Tatooine:
Owen Lars entered the doorway of the kitchen after a hard day of work to see his wife, Beru awaiting him with dinner. He sat down as she spoke, "Are the Imperials still crawling the dessert?"
Beru shook her head, "Apparently they captured some rebel officer in the chase but several others escaped. I heard that there were two Jedi involved."
Owen sat down and took a sip of his jawa juice. Everything seemed like another evening to him. Owen had no idea how wrong he was.
A dark figure stood on the bridge of a mysterious shuttle like craft with large wings. The craft landed as the figure spoke, "Strange I cannot sense him."
As the ramp of the craft touched the sandy surface of Tatooine the figure spoke, "The Star Destroyers didn't detect us did they?"
"No sir," replied an armored stormtrooper.
A squad of eight stormtroopers stormed out of the craft and towards the small Lars Homestead.
It was unlikely that the dark side wielder knew or cared about the fact that his actions were being watched by Huff Darklighter from a distance. Darklighter had just driven to the Lars Homestead to pick up two droids that he had purchased from Owen.
Upon seeing the vessel he had stopped in the distance to observe.
Owen and Beru were dragged out of their home as the dark figure spoke, "Where is your nephew, Luke Skywalker?"
"We don't have a nephew and we have never heard of a Luke Skywalker. Is there anything else you want to know Imperial?" Owen spitefully asked.
"Where is he?"
"The only Skywalker I know of is my stepbrother, Anakin Skywalker. I haven't heard a thing about him since the rise of the Empire."
"You are telling me that you do not have his son that old Ben Kenobi entrusted into your care years ago? Kenobi Lives out in the Dune Sea does he not?"
"I don't know who the hell Kenobi is. What other business do you have ransacking my home?"
A stormtrooper with an orange shoulder pad emerged from the doorway of the homestead as he spoke, "Sir these two are the only occupants of the place. There is no sign of a boy or anything for that matter."
In visible rage the figure activated a large flaming red lightsaber blade as he cut down Owen and Beru before storming into the house past the stormtrooper.
Huff in horror jumped into his speeder and started it as he drove off at full throttle. Blaster shots were fired as the stormtroopers rushed after him in vain.
The Lars Homestead went up in flames as the dark figure emerged from the settlement empty handed.
"To the Dune Sea. Kenobi must be there and he must have Skywalker."
Millennium Falcon:
Luke and Leia sat side by side in the lounge of the Falcon. The two twins were both grief stricken and horrified by the revelations of the day. The twins both had paid and suffered more than they could have imagined in just one day.
"I cannot believe that mom and Ben lied to us," Leia said.
"It was easier thinking we would never meet our father than it was to find out who he really is," Luke said as he touched the lightsaber that had once belonged to their father.
"Even our droid lied to us. R2 knows after all he was Dad's droid. If even R2 lied who can we trust at this point besides each other Luke?"
"Han," Luke replied as he saw Han entering the room with a grim look on his face.
Han approached the twins as he spoke, "The Alliance has been notified of your mother's capture. We've been ordered to proceed to Alderaan to rescue the Viceroy and the plans to the Death Star. The Empire is onto them and they cannot escape the palace. We will be there in less than an hour. I am sorry that we have to do this."
Luke looked at his friend as he wiped a few tears away from his eyes.
"It's not your fault Han."
"Don't worry kid, we are gonna get her back."
"At least we know he won't kill her," Leia said.
"No Vader ain't stupid," Han said.
He sighed as he spoke, "He knows you will come back for her she is good bait to trap you both with."
Leia sighed as she spoke, "Han can we trust you with a secret?"
Luke looked at his sister before looking at Han as Chewie entered the room.
"You are the only two people we can trust. We don't even know if we can trust Ben at this point because we found out that we have been lied to for all of our lives."
Han frowned as he looked at the exceptionally distraught children that were in his midst. Chewie had taken a seat next to Luke as he decided to take a seat next to Leia. Han wasn't stupid he had seen how Leia eyed him daily. He also could feel her nervousness as she stared at him. To him she was a child although even Padme had spoken of the infatuation that her daughter had with him. He sighed as he noticed the look of shame in her eyes. It was as though she feared that her fantasy marriage to him would never come to be.
"Luke he will see us so differently after this. I'm afraid to tell him."
Tears left Leia's eyes as she looked down in shame.
Han sighed as he spoke, "I don't care what you have done or what you think of what happened down there. Nothing will change how I see either of you kids. You are the most special kids I've seen in my whole dam life."
"And we are the spawn of the Galaxy's most feared man," Luke whispered.
"What do you mean?" Han asked as he looked at Luke.
Leia looked up at him as she spoke, "We just found out that our mom and Ben have been lying to us for years. Darth Vader didn't kill our father Han, Darth Vader is our father," Leia screamed as additional tears streamed down her cheeks.
Han reached out and wrapped his arms around Leia as he instinctively hugged her.
He looked at Luke as he noticed that Chewbacca had embraced him.
The two distraught fourteen year olds looked at their friends in disbelief.
"So you think that based on the man that spawned you that I am going to judge you?"
"He is a monster," Luke said.
Han shrugged, "Yeah but you aren't. You two didn't ask for him to be your dad either. He just made you. Are you sure that he ain't playing you?"
"Absolutely, he has my eyes. He looks just like me. He is our father from the holograms that our mother showed us growing up. We saw him under that hood. He just looks older."
"Well he would be older, but force he's still younger than your mother," Han said.
"How do you know?" Leia asked.
"Your mom once told me that your dad was five years younger than her," Han replied.
Luke looked at Han for a moment as he contemplated Han's statement. That would mean that their father wasn't even forty years of age. He was in disbelief at Han's revelation.
Devastator:
Padme sat down on the bed that was in the Officer's suites of the now repaired Devastator as she examined the dress that Vader had provided her with. The dress was a simple white garment that would work as a suitable replacement for her tattered alliance uniform. She also noticed a towel and a bar of military soap. She took the items as she let out a sigh. Escape, when and how would she do it? She only knew one answer, it would take time and she would have to be patient.
Vader stood on the bridge of the Devastator as he looked over the datapad that contained the casualty report from the skirmish that he had fought hours earlier.
He cringed at the thought of how he had almost destroyed the escape pod that his daughter was onboard. Thank the Force Padme had stopped him from making such an unbearable mistake. He thought back to Luke, force the boy was almost as good of a pilot as he was. The boy had killed two exceptional Imperial pilots in the dogfight that had ensued. He had destroyed the majority of the tie fighters that had been sent out to counter his efforts to protect Princess Organa's vessel. Between Padme's brilliant tactical planning and his son's brilliant conduct of the conflict, there had been enough damage to slow down the Devastator for twelve hours.
He glanced at the young officer as he spoke, "Keep the ship in orbit. I will give you orders in the morning. For the night I am going to retire. Should Governor Tarkin or the Emperor contact you for a report, tell them I have a lead and nothing more."
"Yes Milord. Oh and Captain Piett is going to disembark at 0800 tomorrow."
"Good, you have just inherited his responsibilities on this vessel," Vader replied.
Vader then turned and left the bridge without another word. He knew what he needed, he needed to see Padme. He needed to speak to her, to hold her. He had longed for her for a decade and a half and nothing would come between him and her.
Vader turned to leave the bridge. He walked towards the turbolift. He entered the lift and soon descended towards the officer's quarters. He walked out of the lift and saw Firmus Piett standing in the hallway.
"Captain?" Vader asked.
"I was just going to say goodbye to the bridge crew."
Vader nodded, "How long have you been in charge of this ship?"
"Ten years. It will take some getting used to being first officer of your ship. But I am honored to be chosen to be a part of your crew."
Vader's eyes narrowed as he spoke, "I was reading your record. I do believe that we may have met during the Clone Wars. I was known by a different name at the time. I noticed that you were a part of the unfortunate task force in the unknown regions. Let alone the sole commander who managed to bring a ship out of the chaos of that day."
Firmus Piett shivered at the memory. The first Empire Day was one that he would prefer to forget. While Order Sixty-Six had been successfully executed throughout the Galaxy, the way it had happened for his team of five Republic Vessels had been different. They were in the far reaches of the Galaxy pursuing a crippled Separatist fleet when they received the order.
Unknown Regions: 14 years earlier:
Firmus Piett stood on the bridge of the Republic Star Destroyer as they observed the destruction of the last two Trade Federation Vessels. They were deep in space. They had just destroyed two other Separatists vessels. Victory was near. He watched as the Jedi Starfighters that were engaged in the dogfights released proton torpedoes on the shield generator of the Trade Federation vessel. As the Vessel split in half his Commander approached him, "Lieutenant Piett the Clones have just received an order from the Chancellor that is called Order 66. They just told us that the Jedi tried to overthrow the Republic. Even our Jedi Generals are Enemies of the Republic. Do you understand?"
Firmus looked at his captain in disbelief. Before he could respond a bright light appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The light appeared in the middle of the battle. From the light appeared millions of massive chunks of debris. "Shields to maximum!" the Captain screamed.
Firmus watched in horror as what appeared to be half of a Starship collided with the closest Republic vessel instantly decimating the craft. The bridge shook and their own vessel was hit with smaller debris. The bulkhead above crumbled as a piece of durasteel fell upon the head of his commanding officer narrowly missing his body.
He fell to the ground as he felt flowing blood contacting his face.
He jumped up as he yelled "Report!"
"Confirmed casualties on decks five, ten and eight Level five. The Crucible is gone sir. It appears our vessel is the only one left."
"What about the Separatists?"
A young officer pointed out of the viewport at what appeared to be a large singularity that was opening, "Sir it appears as though they were absorbed by that whatever it is."
A female technician rushed towards Piett as she spoke, "Sir that is a black hole. It just destroyed the star in this system. I have never seen anything like it."
Firmus looked out of the viewport as he saw what appeared to be a storm of meteorites. "Can we go to lightspeed?"
"Unknown."
He shivered as he spoke, "Open a channel to the rest of the vessel."
"This is Lieutenant Commander Firmus Piett. I am taking command of the Vessel as Captain Mar is now dead. Maintain all battle stations. Engineering I will need a full damage report within twenty minutes. Sickbay tend to casualties immediately. Seal off all hanger bays and all damaged decks and evacuate."
Firmus turned his attention back towards the viewports as a woman spoke, "It appears as though the distortion waves are preventing us from going to lightspeed. It is from the singularity. The span of the interference is short enough that we can get to it on sublight engines."
"At maximum speed how long will it take us to get out of this?"
"Around an hour sir!"
"Make it happen. Use our cannons and tractor beams to maneuver around the debris as needed."
"Yes sir!"
Firmus stared out of the viewport as he noticed a massive astroid. "Can our sensors see what is beyond that?"
"No Sir!"
He shook his head, "We already have a damaged ship and a weakened crew. Take us behind that astroid by at least a thousand miles."
"Sir that will increase our time in the field by an hour."
"Better safe than incinerated," Firmus remarked.
"Sir there is another ship in that singularity."
Firmus looked back as he saw it. A massive vessel. It resembled the new vessels that were under construction at Kuat. Only it was somewhat larger and it's color was darker. The vessel was obviously stronger and perhaps even more sophisticated.
"Scan it what can you tell me?"
"It is around 2900 meters in length. It is much larger than our vessel. It has over 1500 turbolasors. It has a signature that we are unfamiliar with."
Firmus looked at the mysterious vessel uneasily as he spoke, "Does it appear to be endangered?"
"Unknown sir."
Firmus sighed, "I have my own crew to look after. We will make note of the vessel in my log." Too many had died today. His crew had already suffered extensive casualties. He couldn't risk his ship and what was left of his crew to save the crew of an unknown vessel. The young Lieutenant turned his back to the vessel as he proceeded to insure that the survival of his own ship and their surviving crew would be a success.
Present time:
Vader looked at Piett as he spoke, "A flashback?"
"I have done my best to not to think of that day Milord."
"That is understandable. The thing that I never understood was all of the debris that came flowing out of that singularity before the forming of that black hole."
"Or the sudden destruction of that star and the planets with it. Everything was sucked away. Even the appearance of that mysterious Star Destroyer that was more advanced than anything that we have today."
Vader looked back at him as he spoke, "You kept your crew alive. You got everyone home safely. You showed utmost confidence despite the circumstances. That as well as your handling of Tatooine are the reasons why I have chosen to place you on my staff."
Piett bowed as he spoke, "I am honored Lord Vader."
Vader then walked past the officer as he continued his trajectory towards his quarters.
He soon entered his quarters and was awarded with the sight of Padme emerging from the refresher freshly showered and dressed in the simple dress that he had found for her. He smiled as he approached her, "I see you are all cleaned up. The dress fits."
"Yes it fits just fine," Padme replied.
"When we get to the Executor, I will have to order you some more things. We have to spend some time on the Death Star. I am guessing a week or so. And then we will go to the Executor which will be your new home."
"My new home?" Padme asked as her eyes widened.
"You are my wife, you belong to me. Your place is with me. I am going to keep you on the Executor where the Emperor will not see you."
Padme clenched her teeth as she spoke, "I am not a possession. And your place is with me and your children as the man that your mother intended for you to be not the tyrant that you have become."
Vader pointed a finger at her as he spoke, "Do not use my mother's name like this. Not while we are hovering twenty thousand miles above her grave."
"You know as well as I do that Shmi would be heartbroken to see the man her only child has turned into."
Vader turned his head away from his wife as he looked out of the viewport.
He took in a deep breath as he turned to Padme. He wrapped an arm around her as he spoke, "Can we just not fight? I am tired of fighting with you. I cannot tell you what seeing you alive does for me. I have missed you so much."
He pulled her closer as he sealed her lips with a kiss.
"Let's pretend that there is no war, no politics, no Jedi, no Sith, no Empire, no Alliance, no Star Destroyer. Let's pretend that its just me and you a husband and wife."
Padme pulled Vader closer as she spoke, "I have longed for you more than you can imagine. I still long for you now. With that said, even if we do this we are still enemies Anakin. We are still enemies the morning that we wake up in the same bed together in each others arms."
"You are my enemy right now Padme but you are also my wife. That means more to me than anything else. That means more to me than this war. Our marriage is above our differing ideals that are on the opposing sides of this conflict."
Padme moved closer to him as she captured his lips, "Nothing exists outside of this room. The war does not exist. Only we exist and only our love exists."
Author's Note:
First off I would like to dedicate this Chapter to Carrie Fisher: May she rest in peace in the next life. She was a remarkable actress her legacy will continue. I intended to make my return this week but her passing yesterday did in a way inspire me to hasten my return.
I have been gone for awhile I know: and I am sorry. I have been fairly busy between work and school. I am very close to finishing up my degree in Political Science. In my downtime both winter and spring and summer breaks I have been working on a lot of fics including this one. It has been slow but I have pieces written to several other fics besides this one. I also have a revised edition of Son Of Destiny which I think I may release eventually. I've also been contemplating the direction of this fic for a long time. It will have a lot of twists and chaos and Skywalker family struggling together to survive it all as they fight each other and those who threaten their existence as a family.
I will be updating as time allows. I am currently on Winter Break and working about 40+ hours a week but I plan to get more updates up before I go back to school and hopefully some this semester time permitting. If you haven't please go and see Rogue One I highly enjoyed it and hope that you would as well. I was just realizing that my last update to this fic was after the release of The Force Awakens. I promise the next update will be much much sooner hold me to it. I have not been online in about a year. Work training hard and school and not doing much else as I am a man of extremes who often forgets to sit down and chill.
-Fallen Jedi 79