As they tend to do, the days passed into weeks...
The normally chaotic galaxy's condition was, for once, quiet and mostly uneventful.
The Empire was in hiding, although Palpatine did leave a few Star Destroyers behind to protect Coruscant from invasion, and the Empire was slowly regaining strength after its terrible defeat. The Rebel Alliance was also in hiding and licking its wounds. Han hadn't heard anything from his smuggler contacts, and Leia was finally, albeit slowly, getting over her initial shock and horror at the thought of her brother being in Imperial clutches or...dead.
Mara Jade had been sent on several difficult covert missions, so she and Luke hadn't seen much of each other. Luke was reluctantly completing his training in the Dark Side, hoping that Leia and Han wouldn't do anything stupid since they would be held captive as well. As each day went by, his flickering hope of escape dimmed just a little more.
The Emperor didn't trust Luke enough to walk about on his own, so Luke was kept in a cell. It was a luxurious prison room, but even the impressive space and accommodations weren't enough to quell Luke's annoyances about the password that was needed to unlock the door.
On this particular day, Palpatine was going to send Luke to a minor tactical meeting, but for him to be of any help he would have to have some sort of rank. He wasn't quite ready to lord Luke, and it also might undermine Vader's power if there were two Dark Lords. So, he decided to give him the rank of Grand Admiral.
Now, what to call the boy...
Palpatine knew that his minions would not enjoy the thought of having Luke Skywalker, destroyer of the Death Star and Alliance commander, being amongst them, and he wasn't ready for Darth Vader to reveal that he had a son, since his officers might think of that as a weakness...
He mulled over the thought of giving him a codename, but his officers would be suspicious of a newcomer in their midst, and the lack of recognition on Luke's face when they said his false name would be something they would automatically pounce on.
Fine.
They would stick with the name "Skywalker."
Let them think what they want. They wouldn't be able to act on their jealousy and suspicion unless they wished to incur his wrath upon them.
Luke reluctantly followed his father into the meeting room. A bunch of khaki-uniformed officers sat at a smooth transparisteel table, upon which various caffeine-filled mugs were scattered.
He felt very out of place in his bright white Grand Admiral uniform; everyone else was wearing darker colors. All eyes turned towards him and Vader when they entered, and he watched several emotions play across their faces. Surprise, anger, fear...
After the introductions were made, a somber Imperial agent briefed them.
A Rebel transport ship was going to send supplies and weapons to Playtasia, a planet in Imperial territory that was being punished for disobedience. Playtasia was a primitive planet, so its failure in a delicate trading matter was being punished by preventing materials from being exported or imported from the planet. There was also a restriction on many of the materials that they did have on-planet.
Ordinarily, the Empire would send a few well-equipped ships, blow the Rebels out of the sky, and be done with the whole matter.
Under the circumstances, however, that wasn't an option they wanted to consider, unless they had no other choice.
The Rebel transport was very dangerous and armed to the teeth, and it was piloted by an important Rebel general whose name the agent didn't give out. The general was supposed to meet with a group of native Playtasians that were planning on giving the Rebels information about the Empire's latest project, codename Starburst.
At this last, Luke threw a curious look at Darth Vader, but Vader showed no intention of commenting on it. A few of the officers nodded in recognition of the name.
The general was to be met by the Playtasians, who were going to escort him to a private area to talk. The general's crew was to stay on-board the ship and protect it. Rumor had it that they were hotshots with a blaster and just as skilled at using a ship's guns.
Their goal was to capture the general, exterminate the traitorous Playtasians, and take the ship into their custody, just in case it had important information such as the Rebels' location in its databanks. In eliminating the crew and Playtasians, they had to be careful; it would not be good if the Rebels and Playtasians got out a warning call to the Alliance.
An enthusiastic officer spoke, "I think we should send a team to follow the general and the Playtasians, then when he goes back to the ship have them kill those traitorous aliens. After the ship lifts off the planet, dispatch a group of TIE Fighters to disable the ship. Once it's disarmed and floating in space, we can pick it up and capture the general and take care of the crew."
Several sullen officers nodded in agreement. Luke had a better idea in mind, but wasn't about to voice it out loud. The Empire was cruel to limit supplies on an already needy world. He didn't want to help them continue to do so.
Darth Vader stared pointedly at his son, sensing the boy's quiet disapproval of the officer's suggestion.
Luke felt Vader's eyes boring in to him, so he finally gave in to the silent battle. "I disagree." Heads turned towards him. Luke's suggestion went against his own beliefs of needless deaths, and he couldn't believe that he was actually telling his spur-of-the-moment idea to the Imperials. Even though he really didn't want anyone to die, he especially didn't want Leia in Vader's clutches.
"I think that we should have a team follow them, yes, but then they should capture the general and...eliminate the Playtasians," it took all the strength he could muster to even suggest killing anyone. "Then we could have an air force of TIE fighters disable the grounded ship, taking them by surprise. That will give...the Empire—" he couldn't bring himself to say 'us,' "—an advantage. Then a group of commandos could surround the ship, blast open the door, and take care of the Rebels. If you instead waited until the general was on the ship in space, then there's always the possibility that he'll commit suicide instead of being caught, and then you'll be left with just the ship."
A red-faced Imperial on the right side of the table exploded, "And who are you to be giving us orders? Oh, I forgot, you're 'Grand Admiral Skywalker!'" he sneered. "The Skywalker that claims to have destroyed the Death Star. You're just a pathetic green youth who somehow holds rank over us despite your apparent lack of talent with anything more complicated than a toothbrush." Luke could feel his face flushing, and his anger started to rise to the surface. The man spat out a stream of Huttese curses, then he smirked and said in Basic, "You're nothing but a slimy, worthless piece of rancor p—"
Luke felt he had taken enough from this man, and he knew exactly what his father privately wanted him to do to the cursing maniac...
And to be honest, he would do it with pleasure.
Luke raised his hand up threateningly, his eyes flashing, and an invisible hand settled itself around the man's throat, squeezing tightly.
The angry Imperial tried in vain to keep his face expressionless for the first few seconds of Luke's strangle-hold, but then he could no longer take it, and he furiously clawed at his collar, his face turning scarlet. He started gurgling in desperation, and his eyes started bulging.
Luke tried to relax his Force grip, figuring that the man had learned his lesson, but a little evil voice tried to compel him, Hold on just a little bit longer...You must exact fullvengeance on that incompetenthuman.
He complied with the voice's wishes.
After a final gasp, the brown-haired officer slumped onto the table, a look of horror and fear frozen on his still face. Luke reached out to the Force to touch his presence.
He was dead.
Luke was ambivalent. Part of him was shocked that he'd pointlessly killed someone in cold blood, but another part of him was filled with excitement at the thought of the power that had surged through him like an electric current. His darker side won out. The man deserved to be punished for talking to him like a subordinate. He didn't want to seem weak in any form, so he coldly stated, "You mess with me, you mess with the Dark Side."
He swept his gaze across the alarmed and uneasily shifting Imperials, "Anyone disagree?"
Quickly, everyone shook their heads, murmurs spreading throughout the room. He has Vader'spower! was the main thought that coursed through their minds.
Lifting his head up and nodding in satisfaction, Luke smiled grimly. "Good. Anyone have any other suggestions?"
With the exception of Luke and Vader, everyone in the room slowly shook their heads from side to side simultaneously. They didn't want to face his anger, too.