Author Note: This chapter is a bit more cracky. I think.
Makeshift holotransmission studio
Imperial Arms Storage Facility #5
Imperial City
Imperial Center
3 hours later
Relinka Spetzv, cohost of the Imperial Broadcasting Center's most popular reporting team, took a deep cleansing breath and stepped into the studio.
Or something. What was this place?
"Uh, what is this place?" she asked in bewilderment.
An extremely attractive redhead stepped forward with a slight smile, "It was a storage facility for Imperial weapons so it is highly secure. At the moment, it's empty, so it's an excellent choice for this interview. We decided that your main studio was too risky a locale for this event."
Relinka lifted her brows slightly as she focused on the woman. In addition to the flaming red curls, the woman had green eyes and sculpted cheekbones. She was dressed in a rather severe black robe and was both exotic and beautiful.
"I'm sorry," the woman said suddenly, "we haven't been introduced. I'm Agent Jade."
Relinka shot a bewildered look at Cray Shifton, who explained soothingly, "Emperor Vader sent her over to facilitate the interview."
"I see. Will his Royal Highness be here soon?" Spetzv asked nervously. She had changed her hair, to unremitting black, and her dress was a subdued, if very expensive, gray. She hoped the Emperor would like ... no, that was too much to hope for. She hoped he wouldn't dislike her too much and physically toss her out of this sad excuse for studio.
"Yes, he's almost here."
Indeed, he was. A moment later, the door at the back of the large, echoing warehouse opened and the giant cyborg surged in. Behind him were three other individuals, a short, dark haired beauty dressed in a simple and very unfashionable tan dress, a young man, dark blond, dressed in black with a peculiar hilt at his waist, and a tall, dark, and handsome rogue dressed in ... Corellian bloodstripes?
The hovercams clicked on and the Holonet broadcast began for the benefit of all beings, and any interested mosses, across the galaxy.
Relinka took a deep breath as she sank to one knee. At her side, Cray also kneeled obsequiously. Relinka noted, distractedly, that Agent Jade and the Emperor's retinue did not kneel.
"This is creepy and weird," Luke commented telepathically to his father.
"It is a normal form of homage to a ruler," Vader replied, suppressing his own unease. He had kneeled at the feet of others, but until he had been crowned Emperor yesterday, no one had literally fallen to their knees before him in obeisance. He had longed for ultimate power for so long, but now that he had it, it felt strange. For some reason, it reminded him of his youth, of kneeling before Gardulla the Hutt as a tiny child.
No, he would not think of that.
"I still don't like it," his son replied.
"You may rise," Vader intoned firmly. The two Imperial Holonet hosts rose meekly to their feet, while Jade gazed at him thoughtfully.
"Your Highness."
It was the male, Cray Shifton. He was less intimidated than the woman.
"Your Highness, perhaps you and your, urgh, companions would care to sit down?"
Vader glanced around unenthusiastically. The room itself was appealing in that it was bare and ascetic, devoid of annoying purple swirls or other 'artistic' renderings. The chair set aside for him was large, as was necessary. However, he didn't want to be here doing a Holonet interview, of all things. But Leia had wanted it, and he wanted to be on good (or at least reasonable) terms with Leia, so here he was.
"Please do sit down, your Highness," Luke said with a mischievous look in his eyes.
The Sith did so, sinking with some care into the chair. It held. It didn't even quiver. Good chair.
"So, Host Shifton and Host Spetzv," Jade was speaking now, "may I introduce you to Commander Luke Skywalker?"
Shifton stepped forward with a forced, plastic smile, but Relinka squeaked aloud as the name registered in her brain.
"Skywalker? As in ..."
Jade continued smoothly, "Yes, as in Luke Skywalker of the Rebel Alliance."
The woman gestured now with one hand; a large holoscreen which was hanging on one side of the room lit up to show Luke's most recent Wanted Poster. He was dressed in black and had a menacing scowl marring his features.
"Do I really look like that?" Skywalker demanded in surprise. He turned to the princess, "Leia, I don't usually sneer like that, do I?"
The princess tilted her head thoughtfully and nodded, "Yes, I think you're right, Luke. They messed with your expression in this holo. What's that about, your Highness?"
Vader's tone was vaguely outraged, "I do not know. It was foolishness, certainly. They no doubt wished you to look more sinister, but how can anyone be expected to recognize you if your holo is inaccurate?"
The holoscreen changed again to show Leia Organa's wanted holo. She too had a grumpy expression on her face at odds with her normal expression, and her hair was flowing wildly around her shoulders.
Vader surged to his feet, "Idiocy! That holo isn't accurate either."
"Actually ...," Leia commented thoughtfully, "Maybe it is. Do you remember, Luke? That mission to Carida? I was right in the middle of a fancy restaurant meal with my sweetheart ..."
Here the woman shot a glowing look at the taller man, who was standing to one side looking cocky.
"And some bonehead bounty hunter and his minions ..."
"Oh yeah!" Luke replied. "I totally remember that. You were so mad because we had to run for our lives before you got to eat your white-chocolate bread pudding."
"That was enraging," the princess agreed, her brow furrowing ominously.
Shifton was taking deep breaths to avoid hyperventilating, while Relinka's wide eyes were on Agent Jade.
"What ... what is going on? Why are two high profile Rebels ... here?" she asked weakly.
"Well, I'll let the Emperor explain that," Jade said gravely, but with the corners of her mouth curving up just slightly.
Darth Vader stepped closer to the Holonet hosts and the cams. There was a long, drawn out, scary pause, and then the bass voice intoned firmly, "They are here because Commander Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, both of the Rebel Alliance, are my twin children."
/-
Across the galaxy, beings of all races, species, and appendages dropped glasses of alcohol, fainted, drooled, yelped, squeaked, and wandered indifferently off to the refresher at this stunning announcement.
On the Executor, Denorah Piett turned to stare in disbelief at her son Max.
"Max, did you know about this?"
Maximus opened his mouth, then closed it as Raina, mercifully, interrupted.
"Max, Mother! If starships use atomic energy to fuel their hyperdrive jumps, why would you ever have to worry about fuel? That doesn't make sense!"
"Of course they wouldn't dear. It's been centuries since starships used some sort of 'fuel' that needed to be refilled. Can you just imagine a starship running out of fuel?! In the middle of space?!" Denorah laughed.
"You say the silliest things sometimes," she added with a warm smile and a kiss on the top of her daughter's head.
On the Rebel Alliance command vessel Liberty, Mon Mothma sat back and drank her Chandrilan tea as the members of Alliance High Command howled and yowled and asked for strong alcoholic drinks.
And on Imperial Center itself, epic fashion designer Ransome Quiltratz made an immediate call to his closest friend and business partner.
"Jem, Jem! Get your printing factories ready to roll! I want both cheap and expensive copies of the Emperor's children's attire ready by tomorrow. I want it on the streets, in the boutiques, everywhere ..."
A moment later, "I know, I know, they are both fashion disasters! Boring! But it doesn't matter. They are fashion gold right now regardless of their horrifying lack of style ... it's so bad, it will almost certainly spark an entire new trend; I smell credits!"
/-
Makeshift studio
Relinka wobbled slightly as her mouth hung open in a most unbecoming way. Cray, at her right, wasn't doing much better.
To the relief of both, Agent Jade spoke now, "Your Highness, this is of course a great surprise to the citizens of the galaxy. May I ask what your intentions are? On the one hand, the Rebellion is engaging in an open and rather vicious war with the Galactic Empire. On the other hand, I presume that since your children are here with you that you've come to some kind of an agreement with them? Or with the Alliance?"
The Sith looked first at his son, who raised an eyebrow, and then at his daughter, whose expression was tumultuous in the extreme.
"We ... have not come to any agreement, no," Vader said cautiously. "But we are discussing various considerations and concerns about the state of the Galactic Empire ..."
"Like it is a truly terrible entity," Organa said boldly and coldly. "It's abusive and dictatorial and it has to change."
"And as we have discussed, albeit briefly," Vader said, turning toward his daughter, "that the Old Republic was not, as your Rebel Alliance claims, the glorious beacon of democracy and freedom that you wish to believe it was. There was corruption, and suffering, and confusion, and a lack of viable cohesion which led to a long and painful war with millions of civilian casualties."
"Palpatine started that war," the princess retorted in outrage.
A long pause, then a sigh, "Indeed, that is true. Nevertheless, the Senate and the Jedi were both sufficiently blinded by their outdated beliefs and smug superiority that they played into his hands."
The tiny princess stepped closer still, "Blind they may have been, but they didn't murder and destroy and manipulate an entire galaxy for personal gain, which is exactly what Palpatine did. And I assure you that neither Luke nor I will support you if you plan to do exactly the same thing."
"There must be order," the Emperor intoned firmly, "or all will dissolve into chaos. Not all can be sweetness and light in a galaxy full of billions upon billions of sentients, many of whom are as selfish as you claim my predecessor was. At times, hard, even harsh, decisions must be made."
"Like the destruction of an entire planet?" the princess asked, her voice suddenly husky.
Vader froze, then took a horrified step backwards. Alderaan ...
"There are those, Princess Leia," Agent Jade suddenly commented, "who would claim your brother is as guilty as Governor Tarkin on the Death Star. He did, after all, destroy a battle station with more than a million souls on board."
"Only after the Death Star destroyed my entire homeworld," Organa returned indignantly.
"No, Leia," Skywalker interrupted, "Jade is correct. I am well aware that ..."
Here his voice wavered slightly before steadying, "I killed more than a million sentients with one shot, many of them non-combatant workers, some of them prisoners and slave laborers. I do not regret making the shot because it was absolutely necessary. The Death Star had to be destroyed."
Now the black clad young man turned and faced directly into the holocam which was floating in air on repulsors, "But I do say here and now that I deeply regret those deaths, deeply regret the loss of husbands, wives, sons, daughters. There are hundreds of thousands of families who grieve for family members they will never see again and millions of Imperials who lost brothers and sisters-in-arms. I grieve that my attack on the Death Star has wrought such sorrow in your lives and I ask for your forgiveness."
There was a pause while Relinka tried to work up enough moisture in her mouth to say something, anything, when Vader spoke again.
"The Death Star was a barbaric tool from its very inception, and its destruction was to the galaxy's benefit. The loss of life when you destroyed it, my son, was most regrettable, but it was necessary."
"But now you command a battle fleet in the form of the Executor and its companion Star Destroyers which can destroy, if not a planet, the surface of a planet, along with its people," Princess Leia continued steadily, "so the danger continues for the people longing for freedom in the galaxy."
"Princess Leia ..." Vader began, sighed loudly enough to be heard through the vocoder. "My daughter, your ... idealism is admirable, but we live in a dangerous galaxy, in dangerous times. Surely you must realize that I am not the only Dark Side user of the Force that exists? There are other beings out there, other governments, other entities, which would seek to topple this Galactic Empire for sinister, not benevolent purposes. Only through the power of the Dark Side can we achieve stability for the benefit of the myriad peoples of this galaxy."
Luke Skywalker took a sudden lurch forward, his calm expression morphing into one of mild outrage, "You know, Father, since the very first time I met you, the very first time, you've been harping about how the Dark Side is stronger. That is not true. The Light Side of the Force, which depends on peace and compassion and selfless devotion allows people like me, like Leia, to do good things for the benefit of those in need."
"The Dark Side is stronger," his father interrupted, leaning forward to tower over his significantly shorter son, "As Anakin Skywalker, I fought with the Light Side, as a Jedi Knight. As Darth Vader, I have fought with the power of the Dark Side. I assure you, my son, it is stronger, whether you like it or not."
Luke took yet another step forward, tilting his head up even more to stare into the black mask, "This is about Bespin, isn't it?"
"Bespin?" Vader stuttered, flinching slightly.
"Yeah, Bespin. You know, where you beat the pudding out of me? Where you tossed me through a window? Yes, I stunk. I know, I was really really bad. But that wasn't because I was using the Light Side, it was because I was inexperienced! I am way, way, way better now with a couple more years of fighting and practicing, whether you believe or not!"
Vader began backpeddling both physically and verbally, "I ... have no doubt at all that you have much improved. In fact, I know you have. I observed your most skilled attack against those pirates on Camden. But the reality is that while you have great strength, and great skill, the Dark Side will inevitably give me a significant edge in battle."
"Well Ok then," his son said with a dramatic flourish of his lightsaber, which suddenly hissed to life, "Let's figure it out. You and me, right here, right now. Not to the death, or the dismemberment, but to find out who really is best."
The Dark Lord stared at his son, appalled, "Luke, this is most unnecessary."
"It is necessary," the boy said, his chin, so much like Anakin's, lifted toward his father's mask. His father could sense the resolution in his boy's spirit. There was no turning back. Luke, for some reason, needed this, even though it would no doubt end in tears.
"Very well," his father said reluctantly as he lit his own sword, "To the ... to the honor."
"Mara?" Leia asked telepathically, "Did you know that Luke was planning this?"
"I might have," her sister-in-law responded. It was surprising how the amusement was extremely obvious through the Force.
"Are you crazy? Is Luke? We have to stop them! They are going to kill each other!"
"Stop two alpha males working through serious relationship issues by beating at each other with glowing sticks? Not wise. And besides, they won't do any serious harm."
"Mara, you can't know that!"
"No, Leia, don't worry," Mara said reassuringly.
Here the telepathic voice grew more serious, "Luke has something to prove, but the reality is that they really do care deeply for one another."
Author Note: I had a little dig at one of the (in my view) plot holes from The Last Jedi. As I whined about in an author rant in my other current story, Dalam Enterprises, since when has fuel been an issue in the Star Wars universe? Until The Last Jedi, that is. Thanks for those reading, following, and reviewing. Thank you, dear husband, for editing for me!