Author Note: I changed the name of Palpatine's agent to Prillus, because it was brought to my attention that "Kallus" is an individual in the Rebels series. I can only assume I read the name somewhere and absentmindedly incorporated it into my story, but my agent is NOT the same guy as in the Rebels show, so I changed it. I haven't watched Rebels.
The Shuttle
En Route to the Executor
Max sat very still on the cot, his body slightly more calm now that Vader had stalked off into the cockpit with the belligerent Agent Prillus in tow.
But only slightly more calm.
Skywalker had leaned back now with his eyes closed, his face relaxed.
The admiral spoke softly but firmly, "Max, you will never ever tell anyone about what you heard here today."
The breath caught in his throat and he nodded, "Of course I won't."
"Oh, Admiral Piett?"
The admiral jerked his head toward the prisoner, who had turned his head, opened his blue eyes, and was lazily regarding him now.
"I really think you should lay off Max about the engineering thing. There is nothing wrong, and everything right, about civil engineering. Not everyone is cut out for a military job."
The admiral took a deep breath, "I have no intention of discussing Max's career choices with you, Skywalker."
"Really," the young Jedi persisted, "what is it with parents and miscellaneous relatives obsessing about young people's job choices? I mean, I can see my father's point. Rebel scum blowing up Death Star – bad. Max has kept his chin clean and has worked hard. You should wake up every moment and do a little interpretive dance of joy that he has chosen civil engineering when you consider what a disaster I am."
"You are not a disaster, Luke," Vader said briskly, striding back into the room, "and neither is your as yet unidentified sister. But as to your comments to the admiral – it is normal for a father, or an uncle, to have strong opinions about their young relatives' life work."
"I can see strong opinions, yes, but at some point you need to step back and just realize you aren't in control. Well, you won't do that, because you are obsessive and Sithly. But Piett sounds moderately normal."
The Sith turned his great head toward the Admiral, who straightened with only a slight gulp of fear.
"I trust you will keep today's conversation quiet, both of you."
Both men nodded in unison. The admiral's face was admirably calm, but Max knew that underneath the placid exterior was fear.
He didn't even want to know what his own expression was.
"Very well," Vader said somewhat absently, and turned toward his son, "I have ordered that Imperial City be locked down. We will find your sister."
"You know, I actually made a quick trip to Imperial Center a couple of years ago, when we blew up Xizor's palace. Imperial City is huge, with underground level upon underground level. Good luck finding one woman in the teeming maelstrom of humanity and alienity. I know you'll try, but I'm just going to say you'll fail. Like I said, she shields."
"Her name and description, Luke," Vader said after a moment, "tell me."
His progeny frowned and his face grew grim with determination, "I am not telling you."
/-
Imperial City
Imperial Center
45 minutes later
"Ok, we're clear," Mara Jades said, dropping out of the duct work and into the corridor.
Leia jumped down as well and gazed around incredulously before turning to look at Ahsoka.
"Need some help?"
"No," Tano responded firmly, lighting one of her lightsabers and widening the grate. A moment later, she was on the floor next to the other women.
"I still think this is crazy," she grumbled.
Jade was wearing a look of wicked glee, "What better place to hide than Vader's private suite on the top floor of his own palace? It is the last place anyone will look for us."
"You're sure there aren't guards roaming around up here?" Leia demanded.
"The general consensus among random thieves and spies and agents is that trying to get into Vader's palace is a death sentence. Of course there is crazy security in the lower levels, but I was able to bypass it thanks to Palpatine's paranoia about what Vader was up to. He ordered the secret passageways be built with the castle itself and entrusted that information to the Hands. We'll no doubt run into some cleaning droids, but that's it up here until His Lordship returns."
"And we'll be waiting for him," Leia vowed.
Tano looked gravely at Mara, "Thank you again, Mara, for all your help. I know your time as an Emperor's Hand was terrible, but ..."
"We could never have killed him without my knowledge of palace security and rituals," Jade finished with satisfaction, "especially the whole thing about Alderaanian wine. He always drinks it – excuse me, drank it, when celebrating."
"Vile despot," Leia muttered softly, then added. "Luke did a great job distracting the Emperor too. I heard him hurling invectives at our beloved father from across the parsecs. Luke has as surprisingly vicious tongue when is appropriately motivated."
"He's a man of so many talents," Mara said sincerely, then blushed as Leia looked at her.
"He is," she added defensively.
"I'm not arguing that with you," Leia said in an amused tone.
Both turned suddenly as they sensed a sudden change in Ahsoka's Force sense – not fear, but incredulity.
The Togruta had walked into a nearby room, and Leia followed her into the room, followed by Mara.
Then both stopped, stunned.
"Ok, that's just really really weird," Leia stated.
/-
The Shuttle
Sitting in Executor's Main Bay
"So, Lars?" Max said hesitantly, then added uncomfortably, "Skywalker, I guess?"
The Most Wanted Man in the Universe, the Weird Wielder of the Mysterious Force, Darth Vader's son, responded, "Either is fine. The aunt and uncle who raised me had the surname Lars, and occasionally I went by that name while still on Tatooine."
Max frowned slightly in confusion, then decided curiosity killed the shaak. He didn't really need to know about Skywalker's past. He glanced around a bit. Vader wasn't lurking nearby, and neither was his uncle. They had both left the room, presumably to confer about Skywalker's capture and the Emperor's death.
"Why did you do it?" he blurted out.
"Rescue you?" Skywalker responded, understanding him with unnerving ease. "Because they were going to cut off your finger. I wasn't going to let them torture you, of course."
Max eyed him with bewilderment, "But you knew my near relative was an Imperial of some kind ..."
The youth's eyes suddenly blazed with an intensity that made Max shrink back in his seat slightly.
"Unlike my father, who captured my best friends and tortured and brutalized them to use as bait to capture me, I refuse to let someone come to harm just because I don't like his associates or relatives."
Max clenched his teeth together. There was really nothing to say about that. Yes, presumably Skywalker's associates were all evil Rebels, but still ...
The blue eyes softened slightly and grew distant, even as Skywalker's face grew sorrowful.
"I know, better than most," he continued softly, "how terrible it is to love someone and be helpless to save them. I'm glad I was able to spare your uncle that horror, regardless of his political affiliations."
/
Cockpit
The Shuttle
In spite of himself, Darth Vader's heart clenched at Luke's words. He had retreated to the cockpit to confer with his admiral, but also to allow his son to speak with Maximus Piett. It had seemed remarkably odd that Luke had gone to such lengths to rescue and protect the younger Piett but the Force rang with the authenticity of Luke's words. His son had risked his own life and liberty to rescue the nephew of the Executor's Admiral out of selfless compassion.
For a brief moment, and most unwillingly, Darth Vader was transported back in time, to those terrible nights when he woke in anguish from dreams of his mother's suffering, his wife's death ...
"I believe, my lord, that there may be considerable unrest on Imperial Center after the Emperor's death," Admiral Piett stated, breaking into his disquieted thoughts.
The Sith collected himself with some difficulty.
"I agree, Admiral. Order the Executor back to Imperial Center immediately. And order four squads of guards here to escort Skywalker to his cell.
/-
Vader's Palace
Imperial City
Imperial Center
"Aw, look at this one!" Mara cooed, "He's so cute!"
Leia walked in a dazed manner over to the holo which was mounted on the wall.
"Where did Vader even get this?" she demanded incredulously.
The holo was of a slight, blond boy, smiling self-consciously, one tooth missing.
"Probably a school holo," Mara said authoritatively, "Even on the Outer Rim, most six year olds have some kind of schooling, or at least are screened in some manner."
Leia looked around, shaking her head incredulously, "He really went all out, didn't he? I count four holos from Luke's time on Tatooine, ten more from various missions where he was sighted, and, what, four artistic renderings of my beloved brother? One by Kilstin Randolph? Nothing he creates is cheap!"
"I would guess that Randolph was persuaded to make a special deal with Darth Vader," Tano commented drily.
"What's this one?" Mara asked, her eyes on a large holo near the entrance. It showed Luke Skywalker walking down a corridor, dressed in a gray uniform, holding a blaster in one hand.
Leia stepped up next to the red haired woman.
"Bespin, before the confrontation," she said shortly.
Mara Jade was not prone to random acts of affection, but she placed an arm around Organa, "I'm sorry, Leia."
Tano stood in the middle of the room and slowly revolved around, "Vader really is totally, over the top, insanely obsessive with your brother, Leia. It's like a shrine."
"Shrines are mostly for dead people," Leia said sharply, "and Luke isn't dead."
Tano suppressed her worry, but both women read her with ease.
"He's not dead," they said in unison.
"He was hurt, but not seriously," Leia stated firmly.
"Left elbow, with damage to the anterior ligament," Mara said authoritatively.
"And his left scapula," Leia added.
Ahsoka shook her head, "Incredible."
/-
Luke's "cell"
The Executor
In hyperspace
En route to Imperial Center
12 hours later
Darth Vader opened the door to his son's quarters and stepped cautiously into the room. He had holocams on throughout the suite and a bevy of guards at the door, but he still braced himself just in case Luke had managed to bypass the cams, rid himself of his shock collar and manacles, and was lying in wait to jump on him.
On an ordinary day, that would seem quite paranoid. But on a day when his previously unknown daughter had succeeded in sneaking into Palpatine's Throne Room and impaling Sidious with a lightsaber, almost anything seemed possible.
But no, Luke was seated on the floor near the giant transparisteel windows, crosslegged, staring quietly out at hyperspace.
The Dark Lord stepped in and locked the doors, then turned and waited patiently. He had superintended Luke's medical treatment of his injured arm, then firmly knocked him out with truly copious quantities of drugs, attended several meetings with his command staff, talked at length with Maximus Piett, made numerous plans for his arrival on Imperial Center, and now had some free time to spend with his son.
Of course, Luke might refuse to talk to him. Vader was still reeling slightly from his son's vitriolic stream of accusations; admittedly, it was partly an act to distract both Sith Lords, but there was enough truth that the Sith's soul was shaken.
At least he was only #15 on Luke's list of Terrible Fathers. He found himself, briefly, wondering about the 14 above him on the list, then decided he'd rather not know.
Luke, who had been ignoring him, now rolled to his feet and turned around.
"Father," he said in a neutral tone.
Vader gazed at him thoughtfully. His son was apparently recovering from both the sedatives and his injury well, though his left arm was bandaged. His hands were free for the moment, but Vader had ordered magnacuffs placed on both wrists; with the appropriate signal, the cuffs would pull together, restraining his son. And the shock collar would slow him down too.
He hoped.
It had been some time since he'd been intimidated by a Light Side user, but Luke was very, very strong, and he had an unknown twin who shielded well. Not that she could possibly be on board this ship, but once they were on Imperial Center he would have to be very cautious in public places. He needed to know more about his daughter.
"And now, my son, we will discuss the identity and location of your mysterious twin sister," Vader said firmly.
"No, we will not," Luke responded just as firmly.
For a long moment, the two men glared at one another.
Then Vader sighed. Torture was not an option. He felt terrible enough about what he'd done to Luke on Bespin, and the boy wouldn't reveal anything anyway.
He hesitated, gathered himself, then launched all his dark power into Luke's mind, seeking a name, a face ...
Luke grunted in surprise, pushed back with the Force, made his mind a durasteel wall.
For one minute, then two, the warriors, father and son, faced one another, both pouring all their strength into their mental battle.
Then, with a suddenness that startled Vader, Luke's mind shield slipped. He found himself, to his intense satisfaction, inside the boy's mind, with an image forming. An image of a tall figure, white, fuzzy, but growing steadily clearer ...
Wait.
"What is that?" he said in shock, taking an involuntary step back.
"Wampa," his son said, with what the Dark Lord suspected was amusement lurking in his eyes. "It attacked me on Hoth. It's missing an arm because I chopped it off."
A moment later, another image, even more vivid, appeared in Vader's mind's eye, "Dianoga, from the trash compactor in the Death Star. Interesting the wildlife one finds in unusual places."
A moment later ...
"And this one is a Fexian skullborer. Very freaky. Drills into people's skulls and sucks out their brains."
And a few seconds later.
"Rancor, complete with slobber. I faced off with it in Jabba's Palace ..."
Vader threw up his mental shields with an internal growl. This was an interesting way to prevent a mental interrogation – flood the bond with pointless images.
Interesting and irritating and, if he were to be honest, rather intimidating. It had been a long time since someone besides Palpatine had engaged him in a mental battle and fought him to a draw.
He sighed in resignation, "Would you enjoy a brief tour of the Executor?"
Skywalker looked startled, "Sure?"
"Very well."
The Dark Lord pressed a button and the magnacuffs activated, securing his son's wrists together.
"Come."