Vader watched the sun rise over the rocky cliffside, bodies of fallen Tusken raiders were strewn across the land. The fires burnt out, only smoke rose from the ashes, a slight breeze whipped up Vader's cloak. He looked at his hands, dried blood stained the black leather,
They deserved everything. Vader heard a speeder approaching him, he turned to the sound, a man in battle-scarred Mandalorian armor dismounted his vehicle. He wore a jetpack and he carried his weapon in his hand,
"I presume you're the guy?" The man said,
"And I presume you're the bounty hunter." Vader replied,
"I got a name- Boba Fett. I know who you are, no need for an introduction." Boba waved Vader off as if he were a child, "What's this mission Jabba tells me about?" Fett squatted onto an adjacent boulder, awaiting Vader's response.
"An Insurgent group of rogue clones and a Jedi have been wreaking havoc in the outer rim, I want to know the location of their base, find it and report back to me."
"I hope you got the credits, dealing with Jedi is a risky business." Boba toyed with his weapon,
"Credits aren't a problem." Vader threw a small sack at Boba's feet, the bounty hunter reached out and picked it up,
"Ten thousand? You must really wanna kill these guys."
"I want to do more than just kill them." Vader's voice trailed off as he stared at a decrepit Tusken body.
"You did this?" Boba inquired,
"Perhaps I did."
"Remind me not to piss you off." Boba chuckled as he mounted his speeder and rode out of sight. Vader mounted his speeder and zoomed towards his shuttle,
"Starkiller, meet me on the Executor, I wish to discuss something." Vader relayed over comm,
"Yes my master." The young boy responded. Vader made his way to his chambers on the Executor, he slumped into his meditation chamber, and waited. Eventually the door slid open, Starkiller strided in and kneeled before Vader.
"Sharad Hett. You destroyed him?"
"M'lord, I told you when we left for Malastare that I killed him." Starkiller tensed up,
"LIAR!" Vader's fury was boiling over, "I went to Tatooine and slaughtered a whole village! He was there defending them! You failed me…" Vader took a step towards Starkiller, the young boy winced in fear,
"M'lord I'm so sorry! He was too powerful!" Starkiller retreated to a corner of the room.
"You have failed me for the last time boy!" Vader ignited his lightsaber and stabbed Starkiller through the abdomen.
"I saved you… Maul would've destroyed you…" Starkiller fell to his knees.
"And I thank you for your service." Vader swiped at Starkiller's head, his face was in a perpetual state of fear as it rolled off of his shoulders and onto the floor.
Three Weeks Later…
Vader glanced around the dimly lit office. Tarkin sat adjacent to him, the Emperor glared at the both of them,
"You allowed one of your pilots to defect, and escape with a Wookie?!" The Emperor's voice was ice in Vader's veins.
"Captain Solo was too swift for our primary defenses m'lord." Tarkin rushed to defend Vader,
"My master, Captain Solo will be hunted down. He will not escape this time." Vader assured Palpatine,
"Why must there always be a next time Vader? You let Master Windu escape- and you will kill him the next time. You let one of your finest pilots defect- and you will kill him the next time. Your failure is noted. Leave my presence." The Emperor grit his teeth at Vader. Vader stood and marched out of the room. Vader was silent the shuttle ride and as he stood at the front of the bridge, he looked through the Executor's windows, watching as the trade ships landed and exited Coruscant. He heard footsteps nearing him, a spur clicked with each footstep, Vader turned to the sound, Boba Fett stood before him,
"I found your rebels. They're all hold up on Dantooine, some abandoned mining facility, they seem unaware of your surveillance."
"Very well, here is the rest of your-"
"Hold on, the Jedi there… it's Mace Windu right?"
"Yes." Boba took a step near Vader,
"Let me go with you, I want to see his final breath. And keep those credits, I'm volunteering." Vader was skeptical,
"Why do you want him dead?"
"Dead? I want more than that… I want his head on a pike!"
"Very well, you shall be allowed to garrison with the troops. Admiral Ozzel, prepare the fleet- we're going to Dantooine." The pudgy man nodded his head, Vader felt the ship zoom into hyperspace, Fett stood next to Vader as they looked through the window, watching the stars fly by. The Executor abruptly came to a stop, the blue planet glinted in the starlight. The bridge officers scurried to their panels, communicating to the landing ground forces, Vader followed Fett onto his ship, the two joined the forces on the ground. Battalion after battalion lined the field, AT-AT's towered over the garrison, "ALL MARCH!" Vader gave the signal, he spearheaded the massive invading force. The facility stood within a small valley, Vader's forces marched through the narrow pathway. The garrison was about 200 yards away from the facility, Vader heard a single command,
"FIRE!" A volley of blaster bolts blitzed Vader's troops, he ignited his saber, deflecting shot after shot,
"General Veers, have your walkers demolish the front entrance, we must gain access to the facility!" Vader commanded, Boba Fett stood next to him, firing wildly at the facility. Giant boulders lined the walkway, "All forces drive around the boulders, hug them and use them as cover- draw closer to the facility." Vader commanded over comm. He moved with the sea of stormtroopers. The AT-AT's fired into the facility walls, they burst into flames, crumbling to the ground. "CHARGE!" Vader sprinted through his troops, he saw Fett sail over his head, using his two forces collided into a melee. Vader engaged the insurgent troops, cutting down one after another, bodies surrounded the battlefield, littering the fresh grass in the valley. Vader saw a plume of fire erupt from his right, Boba Fett incinerated five enemies before his eyes. He joined Fett, they fought side by side, demolishing countless amounts of soldiers in their wake. Vader saw lightsabers in the distance, he motioned over to Fett to follow, the two pushed through the battlefield, and ended in a clearing, five Jedi fought tirelessly, swinging at Imperial soldiers. Windu outpaced them all, taking down troops by the threes. One of the Jedi noticed Vader,
"It's Darth Vader!" The young trainee seemed to soil his clothing. Mace turned to Vader,
"And so you have found us, you will not win Vader. We have the force! We outnumber you." Windu boasted.
"I'd say we're evenly matched." Boba exclaimed, the group of Jedi surrounded Vader and Fett, the two stood back to back, circling around. Three Jedi, including Windu engaged Vader; the Sith lord toyed with them,
"Master Windu cannot save you. Join me, and I will show you power!" Vader tempted the padawans. Windu charged Vader, pushing aside the other Jedi. Their sabers locked together,
"I'm going to kill you Skywalker, just like you killed my brothers and sisters!" Mace pushed down on Vader, the Sith lord pushed back- releasing his strength, the sabers disengaged- Windu stumbled to the ground, the two padawans stood to defend him.
"Cute." Vader swiped at their midsections, cutting them into pieces.
"NOOO!" Windu hopped to his feet, the two exchanged strikes. The sounds of their sabers were phased out due to the massive battle around them, sparks flew from their weapons. Suddenly a massive explosion burst behind Vader, knocking him over, Windu rose his saber to strike Vader down- Boba zoomed and tackled the Jedi master, sending him flying five feet into the air. The Jedi regained his balance, "And who are you? One of his pets?" Mace mocked Boba,
"I'm your worst nightmare." Boba sent his wrist rocket at Windu, the Jedi master redirected it into a crowd of stormtroopers adjacent to them. Vader engaged Windu once more, unleashing an offensive onslaught, Boba joined Vader at his side and sent flames flying at Windu, he pushed Vader aside and snuffed the flames with the force, Vader swung at his head, Windu deflected and countered, cutting at Vader's leg. The Sith lord lost his balance and fell to one knee. Windu brought his saber down onto Vader, Vader caught the blade with his hand.
"What? How is that possible!?" Windu pushed harder down onto Vader, the Sith lord rose and swatted the blade away. Vader swung at Windu, the two engaged once more, exchanging a series of blows and parries. Windu was growing fatigued, his forces were pushed farther into the facility, his numbers were decreasing rapidly. Boba and Vader advanced towards the retreating Jedi.
"There is nowhere to go, you will die here Master Windu." Vader sneered. Mace charged at the pair, Vader countered his attack and sliced his across the chest,
"AGHHHH!" Windu wailed in pain, he breathed heavily, "I will not… die… easily…"
"Oh that's half the fun!" Boba ran at Windu, the Jedi swung, Boba ducked and punched him in the side. "You took the one thing I loved… You killed my father!" Windu desperately swung at Boba, Vader sliced at Windu's hand and chopped it clean off. The robotic limb surged into pieces in the dirt. Vader watched as Windu tried to crawl to his saber, using only one hand, dragging his body across the dirt. Vader picked his saber up off of the ground and handed it to Boba. "Vader, get him on his knees." Vader obeyed, and forced Windu onto his knees, his face was bloody, his wounds cauterized and smoking.
"I don't know your father scum!" Windu spat blood at Boba's feet,
"DO YOU KNOW NOW?!" Boba removed his helmet, it all made sense to Vader now. Jango Fett's unaltered clone…
"The bounty hunter. HA! He died easy, I think you watched… didn't you?" Windu mocked Fett,
"This saber killed my father, and now… it will kill you." Boba ignited the saber and sliced Windu's head off, the Jedi's head rolled in the dirt as his body went limp and fell to the ground. The sound of blaster fire died down, the remaining insurgent forces laid down their weapons. Boba reached for his helmet, and stood next to Vader, "If you don't mind, I would like to keep the saber."
"Consider it your pay." Vader clipped his saber onto his belt and strided for his shuttle…
Smoke rose over the demolished base, the sun crept over the small hillside, the stench of burned flesh and rotting corpses filled the air. Vader stood on the boarding ramp of his shuttle, watching his soldiers destroy the remaining clone insurgents. Boba Fett stood next to Vader, his blaster at his side,
"I have another job for you bounty hunter, find Han Solo- and his wookie, bring them to me." Vader did not make eye contact with Boba,
"Hefty price for a Wookie." Boba toyed with his blaster,
"Your pay will be considerable." Vader assured, Boba nodded his head and marched to his ship, "Don't you require any information?"
"No, his name says it all- he's a Solo; easy to find royalty." Boba boarded Slave 1 and the ship zoomed into space. Vader became lost in his own thoughts, her hair- flowing in the soft Naboo breeze, her smile lighting his darkness- her love… betraying him.
Padme. Vader was entranced by her, forever in love… forever in sadness.