Author Note: I know it has been a long time since I updated this story; I was toiling away in the Pride and Prejudice fandom – my latest book, Gallant Mr. Darcy, should be live on Amazon next week ... woohoo! I haven't forgotten this one, and will keep updating it. This particular timeline starts in Chapter 49.
Solo hesitated and then asked, "How did you meet my counterpart?"
"We met on the Death Star when he and my then unknown twin brother rescued me from a detention cell," Leia explained. "Going back earlier – my husband was born on Corellia, was pulled into the White Worms gang, escaped, became an Imperial infantryman, saved Chewbacca, got involved with Tobias Beckett's gang, then ran afoul of Crimson Dawn. He finally ditched them successfully and decided to work for Jabba the Hutt; that went fairly well, as my Han is an amazing pilot and was able to slip past Imperial blockades with the best of them, but he had to dump a load of spice the year before I met him, and Jabba was furious. There was a bounty on his head..."
She trailed off as Han held out his only hand. "Ok, gotcha. A lot of that is my life, but the big difference is that I crossed paths with a bounty hunter named Boba Fett shortly after I started working for Jabba."
Leia grimaced and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know him. Not a nice person."
"No," Solo agreed. "We had a mission where we were forced to work together and I did something so fast that Fett wondered if I was a Force sensitive. He provoked a fight, and we smacked each other around, though thanks to his armor, I am not sure how much damage I did. Anyway, he got some of my blood, ran it through some kind of testing system, and it popped up that my midichlorian count was sufficiently elevated that I had to be turned into the Empire. Imperials showed up one day when I was hanging in the Galloping Bantha bar in Mos Eisele. I took out a few – I'm a great shot – but was on the verge of getting stunned when Kenobi showed up with lightsaber swinging, drove them off, and helped me to the Falcon. He sent me and Chewie off so I could get training."
"To Yoda on Dagobah?" Leia asked knowledgeably. "My Chewbacca actually knows Yoda; it must have been an interesting reunion if the same is true of your Chewbacca."
Solo blinked and shook his head. It was so weird how much this woman knew.
"Yeah, it was weird. So you, uh, you know Master Yoda?"
"Not in my timeline, no, though I've met him more than once during our jaunts through time. In our timeline, he trained my brother and died of old age when we were 24 years old."
"He is pretty old."
"Very. Ok, so you were trained on Dagobah..."
"Yeah. Yoda was kind of annoyed because I guess compared to a Skywalker, I am nothing to write home about, but I am smart, if I do say so myself."
"Very smart," Leia answered with a grin. "Very smart, and wily, and all around a great guy in a firefight. So then what?"
"I trained for a year or so and then abruptly got sent off to Alderaan to protect Leia Organa and her family, though Yoda wouldn't tell me why. He was pretty cagey about it."
"Cagey could be Yoda's middle name," Leia agreed with a huff. "Kenobi too. They don't understand Vader at all; the one thing that can penetrate his screwed up head is his children."
"Yeah, I guess you know, though it does seem crazy. He has killed a lot of kids."
His companion's face darkened, and she nodded. "He is a villain of epic proportions, Han Solo, there is no doubt. However, Palpatine is even more of a villain, and Vader can help destroy him."
"But will he?" Solo demanded doubtfully. "I mean, I know you keep saying that he will, but Vader has been the Emperor's Powerful Fist for the last decade."
Leia stood up and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You should get more rest Han, but don't worry; now that Vader knows that his master murdered our mother, he is primed and ready to go."
/
Tantive IV
In orbit around Raxxa
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master, gazed in bewilderment at the Millennium Falcon, which was nestled calmly on the floor of the main docking bay of the Tantive IV.
He had assumed that Solo was dead, and probably Chewbacca with him. He had regretted that assumption, even sorrowed over it, but it was vital to protect Leia Organa, who was, along with her brother, the galaxy's best hope to defeat Darth Vader and his Emperor.
But Solo was aboard, he could sense it. And...and...and Vader was aboard as well.
It was entirely impossible that Han Solo, who was not particularly strong in the Force, nor well trained, could have defeated Darth Vader.
The obvious assumption was that Vader had forced Solo and his Wookiee copilot to bring the Falcon here so that Vader could finish what he had started in his pursuit of the Organas.
But somehow it didn't feel like that. Solo was not terrified, and Vader was not furious. It was...
The ramp lowered slowly, and Kenobi tightened his grip on his lightsaber. A moment later, a completely unknown female, a lightsaber hanging at her waist, marched down the ramp with Solo, his right arm bound up in a sling, at her heels.
"Hey, Obi-Wan!" Solo yelled out. "Surprise! I'm alive!"
Kenobi's eyes were fixed on the woman, who looked remarkably familiar. She looked kind of like...like Leia Organa of Alderaan, but older. Also, like Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker. Who was this woman?
"No thanks to you," the woman snapped at him as the twosome made their way toward him. "Really, Obi-Wan, sometimes you just suck. I know you are all 'oh, the Skywalker twins are the galaxy's best hope' but it is rotten to send Han in to be slaughtered!"
Kenobi stared with an open mouth and then turned his attention on Solo who, in spite of his wounded arm, was now cocking an insouciant eyebrow at the Jedi master.
"So, Master Kenobi," Solo said as he came to a halt, "Leia Organa is Darth Vader's kid, and she has a twin brother named Luke. And Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker. Just all kinds of surprises today!"
Obi-Wan choked on his own saliva and went into a coughing fit. It took him a surprisingly long time to recover, but when a very large furry hand started smacking him hard in the back, he managed to pull himself together.
"Thank you, Chewbacca," he rasped. "How...how do you know about the Skywalkers?"
"We told him," a cheerful male voice explained, causing Kenobi's head to jerk toward the Falcon. A moment later, his blue saber was alight, and he had shifted into first position. At the bottom of the ramp stood Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. To his right stood a short blond man, dressed in black, who held a lightsaber in his right hand.
"Cut it out," the unknown male ordered. "My father can hardly walk right now, so no fighting."
"Erm, ugh, kack, ugh?" Kenobi responded in bewilderment.
"So, some introductions are in order," the unknown woman explained. "I'm Leia Organa from about two decades in the future, and from a different timeline. That is my brother Luke Skywalker. We messed with a holocron a few years back and keep getting thrown randomly into timelines to sort things out. This time it was to save Han, who, while he lost his right hand, is at least still alive."
Kenobi gazed at the Older Leia, then at the Older Luke, then focused his attention on Vader. It was surprisingly difficult to 'see' past the shining Force Lights of the two travelers from the future (?) but he could sense, in his former padawan, Darkness and Rage, but only partially directed toward him.
Then Vader took a few hobbling steps towards him, and Kenobi realized that the older version of Luke Skywalker was right; the junior Sith wasn't walking too well.
"What happened to him?" the older Jedi asked nervously.
"Well, we showed up just as Han got his right hand cut off," Leia explained with a wince of sympathy toward his Alter Husband. "Then Vader noticed my brother, and they fought for a bit, and I snuck up and chopped off my Alter Father's cyborg legs, and Luke took off his right arm. So then Vader was incapacitated. On the way here, Luke reattached Vader's limbs, but they aren't interfacing well yet. "
Kenobi glared directly into the great dark mask of his former best friend. "We must kill him now, while we have the opportunity."
"And no," Luke replied quickly. "No, that is not happening. Don't worry, Father. I won't let him stab you through the chest."
"He will not find it easy if he tries," the Sith Lord rumbled, finally speaking. "The power of the Dark Side..."
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Luke interrupted hastily. "Leia, where are we?"
"The Organa's ship, the Tantive IV. The medical bays are not far from here. Father, can you make it like 400 meters?"
Vader jolted at being addressed as a father, but the black mask nodded. "Of course I can."
"Ok, let's..." Luke began.
"We cannot let him live!" Kenobi insisted, his voice rising. "I could not bring myself to kill my brother on Mustafar, but now – he is more machine now than man..."
"Twisted and evil!" the twins chorused.
"Yes, yes, we know," Leia said, patting Kenobi reassuringly on the arm even as she focused on the Jedi Master's lightsaber, which turned off and leaped into her own hand.
Kenobi cast a hunted look at Leia. Such power!
"You are wrong," Luke continued, grabbing his Alter Father's right arm and guiding him forward. "Vader has been redeemed in the past, and even if he isn't, he is planning to kill Palpatine, so you want him on your side."
Kenobi gulped and swayed. This day was just getting weirder.
"Kill Palpatine? Impossible!"
"The Emperor killed my Angel," Vader declared, "and I will kill him in return. And then I will kill you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I will cut you into pieces and dip you in lava."
Luke grimaced at this but Leia merely grinned and said, "Well, Obi-Wan, that is reasonable enough, isn't it?"
/
Med Bay #3,
Tantive IV
In hyperspace going somewhere unknown to the Future Twins
"Med tech keeps improving, of course," Luke said to Han as he worked on Vader's right arm, which kept twitching in a thoroughly annoying way. "So your prosthetic won't be as good as mine, but you will get used to it."
Han Solo, who was in a bed, pumped full of good drugs, managed to open one brown eye and slurred, "I can – can't 'magine ever gettin' usta it. Missing a hand. Sucks."
"I know," Luke said sympathetically. "I lost a right hand to Vader as well, so I know the pain. At least the dude didn't announce he was your father right after he chopped off your hand."
Solo's eyes suddenly popped open in horror. "Darth Vader is my father?!"
"No, no," Luke returned hastily. "No. Leia, what did you give him?"
"Something strong," his sister answered cheerfully. "Something very, very strong. I remember how much pain you were in after Bespin, and it was really pointless. You were just being stupid and heroic."
"I needed a clear head."
"Well, Han doesn't need a clear head now. He has all kinds of people looking after him, like Chewbacca, who will tear the arms off of anyone who tries to hurt him, so yeah, I topped him up with some really strong drugs. Han, go to sleep."
"'Kay," Solo returned, and promptly collapsed into a deep slumber.
"Where are my children, Obi-Wan?" Vader demanded suddenly, glaring at his former master, who was standing uneasily near the door.
The Jedi pasted on a bland expression and said, "They are far from here, Darth Vader, and..."
"They are on board this ship, actually," Luke interrupted. "How is that, Alter Father?"
Vader noticed, absently, that his right arm felt better than it had in many years, but most of his brain was focused on...
"My twins are here on board the Tantive IV?" the Sith asked yearningly.
"He cannot see them!" Kenobi insisted. "Neither Luke nor Leia are ready for such a thing!"
"Yeah, plus they will probably be pissed off with you that you lied to them," Older Leia said drily.
"I will not allow you..." Kenobi declared passionately, fighting the inclination to foam at the mouth.
"Too late," Luke said sunnily, and gestured toward the door, which opened obediently.
"Come in, Luke!" he called out.
Luke Skywalker, age 14, stepped into the room.