AU where Vader took Luke in but died on the First Death Star before being able to proceed with his ambitions...

Death Squadron (Formerly Darth Vader's personal fleet)
Shu-Torun (Mid Rim Territories),
0 BBY

The Rebels had won at Yavin. How could any true imperial not quail at the thought of it?

Firmus Piett, Captain of the Executor, sighed in despair as he turned his head to look upon the stars. Once again, he had tried, and failed to record the events of the day on his personal datapad.

How queer, he pondered with disciplined imperial detachment, that I have been left to live where all the great men have died. I was with Grand Moff Tarkin when the New Order was declared; I was with Lord Vader when he and the Emperor reformed the imperial bureaucracy; and now I am here as it takes its last breath.

Every man in Death Squadron, from the the most low-born grunt to the power-hungry officers within to Vader's inner circle, had respected him as their Lord and Supreme Commander— or otherwise had feared him like one. For him to have died so suddenly, when he had always been so invincible in battle… Piett shuddered at the thought of it all.

With the destruction of the Death Star, it would no longer be feasible for Death Squadron to continue its campaign. Nobody actually wanted to establish permanent Imperial dominion on Shu-Torun, and the new King Monthan had been taught beyond all doubt that he was no match for Vader's armada. At last, we're going home, Piett wondered. I wonder what's going to happen next?

That same evening, twelve men met in conference in the command room of the Executor. At its head sat Vader's three most senior commanders; the dark Galen Marek, his once right-hand man and Commander of the Devastator, cunning Maximillan Veers, General of the 501st Legion, and hard-bitten Wullf Yularen, Vader's most senior and trusted Admiral.

To their sides sat the middle-ranking officers; Admiral Amise Griff of the Tyrant, Commander Gradd of the 118th Imperial Fighter Wing, Lieutenant Obrax of Theta Squadron, Commodore Ozzik Sturn of the Ultimatum and finally Baron Han Solo, the young military prodigy who had personally shot down the Rebel General Merrick and won honours for leading his squadron unscathed through the catastrophe at Scarif.

Piett himself sat amongst the administrators at the foot of the table. With him were Officers Masil Veit and M'Kae, who each served on the Executor and Avenger respectively.

Marek, who as usual had thundered in at the last second, pointed furiously towards a young man at the end of the table.

"What the hell is that nerf-herder doing at this meeting?"

Piett, who had been chosen to preside over the gathering because of his reputation for integrity and apparent lack of political ambition, gave the commander a sympathetic look. It hadn't taken long for most of Death Squadron to figure out Galen's tendency to dislike Vader's other favourites.

"Lieutenant Commander Luke Skywalker has been invited because he was Lord Vader's private secretary, so he may be able to provide clarity to us today regarding several… questions of fact."

The gathering soon got down to business, and the formalities were disposed of rather quickly. It was agreed that the campaign should be abandoned immediately and the army should return to the Imperial Center as soon as possible; nobody wanted to stay in the Mid Rim any longer than necessary, not with the coming political instability that all present had clearly anticipated.

At last, Yularen stood up to address the room. "We will need somebody to look after the Mid-Rim Territories in the short-term. My nomination is for Admiral Griff to do the job. He's governed effectively in the Bright Jewel Oversector before, and knows the Territories well enough. Would any of you object to this?"

Marek cleared his throat, carefully waiting for everyone to give him their attention before smiling to himself. Finally… Piett mused to himself. The moment everyone has been waiting for…

"Admiral Griff would be an excellent choice, Wullf," Marek agreed, "but even someone as skilled as he will struggle with such a vast region to secure. I suggest a co-governor to aid him with this; that way both can strike at all the Moffs that will surely turn into warlords in this current environment. My personal nomination would be Captain Sturn over there." He pointed towards Ozzik, who looked delighted at the suggestion. Griff on the other hand, seemed positively thunderstruck.

Piett nodded, impressed. Clever Galen! The two men had loathed each other's guts ever since Sturn had lost his governorship of Malastre to one of Marek's minions; not only would suggesting a promotion to the Territories win Marek new allies among the Fleet, it would also leave him with one less foe when they all re-emerged on Imperial Center.

The proposition received general agreement around the room, and it was not long until the conference shifted to the issue that everyone really wanted to discuss: Vader's Will.

"Of course, it would be remiss of us to not discuss the contents of Lord Vader's succession," Yularen said curtly. At once, the nascent atmosphere of good will was almost entirely dispelled; never mind who to leave behind in the Middle Rim, what everyone truly wanted to know was who the childless Vader had named as his legal successor. It has to be either Galen or Wullf, Piett suspected, preferably old Wullf if this fleet has any hope of staying united— Galen has the respect of the 501st but the young man is too hotheaded to ever win over Vader's naval officers...

Yularen turned abruptly towards the youth at the end of the table, who looked surprised at finally being addressed.

"Skywalker, as per procedure you will have gone through Lord Vader's documents by now. Do you have the Will?"

The Lieutenant Commander stood up, before shaking his head sadly.

"I am afraid not, Admiral. I have checked Lord Vader's rooms thoroughly, and can find no trace of any sort of legal document." Cautiously glancing around, he continued almost nervously. "However, I do know that a physical copy of his will has been deposited with the Imperial Galactic Bank on Coruscant. Can we wait until we rendezvous with the other fleets?"

There was a flabbergasted silence; then, uproar as everyone seemed to want to shout at the same time. Piett watched with detached wonder as the once most disciplined conference room in the entire Empire descended into chaos. Almost everyone here has served with Lord Vader for decades. Surely, somebody on this damned fleet must know the contents of his will and be keeping it to themselves. His eyes flickered over to Yularen, who was trying, and failing to re-establish order. The plot thickens! Undoubtedly, somebody will have spirited Vader's signet ring away too, I wonder when they will think to ask about that?

At last, a relative calm fell across the room. Yularen looked quizzical for a second, before nodding to himself. Finally, here it comes, Piett thought to himself.

"Skywalker, is anything else missing amongst Lord Vader's possessions?"

The blonde youth looked downcast towards his feet. Foolish boy, meekness will get you nothing here. "Unfortunately, I was also unable to find the ring gifted by the Emperor, designating Vader's role as Supreme Commander of the Fleet. I was hoping that perhaps Lord Vader had given it to one of you gentlemen for safe keeping before his assignment to the Death Star?"

Not quite over his previous bout, Marek leapt up once more in outrage. "You took it, you ungrateful little shit!" he bellowed, stabbing his finger at Skywalker.

Rolling his eyes from the other side of table, Yularen glared at Marek with the utmost contempt.

"Oh, get a hold of yourself Galen! The boy might be bantha fodder compared to the rest of us but even he's not a fool. What the hell would he want Lord Vader's ring for? Even someone like you isn't normally this witless… why it's almost as if you've got something to hide from us…"

Piett, both excited and dismayed in equal measure, looked on as Marek and Yularen continued to round on each other. All around the table, the officers of Death Squadron had seamlessly divided into opposing camps, with Veers and Solo left in the middle trying to keep the peace.

While everyone else was engrossed in the spectacle at the other end of the table however, he then took the opportunity to glance at the one who had caused all the discord. The young Lieutenant Commander Skywalker, perhaps not realising the fact that he was being observed, had the strangest expression on his face; part contempt, part exhilaration.

Perhaps we'll make an imperial of you yet, boy, Piett pondered to himself. ...I wonder whose side he's on?

I've already written a sequel to this sequence, but the next chapter will be an Imperial!LukexMara oneshot.