Main Cabin

Nubian Starship

Outskirts of Lars Farm

"R2D2!" Ahsoka exclaimed at the sight of the small, cylindrical droid. "Do you remember me? Ahsoka Tano?"

The small droid tilted his body to inspect her carefully with his glowing eye, then beeped and blatted at some length.

"Does that mean yes?" Tano asked.

"I think he said something about sand," Luke replied, lowering himself onto the couch and pulling his sister down beside him.

"It is good to see you again, Ahsoka Tano," Vader translated, "but there is no need to bring so much sand into Madame Padme's vessel."

"Father, you amaze me on many levels," Luke stated, "but your ability to understand binary without a translator truly astonishes me."

Vader smiled behind his mask in amusement, even as he bent a glare on his former apprentice, "R2D2 is entirely correct that you seem to have copious quantities of sand on your person, Ahsoka."

The Togruta tilted her head and smiled, "And you are correct that the sands of Tatooine are pervasive, annoying, and tedious. I used to think you were just whining about sand, but I confess you are correct."

"I love lying on the sands near Lake Aldera," Leia said with a reminiscent smile, "but it's different somehow."

"There's lots of water nearby," Luke pointed out.

"True," Leia responded, then turned her head as a door opened and Padme stepped out of her sleeping cabin.

"Ahsoka!" Padme cried out. "It's so very good to see you!"

Tano strode forward and carefully encircled the much smaller female human with her long arms, even as her lekku shifted slightly to graze Padme's shoulders in a reassuring manner.

"Dear Padme," Ahsoka said softly, "I'm so sorry that I wasn't here to protect you when you were taken."

"Nonsense," Padme said briskly, though she raised a hand to dash away tears. "You have a life aside from protecting us, and I certainly had no idea my supplier on Tatooine would sell me out to the Empire. Ani feels guilty, Luke feels guilty, for all I know Leia feels guilty and none of you are at fault. I'm just so thankful that ... that ... my children and my husband were willing to sacrifice much to find me. The twins, especially, took great risks."

"We love you, Mom," Luke stated firmly. "No possible risk was too high to save you."

Ahsoka was still staring intently, prompting Padme to say firmly, "I'm fine, Ahsoka. I am."

Anakin's former padawan growled aloud and shook her head, "How I hate that word, fine. No, Padme, you are not fine. They hurt you, didn't they?"

There was a dreadful pause and Padme glanced nervously at her husband.

"She was interrogated for days," the Dark Lord stated. And the ship began trembling.

"Stop that," Ahsoka ordered her former master, even as she reached out with the Force to tighten the shields around them all. "You don't want Palpatine to find you in the throes of a Force frenzy."

Vader tamped down his emotions with extreme difficulty even as Ahsoka nodded with understanding.

"I see the problem, Padme" she observed. "You can't talk about what happened to you because Skyguy here will lose what's left of his mind."

"I don't want to talk about it at all," the former queen insisted, standing up straighter.

Her old friend gazed at her thoughtfully, then sighed softly, "You will need to work through this, Padme. But now is not the best time, obviously. Ok, let's get practical. What's the plan?"

"We will kill Palpatine," Vader growled.

"That's a great goal," Tano replied. "And how do you intend to fulfill that goal? The old gill-goat has been warding off assassination attempts since before the twins were born."

Padme sat down elegantly on a nearby chair and smiled, even as her eyes brightened with some of their usual fire, "We have a few ideas. Have a seat, Ahsoka, and let's talk."

/-

Imperial Throne Room

Imperial Palace

Imperial City

Imperial Center

4 hours later

Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.

Emperor Palpatine stared at the holo of the girl for a long minute, sifting the myriad streams of the Force with all his focused power. Because as hard as it was to believe and accept, he had missed something of incredible, vital importance.

It had been only 8 hours earlier that the technical data had arrived from the Sovereign, which was still in orbit around Scarif, still under the command of the incompetent Admiral Ozzel.

The Emperor's own technicians, the very best the Empire boasted, had fallen on the data as if their lives depended on it, because their lives indeed hung in the balance. Palpatine's rage at the destruction of the Death Star had not abated, though it was now under rigid control. He was focused, with all his being, on finding Vader and punishing him. And perhaps there was something of use from the Sovereign associated with Padme Skywalker's rescue by her husband from the Star Destroyer's dark detention blocks.

Something like the images of a girl, dressed as an Imperial officer, with her face caught in profile in a few holocams, with the best comp programs collecting pinpoints of information from reflections on walls and then combining them to create the image of ...

Leia Organa of Alderaan, who had accompanied Darth Vader to save Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker. Who was a politician, and a Senator. Who was slight and beautiful, with dark hair and dark eyes, so much like the former queen of Naboo.

Indeed, the child of Anakin Skywalker and his wife lived.

With a furrowed brow, Sidious shifted his attention to the evening sky of Imperial City. The atmosphere was filled with ships coming and going, and Sidious could vaguely sense the existence of thousands of people scurrying hither and yon nearby the palace.

The vast majority of them were Force blind. A rare few were mild Force sensitives. Fewer than one in a million had the power to become a Jedi Knight or an Emperor's Hand. And only someone like himself, or his (former) apprentice Darth Vader, had the Force capacity and mental acuity to become a Sith Lord.

Again, the senior Sith turned his gaze to the image of Leia Organa.

It was an unpleasant shock to realize that Padme's missing child had been right under his very nose in the Senate for so many years. It infuriated and enraged him that Bail Organa had been so proud, so arrogant, so confident, so bold that he had permitted his stolen daughter (Anakin Skywalker's child. Vader's child!) to stride the halls of the Senate.

Would the daughter of Anakin Skywalker have his power?

On one hand, it seemed most unlikely. The Skywalker line was adulterated with that of Padme Amidala Naberrie who, while strong willed and brilliant, had been Force blind. And the Emperor knew Leia Organa, though not well. He had met her, spoken to her. He had never sensed a hint of Force ability.

And yet, Skywalker/Vader had such power that it seemed likely the young woman had at least some capability in the Force.

Furthermore, Anakin Skywalker's greatest flaw had always been attachment – to his mother, his wife, his master, and now, no doubt, his child. The Jedi were right that attachment was a weakness. The Emperor had no attachment to anyone but himself, his power, his might, his glory.

The senior Sith lifted one hand and stroked his chin, even as he nodded thoughtfully.

He needed to find, and capture, and use, Leia Organa.

/-

Luke Skywalker's cabin

Nubian Starship

Outskirts of Lars's farm

Dawn

3 days later

"Luke!" the voice screamed in his mind.

Luke woke up and was so startled that he fell out of his narrow bed. He lurched to his feet and ran out of his cabin. Another door slid open as he exited the ship and he heard his father's feet storming rapidly behind him down the ramp.

A minute later, the youth was racing through the door of the guest quarters of the Lars's farm. Leia was there in the main living area, along with her parents, and her eyes were wide, her face ashen.

"Leia, what's wrong?" he demanded, studying her carefully. She didn't seem hurt.

"Look," she whispered, pointing toward the holoscreen on the wall. Luke turned to stare in bewilderment. The images were of smoke and fire and crushed buildings but it couldn't be Tatooine as there was no sand, so what was going on?

"This is Relinka Spetzv," a feminine voice stated over the horrifying images. "To reiterate our top story, there have been a series of explosions in the capital city of Aldera, Alderaan. The source of the explosions is unknown, but it took place in the Kanani business district and many hundreds, perhaps thousands, are missing and presumed dead or injured. Queen Breha of Alderaan and her husband, Viceroy Bail, or reportedly off planet and the royal advisor Lanton Kale is coordinating rescue and relief efforts. According to the Imperial Security Chief Ysanne Isard, there are concerns that the explosions on Aldera are part of a planned terrorist attack by the fledgling, traitorous Rebel Alliance. We will be updating this story frequently as further details emerge. In other news, music superstar Lady Alana will perform tonight ..."

The holo clicked off and Queen Breha Organa turned to the assembled individuals, "Bail and I will leave for Alderaan within the hour."

"You cannot do that," Vader said flatly.

The queen of Alderaan stepped forward, her eyes flashing with outrage, "My people are suffering, Lord Vader. Perhaps that means nothing to you, but we have a responsibility to them! They need our leadership during this terrible crisis."

"And Palpatine knows that," the Dark Lord replied coldly.

There was a pause.

"You mean," Bail said with a sudden catch of breath, "that the Emperor is behind this?"

The (former?) Sith forced himself to remain calm, "Of course he is. Do you not understand? He has discovered Leia's identity as my biological daughter."

There was a horrified pause and Leia lurched to her feet, "I ... I don't understand. How could he possibly know that?"

Vader turned toward his daughter and forcibly gentled his voice as much as possible, "There was always a danger, Leia. I rebelled against the Emperor after saving your mother, and while I disabled as many holocams in the Sovereign as possible, there is no doubt that Padme's identity was uncovered from her original arrest. From there, it was an obvious step for Palpatine to wonder whether our child survived, and no doubt Palpatine determined your identity somehow. I am thankful that no one knew that your mother carried twins, so Luke's identity is likely safe for now."

He paused for a moment, then continued carefully, "Palpatine wants to capture you, Leia, to use you against me. He knows that as Padme's daughter, and the Organas' adopted daughter, you have great commitment to your people. If the Organas return to Alderaan, Palpatine will arrest them, accuse them of crimes, and ..."

He trailed away as Leia's face grew white with horror, "Execute them? He would do that?"

The great mask shook gently, "No, for execution would grieve you but remove his ability to use the Organas against you."

"I believe Lord Vader is saying that we would be used as hostages to force you to surrender to the Emperor," Bail said softly, his own face drawn with grief.

Leia put her hand up to her mouth, her eyes wide with distress, "And then, what, he would use me to get to you, Lord Vader?"

The gigantic shoulders shrugged, "Perhaps, though once he realizes you are powerful in the Force, he will likely attempt to turn you to the Dark Side, to take you as an apprentice to replace me."

Now her face was a study in fury.

"I will never turn to the Dark Side!" she shouted.

The cyborg was silent for a long moment, then sighed loudly enough that it was picked up by the vocoder, "I turned to the Dark Side in an attempt to save your mother from death in childbirth, my daughter. I had visions, repeatedly, of her dying in agony. I was willing to sell my soul, to betray the Jedi Order, to murder children, to save her. Imagine, Leia, how you would feel if your beloved parents were being tortured live, on the Holonet, if you could feel their pain and agony through the Force, day after day, week after week."

The girl staggered, and Luke wrapped an arm around her even as he lowered his twin to the couch.

"Mama, Papa, please don't go," Leia begged. "Please. He's right, I can't ... I cannot endure such a thing."

Bail was also pale, but he forced himself to speak, "If you are right about all this, Lord Vader, and I believe you are, what will happen if we do not return to Alderaan? What will Palpatine do next?"

There was a hesitant pause and then a new voice spoke from behind them.

"Palpatine will increase the pressure," Padme Dalam stated coldly from the doorway where she was now standing with Ahsoka at her back. "This time it was a series of explosions, next time a Star Destroyer will fall from the sky and destroy a continent, or there will be an unexpected release of a biological weapon which will kill millions. Such is the way of the Sith, of the Emperor, of the Empire."

Leia's eyes were full of tears, her Force sense so full of panicked grief that Vader, Luke, and Ahsoka all reached in to fortify her shields.

"What can we do, then, to save our people?" she sobbed, her eyes on Vader.

It was her biological mother who spoke, though.

"We accelerate our plans," the former queen said, her posture erect. "Palpatine must die within the month."

Her husband shook his head slowly, "The twins are not ready, Padme. They need more training for our plan to succeed. They are powerful, but not ready yet to battle the Emperor and his protectors."

"Maybe Obi-Wan Kenobi can help us," Ahsoka stated with determination.

/-

Author Note: Thanks for your patience on this chapter. It was fighting me like a vicious loth-cat but I prevailed and got it done.