Family Empire

Opening Crawl/Summary: The duel on Mustafar was a draw, with Anakin escaping in Padmes ship (In his normal state, not hideously disfigured) and Obi-Wan in Anakin's starfighter. He witnesses his children's birth, but Padme still dies in the process, enraging him due to the fact Palpatine promised that he could save them. He kills Palpatine, yet during the process Luke and Leia are separated when Obi Wan managed to break into the facility and save one child, but not the other. Now, nineteen years later, a neutral Luke Skywalker trained in the ways of the force as well as the Emperors Hand Mara Jade travel to Tatooine to track down vital plans for the Death Star…

A/N: Bah, my other story is taking a while to come up with ideas for, so here is something else that I came up with. I know it's a bit weird and hard to digest (And I'll get into it more later, but hey, I'm the writer here) but essentially while Leia continues to be the Princess of Alderaan and all that, Luke becomes the son and apprentice of Emperor Vader, the leader of the known galaxy. Unlike Palpatine, who is unnecessarily brutal, I envision that having been humbled by Padme's death Anakin is relatively benign and neutral sided, almost becoming a sort of Roman Empire and the Pax Romana that comes along with it. Despite this, he still adheres to the style of "Speak softly and carry a big stick," and there will always be dissidents against his rule…

Tatooine: 0 BBY

Star Destroyer Devastator

With a grim satisfaction that only comes with a hard earned victory, Luke watched when Tantive IV finally had its engines disabled. That ship had been the core of a wild goose chase for the past few hours, making wild jumps throughout the Outer Rim to attempt to escape with vital plans to the Death Star, a weapon of immense power for the Empire.

Behind him, he could hear footsteps, and rather than sensing one of the many Imperial officers under his command, he felt a much more familiar presence.

"Hey." Luke said, not even bother to glance back.

"Hey yourself." Mara Jade shot right back, walking up to Luke's side. Emperors Hand and personal assassin, Luke and Mara had long ago developed a friendly competitiveness as they were often assigned the same missions. They had known each other since they were kids, being raised in Luke's fathers' service, and although they initially had the love-hate relationship between them, they both grew to like each other enough that Luke asked Mara out, and after a few awkward (Yet successful) dates around the galaxy, were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Save for a precious few, including the Emperor, their relationship was technically a secret, although anyone who saw the young couple could easily guess what was between them. "So what's up? Did we finally catch them?"

"Yep. I was just about to tell you to suit up, but you seem to have done that already." Luke glanced to his right, and sure enough, Mara was already combat-ready, in the completely black sleeveless outfit with her blaster and lightsaber holstered. For a few seconds, there was a companionable silence as both looked on at the ship they had spent hours to chase being pulled slowly underneath their line of sight, where he knew the ship was being docked. "Come on," He said, "We have a ship to board."

"Move it, Troopers! On the Double!" Commander Devin basically screamed out of his helmet, while other Clone/Storm troopers frantically rushed into position, all blurs of white with blue streaks throughout them. With no small satisfaction, Luke watched as the clones that had been born and bred for moments like these, many of whom were survivors and veterans of the Clone Wars, bring out door cutters and use them with a speed and efficiency that can only come with decades of practice and experience using them.

Devin noticed Luke and Jade and he snapped off a quick salute. "Sir, we were just about to breach the door with charges. Do you have any orders?"

"Continue with the breach, captain, but don't destroy it. I'll give it a little push in the right direction." Luke could almost see Mara giving that half-smirk/half-smile behind him, as well as underneath Commander Devin's helmet. A veteran of the Clone Wars, He was the current commander of the 501st, a heavily decorated unit that had once served Luke's father, and they still proudly wore the blue markings that set them out from the usual rank and file troops. While the Stormtrooper Corps as it was called had officially opened its doors to any willing to enlist, the percentage of clones to recruits was still about 70-30, give or take. Most who enlisted still received the same harsh training, but were usually assigned quieter garrison posts as opposed to the clones, which still comprised of the elite fighting forces who fought on the front line. Non-clones that did want to serve in the military often enrolled in the Imperial Academy, or enlisted for field officer training as well.

Devin had been almost a surrogate uncle to Luke and Mara when they were children, and he had actually developed a strong working relationship with them. Although he and the rest of the clones would have been most certainly retired or at the very least beyond fighting age had they had their advanced aging system still in place, the Kaminoans had engineered a "Cure" for their condition, ensuring that veterans with vital experience continued to serve.

"Sir! The door's all set, shall we set the charges?" A clone sergeant called out, holding a breaching charge in his hand.

"Negative, the General's got something planned." Devin called out, and in an exaggerated movement, he stepped to the side and held out his hand to the door. "If you would like to do the honors, general."

"With pleasure." Luke stepped forward, and after taking a quick breath, thrust both of his hands forward, blowing open the door and surprising those on the other side. He propelled himself forward, crimson lightsaber already out, and quickly cut down the first. The others, after quickly recovering from their shock, began firing, but Luke easily reflected and blocked their shots, falling with practiced ease into Shien, the variant of Form V that is best suited to blaster bolt deflection, perfect for a situation just like this.

The Snap-Hiss of another lightsaber was heard, and now a violet blade leapt out and struck a rebel who was taking aim at Skywalker, and Mara joined the fray, troopers close behind and guns blazing. The two were like night and day in their fighting style – while Luke was using wide, sweeping blows and brute force to cut down those who were attacking him, Mara darted back and forth with grace and agility, killing them with an ease that seemed like an art form. The stormtroopers mostly stayed back while Luke and Mara did their work, but still supported the two with covering fire, which managed to catch a few unsuspecting rebel soldiers.

They continued to make their way down the hall, killing those who got in their way, but they still accepted the surrenders of those who tried to. They were on a mission, but that did not mean they needlessly had to take lives. Soon, the entire ship was secured with no casualties, and very quickly the troops brought a man in a differently colored uniform that identified him as the captain. Luke quickly beamed across the force bond that Mara and he shared, Good cop, Bad cop?

Mara beamed back, Nah, just ask nicely. This guy seems like the good type, and he'll either spill the beans or he has no idea about what plans we're talking about. This seems like something the rebels would only keep on a need-to-know basis.

A trooper saluted, and said, "Sir, we've searched the main computers, but the Death Star plans are not there."

"So then, Captain…" Luke started, hoping to get a name. Having someone's name, however innocuous, is always a good start to building up trust between two people.

"Antilles." He replied tersely. From what Luke and Mara could detect, the man was radiating fear and he thought that he was most likely facing his death, but he was still putting on a brave face, which both commended.

"Antilles." Luke repeated, "Would you happen to know anything about the plans for a certain Death Star on this ship? We've detected several transmissions being sent here by rebel spies that each contained individual parts of the plan, and we would like to know where they are."

Antilles stiffened a little, and replied, "I have no idea of anything about the plans you have just told me. We are a diplomatic mission to Alderaan, and are just a simple consular ship." He was speaking honestly, which while disappointing did mean that only a select few knew about them.

"A shame," Mara said, "Take him to the brig." The man was led away without another word, yet both force-sensitives could feel his surprise of being spared. Raising her voice so that the rest of the men could hear, she said, "Commander, search this ship for those plans, break it down to its skeleton if you have to, but I want the surviving crew and passengers as prisoners and I want them alive. Move out!" She almost barked out.

"Yes Ma'am." Was the universal reply, and they fanned out. A few minutes later, a young woman was brought forward, wearing the white robes of the royal house of Alderaan. Luke didn't know why, but there felt like there was something familiar about her that made it feel like he had seen her somewhere before.

"We found her hiding, ma'am. She took out one of our men, but we stunned her and brought her here, as you requested."

"Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade," the princess started rather rudely, "I should've expected that the Emperor would sic his hounds onto my trail. When word of this gets out to the senate, they'll-"

"Great to see you too, your highness," Luke interrupted quite sarcastically. Dropping his voice to a more serious level, he asked, "Now then, where are those plans that we both know you're hiding somewhere?"

Raising her head high, she almost pompously replied, "I have no idea as to the plans you're asking about. I'm Leia Organa, a member of the Imperial Senate, and the Princess of Alderaan, my diplomatic immunity-"

"Doesn't cover treason, Senator, and for now, you're none of those things, right now you're part of the Rebel Alliance and a Traitor!" Luke finished, frustrated with her answer. "Corporal, take her away." He said with a wave of his hand. He got the usual "Yes Sir" in reply and the four guards and the prisoner walked out, her head held high. There was something about her that Luke felt like he had seen before, but he pushed them aside when Commander Daine Jir came up and saluted.

"General, holding the senator can be dangerous. If word gets out like she said and the Senate hears about a raid like this…" Jir stated, but Luke cut him off.

"Don't worry, we got it covered. We'll say that the Tantive was caught in an unexpected meteorite storm, and that it was destroyed." Another officer appeared, and Luke recognized him as Nahdonnis Praji, yet another no-nonsense officer.

"Sir, the Death Star plans are not on this ship. We've detected a escape pod as well that was jettisoned during the fighting, but there appeared to have been no life forms." He said, crisp and to the point.

"They must've sent the plans down on that escape pod. Get the Desert Sands and the 501st down there as soon as possible, I want everyone there searching the whole planet if we have to." At a glance at Mara, who nodded, he continued, "Prep my shuttle as well. Mara and I will be down there."

"Yes Sir."

A/N: Phew! Second Fan fiction to publish, and I'm not so sure if you guys may like it. I promise I'm working on my other one if that is what you're waiting on, but in the mean time enjoy this as well. Please Review and express your thoughts!

PS: If you didn't spot the play on words which I found hilarious, then I'll tell you now: Daine Jir, when said quickly, is "Danger." I don't know why but I found it kind of funny…No? Ah forget it…