Chapter 7-Father's Children
Vader had felt overwhelmed due to the explosion in the Force that came from within his own ship, as he saw his daughter not that far nearly collapse suddenly out of nowhere, and only the smuggler being there to catch Leia being the reason her face didn't hit steel flooring. As for the Dark Lord, the event itself had triggered memories long ago when he was a different both physically, mentally, and Force alignment too. Back when the Jedi were once many, the Empire was the Republic, and he had been the happy secret husband of a Republic Senator named Padme.
However, unlike those memories that existed in his mind, the explosion within the Force that had occurred now was not because of him, but rather someone else, and the Dark Lord had an idea of the ones responsible for this. Walking with a purpose, Darth Vader made his way to Mara's room to see the sight that was before him of Mara Jade on top of his son, and giving him an intense passionate kiss. In an instant, the Dark Lord used his own power within the Force, and threw Mara Jade off his son with the red haired woman hitting the wall before landing on her room's bed.
As for Luke, the young man was now gasping for air, and acted like he had just come up for it after swimming up to the surface for it. Though considering the Force had nearly drowned him and Mara in its power the feeling seemed to be accurate.
"What do you think you two are doing?" said Vader, as he walked into the room, and flanked by the Noghri that were outside of the room.
To her credit, Mara's face was red from the intensity of it all, and the embarrassment she was now feeling at being caught kissing the son of the Dark Lord of the Sith like some hormonal schoolgirl. She felt caught making out with one of the male cadets in his dorm room at the Coruscant Imperial Academy before they went off to their assigned posts after graduation.
"Trust me Vader, your son put the moves on me, and not the other way around," said Mara, as she was mentally kicking herself since she was normally the seducer, and had the feminine charms needed to distract any male with a healthy libido long enough to get what she wanted.
"Forgive us Lord Vader. Your son wished to speak with Jade in private. We did not think such a thing would happen," said one of the Noghri, as his head along with his fellow kin was now down in shame, and expected there to be some kind of punishment for this.
"Mara's right Father. I started the whole thing and I just went with it because of what the Force was telling me. Ever since I met her, there was this pull, this shiver in the Force, and I couldn't resist it anymore," said Luke, as he saw his Father look at him now while he got off the floor, and looked a bit sheepish if not embarrassed because of it.
For his part, Vader did not know how to handle this since being a parent was knew to him, and even more so when your son is old enough to be in a relationship with a woman. Even if said woman was once one of the Emperor's most trusted hands and could use this time kissing her son to snap his neck while his guard was down.
"The Force is very demanding when it wants to be. I was the same way with your Mother so do not be ashamed of yourself. As for you Mara Jade, I expect you to keep your lips, and hands to yourself," said Vader, as he saw the red haired woman look away, and his son trying not to look at him either.
Not that he could blame the two. This moment reminded him so much of when he and Padme tried to hide their relationship during the Clone Wars.
(With Leia)
Leia was currently in her quarters with Han, who had no idea what had happened to her, and felt she should lie down before she collapsed again. Chewie was also in the room though it was a bit cramped since all Star Destroyers weren't exactly meant for that of the Wookiee species and was also concerned for the daughter of the Sith Lord.
"What exactly happened?" said Han, as he saw Leia sit up, and rub her forehead.
"Something in the Force I think. It was like an explosion of power, but it was strange in its own way, and it came from within this ship. Anything happen when I fell?" said Leia getting out of the bed she was in.
"Well for one, you weren't the only one to nearly fall over, as your dear old Sith Lord of a dad stumbled, and had to use the wall closest to him for support. After Vader recovered, he left the area, and with a purpose if the stride in his steps was anything to go by," said Han, as he had never seen the Dark Lord move so fast, but then again he had never been around Vader long enough to really measure the various speeds the man could walk, and it was quite intimidating to see how he did that.
"He must have felt it too and went to check it out," said Leia, as she turned when the door opened, and her Father entered the room with what she sensed was a look of concern.
"Are you all right?" said Vader, as he saw nod, and still felt uneasy about him being her Father.
"Yes. Do you know what caused that...that powerful explosion in the Force?" said Leia, as her Father nodded, and then explained it was her twin brother with Mara Jade.
"The Kid and the former Emperor's Hand? Together?! Well that's a strange romance story for ya. Am I right?" said Han, as he let out a chuckle, and knew Luke was never going to live this down.
"It's no more stranger then a Naboo Senator and a Jedi Knight falling in love during the Clone Wars," said Vader, as he left the room, and Leia followed after him after giving Han a glaring look.
"What did I say?" said Han looking at Chewie, who shrugged his massive shoulders, and shook his head at Han's actions.
"Wait! Damn it wait a minute!" said Leia, as she had sensed something from her Father when he spoke before leaving, and wanted to find out what he was talking about.
"What is it?" said Vader, as he tuned to face his daughter, and know what it was she wished to know.
"That last statement you made in my room, it was in connection to you, and my Mother wasn't it?" said Leia wanting an answer from her still distant Father.
"Yes. Our marriage was forbidden because Jedi were not allowed to marry, but I loved, and still love your Mother too much to follow such a stupid rule Up until recently, I had lost all that wished to have, and ever wanted in life regarding a family. Which is why I need your help, as well as Luke's to kill the Emperor when the time is right because he will never allow our family to become whole again, and I would rather be burned nearly to death again before I let him succeed," said Vader, as he turned around, and left a very stunned Leia by his statement to make plans for when he would confront to old Sith Master to kill him.
(Imperial Palace-At the Moment)
Emperor Palpatine was not a man to be surprised by many things in his life, as he had the Dark Side of the Force to help him, and manipulate things in his favor. He had done it during his time as a Senator of the Republic, he had done it since becoming the Emperor of his Empire, and he had done it to make the Jedi become nonexistent with people of the Galaxy remembering them being of something horrible.
However, at this moment in time, the Force was not under his control like it had been before, and the explosion within the Force proved it further. When it happened, the Sith Master felt like he had been thrown back by a Force Push, and far more powerful then the one Jedi Master Yoda gave him 20 years ago in their last battle. Ever since Vader had gotten his hands on his damn child, the influence the Emperor had on the Dark Side of the Force was slowly leaving the old Sith, and even worse was that his hold on Mara Jade had been broken too.
When he first found Mara, the Emperor already knew she had Force potential within her, and wanted to see just how far her skills could go under his teachings. Of course, the man had very little appreciation for the female gender just like he disliked other non human species, and made sure Mara was kept on a short leash. Oh, he made sure the leash in the form of the Dark Side inhibitor system he place on his loyal Hand wasn't noticed, and the only one knowing about it aside from himself was Vader.
The Dark Lord had clearly discovered his female Hand onboard the Executor and further sought to disrupt things for him by destroying the system the Emperor had placed within Mara's mind. Short after that happened, the explosion in the Force came, and brought the old Sith Master to a startling revelation that Anakin Skywalker wasn't the Chosen One that the Jedi believed him to be in terms of Force vision Prophecy. Instead, it was the Skywalker family, as a whole that would bring balance to the Force, and disrupt his Sith rule over the Galaxy.
Already the signs behind it were clear, as the son had broken the grip the Emperor had over his Father, the Father had helped free Mara from his control, and there was a chance Mara was now aiding them in his destruction. The Emperor knew of Vader's ambition to take the throne from him in order to rule over the Empire and make some changes to it that was the main cause for the Rebellion in the first place.
However, the Emperor had made the Galaxy suffer at his hands through his Empire to have the Rebellion exist after the Separatists were all killed at Vader's hands, and needed to find out who is enemies from within his Empire were. It wasn't easy at first since those that opposed him had changed sides after he was able to arrest some of the members of the Senate who were part of the Petition of 2000 and couldn't go against them just yet until he got more evidence of their traitorous actions towards his Empire. With the help of his...spy, the Sith Master learned all the players on the opposing side were in place to fight him in a full scale war for control of the Galaxy, and had kept his Sith Lord too busy to even make an attempt to usurp his rule.
Speaking of his spy...
"Pardon my intrusion my Emperor, buy I have a communication link with someone, who claims to be a Imperial spy among the Rebel's ranks, and wishes to speak personally with you in private," said an Imperial Officer's voice that came out of the Emperor throne.
"Thank you. Send the communication to my throne room," said the Emperor, as he keyed a few button on his throne to make the communication triple encrypted, and difficult to crack even by the most skilled slicer before the distorted image of his spy came into view.
"My Emperor, I bring news from my position within the Rebel's military structure, and that they are following the leads given to them about your 'special project'. Even now they are gathering together to prepare a massive fleet against you and destroy it before it can be completed. However, I am finding they need an extra...push to attack, and I will need to give them that," said the Emperor's spy, as the Sith Master stared at the figure before him, and smiled down at the weakling employed in his service.
"The right push you say? There can be so many things I could use to bait the Rebel scum, but considering what they are going to go after, I think that...yes I will use the only kind of temptation the Rebel's could not resist, and bring them to my new weapon when the time is truly right," said the Emperor, as he began to chuckle evilly, and the idea of what would drive the Rebel's to take the bait for his trap.
"Who my Emperor?" said the spy, as he frowned at the Emperor's words, and response to his own plan.
"Simple my mentally challenged spy. The bait needed to bring the Rebel's to my trap will be none other then...me!" said the Emperor seeing his shocked spy looking at him with disbelief.
"Y-You my Emperor? Is that...wise?" said the spy, who cowered now under the old Sith Master's cold soulless eyes, and the voice that came next sent a shiver up the man's spine.
"This is not the first time I have put myself in potential harm to get what I want my spy and I have every intention of making it is not the last. Wait until the Rebel fleet is almost fully assembled before releasing the information about myself attending to my Second Death Stars construction," said the Emperor, as he foresaw the battle, and the destruction his weapon would cause.
It would be glorious. It would be...breathtaking.
"I understand my Emperor," said the spy knowing not to question the Sith Master's actions.
"One more thing my spy. When this war is over and the Rebels are crushed beneath my feet...I have decided to acknowledge you as my son. Do not disappoint me again like you have in the past...General Madine," said the Emperor, as he killed the transmission, and then brought up the design for the Second Death Star.
When this war was over, the Emperor planned to have only one true apprentice, who was almost undamaged physically would take the throne from him one day, and it was not going to be his so called son.
(The Executor-Several Months Later)
Luke smiled at Mara, as he sparred with her with a training saber, and she was smiling back with a sexy smirk that made a grown man's blood burn with a fire that was hard to describe for the young Skywalker. In the time Luke spent on the ship with his Father, the young (now) Sith in training was finding himself enjoying life more, and it helped when being around Mara herself. The two had really hit it off in terms of a relationship after the "kissing incident" that caused an explosion in the Force that nearly made his Father and twin sister collapsed on the steel floor of the Super Star Destroyer.
Han being his usual self, teased Luke almost relentlessly about it, and would have done more had Luke not countered with the smugger being around Leia. Han tried to talk his way out it and being in denial, but the threat of telling Leia that along with telling Vader that the smuggler broke his daughter's heart forced the man to confess to Luke about it. How he really liked Leia, thought she was great, and wanted to be with her provided that Leia felt the same way about him in return.
That and Vader didn't object to any form of relationship before taking Han's head clean off.
Of course, Luke did discuss it with his Father, who took it rather well (just destroying the one room they were in when they talked) though the young Skywalker had to tell Leia through the Force to tell Han to stay away from their Father for a good while. Aside from that, things were good between Han, and Vader since the Sith Lord knew the smuggler wouldn't dare harm his daughter while he along with Luke drew breath.
Speaking of Luke, the young Skywalker had excelled in his training with his Father in the ways of the Force, and in his combat training with the Noghri. Even Mara helped in his training too since there were things the Emperor had taught her that Vader could not do himself due to his cybernetic conditioning. When they weren't training, the two Force Users could be see by some of the ships crew working on some of the star fighters in the docking bay areas, and smiling with love clearly in their eyes.
Leia during these couple of Months when she wasn't around Han, Chewie, or Lando had refreshed herself in the realm of politics with it being in that of the Imperial kind. With the Senate not around anymore, the way the Empire ran the political game changed, and Leia had to relearn it with the change in the field she use to have knowledge of. However, at the same time, the former Imperial Senator had gotten closer to her once estranged Sith Lord of a Father, who opened up to her more about things before being what he was now, and even telling her about how he came to be in this horrible suit. She had been appalled to know that the Emperor had put her Father in such a horrible thing without any kind of anesthetic during the "surgery" after being burned nearly to death after the duel with Obi-wan Kenobi.
When Leia asked outright if her Father loved her birth Mother, the Sith Lord had looked directly into her eyes with his masked ones, and told his daughter that it was his love for Padme that turned him to the Dark Side in the hopes of her living through the pregnancy. Leia was touched to know her Father did love her Mother, even if it meant turning to the Dark Side because of it, and that the effort had taken everything the Sith Lord had wanted in life for the past 20 years in wanting a family to call his own.
The loneliness the Sith Lord had endured for 20 years in the belief of losing everything he had, added to his injuries, which had not healed at all with medical treatments that were out there had taken away any kind of deep seeded hatred Leia had for her Father, and had forgiven him for what he did. It was in this way, Leia could truly bond with her biological Father, and told herself that they would do some more family bonding with Luke when the time came.
The Skywalker family would be united against the Emperor when the time came and with a little help from those close to them.
(A/N: YAY! I updated. Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will definitely have action in it that I know you are all itching for at this point. Also, I bet you never saw just who the Emperor's son was. I know it doesn't follow anything currently done, but I wanted to throw you guys a curve ball, and it had to be someone high up in the Rebel Alliance High Command structure. Until next time...PEACE!!!)