Family Ties
Chapter I: The Coming of the Empire
Leia Skywalker yawned as she stretched her arms over her head and leaned back against the Sandcrawler. A swarm of jawas were scurrying back and forth between Uncle Owen and the pack of droids they were trying to unload. There were times when she was really unsure if she was cut out to be a moisture farmer. Her Aunt Beru often told her that she had far more potential than she could use here on Tatooine. Leia was beginning to believe it. The idea of dealing with jawas or water merchants was appalling to her. She would much rather become a well educated scholar or senator.
Well, that's what she would have liked. That wasn't really an option anymore. According to her friends, the Empire had just dismantled the Imperial Senate. Emperor Palpatine was now the soul controller of the galaxy. At least that's what she'd heard. It didn't really matter. The Empire really didn't care too much for Tatooine or any of the other outer rim planets, except the ones involved in the Rebellion.
She smiled at the thought. She had heard that the Rebellion was spreading across the outer rim, recruiting planets that didn't really have much to do with the Empire. Tatooine fell into that category quite nicely. She could imagine herself joining, serving as a pilot or a soldier. It was corny, she knew, but she didn't care. The life of a scholar may have been preferable to that of a farmer, but to be a fighter…
She sighed as her uncle called to her. She walked over to him and the jawas. It looked like he had purchased two new droids; an R2 unit and a protocol droid. "Just these?" she asked.
"Yeah," her uncle replied as he handed the jawa leader his money. "Take them back to the garage and get them cleaned up by dinner."
"Ok," she sighed. "Come on."
She began to walk away from the sandcrawler, back towards the farm's garage. The droid's began to follow her. The first was a humanoid shaped protocol droid with gold plates and coverings. The second was a standard blue R2 unit that looked like it had seen better days. It'd be a pain to clean that one. Part of the dome looked like it was marked by carbon scoring. The idea of painting the droid before dinner didn't grab her fancy either.
Leia led the droids into the garage and closed the door, leaving them in the dimly lit room. "Step into that tub," Leia instructed the protocol droid.
"Yes Lady… eh-,"
"Leia," she replied.
"Ah, yes Lady Leia. I am C-3PO, Human-Cyborg Relations. And this is my counterpart, R2-D2."
"Hello," she muttered as the droid stepped into the oil tub. She walked over to the outdated computer that controlled the garage's gas systems and keyed in the command. The tub began to fill with the natural droid cleansing oil that was processed in Mos Eisley. The droid looked at the oil approvingly as it began to soak into his joints, eating away any of the rust that may have formed since he was last checked. "I want you to soak in there for at least five minutes," Leia told him. "You're moving pretty slow."
The R2 unit beeped something Leia couldn't understand, but it seemed to offend Threepio. "Shut up!" the gold droid snapped.
"You, come here," she said to Artoo.
The droid warbled as it rolled over to her. She squatted down and inspected the small droid's outer frame. With another long sigh, she began to polish up the droid as best she could.
"So how did you get here?" she asked.
"We're survivors of a space attack," Threepio replied.
"A space attack?" Leia repeated, clearly dubious.
"Yes, our ship, the Tantive IV, was on its way to Yavin on a diplomatic mission of some sort. We were attacked by the Empire."
"How'd you escape?" she asked.
"Our pods landed here, wherever here may be," the droid replied.
Leia chuckled, though there was no real humor behind it. "You're on Tatooine," she told him. "And if you were a diplomatic droid before, get used to it here. Things are kind of tough."
"Oh my," Threepio said with a slight gasp.
"Leia!"
She turned to the door and opened it. "Yes?" she called back out.
"Come here!"
Leia sighed and turned to the droids. "I'll be right back," she told them.
She left the garage and walked into the main house where her aunt and uncle were sitting, eyes glued to the holonet report that was on. The Emperor was making some sort of public announcement. Behind him, Leia could see his two most loyal hounds: Darth Vader and Darth Parvulus. Over the years, Leia had come to despise Vader and Parvulus because of her aunt and uncle's negative remarks about them. Quite honestly she despised the entire Empire for its neglect of the outer rim.
"Listen," Beru said.
"A rebellion has begun to form, threatening our glorious Empire," Palpatine was saying. "They have stolen security codes that could give them access to Coruscant and must be stopped. Our forces trailed them to the outer rim, where their ship has crash landed. I will be sending Darth Vader to Tatooine in order to deal with them and he will secure our Empire's safety. Thank you."
The image faded and Leia frowned. "He didn't say much, did he? Public announcements usually last at least twenty minutes."
"He only did it because people this Rebellion will actually succeed and are putting pressure on him. That's how politicians work," Owen commented as he went back to his dinner.
"How are the droids coming along?" Beru asked Leia as she poured a glass of blue milk for her niece.
Leia accepted the glass and took a sip. "The protocol droid said that they were on board a rebellion ship," she replied.
Owen looked up at her urgently. "What?"
"He says they belong to the rebellion," she told him.
Owen frowned. "We paid good money for those droids," he muttered. "They belong to us. Tomorrow I want you to take them up to Anchorhead and have their memories wiped."
"But what if there's important schematics or something inside one of these droids?"
Owen shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The Empire doesn't care about us and neither will the Rebellion if they win. Best to stay out of it and leave things the way they are."
"The Rebellion's promised to make the outer rim a better place," she argued.
"I watched the meeting in the Senate that decided to reorganize the Republic into the Empire. They promised the same thing. These sorts of things never change, Leia. If Vader's going to be on Tatooine, we best look like we support the Empire."
Leia groaned and turned away. "Where are you going?" Beru asked.
"To finish the droids," she replied.
Beru turned to look at Owen nervously. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"Nothing," he replied as he turned back to his plate.
"Vader's coming and we're not going to do anything?"
"That crackpot told us that Vader didn't even know Leia was born," Owen explained. "There's no reason to worry."
"Vader's a Jedi!" Beru insisted. "He might just know!"
"Jedi," Owen grunted. "There's nothing to worry about."
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The Emperor smiled as he turned away from the holonet reporters and faced his two most loyal apprentices. Darth Vader and Darth Parvulus stood at attention, waiting for instruction. "Lord Vader," Sidious spoke. "I want this rebellion crushed. Make a public statement on Tatooine. I want every man, woman, and child alive to fear joining this rebellion."
"Yes Master," Vader replied.
"Lord Parvulus," the Emperor said as he began to walk to his desk. "I sense a disturbance in the Force."
"I felt it, my Master," Parvulus replied.
"It is coming from somewhere in the outer rim."
"What is your desire?" Parvulus inquired.
"Go with Lord Vader to Tatooine. From there, begin to search for it."
"If it is a Jedi?" Parvulus asked.
"There are no Jedi," the Emperor replied curtly. "But person may become one. Kill him."
Parvulus fell into a deep bow. "Yes Master," he replied.
Vader bowed as well and the two turned from their master and exited into the hallway of the Imperial Palace. "Your thoughts are clouded, my son," Vader said as they walked. Parvulus said nothing, though he knew his father was right. "Tell me what you are thinking."
"If the Jedi are dead, why kill this man?" Parvulus inquired.
"What do you mean?" Vader asked. "Do you question the orders of the Emperor?"
"No," Parvulus replied. "I merely try to understand them."
"His orders are not for us to understand, my son."
"I believe that this man could prove useful to us," Parvulus said, ignoring his father's last comment as he pushed a lock of dark blond hair from his eyes.
"And how is that?"
"The Emperor has trained Force sensitive individuals to be his Hands. Why kill one who could prove useful?"
"The Emperor's Hands are a waste," Vader snapped. "There's no need to add another one."
"Yes Father," Parvulus said obediently.
"Your curiosity will betray you, my son. The Emperor's rule is not to be questioned."
"Yes Father," he repeated.
Vader and Parvulus came into the Imperial Palace's front room, which would lead out to the rest of Coruscant. "Have my shuttle prepared," Vader ordered Parvulus. "Bring only what you will need to complete your assignment."
"Yes Lord Vader," Parvulus said, using the more formal title in front of the officers in the room.
Vader turned and walked away, leaving Parvulus to contemplate his own thoughts. He shook his head and turned around to see someone coming towards him. He recognized the woman, though it had been quite some time since they had seen one another. She was a very attractive young woman, maybe in her early twenties. The golden-red hair that cascaded behind her had been curled and she was dressed in a high class white dress with a light blue sash. He knew instantly what her business in the Imperial Palace was. "Lianna," he said to her with a nod.
"Lord Parvulus," she returned, meeting his gaze.
"Has the Emperor requested another performance?" he asked to her, speaking in a code that only she and the Emperor were supposed to know.
She didn't seem to be surprised by the fact that he knew such high class information. She merely nodded her response and gaze him an attractive crooked smile. "I could give you a performance as well, if you would like?" she offered.
Parvulus was surprised by the offer, though he wasn't sure whether or not she was speaking in code or just offering him a lap dance. Lianna was a code name that the Emperor had given her when he had first taken her under his wing. Her real name was Mara Jade. She was one of the Emperor's Hands that served as his elite unit of assassins. The Hands were a high security unit that the Emperor had trained himself and very few people knew of their existence. All the Hands that Parvulus had met seemed to have great distain for his father, Lord Vader, and vice-versa. He personally had no qualms with them. He was not so greedy for the Emperor's approval or attention. The Hands had proven to be useful in the past. Vader's problem was that they didn't fall under anyone's jurisdiction, except the Emperor's, therefore he could not give them orders or use them to his own means. Parvulus didn't have that problem. He had found in the past that there were others who would be willing to do his bidding if the Hands were not.
Mara was one of Parvulus' favorite Hands. She was a beautiful woman and had fascinated him since they had first met. She usually went under the alias of Lianna, one of the Emperor's favorite dancers. The code word 'performance' meant 'assassination.' Therefore, asking Parvulus if he needed a performancne was quite an honor. Most of the Hands assumed that he was similar to his father and despised them. Mara saw the truth. Parvulus understood her and for that, she was grateful. Parvulus knew that she felt this way. It brought a smirk to his lips to think of how she would react if she ever discovered the truth.
For reasons of his own, the Emperor had chosen not to inform that Hands of each other's existence. As far as each Hand knew, he or she was the only one. Mara Jade was no exception. She took pride in her status as a Hand. The Emperor had groomed her to be a perfect little Kath Hound. She had come to love her master for that and like all dogs, the knowledge of another hound that may have receive more attention was not something she would accept.
"I don't require a performance, Lianna, but thank you," he replied.
"Well," she seemed somewhat disappointed, though she hid it quickly. "the Emperor is waiting."
"Yes, he is," Parvulus agreed.
"Goodbye, Lord Parvulus," she said as she walked passed him, into the Imperial Hallway.
Parvulus turned to stare after her. Passion stirred inside of him as he watched her. She moved with such fluid grace and beauty. One day, he would make her his own. "By the Empire," he swore. She would be his.
Alright, that's the end of chapter 1. Something I felt like explaining was the meaning behind the name Parvulus. The word 'Vader' is actually Dutch for the word 'Father.' Since Luke was Vader's son, it seemed appropriate that he be named 'Son' or 'Child' I looked up the Dutch word for 'son' and didn't particularly care for it, so I decided to search for the same word in a different language. Initially I used the word 'Fillius' is actually German for the word 'son.' Due to copyright issues, I needed to change the name. 'Parvulus' is the Latin word for 'child.' I prefer the old name for those of you who already read it, but it had to be changed. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Please review this chapter and tell me what you think. I accept any sort of constructive criticism you have to offer. Thank you.