A/N: Flashbacks will no longer be in chronological order. Due to popular request, Juno Eclipse will indeed be appearing in a later flashback chapter, but this flashback got too long so the next one will be a continuation. Urgh, I have so many flashback ideas, but I have to wait for every other chapter... X(

2 years ago

When the Emperor told him via holocomm that he would be coming to check on the progress of the Executor, Darth Vader knew the time had come to end Palpatine's reign. He wasn't sure why he had picked this time to do so—in fact, he felt that Sidious probably knew and planned something—but the Force whispered promises of victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken... The Force shall free me...

He knew that soon, within the next few days, he would finally be free. No Master would ever tell him what to do again. It may have seemed like a childish thought, but neither Anakin nor Vader had ever been free, not as a child, not as a Jedi, not as a Sith. But now he will be.

Starkiller, on the other hand...

The boy had grown, and not just in age. Through Vader's intense and quite brutal training, he had become extremely powerful in the Force, rivalling that of many great Jedi Masters. But he was not quite ready yet to face the Emperor, at least Vader certainly didn't think so.

But Vader was ready. He had to strike now. He was powerful enough by himself; he was the supposed Chosen One!

Of course, it never hurt to have backup. Starkiller could at least provide that. And if he failed, then he was not worthy to continue the line of Sith.

He'd become very good at hiding his thoughts from his Master. He had also taught Starkiller the strongest shielding techniques possible, so that he was capable of completely shielding his presence from others. Although, this would all be for naught if Sidious somehow already knew of the boy.

Vader didn't know how though; he had made sure the place was secure, that no one knew there was a living being on board.

No matter. The Force was telling him to strike now, and he was not going to disregard it.

The Emperor's shuttle was due to arrive later today, in mere hours. He had already instructed Starkiller on his role. The boy would wait in the shadows (which the current settting considerably lacked), and would only join in when Vader was obviously losing—something that would hopefully not happen. Starkiller would only be backup, but backup was important too, and there was not much else the 16 year old could do.

Present

So this is Kenobi's Padawan, Vader thought. It was just like the Jedi to have been training a child so young—it was almost unsettling, how similar in age he seemed to Galen Marek when Vader had found him. He also shone just as brightly in the Force as Galen had, if not brighter.

"Luke, no!" a voice called out, and Vader was surprised that it wasn't Kenobi. Instead, it was another man, possibly the boy—Luke—'s father or guardian. He was in a landspeeder and in the process of getting out. Luke, it seemed, had already scrambled out of the speeder and was making his way towards the two, only for the man—who was starting to seem ever so slightly familiar—to grab him and hold him back.

Vader turned back to Obi-Wan, who he'd pinned onto the ground with the Force. "So, your Padawan has arrived. I will enjoy having him watch you suffer." He raised his left hand, the one without the prosthetic, and bright blue lightning crackled forth.

A/N: This chapter was awfully hard to write. I'm surprised I even managed to finish it so soon, though it is kind of short. Anyways, I really don't like this chapter much since hardly anything is happening. And I just know that the next one is going to be even harder to write, since I know what I want to happen, I just don't know how to make it happen, or how to write it well. So it might be a little later than usual.

Anyways, thank you again to all my reviewers, followers, and favouriters for your support! I'm glad [evil laugh... heheh...] that my cliffhanger was... a good cliffhanger? ;)

Again, special thanks to "Penstrokes of Death" for helping with the chapter, as well as the next few coincidentally since I decided to split the flashback.

...ya, that's all *_*

Posted 5/15/15