14 BBY Tatooine
Obi-Wan Kenobi sat in the courtyard of the Lars homestead watching his newest pupil help his aunt clean the sand out of some vaporator parts. Five years ago when he had first brought Luke to the homestead he had told Owen and Beru that on his fifth birthday Luke would need to begin training if he was to remain hidden safely. After he had told them what had transpired with the boy's father Owen had been hesitant about the boy being trained at all. Luckily for Kenobi, Beru had seen the wisdom in training him and convinced her husband that it was the right course of action.
"Well he trained Anakin and look how that turned out" Owen had responded at the time. But he was a firm believer in the age old adage, for a happy life make a happy wife, and eventually conceded. In fact, he had even grown used Kenobi's frequent visits. This helped make Luke comfortable around the former Jedi and allowed Owen and Obi-Wan to form somewhat of an understanding the teetered on the brink of friendship, albeit a strained one for the time being.
When the boy had turned five standards years old Obi-Wan had begun his training as promised. That had been seven months ago and the very first thing he had taught Luke was how to shield his presence in the force. After about four months the boy was finally able to hide himself from someone even as powerful as Obi-Wan, who had decades of training, if need be. It was an astonishing feat even to someone such as Obi-Wan who had grown up and lived with the galaxies most powerful Jedi as colleagues and friends.
Luke finished helping his aunt with the vaporators and came over to see what Uncle Ben had come to teach him this time.
"Good morning uncle Ben how are you today?" The boy asked as he approached.
"I'm doing well young Luke. Tell me, what is the force?" Obi-Wan asked stroking his beard which now had flecks of grey in it.
"It's an energy field, it surrounds us, penetrates us it binds us together" Luke replied which brought on a smile of approval from Kenobi. Finally, the boy was understanding his most basic lesson.
"Good morning Ben" Beru said as she took the vaporator parts into the house. "Would you care for some breakfast? Luke has already had his but I can throw something together really quick if you'd like"
"No thank you Beru, does Luke have any more chores today? I'd like to take him for a few hours to work some more on his training." Obi-Wan asked as he stood up and offered to help Beru with the vaporator parts.
"I don't see why that would be a problem. Owen went into town early this morning to get two of droids repaired. He won't be back until supper time so just make sure you have him home before then." Beru told him as she turned around and started to put the parts away.
"whoohoo!" Luke jumped with joy and ran to grab his things. He enjoyed his time training with Obi-Wan even if he wasn't allowed to tell his friends that he was training as a Jedi. Both Kenobi and his aunt and uncle had been very adamant about that. Telling him that to do so would bring serious trouble, not just from them but also from the empire. Although he didn't quite understand why the empire would care; he knew better than to disobey the three adults. When he got back to the courtyard Ben was waiting for him.
"Do you have everything Luke?" Kenobi asked even though there wasn't much the five-year-old needed for his training at this point.
"Yes I do master Kenobi" he responded as he went to over to his aunt to give her a hug.
"Good boy, I have something I believe you might like planned today" the Jedi said with a smile. He had spent the better part of a week constructing a training Saber for the boy. Luke had progressed far enough that Kenobi was confident that he was ready to start learning how to deflect blaster shots. The training would not just be handy in combat but also in learning how to focus and learning to let the force guide his actions.
"Luke, you listen to Ben and do you as you're told. The things he is teaching you are very important. Do you understand me?" She asked her nephew.
"Yes ma'am" the boy replied hugging his aunt goodbye before running up the stairs to speeder had Owen had loaned Obi-Wan.
"Don't worry Beru I have handled many younglings in my day" he told her with a wink and a smile before starting up the stairs after Luke.
Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance
Bail Organa was reaching his breaking point. As soon as he had been brought on board he had been taken straight to the detention wing. No sooner had the storm troopers dropped him off when the interrogation officer was brought in to begin questioning. He was asked what Jedi he had harbored, what he knew of the fledgling rebellion and, scariest of all for Bail, who Leia's parents were. It was clear to Bail he would not be going home anytime soon when they had brought him on board and he was going to be tortured no matter how much he cooperated. Unfortunately for him he had no intention of cooperating with the imperials whatsoever, so he was in for a great deal of pain he surmised. He had made his bed there was nothing to do now but lay in it. At least he could frustrate them for as long as possible.
Bail had been strapped into the torture machine for what felt like days, but may very well have been a few hours. He couldn't tell anymore. His tunic had been ripped open so the electrodes could push right into his skin, his hair was a mess and he was barely conscious.
"I'll ask you again, where is the Jedi?" his interrogator asked for what felt like the thousandth time.
"There ...there...are no ... Jedi on ...Alderaan " Bail replied. He could barely get the words out of his mouth before another jolt electricity surged through his body causing him to scream in pain.
"Then who trained the girl?" The interrogator asked him
"Sh... she… untrained...father...a Jedi...died...purges...we adopted" Bail said before passing out from the pain.
Major Redstar stood in the corner watching the questioning for Bail Organa quietly. They had been at it for nearly six hours, ever since the Viceroy had been brought on board, and this first time he had passed out. That's most impressive he thought, most wouldn't even last an hour. It just went to show how strong Bail Organas will was. It also showed that even the strongest break eventually.
"That's enough for now" he told the interrogator "that's the first we've heard of the girl being the daughter of a Jedi. Lord Vader will be most interested in this new development"
The interrogator snapped to attention and replied "yes sir"
"I shall inform Lord Vader at once of the new information and your progress. I believe he will find it most interesting" Major Redstar informed him
"Yes sir. Am I to resume the interrogation when the prisoner awakens?" The interrogator asked
He thought for a moment before " No, let me bring this to his attention and see what his orders are. I will inform you how you are to proceed afterwards"
"Very good sir" the interrogator said before turning and ordering the two storm troopers guarding the room to take the prisoner to a cell.
Tatooine
Luke and Obi-Wan arrived at the home of the Jedi master and immediately got to work. As they got out of the speeder Obi-Wan once again began his lesson.
"Luke, what is the most important weapon a Jedi has?" He asked the boy even though he already knew Luke knew the answer.
Luke grabbed his small pack out of the speeder before replying "a Jedi's most important weapon isn't a weapon at all, it's the force which is a Jedi's ally"
"Very good Luke, you are progressing quite nicely. Which is why I think you're ready for the next aspect of your training. Come on let's go inside and I'll show you" Obi-Wan said.
Luke followed his teacher inside and sat his backpack on the door and looked around. It was the first time he had ever been to his master's home and he was taking it all in. He watched as Obi-Wan walked over to a small chest and opened it pulling out a small cylinder. He closed the lid and went back to Luke. Suddenly Luke heard a snap-hiss and a yellow blade shot out of the cylinder.
"Do you know what this is?" Kenobi asked his pupil
"No I've never seen anything like it" Luke said staring wide eyed at the yellow blade.
"This is a lightsaber, or more importantly it's a training lightsaber for you. This is the weapon of a Jedi knight. It's not as random or as a clumsy as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age. This training saber will help you in your training but will also only sting if you make a mistake. When you're ready you will construct your own lightsaber." Obi-Wan told Luke who was listening intently while mesmerized by the blade.
Obi-Wan shut off the weapon and handed it to Luke who immediately turned it on and waved it around listening to the humming sound it's movement created. After a few moments Obi-Wan had him turn it off and grabbed a small remote and a rag; telling the boy to follow him outside. Once they were outside they sat and went through their mediation exercises for the next hour. Finally, he told Luke to pick up his weapon and showed him a proper fighting stance.
After he got the boy properly set he picked up the training remote and turned it on. He then instructed Luke to block the blaster bolts with his lightsaber. Luke nodded that he understood and faced the remote. He completely missed the bolts in the first sequence then again a second and third time. This pattern continued over the next hour until Obi-Wan sensed the boy's frustration was getting to be too much for Luke and picked up the rag.
"Alright Luke that's enough he said. I can tell you're getting frustrated so close your eyes and release it into the force" he instructed. The frustration was part of the exercise and he remembered his frustrations when Master Yoda had led his group of younglings through the same exercise a lifetime ago. After Luke had done as he was told Obi-Wan tied the rag over his eyes making sure the boy couldn't see.
"I'm going to run the sequence again and this time I want you to sense the remote and do it again" he told Luke.
"Yes master, but how can I block the bolts if I can't see them? "Luke asked not fully understanding what his master wanted.
"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them." He said
"Yes master" was Luke's reply as he set himself into a defensive stance.
Once again Obi-Wan turn on the remote and stood back to watch. The remote flew up and began to circle the child again. This time as it fired its bolts Luke deflected all three shots in quick succession and ripped off the blindfold.
"I did it! It's like I could see the remote!" He exclaimed proudly.
Obi-Wan chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm before telling the boy calm down and replacing the rag over his eyes and instructing him to do it again. For the next three hours they ran through the exercise both with and without the blindfold only stopping for a midday snack. When Obi-Wan noticed that Tatoo I had started dipping towards the horizon he turned the remote off and told Luke it was time to go home. As they rode back to the Lars homestead he asked what the lesson of today had been.
"To learn how to use a lightsaber and deflect blaster bolts" was the boys answer.
Obi-Wan chuckled and asked "Yes, that was part of the lesson but what was the overall lesson?"
He could see the boy concentrating hard as he thought about the lesson he was supposed to have learned. After a few moments he got a dejected look on his face and sighed. "I don't know master"
"It was to teach you to let the force guide your actions Luke. If you're to be a Jedi it is very important that you learn to do so" Obi-Wan told his pupil who simply replied "yes master"
When they arrived at the Lars homestead Obi-Wan noticed that Lars had already returned from getting his two droids repaired. As he helped Luke get his things out of the speeder Owen Lars came up the stairs and asked Luke how his day was then told him to go put his things away and stay in there until dinner time while he talked to Obi-Wan. After waiting for the boy to disappear inside the door Owen finally spoke.
"When you brought him to us you told me to listen for any news from Alderaan that concerned the Royal family" Owen started " Well I was at the cantina getting lunch when I overheard two freighter captains talking about a blockade the empire put in place. They also said the Viceroy had been arrested on the suspicion of harboring Jedi."
Obi-Wan Kenobi folded his arms and stroked his beard as he took in this startling information. Perhaps it had been a mistake letting Leia go with the Viceroy. There was no way to know if she was safe but he had to assume the worse. Not to mention the fact that Bail knew where the boy was, but even if he told Vader and he came for them he had no way of getting off the planet. Even if he did he wasn't sure where he could safely go at the moment. His only advantage right now was that nobody on Tatooine knew he was here besides the Lars family and only Luke knew where he lived. He sat there thinking for quite a while before he finally spoke.
"Owen perhaps Luke should come stay with me until we know more. The Empire may be on its way here right now for all we know. Then again they may not be, only time will tell" he finally said
"Alright, you're probably right. I'll let Beru know to pack up some things for Luke to stay at your place for a while. I don't want to know where you going" he said before hurrying down the stairs and into the house calling for his wife.
Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance
Darth Vader was in his quarters meditating on the dark side. He was contemplating who the girl was, a child who was strong in force and also happened to be the daughter of a senator. He knew it was not impossible for someone that wasn't force sensitive to have such a child. But the age of the girl and something the force itself was hinting at told him this was not the case. As he meditated the chime to his quarters sounded. He broke himself from his meditative state and rose and walked over to his desk to put on his mask. Though he did not need the mask he used it to hide the hideous scarring from Mustafar. Putting the mask on he called for whoever was outside to enter.
Major Redstar walked into his quarters and came to attention. "My Lord, Bail Organa has been interrogated for the last six hours. While we have found no reason to believe that he harbored any Jedi he did admit to knowing the girl's father was a Jedi who died in the purges, more than likely at your hand.
Vader stared at his aide deep in thought, a mother for a senator and a father for a Jedi was too much of a coincidence. However, without definitive proof he could not know for sure. "This information is most interesting major. Perhaps I need to interrogate the Viceroy myself."
With that Darth Vader walked past his aide out the door making his way to the nearest turbolift. Major Redstar was close behind him. When they entered the turbo lift the major called down to the detention level and order Bail Organa brought back to interrogation.
As he exited the turbolift Darth Vader headed straight to the interrogation room where Bail Organa was being strapped back into the torture device less than an hour after being given a reprieve. He waited until Organa was fully in place before walking to the controls. With a little manipulation with the force and some electricity through the body Vader would soon know everything the Viceroy was hiding.
"Who was the Jedi that fathered the girl?" He asked.
Bail Organa glared at him with all the strength he could muster and didn't say a word. Vader waited, but not for long before he realized his prisoner was not going to answer. Once more he asked the Viceroy who the father of the girl was, this time working the controls to send a surge of electricity through the prisoner. Bail Organa screamed in pain as he once again found himself trying to resist the torture. But he was weak from the previous six hours.
"I don't know!" He screamed. Vader applied more electricity as Organa let out a blood curdling scream once again.
"Who was her mother? He asked send evening more current through the man as well was brushing his mind with force suggesting he tell the truth.
Bail screamed agony again before answering "Padme...Padme Amidala! The girl was born on Polis Massa at the end of the Clone Wars. Bail sobbed as he realized what he'd done. He betrayed his last promise to a very dear friend and now the woman's child was in grave danger. He was completely broken now.
Darth Vader sensed the truth in the man's words. Though he had suspected as much, finally hearing it did not lessen the blow. Regaining his composure, he thought to ask one final question. Though this time there was no anger in voice just a very small sense of hope.
"Where is senator Amidala now?" He asked
Still crying Bail Organa was barely able to speak but he managed to speak four words. "She died in childbirth"
Vader turned abruptly and stormed out the room, his vision had proven true. Major Redstar followed him into the hallway asking for orders.
"The Emperor does not want him dead to be used as a symbol for this new rebellion to rally around. Send him to the spice mines at Kessel. Then tell the Captain to set course for Vjun. Hide the girl and once we reach Bast Castle have her transported there discreetly. Kill everyone who has seen her." he ordered before turning on his heels and returning to his quarters to meditate some more.
Vjun
Darth Vader walked into his study in Bast Castle on Vjun and knelt down waiting for the image of his master to appear. He did not have to wait long before the image of Darth Sidious appeared above him.
"You have done well my apprentice" the holographic image spoke.
"Thank you my master" Vader said with his head bowed shielding his thoughts with the force. Since finding his daughter he learned that once again his master had lied to him. Not only had Padme survived for a short time after his battle on Mustafar she had survived long enough to give birth to their child. Now Vader would plot his revenge.
"The disturbance has been dealt with and Queen Breha of Alderaan now scrambles to keep herself in my good graces. You have tightened our grip on the galaxy. Tell me, what Jedi was hiding on Alderaan?" Palpatine asked
"There was no Jedi. Just a child strong in the force, her father was an unknown Jedi. The situation has been dealt with my master " Vader informed him. He could feel the Emperor trying to probe his thoughts but Vader had learned long ago how to prevent such intrusions and even make it seem as if he remembered things that had never happened. In this case he let the emperor see a false memory of him killing a dark skinned girl in a holding cell. It was the first time he had attempted such a thing with his master.
"Good, good. The children of any Jedi must not be allowed to survive lest they become powerful and seek to destroy us. What did Bail Organa know of this fledgling rebellion? The Emperor asked.
"The viceroy surprisingly knew very little of the rebellion. He had been contacted but was still deciding whether to help when we arrived. He knew the location of only one minor cell. I sent two star destroyers to deal with it" Vader reported.
"Very well Lord Vader, you may continue with your pursuit of any Jedi who survived order sixty-six" the emperor commanded.
"Yes, my master" Vader said as the image of The Emperor flickered away.
Vader rose and went to his meditation room and began meditating on the situation in which he now found himself. He had landed on Vjun only an hour ago and had the girl transferred to a private room to be hidden from most of his castle staff to prevent word from reaching the Emperor of her survival. Only those most loyal to him knew she was there and they wouldn't tell anyone. The other problem was the boy from Kashyyyk he had discovered a year ago. The son of two Jedi, Kento and Mallie Marek. Vader had discovered him while attacking the wookiee home world to get to the boy's father. Just before delivering the killing blow the boy had pulled Vader's lightsaber from his hand. Sensing the boy's potential Vader had slaughtered the squad of Stormtroopers that had shown up and taken the boy to be trained. The boy now lived in the cargo holds of his incomplete Super Star Destroyer Executor. His existence kept a secret from everyone, even from the crew of the very ship on which he lived. Now with the discovery of the girl he had two potential apprentices, two more than the rule of two allowed. But there must always be two. A master to hold the power and an apprentice to crave it. But who would be the apprentice?
Vader delved deeper into the dark side for answers. On one hand one of his potential apprentices was his daughter, his last connection to Anakin Skywalker and the woman he still loved. On the other hand, the boy was quite powerful having taken Vader's weapon right out of his hand with the force, remarkable and most impressive feat. Vader focused on his anger as he felt the dark side swirl around him. In his mind the thoughts, be patient and only the strongest are worthy, formed in his mind repeatedly. Vader opened his eyes and he knew what he must do.
He made his way upstairs to the room he had the girl put in and walked in. She was sitting looking out the window watching the acidic rain that fell constantly on this planet. If she noticed his presence she didn't acknowledge it. Vader could feel the despair, anger and emotional pain emanating from her. He could use that to his advantage.
"Tell me child, what is your name?" he asked. He had taken her from her home and never learned her name.
She turned to look at him with a mixture of fear and hatred in her eyes she glared for a long time before finally answering "Leia, my name is Leia and you kidnapped me"
Vader ignored the kidnapping comment moved closer until he was towering above her. "Tell me Leia, what do you know of your parents?"
"My mother is the Queen of Alderaan and my fa…" she started to reply before he abruptly cut her off.
"No girl, your real parents" he demanded
A confused look appeared on her face as she tried to fathom what he meant. She knew was adopted but had never met her real parents. Although she did have a very vague memory of a woman crying she assumed was birth mother but was never sure. The Queen and the Viceroy had never told her much.
"I don't know; I've been raised on Alderaan for as long as I can remember. All I know is they both died shortly after I was born" she told him. He could see the look of confusion on her face. She didn't know why this man was asking her questions she didn't know the answers to.
"That is a lie Bail Organa told to hide the truth from you. He stole you from your mother and she died of broken heart. He then attempted to hide you from your father" he informed her of the facts as he saw them.
Her look grew even more confused "But why would he take me from her, and who is my father?"
Vader had been waiting for this moment, he could now begin to put his plans into motion. Years of waiting had finally come to end. "I am your father"
Leia's turned from one of confusion to one of horror and then shock as she began shaking her head "No, no, no that can't be my father…Bail…told me my father died shortly before my mother."
"The lies the Viceroy told you are you finally coming into the open. Search your feelings and you will see I speak the truth." He said looking directly into her eyes.
As she looked at him, as much as she didn't want to admit it something told her that was speaking the truth. She looked away and began to cry.
"how can this be true? I've been raised on Alderaan my whole life! How could they lie to me and know you were alive and at the time say they loved me?" she began try uncontrollably now.
Vader moved closer and put his hand on her shoulder and let her cry. "Your motions will make you powerful. We will undo the lies you have been told, but never forget what has been done to you and to our family by those that we counted amongst our friends. Today we will take our first steps towards revenge" As she looked up him with watery eyes and nodded her had that she understood.
"I…I…never knew your name. They wouldn't tell me" she said.
Vader got down on one knee and looked her in the eye once more. What name should he tell her? A name that no longer had any meaning or the name the galaxy knew him as now. He decided both would suffice. "My name WAS Anakin Skywalker, but that name no longer has any meaning for me. Now I am known as Darth Vader, and together we will have our revenge."