A/N Luke is five in this one
"Please bring me down on the planet!" Vader's son, Luke, whined, "Please father!" His son's hands were clapped together. Vader was in his personal chambers on the Devastator getting everything ready for when he would descend on Gall. He finished looking through his datapads and set them down on his desk. He turned to address his son who was looking at him with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Luke, you would not be entertained, I have work to do," Vader stated, Luke let out a defeated sigh.
"But the trees! I wanna see woods!" Luke continued to beg, his son was enthralled with nature. Ever since he had seen holos of woods from some random planet full of lush greenery, he had wanted to see something like that.
"They have trees in Imperial City." Vader folded his arms over his chest, "A tree is a tree, once you have seen one you have seen them all, my son."
"But it's not the same father! Trees come in all shapes and sizes!" Luke emphasized.
"I do not think you would enjoy yourself, I have work to do," Vader said again.
"I still wanna go! Please! I wanna be with you!" Luke begged, Vader looked down at his son, the mission he had to do was at the Regional Naval Supply Area, or, the NRSA. It would seem there may have been spies that infiltrated the base and set off Imperial bombs that were set towards a Star Destroyer.
It wouldn't be dangerous, the base was secured and searched for spies. It may have just been an accident through transport, but the Emperor decided it was worthy enough for Vader to investigate. A potential breach of security at such an important supply base was concerning, but if Luke stuck by his side the whole time he would be fine, in addition, he could show his son how Navy bases work and function.
"I shall bring you down, but you shall stay by my side the entire time. You shall not wander off, or you will be grounded young one." Luke's eyes lit up and he jumped.
"Thank you!" Luke cheered.
"But you must change, you cannot go down to a Naval base in your pajamas. It is raining, dress appropriately" Vader instructed, Luke nodded quickly. He could feel his son's excitement radiate through the force brightly.
"Okay! Okay!" Luke said quickly, "I'll be right back!" Luke turned around and ran out of the room towards his bedroom. Vader sighed, hoping his hyperactive son would calm down by the time they reached the base. Naval Bases were not the place to run around, they were serious with important business being conducted.
He waited for his son with his arms crossed over his chest, he heard rapid footsteps and saw his son run back into the room, "Okay- I am ready!" Luke stood up straight and smiled.
"You must behave, young one," Vader said as he pointed at Luke, Luke nodded quickly.
"Okay, father!" Luke smiled brightly,
Vader began moving towards the chamber's exit, "Follow me, little one." Vader left his chamber, his son followed behind him. His son was excited, though he was sure Luke would become disappointed. Luke would definitely grow bored, Vader would only be asking those in charge of the Naval Supply what had happened. The Undauntable was the Star Destroyer the set off explosives were heading towards. Fortunately, the ship was not damaged, only the transport. The Admiral of the Undauntable would be joining him on Gall to investigate what happened with him.
They reached the hangar, his ship had already been prepared for him. He heard his son gasp softly at the planet that was visible from the hangar, it floated peacefully below the Devastator with twinkling the void around the lush planet. Vader walked up the ramp and into the cockpit with Luke trailing behind him.
"Where are we going?" Luke asked excitedly as he strapped into the co-pilot's seat.
"We are going to the Naval Supply Base," Vader informed his son as the shuttle lifted and slowly moved towards the planet. Luke sank in his seat slightly and a funny look on his face.
"Trees?" Luke asked hopefully.
"Perhaps I can bring you to the edge of the forest, but first, I must conduct my work, my son." They began to break into the planet's atmosphere, the planet's temperate forest appeared in the viewport. Luke huffed softly to himself.
"Okay!" Luke smiled, Luke sat up slightly in his seats the closer they got to look at the forest below. They neared the landing pad outside of the Supply Base, which was surrounded by the forest. Raindrops began to fall on the viewport, the sky was grey and cloudy. The shuttle landed gently, Vader stood from the pilot's seat and turned off the engine. Luke jumped from his seat and peered out the viewport at the woods. "Wooow," Luke whispered.
"You are easily amazed, young one," Vader said, Luke shrugged and followed Vader out of the cockpit and down the ramp. The rain kept a consistent downpour, Vader headed towards the large docking bay. Luke had grabbed the end of his cape and propped it over his head for protection from the rain. Hundreds of men in brown jumpsuits swarmed the docking bay, loading ships with large boxes full of ammunition to meal packs.
They finally reached the docking bay, Luke pulled his cape off his head once they were fully protected from the rain. Vader saw two men in uniform bickering between each other, perhaps he shouldn't have brought Luke. He would not want Luke to witness what he does to men who waste his time. The workers in the docking bay stumbled over boxes as they stared at Vader in confusion and fear, then the men in uniform noticed Vader. They faced Vader with their hands held in a salute. One of them was the Admiral of the Undauntable, Admiral Motti.
"Who is in charge of this Naval Supply Base?" Vader asked, one of the men hesitantly stepped forward.
"I-I am, my Lord." The officer trembled slightly, the fear emanating from the man. Vader soaked in not only the Officers fear, but of all the men that passed him.
"I assumed members of higher rank had some level of competence, I suppose I was mistaken." Vader folded his arms over his chest. The officer in front of him flinched at the insult and attempted to keep a professional face. Admiral Motti nodded his head strongly.
"I agree with you Lord Vader, this is just deplorable. I thought facil-" Admiral Motti was interrupted by a small voice.
"What does comp- comp-te-mence mean?" Vader turned and saw his son who stood to his right and was looking up at his father curiously. He felt slight amusement that his son had interrupted an Admiral, but was shocked his son was even listening to the conversation. He thought his son would be too fascinated by the surroundings. He could feel the two men being thoroughly shocked at the boy, though from Admiral Motti, he grew rather impatient.
"This is a military base, Officer Renda!" Motti turned to the officer Vader had just spoken to, "Why are children running about asking questions! No wonder there was tampering in the explosives!" Motti pointed at the officer, his voice was raised. Vader felt his son flinch at the man's tone and cling to Vader's cape like a lifeline, Vader's fists squeezed tightly.
"This boy is my son, Admiral. I would advise you to control yourself before you regret it." Vader growled, Motti raised his eyebrows and looked down at Luke. Luke was practically hidden by his cape, but kept peaking his eye out.
"Oh, well- my apologies, Lord Vader," Motti smiled, "It was just a simple misunderstanding." Vader did his best to keep his cool, though it was incredibly difficult. His son was way too innocent to witness his father kill this man, even if Motti did deserve to die. He did not like the Admiral, but Tarkin found him useful in Project Stardust.
"Your importance to Grand Moff Tarkin is your savior, Admiral," Vader said slowly, Motti kept a straight face but understood Vader's meaning. Silence passed, Vader then turned to Luke, "Competence is the ability to do something, even at a basic level - it is something these men do not have." Luke giggled into his hands, the men stiffened in front of him.
"S-Shall I begin interrogations, my lord?" Officer Renda asked nervously, Vader held his hands behind his back.
"Yes, everyone in this docking bay is a suspect for a Rebel spy, even you," Officer Renda nodded quickly, Admiral Motti folded his arms over his chest.
"Well, they better find out who had done this. My ship could have blown up!" Motti emphasized, Vader once again reeled in his anger. Something Sith were not really encouraged to do.
"Thank you for telling us something we were already aware of, Admiral." Motti's eyes flew open, he could feel the man's anger rise. Vader ignored the insolent Admiral and turned to Officer Renda, "Commence with the interrogations now, Officer."
"Right away, my Lord." Officer Renda's voice wavered, the man obviously knew he was in trouble for what happened. He was a coward, Vader felt his fear consistently raise with each passing second. Dealing with these men turned out to be more frustrating then he could have imagined and he was using as much restraint as he could. Admiral Motti's face scrunched tightly and huffed sharply.
"I hope you intend on punishing this poor excuse of an officer, Lord Vader. At least the removal of his rank!" Motti's hands were balled into tight fists, this man was greatly wearing on the little patience the Sith Lord had.
"I suggest that you do not tell me how to do my job, Admiral. My loyalties for Tarkin only run so deep, if you continue to test my patience, you shall be faced with the consequences." Vader said slowly, Motti narrowed his eyes.
"Don't try and frighten me with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. I have heard the rumors about you, they don't scare me." Motti folded his arms over his chest with a smug look on his face. Vader almost snapped, the only thing holding him back was Luke, not Tarkin. Luke is here repeated rapidly in his head. The dark side of the force whispered, begging Vader to release his anger on the man.
"Perhaps both of you shall be stripped of your ranks!" Vader pointed hard at the man, the idea of having his rank stripped seemed to frighten him slightly. Perhaps the Admiral has never seen a display of the force, many in the galaxy have not and believe the force to be a myth. He would show the Admiral the force was real, the Admiral would feel the force wrap around his throat.
Motti remained silent, though his anger had not lessened. Perhaps he learned to bite his tongue around Vader, for his sake, he should. He turned back to face Officer Renda, "Bring me to the Security Room, I would like to see footage of the docking bay when the explosives were tampered myself." Officer Renda nodded quickly.
"I will show you to the Security Room, my Lord." Officer Renda turned around and began to walk down the Docking Bay towards the offices in the back. As Vader was about to follow the man, he moved his hand to gently nudge Luke forward. He felt nothing, Luke had just been right beside him, clinging to his cape. Vader turned and saw his son was nowhere to be found, he looked around the docking bay. No Luke, Vader quickly opened up through the force, attempting to connect with Luke and locate him. His usually bright presence was dim, and slowly fading.
A mixture of emotions flooded, flowing strongly through his veins. Fear and anger overwhelmed his senses, he felt Admiral Motti's curiosity grow. The very existence of the man infuriated him, he lifted the Admiral in the air. He could feel the man struggle through the force, his fear now rising. He threw the admiral hard against the docking bay wall, the slam echoed through the large docking bay. He opened up to the force and stormed out of the docking bay, hoping the dark side with whisper hints to where his son was.
Luke sat behind a wet log eating a fruit he had found growing from a bush as he looked out over the scenery of the woods. The rain tapped on leaves as they fell to the ground, the air was cold, a soft wind blew through his hair. Luke was beginning to regret wandering away from his father to look at the woods, but one of the men that kept yelling was freaking Luke out. His father called him an Admiral, but Luke wasn't necessarily paying attention to the conversation.
He wanted to get away and saw the woods when him and his father walked into the large docking bay. All he really wanted to see was the forest, his teacher showed holos in class and was fascinated ever since. It truly was different then any of the parks at Imperial City, it was quiet but buzzed with life. It was peaceful and this fruit he was eating was delicious, but he was starting to get cold.
Luke stood up and turned around and began to head back, but didn't see the docking bay. He felt turned around, he couldn't tell which direction to go. "Father!" He yelled out, hoping maybe his father could hear him. Maybe he walked in too far in the woods, his heart began to race. "Fath-" Luke began to yell out again but stopped as he heard loud shuffling in the bushes near him. He gasped and stared at the bush terrified. A tense silence passed until the bush shuffled and what sounded like tree branches falling.
Luke turned and booked it in a random direction, running fast. Twigs and leaves crushed under his rapid footfalls, his jacket snagged on a branch. His jacket ripped off of him but he kept going until he couldn't run anymore. He stopped and hid behind a tree, he breathed heavily and his heart pumped quickly. Now more than ever did he wish his father was here, he felt tears rush down his cheeks. He slid down the trunk of the tree and hugged his knees close to his chest.
Vader tried multiple times to connect with his son through the force, but it was almost as if Luke's presence was just out of reach and slipped through his fingers. Luke's presence was there but dim and simmered dully through the force, which was unusual. His son's force presence was the brightest and most pure essence he had ever felt, it was like a supernova. Vader never panicked, it was not a feeling he was used to feeling, something brewed inside of him. It was strong and chugged through him like a train.
He left the large docking bay and saw his shuttle up ahead, he scanned the surroundings. The rain fell, Vader began to wonder if his son was wet and cold. He needed to find him, he could not fail his son as he had failed his wife, his mother. No, he pushed them away, he wouldn't even consider that a possibility, because he would save his son. He looked over to the woods, it's all he wanted to see, it was his first lead.
He ignited his lightsaber, the rain steamed off the red blade, it reflected in the small puddles on the dark pavement that led to the edge of the woods. He sliced through the thick brush, trees cracked loudly as they slowly fell over, he stormed through the forest and cleared a path as he went. The ground below him squished softly, the forest floor was soft and damp.
He continued to stretch out with the force for his son, continually attempting to grasp his force presence but it always slipped away. If someone had harmed him, if someone touched a hair on his head…
Perhaps there were no words to possibly explain or put to justice what he would do, several scenarios ran through his head of what he would like to do if someone had hurt him. The rage and anger he had been holding back charged him as if he was a depleted battery, the force buzzed around him. He felt electricity coarse through his veins, nothing would stop him. He charged through the forest as if he was a force of nature himself, and perhaps he was.
What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks, he saw his son's jacket ripped on a tree branch. He grabbed it gently and held it in his hand, his son was out there somewhere, scared and cold. He squeezed the jacket tightly and hurried forward. Still cutting through any trees and logs that blocked his way, paving a new path. The force bent to his will and led the way for him, it had brought him to Lukes's jacket.
He wouldn't give up, he would never give up. He was close, the force told him so. It whispered excitedly once he got to a small opening. He turned off his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt, he looked around the small opening. At first, he saw nothing, perhaps he misinterpreted what the force told him. That he would have to further explore the forest, but he heard small whimpering towards a large tree.
He quickly walked towards the tree and saw behind the trunk his son curled into himself, crying softly into his knees. Luke slowly turned his head up, his eyes lit up. His son was shaking slightly, either to fear or the cold or perhaps both.
"Father!" Luke said in a shaky voice, he jumped up and huddled close to his father. "You found me!"
"I will always find you, my son," Vader said as he placed his hand on Luke's head, brushing Lukes's wet hair off his forehead. Having his son finally with him released the build-up of fear he held like a tight ball in his chest. Luke was wet and probably cold, he grabbed his cape and pulled it off of him.
"Why'd you p-pull off your c-cape?" Luke asked as he shivered.
"I am going to wrap it around you, my son, so you can be somewhat warm." He wrapped the cape around Luke's shoulders and picked him up. Luke shivered slightly and squirmed. Vader concentrated through the force to pull his body heat out to create something like a bubble around them to heat Luke up.
Luke audible gasped, "W-Wow, you're warm father." A term not many used to describe the Sith lord, his presence usually washed over a room and the temperature dropped. If people shivered in his presence, he wondered if it was out of fear or the sudden chill he brought. The air would be frigid, he sucked the warmth out of everything. But Luke brought out the warmth within him.
While keeping concentrated on the force to keep the warmth around Luke, he began heading back to the Docking Bay. Millions of things ran through his mind, he didn't know whether he should start lecturing to Luke to never do that again or just be grateful he had him back.
"You should not have run off into the woods, young one." He began, he had at least make that clear. "You should have not left my side." He didn't know how Luke would respond, but he didn't expect Luke to begin to ramble.
"I am sorry for running off, I just wanted to see the woods and I saw them when we were walking in and the admiral was scaring me so I decided to go out here because it was quiet. I didn't mean to get lost, I heard a loud noise and got scared and ran." Luke paused to think, "Oh and I ate a fruit, it was really good!"
"You ate a random fruit growing in the forest!?" Vader paused and looked at his son, Luke nodded.
"Uh-huh, it was from a bush." Luke smiled, "Up there." Luke half turned and pointed towards the edge of the woods by the docking bay. They were close, Vader walked towards the direction Luke pointed to. Finally, they were both out of the woods. Vader scanned the flora that lined the concrete of the docking bay and saw a bush with small purple fruits. Vader recognized them, they were Maja fruit.
He felt instant relief, they weren't poisonous. Maja fruit though did, however, dull one's use of the force. Almost like force binders, one who eats the fruit loses their strength in the force. That was why Luke's presence was dim, his presence would slowly come back in time. Vader let out a weary breath, his child should not be eating random fruit found in the woods but he would lecture him about that later. He walked back out to the docking bay towards Officer Renda, who stood just outside of the warehouse.
Officer Renda snapped up when he saw Vader walking towards him, "Lord Vader, here is a data chip of the docking bay's security footage of the night of the explosion." Renda held out a data chip. With Vader's free hand he grabbed it, looked at it then at officer Renda.
"I will have someone examine the footage on the Devastator, they shall report any findings. Until then, continue with the investigations." Officer Renda did his best to not stare at the boy Vader was holding, Renda bowed.
"At once, my Lord." Renda paused and looked back at the docking bay and back to Vader. "Admiral Mo-"
"I am aware of Admiral Motti's condition, take care of it." Renda blinked quickly in shock then nodded.
"Yes, my Lord." He said quietly, he bowed once again and hurried back into the docking bay. Vader turned and headed back towards the shuttle.
"Do you think there are monsters in the woods?" Luke asked as he adjusted the cape wrapped around him, "I heard the bushes move." He said in a whisper, like it was a secret between Vader and him.
They reached the shuttle and waited for the exit ramp to lower. "Monsters are not real, little one," Vader informed his son as he carried him up the ramp into the shuttle.
A/N Thank you for reading! This story was requested by one of the readers, if you guys have prompts you'd like me to write just let me know!
Anyways, again, thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it. I used a lot of creative liberties in this chapter so I hope it worked well lol. Please let me know what you thought! I love to hear from you!