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Chapter 22

The world crashed around him. Luke stepped back once and then again, wanting to grab his forehead.

'No. Not this again.' Luke refused to believe that he was seeing what he'd sensed on that horrible day. 'Anything but this.' His limbs shuddered. A terrible fright seized him. He attempted to look away but found to his horror he could not.

'Run, Anakin! My little nephew! Please live! PLEASE...'

His chin shook. His eyes watered.

Anakin's body was too injured, his form too weak, and the Force energy wrapped around him. He reached for his thermal detonator.

And everything happened quickly. Voxyn's form lingered like a giant, even as his fright became obvious when he recognized what was happening.

Luke screamed.

The world around him faded into oblivion. The grenade's shockwave slammed into him, painfully real.

And yet, Luke still sensed him as much as he had in the nineteen years the young man had been alive. There was no fear in his eyes. Just acceptance, and one thought. "Tahiri…"

No.

His world was spinning again.

No…

"Luke?"

NO!

It couldn't end this way. Not again. He had to do something...anything. He had to trade places with Anakin. To save his little boy's life.

Dejarik, where was his lightsaber?!

"Luke?! Luke you're alright!"

He jolted and felt his chest pounding. His eyes gradually adjusted to the galaxy around him. Judging by the lack of orange sunlight and the moon of Alderaan, it was fairly early in the morning. How long had he slept? His bedsheets were all on the ground. His clothes were stained with cold sweat.

"Luke, my son?" Vader gripped his shoulder. The physically older man was already sitting across from him. "You... had a nightmare." It was not a question.

Luke didn't answer. He didn't want to. He pulled the sheets over himself.

"I don't want to talk about it..." his voice came out as more of a whimper.

"I do," Vader rebuked, pulling one of the sheets off him.

"I don't need your help," Luke gave him a sad stare. "I have been a Grandmaster for years. Death is something I have grieved over countless times and probably will again."

Yet, his senses with the Force have been clouded due to the reality of the grief still tearing terribly at his conscience.

Vader arched a critical eyebrow. "Yes, and I'm certain that you are used to addressing your youth about their issues." He said pointedly. "You shouldn't always expect yourself to be a figure of strength and immovability, Luke. You can talk to me."

Knowing that he was right, Luke sighed.

"It was about Anakin..." Luke concurred.

"Son..."

"I can't save him."

"You can this time," Vader asserted. "Not all hope is lost. For now, I wish to know if you'll be able to sleep again."

Luke nodded, "This is nothing, Father. They happen so commonly that I'm surprised I didn't face them for a while. Well, I suppose with me being occupied..."

"I wish for them to end permanently," Vader declared. "You have many years before the Yuuzhan Vong attack again, and we'll be waiting for them."

"We both know that's not certain. Anything can happen. They might gain the motivation to attack earlier."

"And if they do, we'll find other solutions. You're not alone, son."

And in a surprising moment of comfort, Vader placed his hand on his hair, and slowly Luke fell back asleep.

Vader had been surprised by the absence of nightmares that had occurred since the extraction of the suit.

As he put on his garments, Vader eyed his son beside him, who was still sleeping in his arms. The night beforehand had been... unpleasant, though his dreams never lasted for long and Vader chased away the temptation to comfort him, only with the biting words of Leia coming back when he'd attempted to stare away this time. Seeing his son like that fueled the protective fury within him, souring any positive emotions that the former Sith felt.

To know his son still has to deal with those Vong in his dreams.

The audacity of those fools! Once he had a reliable army, Vader vowed to hunt them down and make them pay for it with their blood. But now was not the time to release his blood lust. Far too many things were against them at this point.

He covered Luke up with the blanket and ensured he was comfortable before leaving.

Another shadowy impulse to grip his cheek occurred, yet knowing that his son was fragile, Vader decided against it.

He moved out of the quarters, approaching the nearby kitchen.

He found his daughter lounging on a chair. When she spotted him, she looked almost relieved.

"How is he?" Leia asked softly.

"Your brother has been deprived of sleep once again," Vader replied gloomily.

"How horrible was his future?" She started with a sigh.

"Have he ever told you of the Yuuzhan Vong?"

"Sort of," Leia confirmed.

"I'll finish the tale to avoid him repeating those horrible memories."

"He told you?"

Vader nodded. "He described them to me personally."

Leia made a gesture that Vader didn't see coming. She gestured next to her, and he took the invitation.

Leia stood up and retrieved two cups before returning. "I don't make the best caf," she said apologetically.

Vader took the cup from the table with his prosthetic hand and relished the taste.

"It is sufficient," he dismissed, waving his hand nonchalantly as the taste spread through his system.

"Thank you," she replied. "Back to the topic, is Luke going to be alright?"

"He will be," Vader replied. "Your brother is far stronger than he gives himself credit for."

"What are the Yuuzhan Vong like?" Leia inquired, looking down at her cup of caf. Vader stared at her. "I have the right to help him too, Lord Vader."

And Luke's repeating that painful story of what they were like, their details, strengths, weaknesses, and such only led to more agony. He'd needed his son to be in the right mindset, or else the threat of insanity was held over the hair. Weighing whether to tell her about the death of her son or not, Vader decided that it was best that he at least maintained one of his children's innocence. Luke was broken by the events of the future once. While it may be inevitable, Leia hadn't yet mentally aged to the state of maturity where she might be able to bear that burden.

When the painful story ended, Leia's eyes were wide. "You cannot be serious..." She began emotionally, her mouth open. "It's unfair. Luke doesn't deserve that."

"No, he doesn't," he relented. "Luke witnessed far too many people close to him perish in this future..."

"Were you among that count? Is that why he went after you?" Leia inquired, her eyes locked on him with intrigue.

"No, I hadn't been available to protect him," Vader responded with ire. His teeth gritted together at that. The weakness of Anakin Skywalker couldn't be more apparent. His inability to protect his son led to years of trauma and a terrible war that claimed the lives of people close to him and Leia.

"What happened to you?" Leia asked slowly, her lips curled.

"I died..."

Her eyes became suspicious. "Did you try to kill him, and he killed you in turn?"

"I already made clear I would never harm you or your brother," Vader dismissed tenaciously.

"I doubt that."

"It's true," he continued, his tone bitter. "According to Luke, I gave my life so that he could destroy the Emperor."

"It could have been a lie."

"It could have been," Vader confessed. He himself had considered the possibility. "But that is unlikely. Luke is not the type to tell falsehoods without a good reason and I would have felt it through the Force."

"And you know that so well?" she chided.

"Don't test my patience, Daughter," Vader retorted, "knowing about you and your brother has changed my priorities."

"I didn't take the Emperor's Enforcer as the type who had a conscience, Vader," she snarked back. "Don't mistake our genetic connection for my willingness to form a bond with you."

Exchanging a battle of wills, Vader eventually broke the silence. "You don't think I would have been available or nothing short of harmful if I had raised you?"

"No, I don't think, I know," she growled. "You were too busy terrorizing the galaxy."

He was getting tired of this. "The Emperor would never have controlled me if I had raised you. I would have destroyed the Emperor and raised you in the shadows if necessary."

"I doubt you would have been the ideal parent," she replied, condescension in her tone.

"I am here now, am I not?" Vader spat. "You hold a righteous anger toward the Empire and cannot make disconnections me from Palpatine."

"Yes. What else can it be?" Oh, the temptation to murder the Organas arose once more. They had raised her with a sheltered view that had been the instrument of her mother's destruction. The same couldn't be said for his daughter.

"Oh, Leia, do you want to know why I believe in the system of the Empire?" Vader asked.

"I didn't take you for the political type, dad," Leia replied, though her eyes shone with interest.

"Be silent and I'll tell you."

"Do you believe there were no political issues before the Emperor?"

"Oh no, I'm not stupid, Vader. I know there was, but the Emperor made the situation worse. You made it worse by hunting down his enemies." Stirring of anger and barely contained resentment fueled through her as she glared at him. "I knew people who you'd murdered."

"I didn't make it worse," Vader denied vehemently. "Nor did Palpatine. The issues within the Empire were always within the Republic; they were just veiled with fabrications and prevarications."

She held up her right hand. "What about the political assassinations that you and the Emperor have committed? How about all of the reasonable people in the Senate who were hunted down, went missing, or were arrested and confined? What about-"

"Everything you've just described was common within the Republic," he proclaimed. "It is no coincidence that the Ascendancy of the Empire was cheered on by near-unanimous support. The problems within the Republic were not a bug; they were a feature. The insinuations that Palpatine was the problem are exactly why the Jedi Order launched a coup and believed that they could seize control of the Republic."

And it was then he'd recalled the famed Jedi Master Biel Duct from thousands of years ago. He served as both Supreme Chancellor and Jedi Grandmaster after the end of the Pius Dea Republic. That had no doubt been Windu and the Council's plan to reign the Senate in. It wouldn't have worked.

"They didn't attempt to take over the Republic," Leia denied persistently. "They attempted to stop Palpatine from taking over."

"And what were they planning to do with the courts afterwards?" Vader questioned pointedly.

"Do you believe that the Jedi could legally remove an elected official, also legally selected to serve in office, without their popularity plummeting? The Jedi didn't consider this. Chancellor Palpatine was so beloved that very few would care if he was revealed as Darth Sidious, and he had contingencies."

Leia set her jaw, "And how many?"

"Far too many to count," Vader informed bluntly. "The Sith considered what would have happened if they were discovered for decades. They'd been playing the political game for centuries before Palpatine's rise. He emerged at the right time. Had it not been him, and the Sith at the time, Darth Plagueis, selected another just as suitable, it is likely the end result would have been much the same with only a few galactic differences depending on how that Sith would have ruined the Empire."

Vader briefly wondered if that Sith would have conceived him as well, but let the thought go.

Ironically, without the Sith, the alternative would have been worse. The Core and Rim would have continued the battle. Eventually, a war would occur, with the Separatist leaders refusing to relent to the demands of the Republic and without a sham war intact. Unless the Republic and Separatists - or whatever stood for it - both burned out due to exhaustion, everything would have been a disaster for years to come. It wasn't as if the local governments on both sides weren't profiting from the war.

Allowing the thought to pass, Vader awaited his daughter's response: "The local governments were deceived-"

He interjected, "They were not manipulated. At least, the vast majority of them weren't. They agreed to various deals with Chancellor Palpatine, saw the corruption of the Republic for years following the Confederacy, and applauded the rise of the Empire. The Senators represent the people and organizations that put them in power and could remove them. Far too many factions within the Republic had conflicting interests. The Empire baited those corporations and the people endorsing them against each other, with control of the galaxy being the ultimate prize."

"That proves why the Empire is not better!" Leia exclaimed.

"It's not better," he retorted. "It's the exact same. The Republic had a considerable PR machine until the Clone Wars ended. Of course, people tend to believe the Republic's propaganda at face value, while those like you distrust everything the Empire spews to the public. The big disconnect there is that for most intents and purposes, and for the first ten years, there wasn't much of a difference between the Republic and the Empire."

"That's not true!" Leia exclaimed.

"Oh, and why did the people in charge refuse to act with slavery in the Outer Rim, the Trade Federation's invasion over Naboo, or prevent the Empire being founded?" Vader played the act of confusion.

"No system is perfect," was Leia's simple, frantic response.

"The same could be said for the Empire," Vader pointed out.

"You cannot mistake a tyrannical regime to be similar to a democratic one."

"There were many systems that were anything but democratic under the Republic, and all turned a blind eye to Palpatine."

"What do you want to get out of this?!" Leia shouted.

"I want to know-" Vader's eyes hardened, "what will you choose?"

"Choose between what?" Leia asked rhetorically. "You or the Rebellion? My family?"

"No, not me. That answer would be far too easy. I have no illusions who you would choose in a situation. But I'm not the only one biologically related to you, Leia."

"Luke..." She said.

Vader grinned, "Correct."

"Why would Luke agree to anything outside of diplomacy? Jedi have been taugh-"

"Luke has never been taught under the rigid codes of the Jedi," Vader answered. He contemplated for a moment. "Have you never heard of the Baby Ludi's case?"

"No," she blinked.

It was somewhat understandable. Early on in the Imperial era, it was spread through the Empire, and in a private light, the Republic's propaganda of the tainted views of the Jedi. Of course, if the Organas hadn't shielded Leia from the realities of the galaxy, she would have been less likely to agree with a lot of the Rebellion's input and their stances on matters as opposed to the Empire, or, in the far less likely case, viewed the Empire as a necessary evil.

"Ludi's mother, Jonava Billane, only managed to get this much attention because she had some resources. What happened to the parents who didn't have any? This is not propaganda, Leia; it is a reality. The Jedi Order committed many evils for the Will of the Force." Even though they'd outright violated the Force's Will multiple times, Vader shall not elaborate on that until a later date.

"I'm not going to pretend I understand the Force. Everyone makes mistakes. But even you cannot deny that what happened to the Jedi was awful."

"It was," he consented. It had been a truth. Except for a few Jedi, the Jedi Purge was not personal. If Vader had been given a choice between the Jedi and Padmé, he would have done it again. "But the Jedi were never the paragons of virtue."

"Sounds like a justification. What would you call that purge you carried out against the Jedi? No lies." Leia glared at him now.

"The Eradication of an Entire Religious Order," he stated sincerely.

"I'm not surprised," Leia scoffed slightly, "of course, knowing your barbarism, that isn't unexpected."

"That's how the public saw it. There's a reason why many supported Palpatine when he announced his Empire, and it wasn't because he used the Force to persuade them. It wasn't just the Senate-most of the Republic government, Intelligence services, and a fair number of local governments all chose to follow the Emperor. Otherwise, we would have seen either an instant civil war or multiple systems breaking apart from the Republic. The anticipation that the public would reinforce the Jedi's move against the Sith in the Senate, along with enough Senators, is what made a coup attempt foolhardy. They lost whatever standing they had left among the majority of the population, resulting in the scenario that even solid proof coming from them won't be enough to remove the Sith from power."

Saying nothing to that, Leia stiffened slightly, and relaxed her shoulders, asking with a mumble, "What about the Republic transforming into the Empire?"

"The Transformation of the Corrupt Republic into a New Empire."

She eyed him. "I doubt Luke shares your views," she said.

So much to learn. He asked rhetorically, "Because he's a Jedi?" He sighed. "Leia, Luke suffered far more because of the Republic in a future where the Empire fell."

Leia scowled. "I'm sure it's not like that."

"It is for him. You can only ask him. The New Republic barely succeeded in holding off the Vong, and as a result, Luke lost many people close to him in that war." Vader leaned back, taking another sip of caf as Leia's eyes agonized. So strong was the connection between brother and sister that he realized he could have seduced Leia to become his pupil for her protectiveness over Luke.

The allure of the Dark Side murmured for him to do it, eager to claim another Skywalker under its hold...

And for a moment, Vader was tempted.

After all, Leia would accomplish nothing but pain under the Jedi.

He could have, but he didn't...

Had this been what he was waiting for? To convert one of his children to the Dark Side and endeavor for the other to follow? Vader recognized that the obligation to accomplish such a goal had lessened, at least at present.

No, he needed to guide Leia in the right direction. The direction that would allow her to do what must be done when the time came. Leia needed to be the symbol Luke needed for a stronger system to combat the bloodied butchers.

That said, if Vader overextended his hand, he could lose his children forever...

"The choice is yours to make. Luke is still your brother, isn't he? Will you forsake him for the New Republic and risk a repeat of his past, or will you introduce a far stronger system more formidable to combat the Vong to protect your brother from suffering as much as he did?" He asked in a quiet, conspiratorial tone.

"...I... I need to talk to Luke," she finally chose to respond with.

Vader eyed her as she stood up and left.

He wondered out loud, "What will you choose, Leia?"

The moment she snuck into the security room and went through the cameras, she looked through the previous days' recordings, finding a young man with a lightsaber hilt on his belt, next to an older one she didn't take much interest in. When the Emperor received this report, he would have legal just cause for his soon-to-be attack on Alderaan without erecting public discord.

'That's the one,' she thought.

Luke Skywalker.

He fit the description, and she'd just knew...

Yet, while she watched the recording and focused in on his face as if drawn, Skywalker flashed an unintentional yet gratingly gorgeous smile at the camera's direction. Much to her irritation, she was momentarily distracted by the smile enough to pause the feed. She wouldn't mind nibbling on him a bit before the Empire decided to kill him, or hell, she might do it after the deed. She had close encounters with men her age, older, and younger before as an Imperial dancer. While it never came to actual sexual contact — though there was a possibility of it happening — Luke Skywalker just had to be so damn attractive.

She shook her head and tried to clear her mind of it. Damn hormones.

Her captivated mind couldn't stop thinking of him with such desires. Would it be a bad thing if she decided to lure him into a private setting just for one night and satisfy her curiosity about what that feeling would be? It wouldn't be betraying the Empire, right? After all, the Emperor would understand if a seduction tactic had to be used in such a situation. Coruscant knew that the Emperor had several concubines, one of whom was Roganda Ismaren and another being the "Queen of the Empire" Sly Moore...

He was a young man too, probably the same age and with desires that Mara could use to keep him in the dark.

She growled as the spell finally cleared away and forced herself to continue with her work, blocking out the thoughts.

Yet, unfortunately, those thoughts aside, she felt some sort of... what was that... shot through her when it came to the man. Like she needed to run to him and shield him... but from what?

She'd thought about it for a moment, refusing to think about the others.

Ugh, he was the enemy, and the Emperor gave her this test in confidence since Vader's departure was not a task that could be left to an Imperial Officer or Inquisitor.

There was no connection with Luke Skywalker.

Author's note: How do you think Mara and Luke's love life would have been if they met at 19? Their dynamic is going to be such a treat to write, but I have to keep the current and well-established rating in mind when it comes to them. Otherwise, it would become ANOTHER type of story.

May the Force be with you all always.