He surveyed the Imperial fleet as it moved out of hyperspace . He was at the bridge of the Devastator chasing the juvenile Rebellion. He was barely aware of a pathetic officer sniveling to him. Talking about how they've come out at Tatooine. 'Tatooine.' He thought. 'I haven't been here since…' He shook the thoughts out of his head. It wasn't wise of him to think about the past at this time. The ship they followed, the Tantive IV, had just been hit. His pride flared at the thought of what he would do to them. A different lackey spoke to him.
"Lord Vader, we've shut down their main reactors!" Vader's metallic breathing was the only noise in the entire bridge as they all waited for his reaction. He sensed something though… a tremor in the Force. It was more powerful than what he had once sensed in Master Yoda's presence. It was coming from the planet below. He also sensed it was untrained. He was considering not personally finding the Death Star's technical readouts. Just to see if he could find the source. Why the Emperor even bothered with the Death Star confounded him, and a Force user of this magnitude was a rare find. But the fear of suffering at the hands of the Emperor overpowered his want to find the Powerful Force adept…
"Sir, a bounty huntress we hired on Tatooine demands to make contact. We hired her almost a year ago after several reports of a young Force wielding adolescent. She claims she's found the child of Anakin Skywalker. The dead Jedi general."
xXx
Chewbacca had stayed behind as the speeder only seated two people. The first thing that worried him was that the lights were on.
"Hey kid, it'll be fine." Han said trying to comfort Luke. "I was probably just being paranoid! I mean…"
Han stumbled across his words.
"Listen, I need to know. Even if there's only a possibility that she is." Han nodded in understanding. They got out of the speeder and Han followed Luke to the top room which held the stairs into the main portion of the homestead. As they walked into the open hole Luke ran to check on the kids room. Han stayed behind to check out the place where his friend lived. The kids should all be asleep by now. He opened the door. There was no one in the beds. His eyes all but fell out of his head. His heart-rate quickened and adrenaline pumped. He didn't sense any of them trying to sneak up on him either.
"Bantha-shit!" He screamed. "Where are the kids? Amou? Mekee?" He called their names as he ran out of the room and hallway back to the main area. Han was no where to be found! He saw a light coming from behind the door to the garage. He ran towards it jumping over the wreckage littering the ground. He opened the door and Chumi was standing behind Han near the droid oiler. She held a knife. To his throat.
"Don't come any closer, Luke." Chumi spat at him. Her eyes held a steely determination Luke had never seen in her before.
"Well Luke, at least you know I was right." Han said with sarcasm not usual for one with a knife on their throat. "I'd like you to meet my friend. Umi, Luke. Luke, Umi." Luke looked at the girl he had once thought he'd loved.
"Where are the children?" Luke's voice was mirroring Umi's. The sight of her threatening his best friend destroyed any and every good thought he'd ever had of her.
"Don't worry about them. They'll actually be safe."
"I kept them safe!" Luke yelled at her, pointing at himself.
"You call stealing to feed them 'keeping them safe'? No Luke. The Empire will keep them safe. And they'll do a damn better job than you." Luke stared at her dumbfounded.
"The Empire? You're giving them to the Empire?" He yelled. He took a few steps closer, but she pulled the blade closer to Han's neck every time he closed their distance. Luke stepped back once again.
"They aren't the only ones I'm giving to the Empire." She said with a calm voice. She stared at him with an almost feral gleam in her brown eyes as she smiled. Realization dawned on Luke.
"You want me because of my father." His mouth gaped. How had she fooled him so easily?
"Yeah, Skywalker. The Empire pays a lot for Jedi kids." She sneered at him. "You think I didn't hear your little conversation with Han at the cantina? To bad your father's dead, eh? He might have been able to save you from this." She chuckled at him looking down then back up at him..
Luke smirked. He had once, a long time ago, found Obi-Wan Kenobi's house. And found a weapon, one he almost never used. But he had trained himself on how to use it. And luckily he kept it in the garage. His eyes shot to where he kept it and stretched his hand toward it. It flew out of the cupboard and into his hand. The luminous blue blade activated in his hands. Umi's eyes went wide as she saw the saber but settled into an expression of complete smugness. A sound behind Luke chilled him to the bone. It was the sound of breathing, but something was wrong with it. It was mechanical… and labored. Luke stepped forward and twisted around. A black figure stood in the doorway.
XXx
He walked down into the stairwell. He had only been here once before. Nearly twenty years ago. He had five troops following him down the cold steps. Tatooine nights were always cold. A million and one questions raced through his head at once. Did the bounty huntress actually find his… his son? Was it actually his son? He was told that when she died that she died with child. The Imperial spies said her stomach was still bulging when her lifeless body was paraded through the streets of Naboo. Had that been faked? So that he wouldn't know his child lived through his wife's death? If he found out Obi-Wan was still alive and if he had anything to do with this… but that's assuming this boy was actually his son.
He walked towards the open door. There was screaming coming from both a woman and a man. As he came closer he could hear the activation of a light saber. 'Maybe the child can use it.' Vader thought. 'Or maybe he's trying to intimidate the bounty huntress.' He came to stand in the doorway. He saw the back of the young man. The Force was rolling off him. This one was strong indeed. Vader could already tell the boy was stronger than himself. Farther away there was a woman was holding a knife to a man's throat. The young man holding the saber spun around, his face was one of sheer terror, and hatred. Whatever he had been told about Vader couldn't have been good. Not that there was much good to tell. Vader examined the child very close. His eyes were a striking blue, 'Just like mine own.', and he had sandy blonde hair cut very poorly down to his chin except for his bangs. A strong chin and straight nose. He looked very ratty, despite his good looks. There were splotches of paint in his hair and skin. And his clothes were torn in random places. 'He looks like I used to.' Vader thought. No one could see his expression but it was one of remorse. He could even see a bit of her in him. Her lips, her build… The memory of her quickly went away though. They always did. The boy firmed his grip on his blue blade, and lifted his arms as his dominate leg stepped backwards. He knew the basics. But Vader was an experienced fighter, and he could already tell the boy's form was sloppy. The child was giving him a look of absolute hate.
"Well?" The boy asked. "Are we going to fight or what?" Vader motioned for the Stormtroopers to take the man the bounty huntress was holding into custody. The woman recoiled her blade from his neck and looked at the Sith Lord.
"I expect to be well paid for him" She said as she pointed to the sandy haired youth.
"But of course." Vader answered in his deep commanding voice. "Commander, take the huntress and the man away. Pay the huntress, and do what you would to the man. Leave us now." He spoke with a steely edge. The young one de-activated his light saber and turned to face the man with wide eyes. The older man spoke with a cocky grin.
"Hey kid, I'll be alright, okay? I always am." And as he said that the Stormtroopers bound him and dragged him out the door. Umi followed looking at the boy with a look that said I've-been-waiting-to-do-this-for-so-long. One Stormtrooper lingered, the commander.
"Sir, w-" His voice was replaced by an all too familiar gagging sound. Vader was choking him through the Force.
"I said leave us." Vader released his grip and the man all but crawled out of the room grabbing at his throat.
"What are you going to do to my friend." The young man had turned around to look at him.
"Give me your saber." He said. The young man stood erect, obviously shocked.
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Because I would assume that you enjoy having your hands attached to your arms." The boy took that in for a second. He had probably seen enough news holo's to know Vader wasn't one for jokes. He handed the weapon over.
"Are you going to kill me?" The young man asked. Vader hadn't exactly gotten this far. If this was his son then he would take another secret apprentice on. If it wasn't he would either kill him or send him away to be an Emperor's Hand.
"Do you know who your parents are?" Vader asked. He picked up a single thought from the youth. 'Padme.' What?
"No." The child said. "No I do not. My parents are dead and my guardians were killed before I had an interest in knowing." The child was a good liar. But lying to someone who could read your mind was a useless gesture. The child sat down in a chair next to him.
"You are… a very good liar. Who's your father?" The young man's brow knit together.
"Why do you-"
"If you do not tell me I will lose my patience. And if your parents are truly dead then you will get to meet them. Now tell me who your parents are." He spoke the words slow. Calm and collected. The boy pressed his lips together. He was realizing that Vader had trapped him.
"My mother's name was Padme Amidala Naberrie. She lived on Naboo. My father was a Jedi knight. Anakin Skywalker, the hero with no fear. My name is Luke Skywalker."
Xxx
The asshole had trapped him. He didn't want to die so he had no choice but to tell the monster.
"My mother's name was Padme Naberrie. She lived on Naboo. My father was a Jedi knight. Anakin Skywalker, the hero with no fear. My name is Luke Skywalker." He didn't know why he felt the need to say his name. But it sounded good.
"Luke." The dark figure said. It almost sounded trance-like.
"Got a problem with the name, Darth?" He could tell the Dark Lord withheld his anger when he called him that.
"Who were your guardians?" Luke was stunned at the question but answered.
"My aunt and uncle. They died in a sandpeople raid." Vader was quiet for a moment.
"How do you know that's how they died?" The young man was once again stunned. But once again answered.
"I was with them. A man I knew sacrificed himself to save me."
"Who was this man?" Luke didn't know why Darth-y over there was so interested.
"His name was Obi-Wan Kenobi." Luke answered. Immediately he wished he hadn't. His windpipes felt like they were being crushed. Was the Dark Lord doing this to him? Luke grabbed at his throat, but there was nothing there. He stood up, in fact he came off the floor. But there was still nothing on his throat.
"Child, if you are lying to me…" Luke said nothing, he was too busy trying to stop choking. Vader let go and Luke fell face first on the floor. He pushed himself up but was still on all fours.
"Why would I lie? It doesn't serve my interests. Though it might if telling you the truth makes you choke me." He was rubbing his neck with one of his hands. "Why do you even care? Obi-Wan died years ago when I was still a kid." He looked up at the towering figure.
"You are still a kid. How old are you?" Luke withheld his want to spit on Vader's boots.
"Fifteen." Vader stayed silent for a while. Luke counted ten wheezes.
"Come with me." The dark man commanded. Luke was about to protest when the Sith grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the garage.
"Hey what do you think you- Hey!" Vader had dragged Luke to the front of the stairwell before Luke broke free of his iron-like grip.
"Either you will follow willingly or I will drag you by force." Vader said.
"And which Force is that?" Luke asked with sarcasm. Vader bit back;
"The same Force I used to choke you." He answered. "Now which will it be?" The young man flinched when he had mentioned the choke. His throat still hurt! But Luke was actually interested in learning how to do that.
"Are you going to kill me?" Luke asked with fear at the edge of his voice.
"Do you want me to?"
"Why in the seven hells of Correlia would I want you to kill me?" Luke secretly felt smug saying that curse, one he'd picked up on from Han. Han. What was going to happen to his best friend? What was going to happen to his kids? He no longer cared what happened to Chu- No. Umi.
"Stop cursing, child. Now do I have to forcibly drag you or will you come willingly?" Luke could tell from Vader's voice he was almost ready to have another outburst. He didn't care about his life. He was NOT following the man who killed his father. He set his face in determination and balled his fists.
"I'm not following you." Vader looked at him for a second.
"So be it." He reached his hand out to touch Luke's forehead.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!"
All the sudden Luke got really sleepy. The last thing he remembered was falling over.