Dantooine:
Vader stared out of the viewport of his starfighter and noticed that the Millennium Falcon had landed in a large grassy clearing. He saw what appeared to be a freighter that could have belonged to spice smugglers landing not far from the Millennium Falcon. He could sense the presence of his former Apprentice in the old spice freighter. He pushed the canopy of his cockpit open and climbed out of his starfighter as he noticed the boarding ramp of the Falcon lowering. He saw Padmé, Obi-Wan, Luke and Leia walking down the boarding ramp as his former apprentice approached him.
Vader climbed out of the fighter noticing an icy glare from Ahsoka Tano. Vader's former apprentice moved closer and released a hard slap on her former master that led to him stepping back.
"I guess that I deserved that," Vader said.
"You deserve a lot more," Leia said as she approached her father.
Vader looked down at his teenage daughter noticing the anger in her chestnut eyes. He looked into the matching eyes of his wife as she spoke, "She is her father's daughter." Vader looked past her at his son as he spoke, "She looks like you but she is like me he looks like me and he is like you."
"That is accurate," Luke said as he took his place at his father's side.
Leia looked at her mother before approaching her father as she spoke, "We are accepting of the truth that you are our father, but we will not turn."
Vader smiled as he spoke, "We will be together as a family in due time. First we need to get to the bottom of what we are up against."
"Where is R2?" Ahsoka asked.
R2 rolled down the boarding ramp as Padme spoke, "He was waiting for you to call for him."
Ahsoka held a small data chip and knelt down as she inserted it into the droid. She looked at her old friend and hugged her tightly as she spoke, "We have not analyzed it
ourselves. The vessel appeared to be a Mon Calamari vessel."
Vader looked at Ahsoka with skepticism, "How did it get there?"
"Our guess is that it was pulled into that singularity from somewhere and ripped in half."
"Whatever it was it was not the doing of the Separatists nor was it a vessel that was in the battle," Vader said.
"I agree," Ahsoka replied.
She reached out and held up an ID doc as she spoke, "This was found among the bodies on the command bridge of the ship which was still intact. Take a look at the man's
birthdate."
Padmé took the ID doc first as her eyes widened, "Impossible."
Vader reached out his hand and took the doc. He looked at it as he spoke, "I don't know about impossible Padme because this might actually explain a few things."
"Such as what?" Padmé asked.
Before Vader could answer, Han Solo ran down the boarding ramp as he spoke, "We just detected a large vessel in the system. It appears to be a Star Destroyer but it is larger
than your typical Star Destroyer but it doesn't match the dimensions of an Executor class dreadnaught."
"What are the dimensions?" Vader asked
"Approximately 2,900 meters in length and just over 1,400 meters in width," Han replied. Ben reached out with the Force as his former apprentice did the same. The two men opened their eyes as Vader spoke, "It is him."
"How did he know that we are here?" Padmé asked.
"I don't think that he did. I think he must have stumbled across us," Vader said as he heard the sound of tie fighters. He looked towards a nearby hill as he spoke, "Let's go see
if they are landing on the other side of the hill."
Ahsoka, Leia, Ben and Luke followed Vader as he rushed up the hill. Vader looked in the far distance as he spoke, "Does anyone have electrobinoculars?"
Luke produced a small single eyed scope for his father as the older Skywalker spoke, "This should work." Vader could see five troop transports that were descending into the atmosphere. They looked similar to Imperial troop dropships but the design features were moderately different from current Imperial dropships.
"Dad look at that starfighter," Luke said.
Vader removed the scope from his eye just in time to see a dark starfighter that resembled the tie interceptor. The wings were slightly shorter in height and narrower than the
standard tie and the viewport of the cockpit was red.
Vader turned and ran back towards the Millennium Falcon as he noticed that the drop ships would likely land within one hundred meters of their own vessels in the clearing. A
battle was coming whether Vader wanted a battle or not. He found himself thankful that he had convinced Padmé to allow him to be a part of the data handoff. This warrior had
a vested interest in his son and clearly that warrior would have similar interest in his wife and in Leia and their unborn child.
Vader yelled at Han Solo, "Get to the belly gun of your ship and have your copilot get ready for takeoff but do not leave until we have taken care of these troops. We need to kill
these stormtroopers and take care of their commander before we make our escape."
"Anakin he is here too he was the pilot of that fancy tie fighter," Obi-Wan said.
"I know," Vader replied.
Vader activated his comlink as he spoke, "Admiral Piett, bring the fleet to the Dantooine system immediately. Have all battle stations manned and pilots ready to deploy to their
fighters and bombers, the rogue Star Destroyer is here. Do not underestimate them."
"Understood Lord Vader," Piett replied.
Vader activated his lightsaber as Padmé rushed up the boarding ramp with R2.
Ahsoka, Ben, Luke and Leia activated their lightsabers as the first two transports landed. Vader raised his organic hand and released a storm of lightening upon one of the transports. The transport lurched down and crashed into the newly landed transport causing an explosion as the Sith Lord and Jedi Knights stormed towards the transports. Stormtroopers rushed out of the dropships firing their blasters as they charged upon the Jedi and Sith.
"Obi-Wan you and I will go for the two squads in the center. Luke and Leia go to my right and snips go to the left. We need to take them all out now! As the group of force wielders started to slaughter the stormtroopers, a dark figure stalked behind the stormtroopers and towards the Jedi and Sith. Vader's eyes narrowed as he cut down his tenth stormtrooper. He could hear more drop ships approaching and the sound of more tie fighters. Han Solo's turret was unleashing its firepower on the additional ranks of stormtroopers. He looked towards his former master and apprentice noticing that both were making fast work of the stormtroopers. Luke and Leia had put distance
between themselves and between the Falcon. Ahsoka was the closest of all five of them to the Falcon. Luke and Leia were moving further from the Falcon and Vader knew he
was going to have to fight the dark side wielder who was heading straight towards his children. He looked at Obi-Wan and spoke, "We have to leave. I will deal with their
leader."
Vader impaled another stormtrooper as he turned towards his target. This man whoever he was would pay for so much as looking at his children with pernicious intentions. If he
didn't kill him today he would kill him the next time that they met.
Leia Skywalker used her green lightsaber as she fought side by side with her twin. The twins had fought together since they were preteens when they had been forced to fight for the first time at age twelve. Luke beheaded one stormtrooper as Leia impaled another. Leia found herself amazed at the difference in the armor of the stormtroopers. She had seen stormtroopers in some form or another for her entire life. The bucket heads were a galactic norm in civilized systems and in many backwater systems. What surprised her was the style of visor on the helmets. The eyes on the visor were wider and the visor itself was also wider. Instead of plastoid armor where the helmet covered the mouth there was an expanded visor on the helmet. Even the stomach and chest components of the armor looked different. The blasters that the stormtroopers carried were not the standard E-11 blasters. Although they looked like E-11 blasters the blasters had changes including white components mixed in with the black components. The electroscope looked to be more adjustable than that of the electroscope on an E-11. Where did these blasters come from?" Leia asked herself as she deflected two blasts back towards the shooters. Luke threw his lightsaber into the air with a touch of the Force and cut down two stormtroopers while impaling a third. He called the blade back to his hand as he looked at his sister with a smile, "Still watching my back sister?"
"Someone has to brother," Leia replied with a laugh as she used the Force to call a stormtrooper forward and onto her lightsaber.
Luke and Leia saw the dark warrior approaching them, he had activated his flaming red lightsaber as he stalked towards them. He charged towards them as they simultaneously impaled two stormtroopers. He looked at them as he spoke, "I know your faces from galactic history and Jedi history. The legendary Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan born Leia Skywalker of course. Luke Skywalker went on to defeat his father, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine he founded a Jedi Order before his nephew betrayed him but he lived with Leia long enough to train the Jedi who destroyed the Emperor for his second death. Luke Skywalker and General Organa Solo were considered to be great leaders but those were different lives. They must be stopped before they cripple our glorious Empire." Luke and Leia exchanged glances as they moved to defend the man's strikes. He made two vicious overhead strikes that the twins blocked as they made their own counter
strikes.
The man raised his left hand and pushed Luke back several feet before focusing his strikes on Leia. The two ended up closing in on one another with very short and close strikes as they suddenly locked their blades in one strong lock. Leia stared into his yellow eyes as one of the side blades suddenly burned into the hilt of her lightsaber. She was hurled back as her lightsaber was severed in half. The man walked towards her brother but was stopped when forks of lightening burned into his body. Leia drew her blaster from her hip and shot three stormtroopers as she saw that her father was using his organic hand to dispense the deadly lightening upon her attacker. Luke looked at her as he yelled, "Get back to the ship we will take care of the rest."
Vader pointed to the last squad of stormtroopers that stood between his tie fighter and his son.
"Wipe them out before Solo uses his cannon and damages my ship!"
Luke and Ahsoka charged forward as Ben moved to intercept a group of stormtroopers that were mounting a heavy-duty ion cannon. As he attempted to move towards the
stormtroopers the belly turret of the Millennium Falcon erupted, blasting the stormtroopers as they worked. He noticed that the dark side wielder was recovering and moving
towards Vader.
Vader glanced at the flaming blade noticing that the blade appeared to be erratic and unstable. Vader summersaulted towards the man and red blades crossed as he spoke, "You were never polite enough to introduce yourself when we last met and you seem to know so much about me."
"I am Darth Vectis," he replied.
"So, you are a Sith? Who is your Master?" Vader asked as his eyes narrowed.
"He is long dead. I learned through his holocron," Vectis replied.
"You mean that you are just a Sith wannabe?" Vader raised an eyebrow in amusement as he made several lethal strikes towards Vectis's head that the man was forced to block.
The last strike caused Vectis's parry to falter as Vader pushed against him.
"No Lord Vader, I am the rightful heir of the rule of two. There is no one else who can save it besides maybe you. I can save you and the Empire from certain destruction but
only if we stop Luke Skywalker. The man who wielded this blade before me failed to prevent the rise of the New Jedi Order."
Vader looked at the lightsaber blade as he spoke, "And who was that man?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," the Sith replied.
"Your goal is to kill Luke because you believe he will destroy the Sith? There is no need to kill him and I will not allow you to kill him."
"If we don't the Sith have no future and are as good as doomed. Of course, maybe you were never worthy to be a Sith. Your children make you soft."
Vader made three heavy overhead strikes that drove his enemy back. He released a Force push that hurled several stormtrooper corpses in Darth Vectis's direction.
Vader looked at him as he spoke, "You are from the future, aren't you?"
"I never said that," the man said. Vader's feral yellow eyes glared at the man as he stepped forward pointing his lightsaber at Vectis with a clear desire to take the man's life.
"You didn't need to we, investigated the area of the singularity from fifteen years ago where your ship was first sighted. We found the evidence that you come from a time that
has not yet come to pass."
"Hopefully when I am through that time will not come to pass as it did because if it does, the Sith will die except for me and the Jedi Order and the disorderly Republic will
return."
Luke followed Ahsoka's lead as he beheaded an additional stormtrooper and impaled another. Ahsoka had sliced through four stormtroopers as the padawan moved at her side.
She gestured to another unit that was approaching them as she spoke, "Another twenty of them coming our way."
The padawan threw a thermal detonator towards the squad of stormtroopers as he moved to slice his way towards his father's starfighter.
Vader was not his normal self in combat. Instead of focusing on the agenda of crushing his enemy as he was more than capable of doing, he was focused on protecting his
family. He also desired to keep Vectis alive so that he could question him further. Such an action would require more careful planning and the means to transport a prisoner that
was as dangerous as Vectis. Unfortunately, now was not the time or place to detain Vectis. As Vectis swung his lightsaber towards Vader's midsection the Sith Lord blocked the
blade and delivered a kick to Vectis's stomach that forced his hands apart leaving him open for an attack. Vader raised his lightsaber and slammed the hilt into Vectis's forehead
before hurling him back with a powerful burst from the Force.
He saw Vectis sitting up and looking towards Luke who was climbing into the waiting tie fighter. Vader raised his hand and released a storm of lightening that burned into Darth Vectis.
He rushed into the Falcon and was greeted by Obi-Wan. "Leia is manning the belly gun. Padme is laying in the bed because your baby has chosen this wonderful moment to
come into the Galaxy."
"Sounds like something a Skywalker would do," Vader said with a laugh.
Obi-Wan grinned as he spoke, "Anakin, I am taking the top turret. Check in with Solo he is a good pilot but he may benefit from your advice."
Vader nodded and ran towards the Falcon's cockpit.
Vader ran into the cockpit as he spoke, "Status Solo?"
Chewbacca let out a roar as Han spoke, "We had four on our tale but Luke just shot them down."
Vader looked out of the cockpit and saw his son flying his Tie Advanced X1. As the two ships moved out of the atmosphere of Dantooine they were greeted with the sight of the
unknown Star Destroyer. Vader looked out of the viewport as Han spoke, "They have deployed some kind of rockets from their cannons."
"Obi-Wan and Leia shoot any of those rockets down that are in sight."
"Could their leader be back at the ship by now?"
Vader shrugged, "It is possible, I knocked him down with lightening and a hit to the forehead. If we had had the means to do so, I would have taken him prisoner."
Han looked back at the Sith Lord as Luke spoke over the comlink, "I was hit in the hyperdrive I have a course calculated but it is the only jump that I can make. I am going to
need you to bail me out or I will need to make repairs."
Executor:
Firmus Piett stared out of the viewport at the large Star Destroyer at his side stood holographic images of the captains and first officers of all five additional Star Destroyers from
Death Squadron.
"Let's catch their attention all batteries fire now!" Piett screamed. Within moments the cannons from the assembled Imperial Star Destroyers erupted in a brilliant display of firepower.
"Admiral should we send out the tie fighters and tie bombers?
"Yes, tell them to disregard the corellian freighter that is out there. Focus only on that rogue craft and any fighters that it deploys."
"Yes Admiral!"
"Sir, there is a transmission from the freighter."
"Patch it through," Piett said. An image of Lord Vader materialized before him, "Admiral the rebels and I came to a mutual understanding. Focus everything you can on them and protect the pilot in my starfighter even if it means that the enemy has a way out."
"Yes Lord Vader," Piett replied.
"Send available starfighters to target and pursue the fighters that are pursuing my starfighter," said Lord Vader.
"Very well Milord," Piett replied. The image of Lord Vader abruptly managed as Firmus Piett recognized that his commander was going to be preoccupied with the engagement.
He turned his head towards his tactical team as he yelled, "New order, all starfighters pursue the fighter that is pursuing Lord Vader's starfighter." Piett relayed to the crew.
"Also treat the Corellian Freighter as a friendly craft in our target systems," Piett added.
That is it for now thank you for reading and reviewing.
-Fallen Jedi 79