Dear readers. I am saddened to say that I have abandoned the story, Harry Potter and the Sith Lord. However, I have another new fanfiction, set in my favorite era which I am more comfortable of. This one will also be a Star Wars and Harry Potter fanfiction. It draws inspiration from Heir To the Empire and the Force Unleashed...

Prologue

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, stood erect at the Imperial Star Destroyer's bridge viewport, clad in jet-black Sith robes designed to give maximum freedom of movement to the wearer, the sheer power of the Dark Side of the Force flowing through him like a winding river. Six months have passed since he killed his former Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on Mustafar. Vader could still remember the shocked look on Kenobi's face when the blue blade of his lightsaber stabbed right through his opponent's torso. The man had turned Padme against him. It was only fair that the traitor deserved to die.

Padme, much to Vader's horror, died in childbirth like the vision had foretold, along with the twin infants. Right after he was done with Kenobi, Vader brought her to the care of the medical droid on his wife's starship, but even that did not stop her from dying. Something his new master told him sometime ago popped into his head.

"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved. But if we work together, I'm sure we will discover the secret."

Sidious had lied to him. Manipulated him from the start, just so the old man could get the perfect apprentice. Back when Vader tried to stop Mace Windu from killing the one he thought was a father figure to him, a friend, he was under the impression that the abomination actually had the power to save people from death. The truth was that only the Sith who trained Sidious knew the power. And when Sidious killed his own master in his sleep, the knowledge of the technique died with him.

Treachery, the way of the Sith.

Now, Vader had nothing else to live for. The very reason for him killing those Jedi in the temple in the first place and murdering Gunray and the rest of the separatist leaders on Mustafar, was all for the safety and stability of the Galactic Republic, recently reformed into a New Galactic Empire. The Jedi attempted to overthrow the Senate, and the separatists were a threat that must be extinguished. So Vader did his master's bidding and killed them, but in the end, his wife still died.

Actually, Vader did have something to live for. Power. As a Jedi fighting in the Clone Wars and serving the Republic, Anakin Skywalker was never trusted by the Jedi Council, and even when the then-Chancellor Palpatine granted him a seat on the Council, the Jedi refused to make him a Master. Now that Vader was Sidious' Sith Apprentice however, he was immediately made the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. The men feared him. They called him 'Lord Vader'. The rest learned from the mistake of one Imperial Officer, who addressed Vader as "General Anakin Skywalker". The man died on the spot, his neck and windpipe crushed by the Force.

But that kind of power was not enough. Vader wanted more. He wanted to kill Sidious, watch him die slowly and slowly for all the old man had manipulated him, and take his place and the Ruler of the Galaxy. The only problem was that Sidious was too powerful. He couldn't do it alone. Then an idea sprang itself into Vader's mind.

An apprentice. An assassin at Vader's disposal.

The opportunity arose, when, having cleared threats to the internal security of the Empire on both Imperial Center and all of the surrounding systems, the Emperor sent Vader on a mission to lead the newly promoted Admiral Thrawn and his battalion on an exploration mission into the Unknown Regions that reminded strongly of Outbound Flight.

-line break-

The hyperspace jump from Imperial Center, located near the Core, all the way out to Illum, the starting point for the Unknown Regions expansion project, took a few days, and gave Vader the much-needed spare time to meditate on the Dark Side and hone his lightsaber skills on the combat training droids. Awhile ago, Sidious had started training him on the art of channeling Force Lightning from his good left hand, an ability that the Dark Lord of the Sith was not yet quite powerful at, and Vader still found it easier to just demolish his targets with his lightsaber.

When he wasn't doing any of those, Vader often conversed with Admiral Thrawn. Vader learned many things about the man, such as how the blue-skinned Chiss came to serve the Empire in the first place. What intrigued him most was the fact that Thrawn's knowledge and understanding of art made the admiral know so much about specific species' culture and ways of life. Only a real tactical genius would be capable of something like that.

"Thrawn would make a great Grand Admiral" Vader thought to himself.

When at last the fleet of three Imperial Star Destroyers finally arrived in the Illum system, Vader immediately ordered for them to begin the voyage into the largely unexplored parts of the Unknown Regions and beyond. The first three days gave no surprise. Nothing but the endless expanse of stars and nebulas. On the fourth, however, a particular solar system, consisting of eight planets in orbit around a large sun, located near the edge of the Galactic disk, caught Vader's attention.

"Approach that system, Captain." Vader told the bridge captain in a loud and clear voice, not bothering to turn away from the bridge viewport.

The Captain's reply was all crisp and business-like. "Yes, my lord."

The fleet moved closer and closer to the lone solar system. Scanners showed that only the third planet from the sun was breathable and housed life forms all over the equator. Then Vader sensed something. A surge of unexpected Force energy calling out to him from the planet's surface. The being that the surge originated from would make a most useful apprentice.

"My Lord, permission to send down a scouting party?" asked Thrawn, who stood nearby.

"Permission denied, Admiral. Tell the crew to prepare a shuttle. I will go down there myself."