PART 4: SHADOWS OVER PURE SKIES

Summary: Starkiller and the Skywalkers have formed a skaky alliance that slowly grows stronger into something resembing a family bond. While Vader picked up teaching Starkiller again by means of having him hunt down hidden Jedi Masters, Luke grew restless with his father keeping him isolated. Thus he's decided to go out and spend some time with his friend, Princess Leia.

They come across a woman who's been thought long since dead. She has a past history with the mixed family and her influence could be a deciding factor in the development of the young Sith in training that has just started to discover the corrupting side effects of using the Dark Side excessivly.

What is Luke up to?

Lieutenant Praji was not having a nice day. He hadn't had a nice day yesterday either for that matter because a certain student of him had decided to skip his lessons. Praji had fully intended to give the boy a piece of his mind this morning but he hadn't shown up then either. In the absence of Lord Vader, taking care of Luke was his job. He knew that the kid had recently gotten into trouble and been stripped of his privileges for it so he thought it would be a normal, if immature reaction for the boy to hole himself up in his room. Just to make sure that the boy hadn't sneaked into places he was no longer allowed in, Praji had even checked with a Stormtrooper patrol to make sure that yes, the boy had come back to his room for the night and nobody had seen him in a restricted area but where he actually went remained a mystery.

Now he was gone again, Lord Vader wasn't expected back for some time still and Praji was stuck searching on his own. He checked the training hall, the flight simulators and the meditation chamber but he could find no Luke. Praji was just entering the bridge to see if he was playing around with high level software (again) when he noticed everyone was quite excited. Orders were being shouted around and when he looked out of the grand window he saw a TIE-fighter squad souring through space, their green laser canon bolts aimed at a single target.

"What is going on here?", he demanded to know.

"Unauthorized take-off in hangar bay 10. The ship was not responding to the hails and has been assessed as a threat."

Praji felt alarm bells ringing in the back of his head. Hangar bay 10 was where Lord Vader kept his personally modified TIE-fighter.

"And you're shooting it down?!"

The officer looked at him strangely. "It's standard protocol, Sir."

"You're fired, go away", Praji growled. He grabbed the next officer sitting at the communication desk and yanked him up at his collar.

"You will order the firing squad to stand down immediately! Do you understand me!?"

"What's going on here?"

Praji turned to see the Lieutenant Commander in charge of the bridge glaring down at him.

Praji dropped the officer and sprang to attention but he was not about to let the matter go.

"Sir, the men are shooting at Lord Vader's personal fighter!"

"Lord Vader is absent and the ship is not responding with the correct security codes. We have to assume it has been stolen by a deserter."

"Then we should pull it in with the tractor beam! Lord Vader would be very displeased if we destroyed that ship, I can assure you. Besides, there are very few people who could fly it all, all of them with a top clearance and you have no idea who's piloting it. Their communicators could simply be damaged. Do you really want to take responsibility for destroying Back One for what is probably a big misunderstanding?"

The Commander contemplated it for far too long for Praji's taste. Beyond the window he could see the small target expertly evading the dozen shots aimed at it. His suspicion about who was on board was rising and he did not like the prospect of it.

"Turn on the tractor beam", the Commander finally relented and Praji breathed out in relief.

The hunter squad was called off and the crew prepared to activate the tractor beam - but they had hesitated for too long. The small blip vanished from the radar.

"What happened? Where is it?", the Commander demanded to know.

"Sir, it appears the target has entered hyperspace."

"That's impossible! It was just a TIE-fighter, they're too small to support a hyperdrive!"

That stunt only confirmed Praji's worst fears. Luke's absence the other day now suddenly made sense. He was so going to lose his job for this. Again.

XxX

"Repeat that."

Praji felt himself sweating profusely. He barely got a word out and he probably looked quite pathetic quivering in fear like this but pissed-off Sith Lorsd tended to have that effect on him.

"H-He's gone, my Lord. We lost him when he entered hyperspace."

"How could he enter hyperspace with a TIE-fighter? They're not outfitted with one!"

"He, uh, must have installed one manually the day before."

"Not even Luke would be that stupid, he knows the squad would fire on any unauthorized vessel. How did he even get out of range without dying?"

"I suppose the deflector shields protected him."

"You mean to tell me he installed both a hyperdrive and a shield reactor in a single day?"

Praji really, really wished he could be anywhere but here right now. "No, Sir. The ship was already outfitted with a shield reactor." Oh please, don't let him ask...

"He took Black One!?"

A loud snorting could be heard and Praji stared incredulous at Vader's other brat who was standing behind his Lord. The damn teenager was actually laughing!

"Sorry but that is so typical for Luke", Starkiller said and turned to hide his smile (failing miserably).

"Luke has always shown nothing but loyalty", Vader protested. "To steal from the Empire and then flee is completely unlike him. He must've planned this for a long time."

Starkiller stared at Vader in disbelief. Slowly but surely the Force bond between them had been strengthening and he could sense that the Sith Lord was genuinely hurt by Luke's behavior.

"You do realize that he's not... He's not betraying you or anything, don't you? He probably just wanted to get back at you for grounding him. He will be back in a couple of days."

For a moment, Vader was silent.

"I have... expected him to do something like this for years", he admitted finally. "I tried my best to hold him here but I always knew... That one day he would reject everything the Sith represent and he would turn his back on me."

"Well, I don't believe he did that", Starkiller returned with a scowl.

"How would you know?"

"Make no mistake, I could see him fleeing from you any day. You're a crappy father figure. But he was quite happy to have me back and he wouldn't have left without saying good bye."

Praji looked between the two Sith with disbelief. He had never seen anyone dare to speak to Lord Vader like that - and not be killed for it. However, with this young man, Vader didn't even react to the insult. He remembered how submissive Starkiller had been when he first came to Death Squadron and how strict Vader had been with him. Apparently, something grand had changed between them because they treated each other like... like equals.

That was a terrifying thought. To have two of their sort on the ship! Mentally, Praji checked all of his limited encounters with the younger Sith. He really hoped he had never insulted this guy.

"I hope that you are right. I will have to think about another way to bring him back then..."

"You weren't going to send the entire fleet after him, were you?"

"Of course not."

"Riiight... Any idea where he would go?"

"Yes. I will meditate on the matter to find his exact location but if he went where I think he did, we have to hurry."

"You want me to chase after him, don't you?"

"If you feel up to it. You need to have your wounds checked."

Starkiller waved him off. "I can go through bacta treatment during the flight and be as good as new."

"Then come with me."

Praji couldn't believe his luck as the two Sith wandered off, completely forgetting about him. Vader had been a lot more moody and occasionally violent since Starkiller was back but it seemed he was not going to slip back in the old habit of killing the messenger. Thank the stars.

Vader led Starkiller to his personal chambers where he activated the monitors and began pulling out some files.

"Because of our travels, Luke has no connection to any planet. There are a few he likes but only one that holds a special place. Tatooine, his home world. He grew up there with his aunt and uncle. He might go back there."

"Has he ever said he wanted to go back?"

"Not after the first few months, no. I convinced him that they would be better off without him. They are just poor farmers after all, one mouth less to feed can make all the difference in the desert and I told him if he stayed, they would get financial support."

"But that was a lie", Starkiller guessed.

"They were hiding my son from me for years and collaborating with the Jedi traitor, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Of course I didn't let them get away with that."

Starkiller felt cold. If Luke found out about this... "So they're dead?"

"They're imprisoned." Vader opened a file and a holo image showed an Imperial prison on the moon Oovo IV along with defining data about it.

"They have been in this place for the last six years. Their sentence is one for life."

That was... surprisingly lenient. Starkiller checked the data and found that the prison was equipped to hold high level criminals and was well defended. However the wing the Lars couple was being held in was quite high class, usually reserved for family members of important military figures and politicians. They were still criminals but had friends high up that must not be upset by sticking them with the scum of the galaxy.

"Do you want me to terminate them?", Starkiller asked. If Luke returned to Tatooine and found out his family was missing, he might follow the trail back to see were they went. If Vader wanted to erase all traces of this breach of trust, this couple would have to die.

"Would you?", Vader asked in turn.

Starkiller narrowed his eyes. The way the question was posed irritated him.

Starkiller didn't have a problem with killing people. He didn't like killing innocents but he had done so in the past and knew better than to make certain important people his enemies by disobeying an order. But Vader was not ordering him. He was given a choice. Vader had betrayed Luke's trust by keeping this a secret from him for so long and now he was asking Starkiller to do the same on an even grander scale. Would he?

"I don't think that's what you want", he said at last.

Vader merely nodded. "That's right. I do not mean to kill them, I was merely curious."

"I would kill them if it were for a good reason", Starkiller conceded. "We are not sure if Luke even found out and even if he did, it might only worsen the situation in the end."

"I see. Your task will be to ensure their save return to Tatooine and to aid in the rebuilding of their farm. If Luke does come there he will find out, he will be mad but it will be limited and hopefully not too damaging. It will be your job to get him to return willingly."

"If you think that even after finding out he might still return then why didn't you release his relatives sooner?"

"There was no need for it as long as Luke wasn't about to return."

"But you're willing to let them go now. You have... forgiven them for hiding Luke, haven't you? Why keep them imprisoned still?"

"You want me to say it, don't you?", Vader snapped. "Fine. It slipped my mind. I don't care about those people one way or another."

"You could just send an Imperial transport then", Starkiller suggested, not liking the idea of working on a desert farm.

"They wouldn't understand the significance of these people and could make problems if they're uncooperative. They could potentially be used against Luke so I don't want anybody to know of their existence. Also if Luke does show up, I'd rather have you confront him than a Stormtrooper squad."

"But-"

"Starkiller", Vader said with a warning tone. "I need you to be the strongest you can be and you will need time to recover from Raxus. This is an easy but important mission that will give your body time to rest."

Starkiller sighed. He would have much preferred to hunt down another Jedi. The wounds he'd gathered from Paratus's crazy droids weren't that bad. But if that was what his Master was commanding...

"Fine, I'll do it."

Vader pulled up a pardon form, put in his signature and handed it to Starkiller in the form of a data stick.

"Give this to the director of the prison and remember to stay inconspicuous."

"I'll get right onto it", Starkiller said and grabbed the data stick.

"Good. And about the last mission... You did well against Paratus. When you return I believe we will be ready to set into motion a plan that will end with the head of your last nemesis at your feet."

"You have a plan to kill the Emperor?", Starkiller asked excited.

"Yes. A number of smaller battles will have to be fought to form the perfect battlefield but if everything goes well we will lure him out of his palace and defeat him together."

"Then I will return as soon as possible."

Starkiller left the room and hurried back to the hangar. He'd been on the Devastator for barely three hours and already was being sent off again. He didn't mind it, his life had always been like that but it did provide a problem. He had to search for Kota and he couldn't do that when he was playing baby sitter for Luke's relatives. He would have to find a solution for that. Now that Vader had a plan to kill the Emperor, it was even more important. He couldn't risk his Master changing his mind half way through.

"Captain Eclipse", Starkiller spoke into his commlink, "we're off for another mission. Meet me at the Shadow."

"Understood", her voice sounded back.

Starkiller continued on his way when suddenly he felt a phantom pain in his chest. He stopped with a scowl and upon concentrating felt the dark side quiver around him. The pain got worse but it was strangely distant as if it wasn't really belonging to him. Experimentally Starkiller began to shield his mind, to block the connection he shared with his Master and sure enough, the pain vanished.

So that was why Vader wanted him to go after Luke. Of course the easiest way to find him would be through Luke's strong connection to the light side and Starkiller knew connecting to it hurt Vader. That's why he had to remain with the squad where medical care was available in case of emergency.

"Dammit Luke", Starkiller cursed. "You never think things through, do you?"

Twenty minutes later Starkiller and Eclipse entered the ship and took off.

"Who are you going to kill this time around?", Eclipse asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Nobody", Starkiller replied and gave her the coordinates for their destination. "We are undercover."

"Oovo IV? We're going to break someone out of prison?", Eclipse exclaimed in disbelief.

"We are going to transport a pair of criminals that has been pardoned", Starkiller corrected her irritated. "I'm not all about murder and breaking the law, you know?"

"Oh and there I was thinking it was the core of your job description, being an assassin and all."

Starkiller had enough, his head was filled with worry for his Master, anger at Luke and this whole stupid mission and fear that Kota might return to ruin everything.

"Look, if you have a problem with killing people you probably shouldn't have joined the freaking Empire", he snapped at the Captain.

Eclipse looked taken aback but recovered her composure fast enough.

"I apologize", she said, once again purely professional. "I spoke out of turn, I did not mean to judge you."

"Oh, you didn't?", Starkiller replied angrily. "Then what did you mean to do?!"

She gave him a quickly glance and a small smile. "To tease you."

"To... what?"

But Eclipse had her gaze fixed on the navi computer.

"Coordinates set for Oovo IV. We're entering hyperspace now."

The stars blurred together beautifully but Starkiller didn't pay them any mind.

"What do you mean?", he insisted.

The Captain sighed. "Nothing. I just felt we got off on the wrong foot and wanted to show some humor. My mistake."

"Why the good mood?"

"Well, I did just survive my first mission with Lord Vader."

"He's not that bad."

"How would I know? He doesn't usually work together with people, you know? He commands armies, sure, but he doesn't do teamwork. There's a reason his personal starfighter only has room for one person."

"Oh, you mean Black One, the one that was stolen?"

Eclipse sputtered and turned to him in shock. "Somebody stole Black One!?"

"Yeah..."

"But... who would be suicidal enough to try that?"

"Luke."

"...oh."

"If anything weird is going on, I've come to learn that the answer is usually 'Luke'."

"Family meetings must be weird", Eclipse muttered.

"Oh, you have no idea." Starkiller turned to leave. "I'll be in the med bay, come and find me when we're about to leave hyperspace."

Eclipse bit her lip in order to not let something slip. She had an idea about what went on on Raxus Prime since she had been listening to the comm and Vader had commented on Starkiller getting hurt. On the way back to the fleet he'd spent all his time in the med bay as well. If he was still not recovered his wounds must've been more serious than she had thought. The thought of him getting hurt this badly did not sit well with her. Vader could at least send him on leave or something to recover. Or maybe this mission was his way of doing just that? They were apparently not doing anything illegal or dangerous this time around. Just an easy job.

Starkiller arrived in the med bay and searched for the bacta patches. He found one, unpacked it and quickly checked its color and consistency. It looked alright but... He felt a tingle in the Force and rolled his eyes. Knowing the routine he grabbed a med kit that had some poison testers in it. The first one reacted negative to the patch, the second as well - but the third showed a positive reaction. The patch was contaminated.

"Not good enough, PROXY", Starkiller said and threw away the useless patch. He grabbed the box only to notice that this had been the last one.

"Oh, come on", he muttered, now more than a bit irritated. He reached behind himself with one hand, catching the metal arm that was just then thrusting down a vibroknife at his head. He twisted, turned around and slammed the droid on the floor.

"Once again, you have defeated me, Master", PROXY acknowledged. "Your concentration is certainly not lacking."

"Come on", Starkiller said and pulled the droid up. "If you poisoned all the medi gel, you might at least help me to change the damn bandage."

"Certainly, Master."

Starkiller sat down on a stool and stripped his armor down to his pants. PROXY used the knife he had just used to try to kill him to cut away the white bandage that went from Starkiller's stomach over his hip and wound around his back. It fell away together with the old bacta patch, revealing an encrusted, angry red wound in the early stages of healing.

"Oh my. What kind of weapon managed to hurt you like that, Master?"

"It was a spear."

"A spear?"

Starkiller rolled his eyes. "Yes, a big freaking metal rod wielded by a two meter tall battle droid who was being steered by a Force-user."

"Oh, I wish I could've seen that. I would have added a recording to my database and implemented the pattern into one of my combat modules."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Yours of course, Master. Until the day that I kill you."

Despite his rough words, when the droid cleaned his wound, his movements were surprisingly careful. PROXY never wanted to cause him pain. Kill him, yes, but never to see him suffer. Starkiller didn't doubt that the sabotaged bacta patch didn't merely hold a contamination that would cause his wound to infect, no it would be a contact poison that would've killed him almost instantly. It was hard for outsiders to see but Starkiller knew that PROXY did care. In his own way.

"You will need to rest, Master, and not disturb the wound. We have some bacta spray left that I could apply to the wound twice an hour."

"You do that, I will sleep for a bit. Don't get your hopes up though, the pain keeps me pretty well connected to the dark side. If you try anything, I will know it."

"I understand, Master." PROXY sounded quite disappointed but Starkiller couldn't care less. He got on the stretcher and closed his eyes, trying to block out the throbbing pain of the wound and find a little bit of rest. It would be a few hours until they arrived at their destination.

XxX

Marvin decided that fate must really hate him. First he got a super exciting job in Death Squadron. That was great, a big improvement to the boring desert planet he served on before. Then he was stuck teaching a ten-year-old how to hold a blaster while all of his comrades got to go out and do fun stuff. That was alright. Luke Skywalker was a cute kid that grew on him quickly and he didn't mind spending time with him. Years had passed and he had grown comfortable in his role as a part time uncle to the kid. Then the brat decided to get into his rebellious teenage phase and stole his armor to sneak away on a dangerous mission. Marvin got degraded, lost his position and rank and been stationed on a planet that managed to be even worse than Tatooine.

Kashyyyk wasn't boring. 13 years ago the planet had rebelled against the Empire and the entire native Wookie race had been degraded to second class citizens for it. Being tall, hairy things with strength far above that of any human's, the Wookies had not accepted their fate quietly. Even more than a decade later, trouble arose on every corner and the Stormtroopers had their hands full keeping the peace intact. Marvin had shot two Wookie suicide terrorists just this month and people said riots took place at least once a year.

But it wasn't just that Kasyyyk was dangerous. The worst part was that Marvin understood why they were fighting and to a certain degree he could even sympathize with them. Whenever a crime was committed that involved a human and a Wookie, the Wookie got the blame, no matter if he was in the role of the victim or the aggressor. Many humans took advantage of that but instead of fearing them for it, the Wookies just got more angry. There wasn't any organized rebellion, they did understand that fighting the Empire could mean the extinction of their race but that didn't stop individuals from randomly attacking Imperial citizen. This had earned them a reputation as savage beasts, little more than animals and only solidified in the minds of most humans that they deserved what they got.

If only that infernal race could reign in their temper and act a bit more civilized, maybe with time they could get back full human rights. The Empire forbade slavery after all. The class system was not a matter of racism but of punishment. There were several alien races out there who had the same rights as humans. But the Emperor was quick to condemn the entire population of a planet for the crimes of a small group and since most non-human races were more or less cooped up on one planet, they were caught in it as well. This did not mean there was no way of redemption but in case of the Wookies it looked like a lost cause. The more they fought, the harder it would be to get equal rights. The Empire could not appear weak by submitting to a bunch of animals after all.

Marvin had been thrown into bad situations before but he was an optimist and always managed to see the good in it. For example this week he managed to be grouped with the squad that was responsible for general safety during the festivities in Kachirho. This area was secured with only the occasional Wookie in it, all of them with clean slates so all he would have to worry about was breaking up a few drunken fights. He always loved the Festival of Stars and he'd been looking forward to it for some time now.

But as usual, just when he had gotten used to a bad situation and started to enjoy it, fate threw a slab of shit in his face. The last couple of times it had happened, it had something to do with Luke Skywalker so he really, really shouldn't be surprised that this time was no different. But he was.

"What the hell are you doing here?", Marvin asked, staring at the boy in front of him.

"Trooper!", his Commander who had brought him to the meeting room bellowed. "You will speak with respect to the agent."

"Agent?", Marvin scoffed. "That's no agent, that's-"

"Your rations will be halved for the rest of the week, now be silent, trooper!", the Commander said. Marvin noticed he was beginning to sweat, looking at Luke nervously.

"Sir, I could bring another trooper if you prefer..."

"No, that will be quite alright. It seems this one has a lesson to learn anyway", Luke said with a smile. To Marvin, it looked quite friendly and polite. But if you tilted your head just right, it could very well come across as feral and predatory.

The Commander left and Marvin took off his helmet.

"Okay seriously, kiddo, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see the Festival of Stars! And you're coming with me", Luke decided, grinning more widely.

"Uh, right and what did you do to my Commander?"

"I told him I'm a secret agent sent by Lord Vader to inspect the safety regulations in Kachirho."

Marvin looked at him incredulous. "And he believed that?"

"Well, I did arrive in my father's personal starfighter and could name the correct Imperial security codes, so..."

"Sorry kid but you totally don't look like a secret agent."

Luke sighed. "I know. I used a mind trick on him, okay?"

Marvin nodded. "That's more like it. But why did Lord Vader sent you here without an escort? I thought he was still mad at you for running off. What did you do to make him allow you to go to the festival all on your own?"

"I bought him an apology cake. Now less questioning and more partying! I want to see the town!"

Marvin had a bad feeling about this. "Luke, please don't tell me you stole your father's personal fighter and sneaked away after being reprimanded for sneaking away."

"Of course not! He just really likes cake!", Luke exclaimed.

"Really?"

"Well yeah but keep it silent, nobody is supposed to know about his greatest weakness", Luke whispered conspiratorially.

Marvin sighed and put on his helmet again. He preferred not to be seen with this idiot.

XxX

AN: Time goes by so fast! I'm overdue, am I not? Well, here you go.

I think it is so ridiculous, SK the psychopath and murderer is the good behaved kid and little sunshine Luke is the troublemaker. That's the Skywalkers for you! Vader is so lucky that he doesn't have to deal with SK's rebellious phase because he already had it with Sidious. In fact, turing back to Vader is part of his teenage rebellion against the Emperor.

Special thanks to Tenchiko for his mega long review. I'm glad you took the time for it. I did have a mini writer's block but after reading that, I got right back on it.