PART 1: The innocence of youth - On the way to Woostri

Luke was feeling giddy as he pushed several buttons in quick order. He had already found out how to start the hyperdrive. Now he just had to wait until the computer finished the calculations. But his new friend didn't have to know that. So Luke pretended to be busy with preparations when really he was calling up all kinds of information about the ship on various displays. Several times he hit a block when some kind of password was required but he got the basics. It had not been his imagination, the ship really was faster then any other spaceship model he knew. And - by the stars, was that a cloaking device? That was so awesome!

"Everyone hold on", Luke exclaimed cheerfully when the computer was done. "We're going lightspeeeeed!" The stars blended together and Luke stared with wide eyes and a grin so large it nearly split his face in two. He really was flying in space, rushing past thousands of stars! He had always dreamed of doing this and now that dream was becoming true. And soon, soon he was going to see his father.

"It's incredible", Luke muttered, eyes fixed on the window.

"It's just black space", Starkiller complained. "What is supposed to be so great about it?"

"But it's so wide! It's endless - and we can go anywhere! Isn't that wonderful?"

The other boy just muttered something too silent for Luke to hear.

"How long until we reach Woostri?", he asked then.

"Uh, let me check." Luke pushed another few buttons to get back to the original setting. "It's thirteen hours."

"Very well. Send PROXY to get me when we're about to land."

With that Starkiller left. Luke was a bit disappointed, he would've liked to talk with the other boy some more.

Instead he turned to the droid and began asking questions. PROXY told him a bit of the various foreign worlds he'd been on but his tone was always rather clipped and though Luke was very interested in other planets, he soon grew bored.

"Where are you going, Sir?", PROXY asked when Luke stood.

"I'm just gonna do a bit of exploring."

"But Master said to stay in the cockpit."

"We're just going to fly through hyperspace for a bit, there isn't anything to do here", Luke said with a bit of a whine. "I wanna see the rest of the ship."

"No you can't, Master forbade it", the protocol droid said rather strictly.

For a moment Luke was intimated. But he was in such a good mood because he got to fly a rare ship, he didn't want to slip into boredom.

"Your Master hired me as a pilot", he argued. "So that means it's my right to visit the crew quarters, isn't it? Really, since you're a protocol droid, shouldn't you show me my quarters?"

For a moment PROXY looked like he wanted to object but in the end, he gave in.

The crew quarters weren't much to brag about but the bed was more comfy then the one he'd had at home, which was a bit sad. The droid left when Luke complained about wanting to use the fresher without anyone peeking. That was his cue to go exploring on his own.

The first room Luke came across turned out to be a medical bay. It smelled of disinfectant and Luke found a small medical droid that was turned off. There was also a large stretcher in the middle of the room. What was strange was the long shape on it that was covered by a white sheet. Curious as he was, Luke stepped closer and lifted the sheet up.

Immediately he recoiled as he saw the white face of a man that was clearly no longer alive, judging from the burns covering his body.

Luke let out a gasp and dropped the sheet immediately that now matched the color of his face. The boy felt his heart racing in his ribcage. He turned around quickly and stormed out of the medical bay across the corridor and into the room he had seen Starkiller disappear into.

"Ramon!", he called out in fright. "There is a-"

But he never managed to get the words out as he was violently thrown out of the room and against the wall of the corridor. All air was pressed out of his lungs as he slumped down. His back ached from where he'd hit the wall but after shaking his head to clear it from all the stars dancing around it, he saw Starkiller standing in the room beyond, one hand outstretched as if to reach for Luke. Startled, he realized that the other boy hadn't actually touched him. He'd just been thrown through the air by some kind of invisible force.

"What... How did you do that?", Luke asked with wide eyes, his pain forgotten.

Starkiller's eyes narrowed to slits. He hadn't meant to reveal his abilities, it was just an instinctual reaction to someone bursting through his door. In most cases it was PROXY trying to kill him.

The Sith was at Luke's side in an instant and pulled the younger boy up, roughly shoving him against the wall.

"What did you think, barging in on me like that, huh?", he asked with a feral snarl.

"I-I'm sorry", Luke stammered, completely taken off guard. "I found this man in the medical bay and - and I think he's dead and I was scared and - and... ugh, that hurts!"

Starkiller loosened his grip but just a little bit and his gaze lost none of its coldness. He had completely forgotten about Corton. Originally he had wanted to make sure the body got shipped back to the man's family as soon as they reached Scarl but with the detour they were now taking and no way to preserve the body, it would've been wiser to get rid of it.

Anyway, Starkiller's cover was now blown. That meant there was no reason to tiptoe around the boy anymore.

"Who sent you? Where is your Master?"

"M-Master? I..." Suddenly Luke began to struggle, his brown furrowing in anger. Starkiller responded by pressing him against the wall even harder, making him wince.

"Look, I know I don't look like much", Luke ground out, "but I'm not a slave! I'm a free person."

"What..." Starkiller shook his head before he realized what Luke was talking about. Abruptly he dropped the boy to the ground.

"No stupid, I'm talking about your Jedi Master!"

"I don't..." Luke coughed, rubbing his chest which was now hurting as well, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never seen a Jedi..."

"Don't take me for a fool. I can feel that the Force is strong in you."

"The what?"

Starkiller growled and Luke tried to evade him when the older boy lunged for him again. He wasn't fast enough though and soon was stuck in the other's hold again.

"Stop your pretending, I can tell it when you're lying!", Starkiller declared, staring at him intently. He concentrated on the Force. It was harder in his presence, the light blinding him but his mind was unprotected.

"Well, then you should know that I'm telling the truth!", Luke returned. "I don't know about any Jedi Master or what the Force is."

Starkiller held him still for a few moments, waiting for the Force to give the tell-tale shiver that indicated a lie. But there was nothing. Technically it was possible that the boy would only project the thoughts and emotions he wanted him to see but that was advanced stuff. Starkiller himself could only protect his mind in a basic manner by building up shields. He was able to withstand a casual probe of his Master so he couldn't tell what he felt or thought or when he was lying but the shields were still very much detectable through a notable emptiness and he could feel none of that in Luke's head.

"That... doesn't make any sense", he said at last. "You're completely untrained? But then who are you searching for?"

"I told you, I'm searching for my father!"

"Then your father must be a Jedi!" That would at least explain his ridiculously strong presence.

"I..." Luke bit his lips, he remembered Owen mentioning the Jedi together with his father but that had been just another lie they were going to tell him, right?

Starkiller took his hesitation as confirmation and shook him. "That's it, isn't it?"

"No! I mean... I'm not completely sure. I never met my father before."

Starkiller sneered. He could detect no lie but just because the boy was unknowing didn't mean that his suspicion couldn't be right. Luke could still be useful if only in luring this father of his out in the open. Maybe it wasn't worth the trouble but Starkiller did need a pilot. Might as well keep his current one.

"Alright, I believe you", he said at last.

Luke sighed in relief but didn't dare stand up yet.

"Why are you so mad at me?", Luke wanted to know when it appeared the older boy had calmed down somewhat. He was hurt by the rude behavior, he'd thought they could be friends.

"I thought you were a Jedi or at least, training to be one", Starkiller replied. "Jedi are traitors to the Empire, they are dangerous and threaten the peace of the galaxy."

"Why did you think I was one?"

"You have a noticeable light presence in the Force."

Luke tilted his head, contemplating those words. "What is the Force?"

Starkiller rolled his eyes and folded his arms in front of his chest. "I can't explain every detail to you. We're talking about secret arts here. Only a select few Imperials are allowed to know about the Force. The Jedi are misusing it. You're probably better off not knowing."

Luke scurried to his feet. "But you said I have a presence! Is that a bad thing? Like a sickness or something?"

"Wha – no! No, it just means that you're sensitive. The Force is a natural energy field, it exists everywhere but only some people can feel and even less use it."

"Is that what you did when you threw me out of your room?"

"That's right."

Luke's eyes began to glow. "Can I learn to do that too?"

"No you cannot", Starkiller snapped. "Now get back into the cockpit. This conversation is over."

"But-"

"Over!"

Luke pouted but obediently left for the cockpit. Starkiller sighed and returned to his meditation chamber. However, it wasn't long until Luke found the courage to leave his post again. This time Starkiller had been keeping an eye out for him and so he did not overreact when Luke opened the door just a tiny bit to peek inside.

"What is it now?", he growled. The young Sith had to remind himself that he could not inflict permanent harm onto the boy, not unless he wanted a second corpse next to Corton's and end up dead in space yet again.

"I'm cold", Luke whispered timidly.

"The temperature is fine", Starkiller returned impatiently.

"I think it's cold", Luke muttered and averted his eyes.

Starkiller sighed deeply. What had he done to deserve this?

The Sith student stood and motioned for Luke to follow him. There were some spare blankets in a small storeroom.

"Are you hungry?"

Luke nodded.

Since they were here already, might as well prevent the boy from coming complaining to him again at a later time. Starkiller pulled out some rations for the child and as he hadn't had anything himself yet, they sat down to eat together.

"Your name isn't really Ramon, is it?", Luke said after some time.

"What makes you say that?"

"You wouldn't tell me your real name. You're some kind of secret agent."

"Wha – how do you...?"

Starkiller saw Luke's grin and knew he walked right into that one.

"You said only a few people were allowed to use the Force. Since you can do it you must be special."

Starkiller felt an odd little spark of pride in him. His work required absolute secrecy, it wasn't often that he got to show off his abilities. In the routine of his life it was easy to forget that he did indeed hold a very special position as Darth Vader's only student.

"It's not my real name", he admitted, his lips twitching in what was almost a smile.

"I knew it! Then what is your real name?"

Could he tell him? The boy already knew so much. In the wrong hands, that knowledge could destroy both Starkiller and his Master. There was no doubt that Luke would have to be killed once he had served his purpose. Well if that was the case... it wouldn't hurt if he told him a bit more.

"My name is Starkiller."

"That's your last name but what do I call you?"

"You call me Starkiller. It's a code name, I don't have another one."

"But what about the name your parents gave you?"

"I don't have parents."

"Everyone has parents. I do, even though I never knew them."

"Well, I don't."

Luke played with the edge of the piece of bread he was holding. "My real name is Luke Skywalker."

"You weren't named after your father?", Starkiller asked, remembering that Luke had said his father's name was Anakin Lars.

Luke shook his head. "Lars is the name of my relatives. I live with my aunt and uncle. They never liked talking about my father but they made it sound as if I could get into huge trouble if I told anyone outside of Tatooine who he was so I kept it silent."

Starkiller suspected that there was more the boy wasn't telling him. He didn't recognize the name Anakin Skywalker but it was entirely possible that he was a Jedi that had been evading the Empire since its foundation.

"What do you plan to do when you've found him?"

"I dunno. I met some Stormtroopers who said it might be bad for his job if I showed up and told everyone I was his son. He might not even want to get to know me. It's just..." Luke bit his lip and looked everywhere but at Starkiller. "The entire time, my relatives have lied to me about him. I guess I can see why they did it, they wanted to protect me. But I'd be happier if I knew the truth, even if the truth isn't pretty. Maybe my father doesn't want to have to do anything with me. But I think he should at least know that I'm here, that I exist. He has the right to know that just as I have the right to know who he is. What he wants to do once he learns about me, well... I'm going to find out, I guess."

Now it was Starkiller's turn to look away. "I never wanted to know about my parents", he said.

"Never?"

"No. It never really interested me. They were weak."

"How do you know that?"

Starkiller shrugged. "Everyone is weak compared to my Master."

Luke gave him a strange look. "Are you talking about a slave Master or a Jedi Master?"

The Sith gave him a slightly horrified look, though he was not sure which suggestion disgusted him more. "I... I'm talking about my mentor!"

"So, like a Jedi Master."

"Not like a Jedi!"

"But he taught you about the Force, didn't he? Isn't that a Jedi thing?"

"It's a different order, alright? Very secret, I can't tell you but I'm not a Jedi!"

That was when Luke started to giggle and Starkiller realized he was being teased. Nobody had ever dared to tease him before!

"Tell you what, I'm gonna call you S.K. S.K., the not-Jedi."

"You are so not gonna do that!"

"Am too!"

"Don't you dare!"

Luke laughed and though Starkiller glared at him furiously, he found he wasn't really angry at the boy. In fact, despite his light still shining so annoyingly bright, he found his presence to be somewhat less annoying.

XxX

Woostri

Darth Vader sneered and let the doors to his quarters swish shut with much more force then was normal. He was just coming from a meeting with the local Grand Moff overlooking the sector. He didn't know what angered him more, the obvious corruption that the man refused to see or the disrespect directed at him personally.

Darth Vader knew his own power. He knew he was the Emperor's most trusted enforcer. He knew one day he would be the one sitting on that throne. Sidious would allow only a Sith to take his place. That made Darth Vader his heir and the second most powerful being in the galaxy.

The problem was that the people did not know that. Vader had no official rank in the military. He was not hiding his Force abilities but the Emperor had a number of assassins and inquisitors who used the Force. That's why even to those who knew of the Sith, Vader's status as a Dark Lord was not well known. His fleet, generally known as Death Squadron, technically wasn't even his to command, through every captain and commander in it knew to obey him without question. It had build up somewhat of a reputation thorough the galaxy both through a series of overwhelming victories as well as being the fleet most often used by him.

Still, his lack of proper rank caused Vader to get underestimated both by his enemies and allies. The only ones who recognized his true strength were the Stormtroopers. It was nearly unheard of in the Army and Navy alike that a commander would fight up front with his soldiers. This together with Vader's ruthless but fair management of his troops had gained him the respect of the foot soldiers. Higher ranking personnel however often tried to get the better of him by downplaying his accomplishments.

Of course Sidious said it was a good thing he was being underestimated as it gave him an advantage in battle. Also the Sith were still supposed to be a secret order. Nobody knew that the Emperor himself was a Master of the dark powers. All around the galaxy, the process of destroying every shred of information about the Force and the Jedi was still in progress. There would come a time when the people would have no idea what the Force even was. That's what the Sith aimed for. People feared what they did not know and the purges would turn Darth Vader into a truly unpredictable enemy.

But until he could unleash such terror on his enemies, time would have to pass still. The people had to forget about the Jedi first, to wipe out any analogy that could be drawn between them. His time would come. One day he would reveal his true strength to the galaxy. He would lead the Imperial forces from his flagship, the Executor. He would have his own personal assassin and right hand man at his side, his student Starkiller and nobody, not even Sidious would doubt his power then.

Until then, Vader had to restrain himself. How he would love to just strangle that Grand Moff. The production on Woostri was two months late but the man got his pockets filled by smugglers passing through the system, taking away the goods that were meant for the Empire. Vader's appearance had scared the local government enough that production would be sped up and his fleet had shot down a good number of escaping unregistered ships to set an example so there would be no further delays. Still Vader fully intended to write a report to the Emperor that would get that Moff fired and, if he was lucky, thrown in jail for his crimes as well.

….that meant paperwork. Ugh, sometimes he really hated his job. He'd gotten somewhat used to the murdering people part but the paperwork was driving him nuts.

"We're done here, Captain", Vader snapped into a micro that was set on a channel connecting him with the Captain of the Star Destroyer Avenger.

"Get me off this damn planet."

Darth Vader retreated to his meditation chamber. He had just sat down, intent on using his frustration and anger to delve into the Force when he felt a familiar tingle at the edge of his mind. It had appeared quite suddenly. There was no doubt, his young apprentice was close by.

Vader frowned. What was the boy doing here? He should be on Scarl right now, his latest trial shouldn't have taken so much time. Starkiller knew that he was not to approach Vader out in the open. It was a huge risk for them to be anywhere near each other this far away from the Executor.

Suddenly Vader's private comm blinked, a Code A communication was being sent through. Code A did not pass Imperial security other than the actual code level confirmation, it was sent right to Vader. This code was reserved for absolute emergencies and there were only three people who even had access to it. One was the Emperor, one was Vader's personal adjunct and one was PROXY.

Vader activated the comm.

"What is it?", he asked, knowing who would be on the other side. Starkiller did not know that PROXY had access to this code. This could mean one of two things. Either the droid had called him on his own to report on some decisive failure of his student and to ask for permission to drop his restrictions and complete his primary programming. Or Starkiller planned on using PROXY's transmitter to send an encrypted message through the Imperial channels and the droid had simply called ahead of time. If it was the latter he would be rather annoyed, it was an emergency code for a reason.

"Sir, there is a situation", the mechanical voice of the assassin droid said. "Captain Corton was killed during our last mission. Master Starkiller has hired a young pilot to help out. Unfortunately our cover was blown and the pilot seems to be Force sensitive."

"Are we talking about a Jedi?" That would be bad, Starkiller wasn't ready for such a fight yet.

"No Sir, he appears untrained and not hostile."

Curious. For a moment Vader contemplated meditating on the matter. He could sense Starkiller because he had trained the boy for almost a decade but he knew there was no hope of getting a decent reading of this pilot unless he headed down to the planet again. In the mood he was in however, all he really wanted to do was get away from this planet.

"Kill the pilot", Vader ordered, if their cover was blown there was really no other way around it. "I will send a replacement down for you." He went through a mental checklist. If Corton had died on the mission, maybe it was time to appoint someone more competent to the Rogue Shadow, someone who he wouldn't have to replace too soon. Starkiller was still young, too young to be considered an actual agent. Maybe he could appoint a younger pilot to him to make up for the difference, make it look like an easy job to get used to working in the Navy.

The connection to the droid was cut. Vader was already thinking of possible candidates for Corton's replacement and so he missed the small twinge of the Force that, had he noticed it, might have caused him to reconsider the order he'd just given to the assassin.

XxX

AN: Here we go, it didn't take Luke much time to find out that Starkiller is no ordinary boy.

A note about Darth Vader's status. It's been ten years since the Empire was founded so you would think he's a very well known figure. Partly, you would be right. However, note that when he's hunting Jedi, he almost always manages to kill them and everyone who helps them gets arrested. That means no witnesses. There were a couple of rebellions on some planets that he helped to 'clean up', acting as a general so that's where most people know him from. However, these rebellions happened shortly after the Empire was founded. It's pretty quiet now, we have an era of peace so the glory has dwindled down a bit. He's mostly hunting Jedi and posing as a tool of intimidation these days. From the way he was treated in episode 4 on the Death Star, I guess that his enormously important position as Sidious student is not well known. Vader assumes that as he's Sidious' apprentice and a close friend of him, this means he will inherit the throne but Sidious has never confirmed this. After all he wants Vader to keep doing everything to please him, it wouldn't do for him to feel safe. However I do believe Sidious really would prefer a Sith to be his successor. His not telling anyone of Vader's right is meant to be a life lesson and to keep him from getting too arrogant. Despite having 20 years of time, Sidious never replaced Vader as his apprentice. He's over 80 when he dies so for me it's clear that despite his injuries, he still saw Vader as the most powerful apprentice he ever had (or would get, with the possible exception of Luke/Starkiller). No doubt he had him tested against many Jedi and possibly assassins. (Note that I will now and forever ignore any schemes of Sidious's clone, I think the idea ridiculous and will not accept it as canon for my fanfiction.)

Since Vader often fights at the front or goes on solo missions hunting jedi, I assume that Death Squadron has a fleet commander of it's own. They are not reserved for his personal use but when Vader needs a fleet he calls up that one because he's most familiar with them (his former Clone Wars 501 legion was included in it after all). Of course this all changes after the Death Star is destroyed and he gets declared Supreme Commander (which might or might not happen now, who knows?). I am not completely familiar with Imperial hierarchy so if anyone knows the names of the fleet commander or captains of the Stardestroyers, feel free to tell me. I might even include them as secondary characters later on. Wookiepedia is rather unhelpful here so if you don't, I might end up just making names up.

In the end, Vader is the second-in-command of the whole Empire and heir to the throne. However, nobody knows this. People frequently complain when Vader storms in and takes over command but he keeps doing it because he knows exactly that Sidious will listen to those complains, nod and smile and later praise Vader for his good work.

Please review! It really helps with getting updates real quick, as you can see ;-)