Act III

Chapter 3

Naboo was gone.

Shmi had been looking forward to seeing the homeworld of her cousins' mother, a world of lakes and greenery, but now she never would. Instead of a healthy planet appearing in the Falcon's viewport, there was a massive rubble field.

While they were still in hyperspace, the three Jedi had sensed something terrible happening, describing the event as a hundred thousand voices crying out in fear before being suddenly silenced. Ahsoka was left deeply shaken by the disturbance left in the Force, while the twins each had to be helped to sit before they fell over. It was a moment that opened Shmi's eyes to the downside of being a Force sensitive, and changed her mind over wishing she had such power too.

"What the kriff did this?" Han murmured, staring at the planet's remnants with wide, worried eyes.

"The new Imperial superweapon." Ahsoka practically growled out her answer. "There have been rumors for years now that they were building something big, that would pose a threat to the galaxy at large. One of our spies on Coruscant was supposed to be bringing schematics for it to the Alliance High Command, so we could make a plan to destroy it."

"Your spy wouldn't happen to have been someone from Naboo, now would they?"

"Senator Pooja Naberrie."

"She's another cousin, on Mom's side," Leia whispered to Shmi, eyes never leaving the viewport. "And her sister, Ryoo, has two kids of her own..."

"Do, do you think they were off-world when- when it happened?"

"I don't know."

"Uh, guys?" Luke attracted everyone's attention, gesturing to a pale object that was swiftly growing closer. "Please tell me I'm imagining things, and that that really is just a moon."

"No such luck, kiddo..."

Even as Han attempted to steer them away, to take the Falcon back into hyperspace, the entire ship was caught in a tractor beam, and steadily pulled towards the massive space station.

-T&T-

Vader felt them. It was only for an instant, just before their shields came up full strength, but he definitely felt them.

His children were close. And his former Padawan with them.

Somehow, the Jedi had managed to get off Tatooine, and wound up practically delivering themselves straight into his grasp. It was an act of the Force, he knew, reuniting father and children nearly ten years after their first meeting.

Changing direction mid-stride, Vader made a beeline for the hangar bay where his underling reported a Corellian freighter being brought in for inspection. He sent out orders for all nearby troopers to report to the bay, weapons set to max stunning power. As soon as the ship was surrounded, and the room sealed, the Sith activated his lightsaber.

"Jedi!" He bellowed, synthetic voice booming throughout the bay. "You will surrender, or you will be destroyed without leaving that ship." When there was no reply from the vessel, he ordered at the same volume for one group of troopers to prepare their grenades.

Then, the ramp lowered, and Ahsoka Tano came down.

She'd aged since he last saw her. The armor had changed as well, likely swapped out as older pieces were damaged in fights. But the expression of fierce defiance was just as strong as ever.

"Vader," she said evenly.

"Tano," he returned. "You will hand over your lightsabers and surrender. As will the younglings in the ship behind you."

Her eyes narrowed. "What makes you think there's anyone else here?"

"Don't try to deny it, I felt them."

Tano continued to glare at him, ignoring the gathered stormtroopers, but nonetheless sent a signal through the Force. From within the ship emerged two more figures, and Vader drank in the sight of his children.

The boy, referred to in intelligence reports as Sky One, had begun to develop a wiry physique. His hair was grown out, only a bit shorter than the style his father had worn in the Clone Wars, and he wore a loose outfit, clothes ideal for quick movement. The girl, Sky Two, was the same height and and had a similar, lean build. She wore a single piece jumpsuit of the same style as her brother, with long hair bound into a braid that hung past her shoulder blades.

Neither looked worried. Instead, they had the same expression as Tano - aware that they were in dire straits, but clinging grimly to their defiance.

Dismissing this detail, Vader simply let his emotions swell at having his flesh and blood offspring finally within his grasp.

"Sergeant!" He barked, summoning the four Jedi lightsabers and handing them off to his closest troopers. "Remove Tano to the detention cells, and place Force-suppressant binders on her. You three will escort the younglings to my office immediately." With that, he swung about and departed from the hangar, exultant as the pair of bright Force signatures followed after him.

The Sith lord never even bothered to consider whether there would be more life forms hidden aboard the ship...

-T&T-

"Alright," Han whispered as he started stripping the armor off one of the stormtroopers they'd knocked out. "I'm gonna get up to the control booth so Artoo can hack into this place, get me the floorplan, and then I'll go rescue those idiots and we'll get the kriff out of here-"

"We're not gonna go any place if that tractor beam isn't taken out," Shmi hissed back.

"And just how do you suggest we handle that, then?"

"Once Artooie gets directions for us, you go free the Jedi and I'll handle the beam's generator or whatever else powers it."

"Excuse me?! No offense, kid, but I'm not letting you set foot off this ship-"

"We can pretend that I'm your prisoner! And it'll have to be me over Chewbacca, because he needs to be here ready to take off as soon as we all get back."

Torn, Han eyed her for a moment, before reluctantly nodding.

-T&T-

Scale of one to ten, how much trouble are we in right now?

Recalibrate your scale. This is so far off the top I don't think we HAVE a measurement for it. Leia had to suppress her snort at Luke's answer, instead focusing on the swish of the black cape a few steps ahead of them.

It was a good ten minutes before they arrived at Vader's intended destination (a hike which included traversing a dozen halls and one very awkward elevator ride). Once at the spacious office, the Sith dismissed his stormtrooper guards and locked the doors.

The twins exchanged wary glances.

Vader turned back to face them, and paused. His triumphant Force signature suddenly turned uneasy, before instantly morphing again into steady determination. "So. After all this time, the younglings have finally arrived at their rightful place."

Leia choked, and Luke struggled to bite back a startled laugh. "Ah- sorry, what?"

The Sith seemed taken aback by their responses, but forged ahead anyway. "Soon, I will begin teaching you both the true power of the Force. We will make up for all the years Tano has kept you away from me-" He cut himself off, realizing that both twins were staring at him with open amusement.

"Well, Vader, I never knew you had such a great sense of humor." Leia kicked her brother's shin for his comment, but wasn't able to hold back a snicker herself.

"You do not know," Vader suddenly spoke, his anger rising in the Force. "Tano never told you that-"

"That you were once the man called Anakin Skywalker? No, she didn't tell us. We figured that out for ourselves years ago."

"Then why have you continued to willingly hide from me, my children?"

Luke blinked at him. "Because you aren't a Skywalker anymore. The Jedi knight, the hero of our bedtime stories died years ago, that much was true."

"Much as you'd like to pretend to be, Vader - you are not a member of our family." Leia's words had both the youths returning to their earlier, stoic expressions, as the Sith stared them down.

"...I can see you will need to be convinced." He growled. "You two will remain in separate cells until such time that you realize I am the only Master in the ways of the Force that you were ever destined to have." The man started to approach the door and recall the stormtroopers, but froze at Luke's quiet statement.

"Aunt 'Soka has always said she was never teaching us as our Jedi Master, but as our loving aunt."

Leia picked up the thread. "And until such time as you remember what it is to love, we won't learn from you, or leave those cells."

Each of them could feel something stir in Vader at that, but he still ordered the guards to escort them to separate cell blocks.