after the Battle of Endor. Think of it as my own version of the sequel trilogy, with this fic as the first part. So, R&R, please, no flames. B.
...
The young man with the sandy brown hair stood on the balcony overlooking the cityscape of Coruscant. He'd lived there for the entirety of his life, all 20 years of it, but it never ceased to amaze him. Of course, he'd spent a lot of his time away from it on and off since he was 12.
His hair and the brown robes he wore over a beige tunic and black trousers billowed gently in the breeze. On his waist, a silver cylindrical device was visible hanging from his belt, a black grip round the middle of it, black lines going down from that point, whilst the top end was squared off.
He closed his eyes, breathing slowly as he reached out with his mind through the force. Feeling everything around him. The people driving their speeders, those in the offices across the street, even the others like him in the Jedi Temple.
The Jedi apprentices. The young man sighed. He was the son of the foremost Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. As a boy he'd expected to be taken as his father's padawan. He wasn't, instead his slightly older cousin Harry Solo becoming the padawan to Luke.
The young man turned and stepped inside as he opened his eyes, flopping down on the sofa inside. His father was away on Jedi Council business, and his mother... Well, he had no idea where she was. No one did, not since she left when he was a baby.
The doors across from him opened, revealing a young man a few years older than him wearing a black tunic and black pants, his own silver device hanging from his belt, a rounded off emitter at the top, a solid silver handle with a small rectangular outcrop with the button, leading to a collection of black strips running to the flat bottom end of the device. His dark brown hair went down to the nape of his neck, the faintest sign of stubble round his face. It was Harry.
"Hey, Quin." Harry said with a smile, walking over to his younger cousin and sitting beside him with a grin "Thought I'd check in on you."
"Thoughtful. And I've told you before, it's Quinton." Quinton replied "What's really brought you here, Harry?"
"Hey, can't a guy check on his little cousin?" Harry asked with a smirk "Okay, your old man asked me to."
"My Dad?" Quinton replied, jumping up "Where is he? He said he couldn't tell me before he left but-"
"There's your answer, kiddo." Harry said, standing up and ruffling his cousin's hair "Relax. He's a Jedi Master. I'm sure wherever he is, he's fine."
Quinton smiled slightly. He knew Harry was trying to make him feel better. But inwardly, he couldn't help but worry.
...
"Keep moving, Jedi!" The Storm Trooper barked, hitting the man in front of him with the butt of his rifle, causing the man to fall "Get up."
The man in front of the Storm Trooper and the half dozen others slowly picked himself up. His once sandy brown hair was now showing signs of grey, his black body suit being slightly tighter round the waist than it had been when he was a young man. His face had a beard flecked with grey round his mouth, lines showing the toll time had taken on him.
He looked at his bound hands, observing the state of his right hand. The synthetic flesh on it had torn in places, revealing the silver and black servos and circuits of the robotic prosthesis. A grim reminder of days long since passed, and of the situation he had gotten himself into.
Luke Skywalker had never been one to make the best decisions; he remembered in the early days of the New Republic, his brother-in-law, Han, had joked it was a wonder Luke hadn't gotten them killed a dozen times over. Now, Luke couldn't help but wonder if he'd finally managed to do what his old friend had teased him he would all those years ago.
As he passed through a large, dark set of doors, he found himself in a throne room. Inside was a female figure, looking out of the window. She wore black robes, long blonde hair flowing down her back. She turned to face him, revealing the black mask she wore over her face. Her own reminder of days since passed.
"I see you've found me, my love." She said, her voice mechanically modulated "You'll forgive me if I don't take off the mask. After the last time we saw each other, well, it isn't the pretty face it used to be."
"That was your own doing, Pela." Luke responded, looking to the Storm Troopers behind him "I see you've made some friends."
"Oh, them. They're just decoration." She said, looking to the lead Storm Trooper and barking "Leave us!"
"Yes, m'lady!" The foremost Storm Trooper said, bowing his head, gesturing to the door "Let's go, men!"
The Storm Troopers left the Jedi with the woman. She slowly walked down the steps from her throne, approaching him and raising a hand to his cheek.
"Luke, my dear, sweet, Luke..." She said, her tone soft, before she swept her leg under him, taking him to the floor as she pulled a black cylindrical device with a silver grip and golden top from her belt, pressing the red button on it, causing a blade of red energy to erupt from the gold section, ending inches from Luke's throat "I wouldn't get up if I were you. You betrayed me, my love. I've spent 20 years trying to decide how best to return the favour."
She pressed a button on her belt, a hologram appearing in the centre of the room, showing an image of Luke, Harry and Quinton. The woman slowly reached up to her face, removing the mask, revealing a woman around Luke's age, a long scar going diagonally down her once beautiful face, her previously blue eyes now a sick yellow with red rings round the irises. A smirk formed on her face.
"Choose who you want to lose first." She said, her tone sickly sweet "Your apprentice or your son."
...
Quinton walked into the Senate building. He'd decided that if Harry wouldn't tell him where his father was, maybe his aunt could. He knew that the senate was in session today, and, in her position as Vice-Chancellor, Leia had to attend.
He exited the elevator, emerging into her office. He moved to the window, looking out of it. As he did, he heard someone enter the room.
"Hello, I am-" Came the voice of C-3PO as Quinton turned to face the gold protocol droid "Oh, Master Skywalker, how lovely to see you again! The Vice-Chancellor will be pleased! Can I get you any refreshments?"
"No thank you, Threepio." Quinton replied "Any idea when my aunt will be back?"
"I already am." Came a voice from the door, Quinton and Threepio turning to face the elevator, where the figure of Leia stood at the doors "How lovely to see you again Quinton! Threepio, could you fetch us some tea?"
"Of course, my lady." Threepio said, turning and leaving the room.
"Tea?" Quinton asked, cocking an eyebrow "Since when do you drink tea?"
"Since when didn't you come running over yelling 'aunty Leia, aunty Leia'?" Leia retorted with a wry smile, moving over and pulling her nephew into a tight embrace, releasing him and looking him up and down "Goodness you've grown! Last time I saw you, I was taller than you!"
"To be fair, I was fourteen..." Quinton said matter of factly as Leia ushered him to an area with a pair of sofas, Quinton sitting down as she took the seat opposite him "I'm sorry to bother you, I know you're busy, but-"
"It's no bother to have family visit." Leia said, smiling warmly "I'm sorry, go on."
Quinton paused. She was under the impression it was a social call. If he was honest, he'd have preferred if it were. Apparently, he was taking too long to respond.
"What's wrong?" She asked, raising an eyebrow "Something's bothering you."
"It's nothing. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come." Quinton said, standing up, pausing as he reached the door before turning back "My Dad's been away for months. He sent Harry to check on me."
"Is there something strange about that?" Leia asked him.
"He's always sent me messages himself, made holo-calls, that kind of thing." Quinton said "He's never checked in by proxy. Something just doesn't feel right."
"Maybe he's too busy for a lengthy discussion." Leia said, smiling warmly "Come on, sit down, have some tea. It'll relax you. You look like you could use it, and the last thing we need is a stressed Jedi in the building!"
Quinton sighed. She was probably right. He was probably worrying over nothing.
...
Luke sat on the ground in the throne room, the chains binding him having been attached to the floor. Peka looked at him from atop her throne, apparently taking some pleasure at his predicament, at least, as far as the feelings he could sense were telling him. With her mask back on, he couldn't really check her expression.
"You know, I never planned for you to be here yet." She said "I'd planned to bring one or both of the boys here first. You had to come looking though, didn't you? You always were too curious for your own good!"
"And you always were overzealous." He responded "Please, you don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do." She said "I owe it to my Father and to myself."
"Your Father was a psychotic tyrant!" Luke said "He tried to have me murder my own Father!"
"Your Father was weak! He deserved to die!" She spat as she rose, descending the steps as she ignited her lightsaber "Maybe you do too..."
"Go on then." He said, smiling slightly "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine."
"I'd like to see you try..." She said as she deactivated the weapon, placing it wit hthe emitter against his chest "Tell me you love me... One last time."
"I did, once." He replied "Then I found out who your Father was. I overlooked the fact to begin with. Until I realised you were every bit as twisted as Palpatine."
She paused before removing the device from where it was, beginning to walk back to the throne. She turned to face him once more. She removed the mask she wore and smirked at him.
"I think I'll allow you to live, for now." She said "With the discrepancies I left in the message I sent on your behalf to your apprentice, he will be here soon enough. You can watch as I break him. Then you can watch as we break your son together."
"Can you really do that, though?" Luke asked "Could you really bring yourself to harm our son?"
Her smirk faltered for a moment. Luke could feel the conflict there. As evil as the woman might be, she was still a Mother. Even she wasn't sure if she could do what it would take to break her child, to bring him to her cause.
"I will do what I must." She said finally, putting the mask back on "After all, Peka Danse, Peka Skywalker, they were fictions of my creation. They had you fooled. Even Peka Palpatine was short lived."
She sat on the throne, facing him once more.
"There is only Darth Sirous."
...
So here's chapter one of Damnation of the Force. The creative choices made here all have their purposes, no character used so far is superfluous (excluding the Storm Troopers, because Storm Troopers, and Threepio is at the moment, I just decided it'd be nice to give him a cameo) and all have their purposes in the plot. As for the naming of Darth Sirous, it's two fold; first, it has a similar sound and spelling to Darth Sidious, AKA her daddy. Second, the word Sirous is one I've derived from "Siren", which her back story as it's been revealed so far makes it quite clear she fulfilled the role of. R&R, please, no flames. B.