The Death Star
In Orbit Around Endor
1 year later
"Are the troops prepared to welcome the Emperor, Moff Jerjerrod?" Darth Vader demanded coldly.
"Yes, my Lord," Jerjerrod replied nervously. "They wait even now for his Majesty's arrival."
"I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Emperor is more devoted to ceremony than I am."
"Yes, my Lord. If I may, I will conduct a final review of the troops in the main Hanger Bay.
Darth Vader nodded without words and watched with dark satisfaction as Jerjerrod scurried off towards the bay where the Emperor was scheduled to arrive shortly. The man was a shockball of nerves.
The Dark Lord waited until the Moff had disappeared, then turned and rapidly strode toward a nearby elevator. Three minutes later, he was in the command center of the superlaser. It was, Vader admitted to himself, brilliant of Palpatine to have arranged for the Death Star to appear incomplete when in fact its superlaser was fully functional. Even now, the Rebel fleet was rumored to be gathering near Sullust, and the cyborg Sith guessed that soon the Rebels would launch a foolish attack on the Death Star.
The Rebels.
His son was with them.
His son.
Since the near miss at Bespin, Luke Skywalker (his Luke Skywalker) had escaped bounty hunters (on Kothlis and Corellia), destroyed two ancient droidekas (in an abandoned Separatist base on Geonosis), and been bitten by a quenker on Datooine. Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, had been even more on edge than usual after that report, only to learn two weeks later that the boy had been treated successfully and was back to full, rebellious health.
Through all of this, his power in the Light Side had grown – grown to an extent which startled both Sith Lords. Darth Vader was, he realized, proud, if uneasy. Truly, the boy was strong.
Darth Sidious was angry, and had shown it through increasingly creative punishment of his apprentice. Vader's left shoulder still throbbed from the remnants of a Force Lightning blast of two months ago. His body was always a mess, but as he aged, he healed more slowly.
The former Anakin Skywalker had chosen not to impart what truly had happened at Cloud City. He had admitted, meekly, that Calrissian had turned against him and whisked the Rebels away before they could be captured, and they had intercepted Skywalker before the boy arrived at Bespin. It was better for everyone, but most of all himself, that Sidious was not aware that a time traveling version of his son had popped up and informed him of the Emperor's treacherous plans.
Not that Vader was surprised in any way. Sidious had cheerfully sacrificed Count Dooku to pull the young Anakin Skywalker closer to the Dark Side. It was completely reasonable that Palpatine would prefer a young, whole Luke Skywalker to his disaster of a cyborg father.
It didn't even feel like betrayal, really. Slave masters were like that.
But it made him angry. Luke was his son. They belonged together.
"Captain."
"Yes, my lord?"
"You and the command crew of the superlaser are ordered to Hanger Bay #1 immediately to welcome the Emperor. He may have ... questions ... about the superlaser."
The captain in question paled, his pulse beating in his throat, but nodded obediently, "Yes, my Lord."
Sixty seconds later, the startled command crew had filed out of the room, leaving Vader alone with the power of the Death Star at his finger tips.
Five minutes before the Eclipse would revert to real space.
Five minutes.
/
Emperor's Throne Room
Eclipse
In hyperspace
Emperor Palpatine stared out of his private viewport at the dancing lights of hyperspace. He was uneasy.
Something was wrong in the Force, and indeed had been wrong since the Death Star had exploded into a quadrillion remnants of energy and matter 4 years ago due to the astonishing, miraculous shot of Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker.
On one hand, the boy was an ideal potential apprentice. Rarely did a Sith Lord have an opportunity presented to him (or her) the likes of Anakin Skywalker. Maybe never before. Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, had the Force power of the ages. Sidious's triumph in bringing him to heel had been the accomplishment of a lifetime.
To have yet another Skywalker burst on the galactic scene, full of nearly unlimited Force potential, was the dream of every Sith Lord.
Realistically, Vader was deteriorating. He had failed to capture Skywalker at Bespin, and the boy was growing in power at a rate that seemed well nigh impossible.
Thankfully, Palpatine was gifted in manipulation and had one major Idiot's Array in the hole. Luke Skywalker was a child prone to strong attachment. Palpatine doubted the youth knew that Vader was his father but when he found out, there would be a delicious battle in Skywalker's soul. To kill his father would cement his place in the Dark Side. Joining his father would turn him to the Dark Side as well. Truly a win-win situation!
The problem, of course, was that together, Vader and son could doubtless kill him. That was not remotely Ok. He had no intention of dying at the hand of the Skywalkers.
No, he would have to proceed carefully. Vader was still his slave, bound by both the Dark Side and the chains of guilt over the death of his Padme. Not that Vader had truly murdered the woman, but he thought he had. Sidious had reveled in the Dark power of that horrified sense of responsibility for decades now.
In the end, Luke Skywalker would fall. In the end, it would all be his. As it was meant to be.
There was a brief shudder, and the Eclipse reverted to real space.
Sidious stared hungrily out as the Death Star appeared in view. The battle station was still unfinished, its superstructure gaping empty in one quadrant.
But the superlaser, he knew, was fully functional. Soon the Rebels would attack, and the Alliance would die.
Wait a second. Why was the Death Star rotating towards the Eclipse?
Why was ...
With a horrified throb of terror, Emperor Palpatine lifted his hands in a totally ridiculous attempt to protect himself.
The superlaser glowed for a few seconds, counting down.
And fired on the Eclipse.
Which burst in a quadrillion pieces of light and matter.
/
Roof Landing Bay
Darth Vader's Palace
Imperial City
Imperial Center
3 months later
The shuttle touched down gently, and Emperor Vader impatiently threw off his safety restraints with the Force. Before the ramp was fully lowered, the Sith was striding down the ramp, waiting an irritable 3 seconds to step onto the roof.
It was night, and the cityscape glowed with the lights of ten million souls. It was, Vader supposed, beautiful in its own way, if one was inclined to consider beauty.
Darth Vader was not. He was, indeed, in a foul mood.
He had killed Palpatine and taken the throne. The Imperial Elite had welcomed him with, if not open arms, at least not much muttering. Those who had muttered had died, rapidly.
He could do anything he wanted, now. He was no longer under anyone's authority. He was the ultimate power in the galaxy.
But all he wanted was his son, and Luke had proven as hard to find as ever.
The Rebels had not attacked the Death Star, which still circled Endor. The death of the Emperor on the Eclipse had spread the word far and wide that the battle station was operational. Not surprisingly, the Rebel Alliance had chosen to steer clear of attacking an operational station, or at least until the galactic situation had settled.
Vader himself had no plans to use the Death Star on a planet. He had, indeed, thoroughly sabotaged the superlaser and removed vital components to prevent its use, though no one knew that except him. The last thing he needed was some idiot taking control of the Death Star and using it on the Empire and its Emperor.
"Your Highness."
"Vanee," Vader rumbled to his personal, and very competent, attendant.
"Your Highness, we have 26 individuals waiting for your weekly audience."
Vader bit down a Huttese imprecation. The weekly audience. He had forgotten. Or had he? Realistically, it was more that he refused to think about it. He absolutely loathed these tiresome audiences, with princes and shipping magnates bowing and simpering and abasing themselves before him.
On the other hand, he was no longer the Emperor's Blunt Instrument, but the Emperor himself. He couldn't just strangle dozens of individuals without wreaking serious havoc. There was enough instability in the upper echelons of the Empire without him going full rancor.
For the 1,567th time, he missed Padme. She would have been a glorious Empress, with the political ability to administer the vast array of the galaxy. He had many skills, but this complex political dance was beyond him.
He sighed and stepped into the elevator, Vanee at his side. The elevator descended six levels, depositing him near his audience chamber. As Vanee had warned, numerous individuals were standing along the sides of the corridor leading to the chamber. As one, they all turned and bowed their heads in obeisance.
No, wait, that wasn't true. All but one bowed. The last, a short, cloaked figure, turned and shook the hood off of his head defiantly, revealing the face of Luke Skywalker.
"Luke," Vader rumbled aloud, then stopped in shock. Had he actually said it aloud? And was he hallucinating?
"Your Highness," Skywalker replied smoothly. "Can we talk?"
Vader blinked at the youth. Yes, it was Luke. After searching all over the galaxy, after putting a four million credit bounty on his head, the boy was here?
"Certainly," he managed to rumble, gesturing for the youth to proceed toward his audience chamber. Dimly he was aware of the outrage from the courtiers in attendance, no doubt because Luke wasn't at the head of the line.
"See that we are not disturbed," Vader hissed ominously to the captain of his private security.
Yes, he had a private security unit. He, the most powerful Force user in the galaxy, had a legion of hapless souls whose only job was to keep him safe. It was ridiculous but expected.
Luke obediently marched into the audience chamber before halting and turning around slowly. Vader waited with a mixture of excitement, worry, and confusion as the boy did a thorough inspection.
"It's very stark," Luke finally said. "Not very elaborate for the Emperor of the galaxy."
"I have no need for pointless luxury," Vader intoned. "Are you armed?"
Luke blinked at him and then nodded, carefully reaching for his lightsaber which he proceeded to toss to Vader, "I believe that was yours originally, wasn't it?"
There were a million questions in that simple query, and Vader took a moment to stare at the saber in his hand.
"Indeed," he rumbled softly. "I lost it on Mustafar when Obi-Wan took my limbs and left me to burn in lava."
Luke shuddered in horror, "I'm sorry, I didn't know any details at all. Obi-Wan, being a total idiot, didn't even tell me that you were my father, much less what he did to you."
Vader looked up gravely, "So how did you find out the truth, my son?"
Skywalker's face lit up slightly at these words. His father was alive. Vader was an evil, possibly maniacal Sith Lord but all his life he wanted his father and his father was alive and was acknowledging Luke Skywalker, Rebel terrorist, as his son.
"Uh, Other Leia told us," he finally managed to say, struggling to control his emotions.
"Other Leia?"
"Um, yes, from the other timeline. You met my alter, right? Other Luke? Or Future Luke? It's hard to know what to call them."
Vader took a step forward, then stopped as Luke flinched slightly. Right, the boy was now unarmed and they were, hypothetically, sworn enemies.
"I was not aware that the princess had also traveled with the other version of you," the Sith murmured in a puzzled tone. "That is quite extraordinary."
"I guess they kind of do that together. The Force sends them to a variety of timelines and places, apparently," Luke explained.
"Remarkable. I would think only a powerful Force Sensitive would be capable of such a feat."
"Oh, Leia's very strong in the Force," Luke assured his father. "I mean, she shields amazingly well, naturally well, but she's probably as strong as I am."
Darth Vader stared at his son incredulously, "Surely not as strong as you, my son. The Skywalker line is the most powerful the galaxy has ever seen."
Luke Skywalker regarded his father in astonishment.
"You don't know," he said blankly. "I assumed that Other Luke would have told you. Though maybe it was obvious he wouldn't. It honestly didn't occur to us."
"I do not know what?" Vader demanded. Something was very much up.
"Leia is my twin sister."
A minute passed by, then another minute, as Darth Vader, Emperor of the known galaxy, gaped behind his black mask.
"Your sister," he finally muttered.
"Yes."
"My daughter."
Luke winced, "Er, I mean yes, biologically, but she hates your guts so I wouldn't, uh, tell her that. She's Ok with me as a brother but she really loathes you, for totally acceptable reasons."
"I tortured her."
"Yes."
"The Death Star blew up her planet!"
"Yes. We have a screwed up family."
Darth Vader, Emperor of the known galaxy, found himself pacing up and down his main audience chamber, his mind and spirit in the throes of a maelstrom of emotion. This was catastrophic. Horrible. He had his son in hand and Luke had come to him but he'd tortured his daughter, the child of his Angel. How could his twins ever forgive him?
"I am sorry," he said finally.
"Well, you should be," Luke said severely. "However, Future Leia said there was good in you and that's why I was stupid enough to show up here and talk to you. Also, I wanted to meet my father. I've wanted to all my life."
The Sith turned to gaze at his son now, relishing the features of that young face. The blue eyes were so much like those of young Anakin, but the nose and slight stature were all Padme.
"I have longed to know you too, my son," he said humbly. "This is the best day I've had in the last 23 years."
Skywalker's face lit up with enthusiasm, "Really?"
"Truly," Vader avowed, daring to step closer. Luke didn't flinch this time, so the Dark Lord allowed himself to lift up a hand and reverently touch his son's cheek. So many years. So many lost years.
"Well, maybe we can work something out then," the youth said with a dazzling smile. "I mean, you're Emperor of the galaxy now ..."
"And I would gladly give you the position."
Luke took a horrified step back, "Um, not me. I'm not good Emperor material at all."
"Then your sister!" Vader said in a frenzy of enthusiasm. "Yes, she is the perfect person to rule the galaxy, Luke! She has Padme's political giftedness and acumen. She will be an amazing Empress!"
"She wants democracy!" Luke riposted indignantly. "There is no way she'll go for being a tyrannical Sith Lady!"
"I care not whether she creates a democracy or not," Vader stated with a wave of his hand. "The Empire, or its replacement, is yours, my children. I will support you in whatever form you wish to create it."
Luke frowned hideously and gazed into his father's dark mask, into his very eyes.
"Do you promise?" he demanded suspiciously.
"With all that I am, I promise," the Sith averred.
Luke Skywalker stared at him for a minute, probing his father, then smiled, "Well, all right then. Let's get to work!"