Executor:
Ben, Ahsoka, R2, Admiral Piett and General Veers worked for hours to slice into the data that had been obtained by the crew members of the Ghost at the edge of known space. The group successfully discovered an alarming alternate narrative of history from not only the last fifteen years but of the next sixty years. The group found disturbing historical accounts of events that transpired in the upcoming years such as the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star and the destruction of the Hosnian system by the First Order. The group learned that Obi-Wan Kenobi perished onboard the Death Star at the hand of Darth Vader in a selfless act of sacrifice to ensure the escape of Vader's children and Solo and Chewbacca from his clutches.
Firmus Piett and Maximillian Veers were uneasily concerned about where they stood if at all in history. Once they learned that the Rebel Alliance did in fact successfully overthrow the Galactic Empire, they were even more eager to know how their lives ended.
Vader held little Cordé with a smile as he kissed her forehead. The newborn baby looked at him as he felt her hunger in the Force. He turned as he saw Padmé approaching him. His wife took her place at his side as he pointed to Cordé.
"She is hungry and only her beloved mommy can take care of that," Vader hissed.
Padmé looked at her husband and gently took the baby from him. She then prepared to nurse her as her husband shamefully spoke, "I wanted to kill Obi-Wan so many times after Mustafar. Now here I am learning that my alternate future self, killed him four years from now on the Death Star that is already destroyed."
Padmé sadly looked at her husband, "Can you honestly still kill him after all that he has done for our family? Or Ahsoka for that matter?"
"No, and besides that point I just don't know what I want anymore. I want to keep our family safe from this Darth Vectis. Luke is still out there unaccounted for and although I can sense he is safe I would feel a lot better if I found him sooner than later."
"We are all going to do our part to find him," Padmé said. It was clear that Padmé was not going to let Vader exclude her from searching from her son.
Vader looked back at his wife and nodded, "I guess that I am going to have to get used to your stubbornness. I cannot just do it if it pertains to our kids without you in the equation."
"I have raised them and I know them Ani. If only you had made a different decision on Mustafar."
"I would give everything to take that moment back," Vader admitted much to Padmé's surprise.
The doors opened as Leia entered the room, "Mom you and Dad need to see this information that I recovered on you from the future."
Maximilian Veers looked at a picture of his alternate self. Sixteen years into the future he was executed for war crimes by the Republic. He was tried as a common war criminal after he was captured while fighting for the Imperial Remnant not long after Operation Cinder. According to the report that he was reading, his own son testified against him at his trial. He cringed as he read about the atrocities that he would commit in the future. He had blood on his hands he was a soldier who had followed his orders throughout his life without questioning. That choice had clearly led to him doing unspeakable crimes that cost him his life and tarnished his name. Veers closed his eyes as he thought of what he had done in his life up until the point of the revelations that were before him. He noticed Piett entering the room as the younger man spoke, "Reading about yourself?"
"Yes, how did you die?" he asked.
"A rebel pilot crashed his A-Wing into the bridge of Executor and blew up the whole ship while I was onboard. At least I got to go down with the ship."
"You got a far better fate than me Admiral. At least you got to die as a soldier," the older man replied.
Piett looked at Veers as he spoke, "General what happens to you?"
"I am executed on Coruscant as a war criminal. Zev even attended my trial and advocated for my execution. My own son who is on opposite sides of the war with me denounced me at trial."
Firmus looked at his friend with sympathy, "Honorable death or not my friend according to this future Republic database we are both on the wrong side of history. It appears that the majority of future generations in this galaxy were determined enough to prevent the Empire from rising that a citizen fleet went to the Sith planet for a massive showdown and wiped out what would have been the new and final Empire. This Darth Vectis is merely a terrorist or rebel and he was willing to destroy two entire planets to make his point."
Veers looked at his friend as he spoke, "Seems to me you are entertaining the idea of defecting."
"And you are not?" Piett retorted.
General Veers turned away from Piett as he spoke, "The men on this ship are most loyal to Lord Vader although my infantry are loyal to me as the bridge crew are to you. I think we need to convince Vader though in order to bring his people in."
"There would still be some who wouldn't go along with it," Piett said.
"The question is when do we make or move or how. I would be of the opinion that we need to wait until the time is right. If Vader doesn't go along with it do you think we go to his wife?"
Veers asked.
"Look at that baby and his two kids. That man is not going to give up his wife and kids for the Empire when he learns that he may be able to prevent the rise of a grandson who will cause nothing but mayhem and destruction."
Padmé watched as an image of her younger self was materialized. Her eyes widened when she saw at the top of her biography, "Aged twenty-seven standard years of age."
Leia looked at her mother as Vader added, "You were adopted by Viceroy Organa and raised as Leia Organa."
"You looked into my background already?" Leia asked.
"I looked up all of us but there was no Cordé. I guess that since your mother actually died at the time of your birth that Cordé never existed," Vader sadly said as he looked down at his infant daughter who sat in his arms.
Vader looked towards his wife as he spoke, "The Emperor suspects that at least one of the Jedi children is ours. It is only a matter of time until he finds out that Leia is also related. Someone needs to visit Naboo and exhume your Mausoleum and buy us some time. If they find out your coffin is empty, he will have easy confirmation of your survival."
Leia smiled "That is a job for us, Han, Chewie and I can do it."
"Wait until Luke returns my ship. Then it will be a job for all of you," Vader said.
"Do you think that he will be back soon?" Leia asked.
"I am hoping," Vader said.
Vader's com on the nearby table lit up. The Sith Lord passed Cordé to Leia as he walked over and activated the com. He was relieved to see his son as Padmé gasped in relief and approached them.
"Luke thank the Force you are safe!" Padmé cried.
"For now, I just need current coordinates. I had to land somewhere and repair the hyperdrive. It suffered a little bit of damage in the light speed skipping escapade."
"I still strongly disprove of what you did," Vader said.
"It worked," Luke countered with a mischievous grin.
Vader shook his head, "I know that grin."
"How is my new brother or sister?" Luke demanded.
Leia approached the com with a smile as Padmé reached out and took her baby. She held her with a smile, "Meet Cordé Tano Skywalker."
Luke looked at the baby as her eyes opened to look at him.
"She has your eyes Mom!" Luke exclaimed.
"And the same hair as you and Dad from what we can see," Padmé added.
"I guess that I better be ready to help you fight boyfriends in another fifteen years because you will be in your fifties old man," Luke teased.
"I will still be more than capable of holding my own Luke. Solo will dispose of the bodies for us after he does his part," Vader replied with a laugh.
"Yeah, he is stuck with our family it seems," Luke said.
"And the poor guy still has no idea how crazy Leia is about him," Vader said with a smirk.
Leia's face reddened in embarrassment as she slammed her elbow into her father's stomach.
Vader buckled forward as he reached out and seized his daughter, "It is ok clearly based on the alternate future you and him do become something at some point."
"About that, I have some information to share when we meet," Luke said.
"Oh?" Padmé asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll explain later," Luke replied.
"I just transmitted the coordinates to you," Vader said
"Thanks Dad, I am going to make one last check before I leave. Skywalker out," Luke said
"What do you think he means by he has information?" Leia asked.
"He doesn't want us to know but he met some people during his little trip. I suspect they have a connection to Darth Vectis based on the look on his face."
"They could be dangerous," Leia replied.
"Or not, the information that we recovered came off of a New Republic vessel. It is possible that someone who is after Vectis made the ride through time as well," Vader replied.
"You have a point," Padmé said to her husband.
"That is kind of unsettling," Leia said.
"This whole thing is unsettling if it wasn't for a temporal disruption, we wouldn't all be on this ship right now together as a family. It is like we are getting a second chance as a family that I definitely don't deserve," Vader said.
Ajan Kloss:
Rey surveyed the starfighter as she spoke, "Do you know where your family is?"
"My dad sent me the coordinates of the Executor," Luke said.
Poe and Chewbacca exchanged glances as Poe spoke, "That is the large one that they blew up at Endor right?"
Chewbacca nodded an affirmative as Luke spoke, "It was destroyed at that Battle of Endor that you told me about?"
The two nodded as Rey spoke, "Luke I have never met Vader. He was dead before my birth. I do not know what changes there may be because of the changes to the timeline but whatever you do be careful. You are destined to be a great Jedi Master. You cannot fall. I think that Vader is key to preventing Ben from falling which will mean no Kylo Ren, maybe no First Order rise and no Darth Vectis."
Luke nodded his head, "I think what is more critical to my father's redemption is my mother. We now have a little brother or sister that I am more than eager to meet for the first time.
Rey smiled, "That will be interesting, it was just the two of you in the future that I come from."
"And my father was a cyborg you said. What happened to him?" Luke asked.
"It was a consequence of injuries from a fight with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi from what we know," Roan said as he stepped forward.
Luke put his hand on his father's starfighter. He shivered at the thought of his father being almost incinerated in the fires of Mustafar. Luke was thankful that such a thing had not happened.
"I know that he lost his arm in a fight with Count Dooku during the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan cut off more of his same arm in the fight in this reality."
"Interesting," Rey said.
"Would you be up for sparring before I leave?" Luke asked.
"Might as well do you want to stay for lunch?" Rey asked.
"I would like that," Luke answered.
The pair moved away from the ship and Luke held up his lightsaber hilt. Rey smiled as she reached for the lightsaber, "That was my first lightsaber in my time. You carried it for a time in the future that I came from."
"How did you acquire it?" Luke asked.
"It called to me from a basement where it was being stored and I found it. The person who kept it chose to let me take it when she saw how it called to me," Rey replied.
Luke held it up with interest he looked at Rey, "Your visions of the future that you showed me. You used it on Exegol to defeat Palpatine didn't you?"
"I used your lightsaber and your sister's that day," Rey said.
Luke looked back at her with curiosity as she held up her own weapon. He looked at the darkened hilt with interest. "What became of our lightsabers in your time? Clearly you made your own but you used them to destroy the Sith once and for all."
"I took them back to Tatooine to your family farm and buried them together," Rey said.
The Lars homestead where Darth Vectis went and killed my Aunt and Uncle Luke thought to himself. He wondered why it was that such a place held significance to his family in her time. He knew that it was where his grandmother had been buried but he had no significant attachment to the place. He had never seen it or met Owen and Beru Lars. He looked at Rey thinking to himself, I will have to ask her why that place was significant.
He crossed blades with her as he spoke, "When was the last time that you fought a Skywalker?"
"I was just a few years older than you in my time and it was Kylo Ren in the last duel before his redemption."
"You could have killed him and you mortally wounded him but you chose to heal him."
"Yes," Rey replied.
Luke looked at her with admiration, "I saw the good and the conflict in him just as you see it in your own father now."
With his lightsaber meeting Rey's Luke realized quickly that she recognized his combat form as he aggressively attacked. It was also clear to him that he was outmatched. He fought her as she spoke, "You, your father and Ben always all mutually favored form five and form four."
Luke made several lethal overhead strikes that Rey easily blocked. He moved back as she made several thrusts and strikes towards his side. He was forced to jump to the side making himself more vulnerable. She stepped forward and Luke managed to block her attack as she pinned him to the ground. He rolled away and climbed back up and made a strike towards her shins.
"Good remember to use the attacks to your own advantage."
"You used my aggression to make attacks that would make me more vulnerable," Luke observed.
"Correct, I wore you down and then went in with my aggressive moves. I relied more on defensive moves from form three when you came out aggressive and then I waited until the right moment to make my own attacks," replied Rey.
Luke made another two-handed swipe that Rey blocked as she twisted her blade and successfully disarmed him. "You got too close last time Luke. You need to make sure that you have some space so that such a move is not feasible for your opponent."
"So make sure that I anticipate what you may attempt to do so that I can remove that option from you?" asked Luke.
"Yes, you need to ensure that such a move is impractical and then your opponent has to step back and try something else."
"Is it strange to have the roles reversed Master?" Luke asked.
"Very much so, I am old enough to be your mother as I appear now and when I met you and Leia both of you could have been my parents."
Luke looked at Rey with gratitude, "Thank you for your help with the repairs."
"Do not tell them specifically who I am or how many of us there are here. Tell them you had a Force vision of the future. They should not know about us until the time is right. We need to not alter their destinies or further contaminate the flow of time."
"I understand," Luke said.
Rey placed her hand on Luke's shoulders, "May the Force be with you Padawan Skywalker."
"And with you Master Skywalker," Luke said.
Rey looked back towards her crew as Luke questioned her, "Wait, in the future that you come from did I know my mother?"
Rey looked back at the padawan as she shook her head, "No, she died when you and Leia were born. They made it look as though you died with her to hide your survival from my grandfather and your father. Leia and you both often wished you had known how some vibrant remarkable woman like your mother had fallen for one of the Galaxy's most feared men."
Luke smiled, "I guess this reality is better, I cannot imagine not knowing her."
"You were raised by your father's family on Tatooine and Leia was raised as an Organa by Viceroy Bail Organa. You were separated at birth did not know until your early twenties and four years after you had met that you were brother and sister."
Luke was filled with disbelief, he had been told about his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. His mother had made sure to teach him and Leia about all of their family members that they had never met. He had also learned that his father's stepbrother and sister-in-law had been murdered by Vectis during his search for him. He couldn't imagine being forced to grow up on Tatooine instead of being raised by his mother as he had been.
After Rey left him, Luke imagined the thought of not knowing that he had a twin sister for the first twenty-two years of his life. They had a strong twin bond from their time of training and fighting together. Even the simple times as small children when they had played pranks on Threepio had solidified their bond.
Alright that is it for now. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
-Fallen Jedi 79