Impressive Conference Room

First Death Star

In orbit around Scarif

Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, with the Sith Lord Darth Vader at his heels, strode into the conference room as General Cassio Tagge said, "The Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate..."

"The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us," Tarkin interrupted. "I have just heard that the Emperor has dissolved the Council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away."

"That's impossible!" Tagge exclaimed. "How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?"

"Regional governors now have direct control over their territories," Tarkin declared, his steely eyed gaze moving around the table. "Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station."

Admiral Motti, to his right, smiled in satisfaction, but Tagge forged on pugnaciously, "And what of the Rebellion? If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness, and exploit it."

Darth Vader, who had thus far been content to loom ominously, said in his deep voice, "The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands."

This was true enough. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, neck deep in the burgeoning Rebellion, was currently being held in a high security cell in the bowels of the Death Star. And Darth Vader was most adept at pulling information out of unwilling prisoners.

"Any attack made against this station would be a useless gesture," Admiral Motti said passionately, "no matter what technical data they have obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the galaxy. I suggest we use it."

Vader could not let this go by without comment. "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force."

Motti sneered openly at this. "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to discover the Rebel's hidden fortress..."

Tarkin sighed inwardly as, naturally enough, Vader started Force choking Motti. Really, the admiral was competent, but he was also an idiot to provoke Darth Vader. The man was like an attack dog, currently under the firm heel of Emperor Palpatine and by extension Governor Tarkin, but insulting the Force was just stupid!

"I find your lack of faith..." Vader began, just as, before the startled eyes of the men on the other side of the table, a black clad object materialized out of thin air, apparently in flight, because whatever it was knocked into Darth Vader, who fell over with the intruder on top of him, and then they both disappeared.

Motti, his throat now open, panted in relief.

/

Luke Skywalker was used to being yanked out of his own timeline, but he was at least usually standing still when it happened. But not this time. One second he was playing (low charge) shockball with some Jedi apprentices, the next second was hurtling through the air and ...

He rolled gracefully to his feet and spun around, his lightsaber in his hands and on without conscious thought. Because Darth Vader was behind him and even as the Sith clambered rather clumsily to his feet, the cyborg's own red blade was coming alive.

Vader stared at him with confusion, which quickly shifted to fury. "Jedi!" he snarled.

"And you don't know me!" Luke remarked, even as he cast a quick glance around. Where were they?

Lakes, impressive castle, oh...

"We're at Varykino," the Jedi Master continued, keeping a careful eye on his (unknown) sort of father.

Vader jerked in astonishment and glanced around with bemused horror. How...

"What is happening?" he demanded harshly, taking a menacing step forward. "You will tell me now or I will..."

"Ani?" a female voice called from above.

Son and (unknown) Father turned toward the voice, and Vader's sword hand dropped, though a tiny part of his brain had the sense to keep his glowing sword away from his leg and foot.

"Ani!" Padme Amidala continued, rushing down a series of steps, her face contorted in distress. "I am so thankful you are back! I know you want to get out of that suit, but I ... oh, Ani! I don't know where the twins are!"

"Padme?" Vader said in a hollow voice, and swayed slightly in place.

"Oh Ani!" Padme continued in anguish. "They were down for a nap, and I did lock the door, I did, but somehow Luke figured out how to unlock it..."

"Padme?" Vader repeated.

"How old are the twins?" Luke asked, turning off his lightsaber.

Padme turned toward him in confusion. "Almost four years old. Oh, Anakin, if they have fallen into the lake..."

"They haven't," Luke said reassuringly, stretching out his Force sense and promptly finding the signature of his three year old Alter. "Is the hanger still over there?"

Padme followed his pointing finger and said, "Yes, but ..."

"They are there, probably messing around with one of the speeders or something," Luke said reassuringly. "Come on! Luke, at least, is quite capable of wreaking havoc if left alone too long."

"Leia as well," Padme insisted indignantly. "But excuse me, who are you?"

Luke, who was already heading for the steps, paused and said carefully, "I suppose this seems impossible, but I'm your son from like 30 years in the future and from an alternate timeline."

He waited for the usual protestations, but Padme's bewildered expression cleared instantly. "Oh, yes, I understand! Your sister and another woman saved my life and Ani's right when the twins were born. Right, Anakin?"

Luke was the confused one now, but he said quickly, "Oh, I'm afraid that is not your Anakin. That is Darth Vader from, I am guessing, an entirely different timeline, and he is entirely unredeemed. So your Anakin..."

"You are not my Ani?" Padme demanded, staring in amazement at Vader, who was totally flummoxed.

"I see you are not," she said a moment later. "Your suit is not quite right, but I was too distracted to notice before."

"Tell you what," Luke suggested. "Let's retrieve the twins before they blow something up, and then we can talk, Ok?"

"Sounds good," Padme agreed, bestowing a smile on Darth Vader. "Come along, and we can get this sorted out."

"Padme?" Vader asked again.

"Yes, it is me. Come on! You don't want your children destroying the entire island do you?"

"Children?" Vader repeated.

/

Hanger Bay

Varykino

"Shhhhh!" three year old Luke Skywalker hissed at his twin sister.

"Shhhh!" little Leia hissed back, pushing her brother into a smaller ball.

The twins had managed to shut off their nanny droid, bypass the lock on the bedroom, sneak out of Varykino to the hanger, and then climb into a bright yellow Nubian N1 Starfighter. Luke was trying to figure out how to turn on the engine, but a minute earlier, both twins had sensed someone entering the hanger. Now they were hiding in the cockpit, hoping that no one would find them.

The cockpit cover abruptly opened, and the Skywalker twins looked up in dismay. The man looking down at them was entirely unfamiliar and was frowning in disapproval, but they could both sense the person was Good. Leia scowled hideously at being found, but Luke pasted on glowing smile and made his eyes twinkle. He knew, because he had been told, that he was impossibly cute when he did that.

"Well, I can see you are a handful," the Unknown said. Little Luke's eyes widened in surprise as he was suddenly grasped, gently, with the Force and lifted up out of the cockpit and down, down, down onto the hanger floor. He giggled all the way down until he spied...

"Daddy!" the male child shrieked, dashing toward the giant black behemoth standing like a statue a few meters away. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...!"

"Daddy!" Little Leia squealed, leaping up and trying to fall out of the cockpit of the fighter, only to be assisted by the Force so that she landed gently on the ground.

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, found himself standing a few meters from his living wife, with a small blond boy clutching his right leg, and a small dark haired girl clinging to his left leg.

What was happening?