Prologue
Alternation
The universe is a vast place.
Time, even more so.
And within the World Between Worlds, Time is boundless, endless, filled with infinite possibilities in an infinite amount of universes.
Such as a universe where invaders from the outside ravaged the galaxy never before seen, or in another where everyone is made out of a kind of plastic... Or others where events transpired in ways none one could've seen coming, such as the heroes failing in their task or dying.
This is one such universe, where one inaction begins a ripple effect that puts the timeline on a course nobody could've predicted.
And it all began at the end of a battle; a battle that would begin the flow of destiny.
Yavin.
Frustration.
Anger.
These are just a few of the feelings that were coursing through the mind of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, as his Tie Advanced spun through the depths of space. He had the pilot right in his crosshairs but then... a last minute save by a old hunk of junk freighter saved the pilot and caused Vader's wingman to panic and clip his fighter, putting him in this situation.
By the time he was able to steady his ship, it was too late: the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star- the product of over 20 years of construction, labor, and credits, was gone in the blink of an eye. All that work and effort to prevent its destruction, wasted, and the devastation of both Jedha and Scarif and the destruction of Alderaan, pointless. Once the Galaxy learns of this, it will be utter bedlam; in his calculating mind, he could see it: the Galaxy rising up against the Empire with the knowledge that as powerful as they are, the Imperial war machine is not invincible... today proved that.
As the Dark Lord gripped his controls to move the ship, he sensed something... something foreign yet familiar... very familiar. In the distance, he saw ships passing by the gas giant of Yavin: Two X-Wings, a single Y-Wing, and the freighter... the same YT-1300 they had captured aboard the Death Star just a few days ago.
The Millennium Falcon, he believed the reports called it.
Logically, he should've left- he was all alone out here with no reinforcements and no survivors of the Death Star to back him up. But rage has a habit of overpowering logic.
At the very least, he could deny the Rebels their heroes.
The engines of the Tie screeched to life as it blazed towards the gas giant, the surviving Rebels unaware of the encroaching danger. Within seconds, the fighter had the Falcon in its crosshairs. The Sith hovered his thumbs over the trigger and-
Suddenly, the Tie suddenly stopped, lurching the Dark Lord forward into the console, smashing his life-support system against the control stick. The power was on, but the ship was not working. In seconds, he realized what it was: he was caught in a tractor beam. Peering out, he saw he had been caught in the beam of a Nebulon-B. Several, in fact. More Rebel ships soon came out of Hyperspace, with many locking tractor beams on his craft.
The holographic display on the dash came to life as a Mon Calamari appeared upon it. "This is Admiral Ackbar of the Rebel Alliance. You are hereby ordered to stand down and surrender. Know that if you try to massacre the crews of our ship, it has been programed to self destruct; as powerful as you are, even you cannot survive an exploding capital ship in the middle of space, Lord Vader, nor can you take on thousands of us. Your only option is to surrender."
Anger filled Vader but logic prevailed this time: the Mon Calamari was right- he cannot take on an entire Rebel fleet all by himself, nor can he survive the vacuum of space if he should somehow survive his threat... and with his life support damaged, there is not much he can do; his signature brute force won't work in this situation... but there is one thing he could do: he could learn. While he'll most likely be in a prison cell during his stay, he can still listen. He can overhear gossipy Rebels talking amidst the halls- he could hear their plans and then eventually escape and relay this to his master, which won't be for long since the Empire will likely be furious for the superweapons destruction and will be coming for revenge. All he has to do is be patient.
And so, Darth Vader surrendered with the hidden objective to learn what he can before reuniting with the Imperial force that will inevitably launch an attack on the moon.