Chapter 13: I am Your Father
"What is it master?" Ravan asked pulling his hood down, his eyes had now a tinge of yellow in them occasionally.
"This will be hard to hear, but I am your father."
Ravan didn't reply, his eyes turned somewhat wider and it seemed he was letting it sink in, or thinking of possible ways Vader was his father. But he could not be, Ben had said Vader had betrayed and murdered his father the last time he talked to him, he had said Vader was a pupil of his until he turned to evil, how could Ben's bad pupil be his father. Ravan sprang up and activated his blood red Sith blade.
"Someone told me you betrayed and murdered my father. How can you be him?"
"Put your weapon away."
"No! I want answers."
"Who told you I killed your father?"
"Ben Kenobi."
"Is that what the old fool goes by now? He is on Tatooine? No, he must of left now that you've been taken. He lied Luke, he didn't want you to know the truth, he wanted you to follow him in the way of the Jedi, he wanted you to kill me, instead of realizing your true potential as a Sith."
Ravan lowered his blade somewhat. "He said he was heading to the Alderaan system."
"Ben? Not after what just happened to Leia he isn't." Vader said. "He would be a fool. Now extinguish your weapon. You will not kill you father."
"But how? You're Darth Vader, my master in the Sith arts, a man behind a mask, a machine. How are you my father?"
"Years ago, during the clone wars my son, I was Anakin Skywalker, I was sent on a mission to rescue the Chancellor of the Old Republic from a ship over Coruscant, Obi-wan or you know him as Ben was with me. We rescued the Chancellor and when we brought him back, that is when your mother said she was pregnant."
"My mother?"
"Padmé Amidala Skywalker…" Vader began, hardly being able to finish. "Was your mother."
"Well what happened to her?"
Vader knew this was coming, and it chilled his very spine to talk about it. "I killed her."
"You killed her…"
"I killed her because she brought Obi-wan to kill me. She lied to me and I killed her, it was on the lava planet Mustafar, Obi-wan and I fought, he had the better hand and cut off my legs and one of my arms. I fell, to the end of a bank of lava and it burned me. That is why I wear this suit."
"Then, perhaps you are my father."
"Yes, and now you can take your rightful place at my side and we can end this destructive conflict with the rebellion and bring order to the galaxy, we can rule as father and son."
"Yes. I will follow you father."
"No one else must know, only the Emperor does. We will kill him soon enough and bring order to the galaxy."
"Now come, we must go to the bridge, the Emperor has sent me a gift, and when we are ready we will head to Yavin IV."
XxX
"Milord." Admiral Piett said smiling with what seemed to be pride as Vader came aboard the bridge of the Devastator. He gestured out the viewports. "The Emperor had sent us a new type of star destroyer, it is huge Lord Vader."
"I know, its called a super star destroyer. She's called the Executor." Vader stated and easily maneuvered aside Admiral Piett to look out of the viewport. There it was indeed, the Executor. It was at least ten or fifteen times as big as a regular star destroyer, so big in fact Vader could barely make out the bridge tower, it looked like a toothpick jutting out of the ship. The hull was a bluish grey, and in the middle of it making another triangle sections rose out, crew quarters, maintenance rooms, whatever they were made the ship look like a huge floating city.
"That," Vader said. "Is my new flagship."
He turned to Piett. "And yours. Now prepare my shuttle. We will need all ships to set a course for the Yavin system immediately after I arrive on the bridge."
"It will take an hour milord, to coordinate all ships to hyperspace entering positions. And longer for you to get aboard the Executor and be on its bridge."
"Time does not concern me Admiral, I want results. Tell captain Needa of his ship that he is now in command of the Devastator and to promote a good officer to captain of his old vessel."
"Yes milord."
"Very well Admiral Piett, when the necessary preparations have been made meet me aboard the Executor's bridge."
"Yes milord." Piett said again and he went to the ship, to ship comm and began giving out the order for hyperspace and for Captain Needa to come aboard the Devastator and promote someone as captain of his old vessel. Vader exited the bridge along with his son and headed for the Executor.
"Father, can I call you that?" Ravan asked uncertainly.
"When no one is around, yes, what is on your mind…son?"
"The Emperor said that I would replace you at his side."
"I am not surprised."
"What! Why not?"
"I have been watching a few of his secret Force using assassins, the Emperor's hands as he calls them. You met one probably, Mara Jade."
"Yes." Ravan answered somewhat longingly. Mara Jade, he had always though she was somehow… beautiful during their training. Though she never wore makeup or anything to make herself look beautiful, she just sort of… was. Vader seemed to sense his son thoughts.
"If the Emperor is plotting to destroy me you should not get so attached to one of his closest assassins. She will undoubtedly try to kill you unless she shares strong feelings to you. The kind you do to her."
"What?" Luke asked taken aback. "How do you… I mean I could not even sense you in my mind!"
"Looking in your eyes told me enough my young apprentice. They are windows to the soul, that is why no one can ever look into my eyes, they will ultimately die, they will see my pain and suffering, and lust for power."
At first Luke thought this might be the idea Vader had of a joke, however the tone of his mechanical voice told him otherwise.
"You mean because you killed Padmé… mother?"
Vader stopped and looked at him. "Never remind me of that again… apprentice." Vader added as an officer walked by. "I would never have killed Padmé had the Emperor not tempted me with power, she wouldn't have died if I had just listened to master Yoda and done nothing, or listened to the Jedi teachings about visions like that."
"You had a vision? And who is master Yoda?"
"A discussion perhaps for another time."