Vader sensed it before he could even tell what it was. Something or should he say someone had a presence of staggering strength. He felt the concentration within them and found that their flow of energy connected to the force. Jedi he thought bitterly but how is that even possible? He was the one responsible for the end of the Jedi race. He slaughtered younglings with his own hand and destroyed the nursery during order 66.
Yet that force signature he sensed nearly matched his own. It was at an astonishing height and quite glaringly obvious. Whoever entered his ship had enough power to take on a master Jedi. At first he wondered if it was the emperor but he quickly dismissed the thought. The flow of the force did not connect to the dark side like his master did.
This presence unnerved him and spiked his irritation. Any Jedi that managed to survive order 66 wouldn't dare visit an imperial vessel under his command. So why did such a person dare enter the ship now? Was it to save the princess?
He thought about Princess Leia Organa ,currently in a cell, and her worth to the empire. She was, no doubt, a leader of the rebel alliance. She led battles and several successful attacks on imperial ships and troops. In a way, she was a beacon of hope for those that opposed the empire as well as an advocate of change. Clearly he underestimated her importance to the galaxy.
I'll consider that when we blackmail her to reveal the location of the rebel base. Alderaan's demise should be a fine motivator for her cooperation.
Vader maneuvered through the ship pushing clones out of the way or using the force to thrust them aside if they didn't get out in time. Whoever it was that he was sensing, wherever they are, he'll find them and he'll do what he did to the Jedi and any force sensitive child he met in the past. His senses were like radar. The closer he got to the south end of the ship, the better he could sense the presence of the unknown Jedi.
Vader closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get a better read. What he found stunned him.
The force he was sensing came from two beings rather than one. It was almost as if someone duplicated the force from one of them and put it into the other. Although they were emitting a high concentration, it was unbelievably raw and had not been tapped into yet. It led him to believe that neither of them had been properly trained which made sense considering there was no jedi left to teach them.
But how could they be so strong with the force if they were never trained? Vader thought as he continued to move down the south end and towards the ship's prison unit.
The clones at the prison doors saluted him. "Lord Vader" they said in unison.
He raised his hand and used the force to manipulate their minds "You will not remember anything of this moment."
"We won't remember anything of this moment." they echoed
"You'll leave and work as security at the brig from now on." he continued
"We'll leave and work as security at the brig from now on." they mimicked and marched away.
Vader walked past the doors and towards the rows of prison cells. He felt different using an old Jedi mind trick to convince the clones. He did it only so that no one would report on his encounter with these two force sensitive individuals. Clones never ceased to interfere in his business. They proved to be just as infuriating as the commanders he had under his control like Commander Piet and Captain Ozzel.
Ozzel was the one that infuriated him the most. He was foolish and stupid yet he somehow had more brains than most of the imperial troops. Piett was a little more tolerable and typically didn't irritate him but Vader sensed much fear in him. Piett tried not to show it but it was hard to hide from a sith lord.
Shaking away thoughts of his foolish commanders, Vader walked down the hallway of the prison and towards the end of the corridor. Two of these prisoners holds this force signature. How did I not sense it the moment they entered the ship? he thought.
Suddenly he heard a voice in the cells "I'm Luke Skywalker, here to rescue you your highness."
Vader froze Luke Skywalker? The last name Skywalker disappeared when his beloved Padme died on Mustafar with the child she carried. Vader was the last Skywalker left and he hadn't gone by that name in nineteen years. Now suddenly there was a person claiming to be a Skywalker?
Skywalker or not, this individual was partly responsible for the high force signature. He ran down the hall and towards the voice. The force grew stronger as he got closer to the doorway at the end. When Vader rounded the corner, he saw another row of prison cells and a clone standing outside of one of them.
"What business do you have in these halls?" he asked and the clone spun around.
"Holy shit, Luke we got company!" the clone shouted and pulled out a blaster. Thankfully, his training made him quick with his reflexes. Vader quickly drew his red light saber and deflected the lasers, aiming them at the clone instead. The man ducked and immediately retaliated with two more shots. Vader avoided them easily and used the force to take the blaster out of the clone's hands.
"Han!" someone shouted and he recognized it immediately as the voice of Luke Skywalker.
Vader spun around to see two individuals at the door.
"Well it's about time kid!" shouted the individual named Han as he pulled off his helmet. Underneath it wasn't a clone of Jango Fett but a man who looked to be around twenty nine years old. Vader paid little attention to him and watched the boy named Luke now accompanied by Leia Organa.
"You!" Luke shouted "Get away from him!" He tried to make a run towards Han however Vader easily blocked his way.
Luke and Leia looked up at him with recognizable hatred and fear but he could see for two different reasons. The boy looked at him as if he stole something very important and the girl watched him as if he were a monster. He understood her anger considering she was currently a prisoner on his shuttle.
And the strength of the force was powerful in this room because of the two. They radiated power yet they didn't even know it existed. Neither of them matched his skills however the two of them combined could be quite a challenge. Which meant...Luke Skywalker had to be related to him (if he truly was a Skywalker) and if that was true then Leia couldn't be the biological daughter of Bail Organa.
This revelation stunned him. He could feel it was true but he had to have proof in order to be one hundred percent sure. How was he to obtain that proof?
And then he had an idea "Surrender your weapon Luke Skywalker."
"Never." said the boy as he drew out his saber while standing protectively in front of the princess. But before he could turn it on Vader used the force to snatch it from his hands. "Do not test me. I've killed clones with more confidence and promise than you."
Luke glared "And I'm sure that's exactly what you did to my father when you faced him."
Vader stopped short at that. His father? What does he know about his father "And who was your father?"
"Anakin Skywalker," Luke said proudly "But you wouldn't be fit to utter his name."
So I was right thought Vader this boy is my child. And obviously he's been lied to. But the girl…..could she possibly be mine?
Vader could truly and honestly say he had no idea what to make of the situation. He lived nineteen years of regret thinking he killed his wife and his unborn child. He always assumed it was a boy but he never would've dreamt he had twins.
The emperor told him his child died when he killed Padme. But not only is his flesh in blood standing in front of him today, he could possibly have a sibling as well, harboring an equal amount of force energy.
The emperor lied. Vader thought bitterly and all he felt like doing was destroying his master.
Returning his attention back to Luke, he said "What if I were to tell you that I didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. That he was alive." He watched carefully as he spoke.
Luke's face was contorted with anger "Then I'd say you're lying to me to try and convince me to join you."
"You would wouldn't you," Vader muttered and shut off his weapon, stowing it away. The shock that filled his son's face would've been amusing had they not been in a very difficult situation. A brief conflict flickered through his mind. Would it be safe to tell them who their father was. They were rebels, no doubt, and harbored strong feelings against the empire. Obviously he'd be foolish to think that they'd be accepting of him if they knew.
If he only had Luke, the truth would've been easier to tell. He'd only just met him and the news would've been like ripping off a bandage. But Leia was a little more difficult. Firstly, he wasn't sure if Leia was biologically related to him or not. He had no desire in letting the princess know until he was one hundred percent sure himself. Along with that, Leia (up until now) was a prisoner on his ship. He treated her like scum rather than a human being and he knew this wouldn't be easily forgotten in her mind.
Timing is everything and now is not the time he concluded. If he were to say anything, Luke and Leia wouldn't believe him and he'd lose his chance to help them escape. Any other rebel would've been lucky to be locked in a cell for this kind of behavior. By now, they would've faced either the threat of his force power, crushing their windpipes or the threat of the empire's justice system. Neither would've been pleasant.
But his children were different. It was his job to protect them and that's exactly what he planned to do.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Vader faced the three of them "Running out blindly like this is foolish. You're lucky I came down here in the first place and dismissed the clones. Otherwise, you would've been discovered within a second of your escape."
"What game are you playing? Since when did you care about rebels?" Leia demanded angrily. Her eyes glinted dangerously but the thing that stunned him was how similar her expression was to Padme whenever she got angry. He didn't see it immediately but now the resemblance was too obvious to ignore.
"Do not patronize me Senator." he said almost calm and collectedly "I assure you, I'm here to help. If I wanted you three captured you would've been in my grasp by now."
"You," he snapped to Luke and tossed the gun to him "grab your comrade and give him his blaster back. If you three are to actually escape, it requires a more evasive plan than just breaking out."
"Now wait a minute," snapped a voice from behind him "Do you actually think we're buying this for a second?" The man named Han grabbed the blaster from Luke's hand. "I'm not as stupid as I look your lordship." he sneered sarcastically. Vader could feel the urge to reach out and choke Han with the dark side of the force but at the last minute, he suppressed it.
Instead he used the force to take back the gun and Luke's light saber. He slipped the gun into his belt and spun the saber in his hand "I clearly have the upper hand. Your weapon is gone and I have two light sabers with me along with the dark side of the force to aid my abilities. You only have brute strength on your side and that won't be enough to keep you alive for even a minute." He then turned both weapons off and tossed the gun and the saber back to Luke and Han.
"If I wanted you dead you would've been on the ground, seconds after I took the light saber. Now, are you going to continue recklessly wasting time or is there transportation here that you can get to?"
Luke watched him oddly "I-I think we should listen to him."
"Have you lost your mind?!" Han shouted " He's-"
"Offering us a way out." said Leia bitterly "As much as I hate to admit it, I've seen the likings of him and he's not the type to just take your weapon and hand it back to you. I say we follow him and get out of here while we still can."
"Listen here your highness," Han sneered "I take orders from only one person, me. And if we're getting out of here it won't be because of him."
"Well do you have a better plan?!" shouted Leia "Since you're so stubbornly cocky and ridiculously pompous."
"Who's ridiculously pompous?!" Han retaliated
"Shut up you two," said Luke and turned to face Vader "I don't know what your intentions are but unfortunately...you're our best bet. We have transportation at the front deck if you can get us there undetected."
"It won't be easy," Vader admitted thinking about the significant amount of clones on board "But I know of a way."
He started to move but Luke stopped him and looked at him warningly "Don't try anything. I promise you I'm full of surprises and you'd soon regret it if you do."
He almost smirked at the confidence in Luke's voice. It sounded just like him in his prime "If I were you, I'd be listening to the man trying to help you rather than wasting your time trying to threaten him. Then again, something tells me you're no good at following rules."
He started walking away as his cloak bellowed behind him before anyone could say another word. He heard their footsteps run to catch up to him.
"Where are we going?" demanded Han as he easily matched his pace.
"The medical unit," Vader answered "The princess had a tracking device injected into her arm before the clones put her into the prison unit. We need to get it out or else you three won't be going anywhere without the empire tracking your whereabouts."
"That's ludicrous," Leia snapped "I don't remember anyone or anything injecting a tracking device."
Vader was surprised at how hot headed his daughter was. She spoke like….well just like him during the clone wars. He could recall countless times where Obi Wan would feel the wrath of his growing temper and impatience.
My son takes after me with his jedi abilities and my daughter, although is the spitting image of her mother, carries my personality.
Remaining nonchalant he answered to Leia's suspicion "You are far too familiar with the empire's antics to ask such a question. We discreetly put tracking devices on all the prisoners while they're sleeping so that they never know they're being monitored."
"If that's true, aren't there people on this ship that could be tracking us right now?" asked Luke "If the princess has a device in her arm, any one of your commanding officers could be keeping an eye on her."
"You're right," Vader answered "But the fact remains that I am the leader of this ship. I'm the one in charge on keeping an eye on the princess. The rest of my commanders tend to other prisoners."
Han stopped "Well your royal highness," he said to Leia "This just proves it. We're walking straight into a trap. How is following the man that's assigned on making sure you don't get out, our best bet?"
"Han," Luke snapped "You came here for money. You wanted to help for money. If you think about it, this is our best bet in getting out and it'll get you faster to your reward. Isn't that what you want?"
"Look kid," Han replied "I've made my livelihood through smuggling. There's no person in this galaxy that understands the value of money better than I do. But if you haven't noticed, I'm sticking my neck out for your princess over there and it could cost me my life."
"Well then leave by all means!" Leia snapped angrily "don't risk your smuggling business for matters that could save countless lives!"
"Stop it!" Luke shouted before either of them could respond "We've made up our minds. We're getting out with his help and that's the end of it. We don't have much time. If we linger around here any longer, we're dead meat."
"How can you trust him Luke!" Han argued "He killed your father."
"I know," Luke muttered bitterly "But bigger things are at stake than my personal matters concerning him. Besides, I can feel that he's being honest," Luke looked up at him "I don't know how but I can sense it."
"The force is strong with you," Vader replied slowly getting lost in his thoughts again. For some reason, he thought of Padme. His beloved wife had carried two children. She'd given birth to them all those years ago.
He quickly shook off his thoughts. Padme's efforts would be in vain if he didn't do everything in his power to keep them alive now. He looked back at them "But the force won't buy you any time. Let's get to the medical unit before anyone realizes what's going on."
Hey Guys :)
So this is a little different from A New Hope. By the time Luke finds Leia, Alderaan is already destroyed but this version is different. You'll get more of an answer on that in the next chapter. Hope you liked it. Favorite and Comment if you did.
