Beyond - Legends Betrayal (Luke, Mara, Karrde, Leia, Han and others)

Very fun first scene and it seems that Vader's insistence and L/M's 'diligent work' is paying off. Great details on the progress of things in the wider, more galactic fronts.

 

Thanks! I am desperately trying to end this story. Luckily the time I had to stay home from work because of COVID isolation allowed me to do some writing. After I got the negative test results my scheduled weekend came about allowing me more time to write.

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Imperial Palace, Gymnasium, Galactic City, Coruscant.

“Come on, Luke!” Mara yelled encouragingly as he lightsaber sparred with his father. “Don’t let the old man beat you!”

Luke moved around Vader, his green blade occasionally swinging out and clashing with his father’s red saber. He risked a glance in Mara’s direction. “I don’t want to be accused of elder-abuse…so I'm going easy on him.”

“You need not worry about that,” Vader’s voice boomed. “A drunk Kowakian Monkey-Lizard would make a better sparring partner.”

“Ouch,” Luke gave him a mock look of indignation. “I admit, you are a far better swordsman, but you also have decades of experience on me.”

“Also,” Mara called out. “A monkey-lizard wouldn’t look as sexy in that outfit.”

Luke flashed her a smile. “I knew you would like it.”

Emperor Skywalker wasn’t in his usual Royal garb but donned the tight-fitting and, to Mara's delight, butt-hugging black bodysuit that was worn under the Imperial Knight armor. So far only Luke and Mara wore the distinctive red and black uniform, and even then, that was only on special occasions. The royal couple was hopeful that they would one day find other Force-users who they could instruct in the ways of the Force, but with the impending launch of the Skywalker Exploratory Space Station, and other major projects on the way, there wasn’t much time to recruit and train new knights.

Mara watched the two men from a comfortable padded chair brought into the gymnasium specifically for her. She was four months pregnant—not what she would consider in ‘a delicate condition’—but Luke refused to let her sit on the cold metallic viewing bleachers, saying it wasn’t good for the baby. She smiled as she absently brought a hand down and caressed her almost indiscernible baby bump. She was nervous and thrilled about the impending birth. Luke was the typical anxious, but eager father-to-be… but Vader. Let’s just say, Vader’s reaction to her pregnancy was something completely unexpected. When it came to Mara and her growing fetus, he was as overprotective as a mama nexu with her cubs. Her father-in-law highly encouraged—almost to the point of demanding—that she'd go to all recommended prenatal appointments, and she was to take all tests ordered by her physician.

His constant monitoring of her prenatal care irritated her so much she almost snapped at him...almost. Fortunately, she thought better of it and instead remained silently seething. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t shield her thoughts properly. She had become pissed at Lord Vader and he knew it. Surprisingly, Vader was not upset. He simply sighed and then sat her down to explain his concerns.

“Padme never received any prenatal testing,” he had said softly. “She feared a standard DNA scan would be performed which could have revealed me as the father. All Jedi knights and Republic military had their DNA on file with the government. It is used for the identification of remains.” He took a long pause before continuing. “I think if she had the standard tests performed, I would not have been so concerned about her health. I dreamt she died in childbirth and that fear led me down a dark path.”

Mara had reached out and placed a hand on Vader’s knee. “I understand. I will follow my doctor’s advice. I promise.” She had looked down at her hand and quickly pulled it away. Over the last year she had gotten so comfortable around Lord Vader that she would find herself doing loving gestures absentmindedly…actions that she had feared might make him uncomfortable.

Mara was pulled out of her musings as Vader went on the offensive striking out with his crimson saber. Luke blocked, parried and surprisingly was able to disarm his father, his saber spinning out of his hand and deactivating before it hit the gym floor.

Luke was so stunned at this turn of events that he stared at the lightsaber slack jawed. “I guess I won.” He grinned as he turned to his father, but the smile quickly slipped from his face as Vader’s knees buckled and the man went to the floor face down.

Luke deactivated his saber and tossed it aside as he bent down next to his prone father. “Father!” He turned to Mara. “Call for medics!”

Mara already had her commlink out and was notifying the palace infirmary.
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Minutes later medics rushed into the gymnasium with a repulsor gurney. The two humans saw Vader lying unconscious on the floor and stopped. One man got on his commlink and yelled, “The patient is Lord Vader. We need the specialized crash cart and Doctor Trinken.”

The medics ran to the former emperor and turned him onto his back. Vader was still breathing, but the sound was raspy and irregular. The medics looked over the body searching for wounds. "Was there a lightsaber accident?"

Luke shook his head frantically. "No, no, he just collapsed. I think there is a problem with his suit."

The two medics glanced to each other looking helpless. The suit was a self-contained life support unit. If the system was failing then Vader didn’t need a medic; he needed an engineer.

Luke knelt beside his father gripping his hand in his own. “Father,” Luke sobbed, tears falling down his face. “Please, you can’t die.”

Vader took a long breath and tried to say something, but the words were unintelligible. Eventually he went limp and the sound of his labored breathing became slow and faint. Luke looked at the medics accusingly. “Do something!”

The ranking medic put his hands out in a calming gesture. “Sire, Doctor Trinken is on his way. He specializes in cybernetics. The call we received at the infirmary only indicated a need for medical assistance in the gymnasium. We did not bring the specialized gear needed for your father, but it is on its way. All we can do is wait.”

Mara came over to Luke’s side. “That’s my fault. I panicked and didn’t specify who needed help, only that it was urgent.” She put an arm around Luke’s shoulder and squeezed.

He turned and encircled her in his arms. “It’s okay. The doctor should be here soon.”

At that moment an Imperial doctor with white tunic, trousers and the medical corps emblem on his shoulder entered the room. Floating behind him was a large container of drawers sitting on top a repulsor sled. He opened one of the draws and pulled out a cylindrical device that resembled a lightsaber hilt with a tapered end. He dropped down next to Vader and flipped open a small compartment on his chest control panel and pressed the tip of the device into a round port. After a moment Vader began to stir. The doctor looked up to Luke. “Emperor Skywalker, I injected your father with epinephrine to increase cardiac output. Lord Vader has given me instructions for his care. I need to get him to a specialized facility within the palace.”

“Where?” Luke asked.

“Emperor Palpatine’s old cloning laboratory under the throne room. Your father had me repurpose the facility. New armor has been designed for your father and a surgical operating room was built in the facility for the sole purpose of transferring him into the new life support suit.”

The medics lifted Vader onto a repulsor gurney and immediately rushed Vader out into the corridor moving toward the throne room.

As Luke followed the men, he pulled out his commlink and contacted his chief of security ordering him to empty the corridor between the gymnasium and throne room. He didn’t need people gawking at his father as they traveled through the palace.

Once in the throne room Luke ran around the gurney to unlock the door leading to the laboratory turbolift, but Dr. Trinken had already done so. That was understandable. After all, the doctor had been working deep under the throne room for who knows how long. What Luke didn’t understand was how the doctor managed to come and go into the old laboratory without his knowledge.

“How did I not know about this?” Luke asked as they maneuvered his father’s gurney though the door. He was irritated that this was kept from him…literally under his very nose.

The doctor didn’t immediately answer as he and the medics pushed Lord Vader into the turbolift. Luke and Mara squeeze in around the gurney to accompany the men.

“I was given access to the lab through a back route,” The doctor explained as the turbolift started its downward journey. “Your father made me promise to keep things quiet.”

Luke shook his head in confusion. “Why wouldn’t he want me to know about a new suit being designed?”

The doctor shrugged. “That is for Lord Vader to answer.”

Luke glanced over to Mara and her expression verified she also sensed what he did through the Force…the good doctor was hiding something.

“What are you not telling us?” Mara asked as the lift stopped and the doors opened.

The doctor turned to face her. “Empress, I can stand here and discuss the situation, or I can save Lord Vader. Time is not a luxury he has in abundance.”

Before Mara could answer Luke waved the doctor off. “Go, go! Do what you need to do. Just save my father!”

 

Riveting turn of events!

 

Thanks. I am really getting close to finishing this story. Almost there. lol!

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Underground Medical Facility, Imperial Palace, Galactic City, Coruscant.

As Luke exited the lift, he was astonished at the complete renovation of Palpatine’s old cloning laboratory. The large room that was once filled with damaged cloning cylinders was now home to a transparisteel enclosed, state-of-the-art surgical chamber with high tech medical equipment. At the center of the surgical suite was the operating table with large lights overhead. The medics pushed the gurney into the operating room and proceeded to transfer Vader from the gurney to the surgical table. Luke and Mara tried to follow but were stopped by Dr. Trinken who pointed to a newly installed staircase. “There is a place to watch upstairs. My surgical team will be here soon. I need time to prepare.”

Luke nodded as he and Mara walked up the stairs to a small landing with a long bench seat running along a transparisteel observation window. Luke sat down heavily as he watched the two medics positioned and then repositioned his father under the direction of Dr. Trinken. When the physician was satisfied the two men exited the chamber and exited via the lift. After about ten minutes three people in white Medical Corps uniforms arrived, scrubbed up and helped each other don gown, gloves and masks. They entered the surgical area and quickly got to work attaching various cables to his father’s life support chest plate before beginning the grisly job of removing his suit.

Luke knew the doctor was in a hurry to detach the malfunctioning outfit but when the team pulled out plasma cutters and started slicing off his father’s limbs he thought he might pass out.

Mara grabbed his hand and squeezed. “There is no blood. They are simply removing the cybernetics and the leather suit.”

Luke nodded and looked away for a long time. When he glanced back his father was stripped of his suit revealing his horribly mutilated form. He had pasty white skin with keloid scar tissue all over his body. His head had a large gash at the crown and his arms and legs were short malformed stumps. The doctors quickly intubated his father and hooked him to a ventilator allowing him to breathe. At one point the surgical team placed a large flexible catheter into the upper portion of his father’s right leg. Luke had to look away as dark blood flowed out of his thigh and moved through a tube into a machine at the side of the operating table. Luke risked another peek, but a second surgeon was placing another catheter into his father’s neck.”

“Kriff…what are they doing?”

Mara scrutinized the situation. “It looks like blood is getting removed from his leg, going into the machine, and then back into his neck. It is probably a device to oxygenate his blood and remove waste products during the operation. It is basically what his suit does because of his damaged lungs.”

“I can’t watch this anymore.” Luke started to stand when a commotion broke out in the operating room.

“Blood pressure is dropping,” one member of the team called out as the staff became a flurry of motion.

“Administer IV push,” Dr. Trinken called out.

“One-liter normal saline administered,” a member of the medical team stated. “Blood pressure is still dropping.”

“Kriff!” The doctor looked at the monitor. “We have an internal bleed. Get the scanner! Find it!”

The team moved a device over Vader’s body. “It is a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurism.” The man’s expression was hidden by a surgical mask, but Luke could feel his panic through the force. Luke wasn’t sure exactly what is happening, but it was bad.

“Open him up. We might have time to graft it.”

Luke’s knees went weak when he saw the surgeon make a large incision in his father’s abdomen. He managed to make it to the exit before he vomited the contents of his lunch over the railing of the staircase.

He didn’t need to watch further. He could feel his father’s life force dimming…the same way he felt the death of Obi-Wan. He sat down at the top of the stairs and cried.
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Doctor Trinken found Luke thirty minutes later. Emperor Skywalker had moved from the stairs to the main floor and collapsed in a desk chair that he had found. Mara had pulled up another chair and draped her arms around him, her head on his shoulder, and tried not to cry as she attempted to console her heartbroken husband.

Luke glanced up as the doctor approached. He had doffed his gown and gloves and it was obvious he went to great efforts to get rid of all evidence of blood. He must have changed his scrubs because when Luke last saw the doctor he was covered in his father’s blood.

The man knelt next to Luke and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sire. I’m so sorry.”

Luke tried to hold in a sob but failed and cried openly. When he regained his composure, he asked the doctor. “If you had a new suit, why did you wait until he was dying to put him in it. You should have switched him into the new suit before things got bad.”

The doctor sighed and glanced toward the operating room. “I suggested that very thing to Lord Vader, but he knew there was a high probability that he would not survive the operation.” He gestured toward Mara. “He refused to take the chance that he would never see his grandchild. He planned on making the switch after the birth.”

“Ohhh,” Mara groaned. “He shouldn’t have done that. Now he has no chance of ever meeting his grandchild.”

Dr. Trinken stood. “That’s not necessarily true…at least according to Lord Vader.”

Luke’s head shot up to look at the doctor. “What do you mean?”

The doctor looked back to the operating room where his team were performing postmortem tasks such as extubating Vader and cleaning the body. He returned his attention to Luke and Mara. “One moment. What I must tell you is on the highest level of secrecy. It was something only Lord Vader and I knew. I have to get my men out of here for now.” He walked over to his crew, spoke to them for a few minutes and then returned to Luke and Mara as the other surgeons left the underground medical facility. “Okay,” he said as the turbolift doors closed leaving the three alone. Dr. Trinken drew in a long calming breath before looking to Mara. “Empress, you asked me what I was keeping from you. If you two will follow me, I will show you. Lord Vader was very clear that I was to keep his secrets until his death.”

They walked to the rear of the new medical center until they came to the door where the birthing room was once located. It was the place where the concubines impregnated by the clone Palpatine gave birth.

When the doors opened the birthing chairs were gone and replaced with something else very familiar: A cloning cylinder and it was not empty. Inside was a tall mid-aged human male with short cropped blond hair. He was lying on his back floating in clear fluid. His eyes were closed, his handsome face serene, like he was sleeping.

“What the Kriff!” Mara said hotly as she pointed to the human. “Is that Vader’s clone? Were you intending on using this man for transplant organs?”

Luke felt sick to his stomach knowing now why his father kept this secret. “Was he actually growing new lungs for transplant?” He turned to Dr. Trinken. “Are you a body broker?”

Body brokers were scientists that got around the ban on using viable clones for replacement organs by tweaking the growth process so only the brain stem developed. Since there was no higher brain function the clones could never become a conscious sentient and therefore a loophole was found in the law. Luke had lawmakers tightening up the legal verbiage prohibiting clones for this use. He would have banned cloning outright, but the Imperial planet Khomm had a society based on conformity and to ensure their culture remained unchanged for the past one thousand years all citizens of the planet were clones of previous generations. To ban cloning outright would mean either issuing a planetary exception to the Khommites or totally disrupting their society. He instead opted to strengthen restrictions, but body brokers were still a problem within the Empire.

“This is not a brain-dead organ donor.” The doctor said sounding offended. “I am not a body broker.”

“Is that my father?” Luke asked again.

“Technically, yes. He is indeed a clone of your father, but if I woke him now, he would be like a newborn baby. A blank slate.”

Luke shook his head in frustration. “I don’t understand. Why are you showing me this?”

The doctor pointed down at the replicating cylinder where the submerged man breathed in the oxygen-rich cloning solution that allowed liquid ventilation.

“This was your father’s idea. It was a fallback plan in case the transfer to the suit did not work and he perished.” The man shrugged looking a bit confused. “Your father told me some outlandish story about soul transference.” He looked sheepish as he ran a frustrated hand over his chin. “I didn’t believe it was possible, but…well, nobody tells Lord Vader no…so I made him a clone. He left this as the fallback plan to getting the new suit because he wasn't sure if he was capable of accomplishing the transfer.” He stared down at the body. "And now that he is dead...I have no idea what to do with this body."

The doctor jumped when the clone started to thrash in the cloning cylinder, eyes wide and his mouth moving as if trying to talk.

“Kriff! This shouldn’t be possible.” Doctor Trinken went to the control panel and pushed a button to drain the fluid out of the chamber. There was a flushing sound as the liquid swirled down a drain at by the man’s feet. The doctor unsealed the cloning pod and swung up the door. The clone was still twitching with a look of panic in his eyes. “Calm down,” Dr. Trinken told his creation. “Take deep even breaths.”

The clone tried to take a deep breath which resulted in him vomiting up cloning fluid.

“Good, good. Get as much as you can up, but don’t worry, the fluid quickly gets absorbed in the body. There is no risk of aspiration pneumonia.”

The man vomited up more fluid, took a few deep breaths and then spit. He then turned his light blue eyes toward Luke as Dr. Trinken helped him sit up. He smiled warmly before saying, “Hello, son.”

Luke stared at Anakin Skywalker reborn. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words never came. The shock of the day’s events was far too much. His field of vision narrowed as he became hypotensive and, after wobbling on his feet for a second, he collapsed to the ground.

 

Fascinating. What an awesome twist!

 

Thanks. I am getting close to ending this story. Really close.

Death Star II Mobile Battle Station

Leia Organa was furious with Han. She couldn’t believe that for the last year he had been keeping secrets from her. And it wasn’t a little secret…it was huge. It was an enormous underhanded lie. Han argued that he never lied to her, but in her mind a complete omission of the truth was the same as a boldfaced lie! How Han managed to interact with her day in and day out without even a hint of deceptiveness was beyond her understanding. She was a politician prior to becoming a rebel. She was accustomed to dealing with professional liars. She prided herself on spotting deception, but she never once suspected Han was keeping things from her until stormtroopers arrived to their dignitary suite.

The guards had thrown them two duffle bags and told them to pack, stating their time on the battle station was at an end and they were to be moved to a more permanent location to serve out their sentences. Leia realized her time with Han was over and she may never see the man again. She was teary eyed and sobbing until she noticed Han’s nonchalant expression. He loved her; of that she was certain. So surely, he would be brokenhearted that they were finally parting ways…but he wasn’t. She couldn’t imagine the man she loved was stoic about their impending separation, which meant he knew something she didn’t.

She stared at her lover intently, and suspiciously, as they went to their shared bedroom to pack. As Leia tossed the few articles of clothing and toiletries in her bag she questioned Han.

“Why aren’t you upset about this move?” When he gave her an innocent look she decided to change tactics. “I thought you loved me? Why aren’t you upset over our upcoming separation?” Her bottom lip quivered at the thought and she broke down into ugly sobs which totally broke Han’s composure.

“Leia, I do love you.” He sighed deeply. “I made a deal with Luke. He said he will keep us together. He’ll put us on some uninhabited planet with proper supplies in exchange for the Jedi artifact I found.”

Leia was shocked at this information. She sniffed as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “If that’s true, why keep this a secret from me?”

He made a ‘who knows’ gesture. “I didn’t know if Luke would come through. I still don’t know. I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

Leia’s eyes narrowed. “He’s Emperor why wouldn’t he come through on his word?”

Han scoffed. “I thought you believed he was a Sith.” He raised his brow daring her to deny it.

Now it was Leia’s turn to sigh. She once believed her old friend had gone to the darkside, but over the last year her view had changed. While living on the Death Star they had access to incoming information on the holonet allowing her and Han to view the daily news reports. Luke was probably the most beloved leader in modern history. Emperor Skywalker was doing everything in his power to improve the lives of his constituents. On top of that, Luke had left her and Han together in luxury accommodations since before the trial. She eventually had to admit to herself that he was not evil.

Of course, much of her anger faded with the news that Darth Vader had died. She was able to watch the massive state funeral over the holonet. It wasn't like she had much choice; that was all the media talked about for months. The funeral was a galactic affair with the Sith Lord’s body lying in state in the Royal Palace. During the five days of national mourning hundreds of thousands of people lined up to view the former emperor. Representatives of over ninety worlds attended the state funeral and later the internment of Lord Vader in a newly built Skywalker family crypt of which Vader would be the first to be interred.

At first seeing Imperials praise Darth Vader infuriated her, but as she listened to planetary leaders and diplomats praise specific reforms and actions taken by Emperor Vader she came to believe Luke had somehow changed his father.

Although Luke had made an effort to visit her and Han at least monthly, she had not seen him since his father’s death. She couldn’t blame Luke for his absence. He was mourning his father’s demise and probably assumed she would be celebrating the occasion. She was, but she wouldn’t say so to Luke. No matter how angry she was at the man, she couldn’t kick him while he was down.

“Leia?” Han said, pulling her out of her musings. “Do you still think he is a Sith?”

She shook her head. “No…I am not sure what to believe…how Vader convinced him to betray the Rebellion I’ll never know…but I don’t think he is a Sith. If he is, he’s the worst Sith in history.”

Han chuckled. “I never thought he was a Sith.”

She glared at him. “Then why did you keep this a secret? If you didn’t think he was a lying Sith, then why wouldn’t you want to get my hopes up?” When the smuggler didn’t answer she asked him again hotly. “Why?”

He glanced up at her looking defeated. “I asked him to keep us together…for the forty years.”

“What?” she gasped. “Why would you do something so stupid.”

He frowned at that comment. “Because I want to be with you…because I love you.”

She sat on the bed, her stomach churning sourly. “Han….” She pulled in a deep breath trying to center herself. “I have a forty-year sentence. What were you thinking?”

Han walked around the bed and sat down next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his body. “I was thinking I was going to spend the next forty years with the woman I love.”

She turned and placed her head on his chest as she cried. “You are crazy.”

He leaned down and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “Crazy in love.”
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Imperial Light Cruiser ‘Immortal Seer’

After they had packed their bags the stormtroopers escorted them along with their KX-series security droid to the docking bay. Han was happy that the security droid was coming with them. He was never a fan of droids, but the security droid, who he nicknamed Kayex, had grown on him over the months. The droid had a soothing deep male voice with a Coruscanti accent, not that he talked much. He was more of a good listener. The few times Kayex did initiate a conversation was to break up arguments between Han and Leia and try to smooth out the relationship bumps. Han was certain that was not standard programing for a security droid, and he often wondered if Luke had downloaded some couple’s counseling programing into the droid. Another nice thing about Kayex was the droid was far less annoying than Threepio. Han couldn’t imagine spending the last year with that protocol droid. He was so happy he had pawned him off on Chewie when the Wookiee went home for his Life Day celebration.

From the Death Star they were transferred first to an Imperial Shuttle and then they rendezvoused with an Imperial Light Cruiser oddly named the Immortal Seer. The name was odd only because it was not the normal cold-blooded Imperial warship name like Devastator, Agonizer, Assassin, Nemesis, or Blood Rage. Han tried to ask his escorts about the ship, but they were tightlipped.

Once aboard the Immortal Seer they were ushered into another dignitary quarters on the cruiser with Kayex pulling guard on the inside of the cabin and stormtroopers on the outer door.

Han turned around in a circle looking at their new prison. It was smaller than the apartment on the Death Star, but it was decent. He went to the small kitchen and was surprised that the usual inventory of ale and hard liquor were still available.

He took a Corellian beer out of the cooling unit and held it up. “You want one?”

Leia shook her head. Her eyes were still rimmed red from crying. Han shrugged as he twisted the cap off and took a long swig. He knew Leia would be pissed, but he also knew she would forgive him…eventually.

“Hey Kayex,” He said to the droid standing in the corner. “Do you think you can find out where we’re going?”

The droid walked over to a computer terminal located in the sitting area and placed a hand over an information port. Unlike Artoo who had to physically plug into a dataport, Kayex could usually access information remotely using a wavelength transmitter. The droid hovered his hand over the port for a few seconds before turning back to Han. “Captain Solo, like the holonet and computer on the Death Star, the information you are allowed to access is limited. No destination data is available.”

Leia sat down on a sectional couch in the apartment and sighed deeply. “I heard somebody in the corridor mention Hydian Way.” She turned to Han and frowned. “If Luke was going to put us on an uninhabited planet along the Hydian Way hyperspace lane that leaves limited options.”

Han took another sip of his ale before sitting down next to her. He thought about it and then groaned. “Oh kriff.”

She nodded solemnly. “Yeah…oh kriff. I can only think of two places: Mustafar and Polis Massa. One is a lava planet, and the other is an abandoned base on a large asteroid.”

Han grimaced at the thought. “Maybe there will be air conditioning on Mustafar…or maybe it is a dry heat.”

Leia closed her eyes and sighed. “Han when the temperature is over a thousand degrees, I really doubt the amount of humidity will be a factor.” She returned her gaze to him. “But you are probably right, there has to be cooling devices there. I was told it was once home to the Separatist Council and the council consisted of a variety of species—many that thrived on cold or temperate planets.”

Han nodded. “Okay, and what about Polis Massa? I don’t know much about the base.”

“It started out as an Archaeological Research facility. For a short time, it was a Rebel base. It was raided by the Empire several times and eventually the Imperials forced the Rebels off the planetoid. I don’t know if any of the buildings survived. Perhaps Luke was rebuilding the facility and that is why we stayed on the Death Star for so long.”

Han took another swig of ale. “That makes sense.” He put his free arm around her as he continued to drink. “As long as we’re together. We’ll be fine.”

She shook her head. “Han…after your sentence is over you should leave. If you have to live another thirty years in captivity you will grow to resent me.”

He finished his drink and then leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “We’ll have ten years before we have to think about that. During that time you can relax knowing you have a good looking guy like me as a captive audience.” He grinned widely. “Maybe at the end of forty years it will be you asking Luke to extend both of our sentences to guarantee we're together forever.”

She rolled her eyes. “You truly are a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder.”

He placed his empty bottle on the side table then shifted his body to pull Leia into an amorous embrace. “You know what they say, ‘better scruffy than stuffy.’”

“Nobody says tha…” she began before Han silenced her with a searing kiss.

 

Nummy and totally in character.

 

Thanks. I am really trying to figure out the ending of this story. I have not been subtle about the foreshadowing. I think the ending is fairly obvious. I feel like too much is happening too fast near the end, but if I don't do that this may become the never ending story.

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Imperial Light Cruiser ‘Immortal Seer’

They spent days in hyperspace…long enough that Han estimated they were traveling to either the end of the mid-rim or perhaps the outer rim. That would correlate with going to Mustafar or Polis Massa. That was assuming they stayed on the Hydian Way hyperspace lane and didn’t divert off onto another space-route. When analyzing a star map of the galaxy, they realize there were other planets that might be suitable. Crait was an uninhabited salt covered mineral planet only a short jump from the hyperlane. D’Qar was another possibility. That world was lush with vegetation, but it was also home to many dangerous and carnivorous animals. Both planets were inhospitable for various reasons, making Han wonder if he did the right thing. It was upsetting to see Leia agonizing about where they would serve their sentence. He went over to the couch where Leia was sitting and fretting about their future. He smiled as he sat down and put an arm around his princess. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Luke will make sure we are safe.”

Before she could answer, Han noticed a change in the ship’s engines. It was nearly imperceptible to most people, but Han spent most of his life in space and knew when a ship exited hyperspace. He leaned back into the couch cushions. “We exited hyperspace. Unless we do another jump, we are probably within sub-light travel to our new home.”

Kayex, who had been standing silently into the corner suddenly looked to the couple and announce, “I was just informed that we should be landing planetside within two hours. You are instructed to pack and prepare to be transferred to a shuttle.”
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They were escorted down to the shuttle docking bay by two stormtroopers. Leia craned her neck trying to see which planet they were orbiting, but all she observed was the blackness of space. She assumed the docking bay was facing away from the planet. They were loaded aboard an Imperial shuttle with the two stormtroopers sitting in the rear transport area with Han, Leia and Kayex. The shuttle’s flight deck door was closed, preventing Leia from seeing anything but the Imperial gray bulkhead walls.

They left the Immortal Seer and dropped down into the planet’s atmosphere. After a few seconds Han muttered. “It’s not Polis Massa.”

Her brow furrowed. “How do you know?”

“Just the feel of the shuttle. It’s jostling like it is going through a thick atmosphere. You told me Polis Massa is a planetoid with no atmosphere. The base was constructed under domes.”

Leia thought about it. “Mustafar, Crait, or D’Qar then?”

Han shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. If the boarding ramp comes down and we have to play the game ‘The floor is lava’ to get to our prison cell…then we’ll know it is Mustafar.”

Despite feeling depressed Leia laughed. “Or if we smell sea salt but there is no water…then it is Crait.”

“Maybe if we are lucky, it will be D’Qar.”

“If we’re really lucky,” Leia muttered under her breath.
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The shuttle landed after an hour of flight. The stormtroopers instructed Han and Leia to remain seated. The Commander of the Guard would come to retrieve them.

“Does this Commander of the Guard have a name?” Leia asked the Stormtroopers.

“Yes,” one guard said tersely. “Commander.”

The central boarding ramp lowered, and Leia could hear the heavy footsteps of somebody walking up into the shuttle. Eventually a figure garbed in red armor and cape over a black body suit came into view. It was an unfamiliar uniform, but one reminiscent of Palpatine’s Red Guard right down to the crimson full-face helmet which hid the sentry's identity. The newcomer was Han’s height with broad shoulders and slim hips. Based on his gait and physical proportions Leia assumed this was a human male.

The stormtroopers jumped to attention when he entered the ship and called for the prisoners to do the same. Han rose, but Leia remained seated as a form of dissent. One of the stormtroopers took offense and moved toward her in a threatening manner. “Get up you Rebel scum!”

The red armored guard made a shooing gesture with his gloved hand. At the same time, the Stormtrooper flew backwards into the shuttle bulkhead before crumbling to the ground. The trooper groaned before rising onto shaky legs.

The Commander of the Guard turned to the injured stormtrooper. “I will not tolerate mistreatment of my prisoners. Leia Organa may be a rebel, but she is also of royal blood. She is the daughter of a Queen and she will be treated accordingly.”

The voice was transmitted through the helmet speakers, but Leia could clearly distinguish the man’s rimworld accent and the fact that he was highly irritated with his subordinate.

The trooper looked down at the deck, sufficiently chastised. “Yes, Commander.”

He gestured at the two guards. “Stay with the shuttle and return to your ship.” He pointed to Leia and Han. “Follow me.”

Leia considered resisting the command but decided there was no point. The red guardsman was obviously a Force user. If he could fling a stormtrooper back with a wave of his hand he probably could float her out of the shuttle with ease. She rose and followed the commander with Han and Kayex trailing close behind. When they exited the shuttle, she shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight and then spun around on her heel checking out their location. The shuttle had landed in the middle of a large courtyard surrounded by the stone walls of what looked like a citadel. Her head turned and she focused on movement in the sky. It was a flock of birds. She could also make out the smell of flowers and pine trees. This had to be D'Qar.

They followed the red guard until they were far enough from the shuttle for the ship to safely take off. Once the shuttle was a speck in the sky and the sound of its roaring engines diminished the guard turned to address them. “Emperor Skywalker regrets being unable to greet you and provide a tour of your new home in person. The Empress is getting close to her due date and her doctors recommended she not take long spaceflights. Understandably, Emperor Skywalker does not wish to be apart from the Empress during this time.”

Leia nodded, knowing from the holonet that Luke and his wife were expecting their first child. “Where exactly are we?”

“You are on Naboo.”

Before she could ask another question, he turned quickly, his cape billowing out allowing her to see what weapon he was carrying: a lightsaber.

Leia’s brow shot up as she followed the man through large wooden double doors and into a…palace. She stopped so suddenly that Han bumped into her.

“Hey,” Han yelped as he stumbled forward and would have fallen on top of her if it wasn’t for Kayex grabbing the back of his tunic. He regained his footing and looked up noticing the luxurious interior. “What the…”. He looked to the guard. “Let me guess, we are to occupy the dungeon suite.”

“Only if the Princess decides to put you there,” the guard responded with no mirth in his tone. He turned gesturing to the ornate corridor and entranceway. “This will be your home. You will have free rein of the facility. There are security droids and holonet surveillance on the exterior of the building. There are no security cameras in the living areas, but your KX-series security droid will remain with you inside the structure. We will give you your privacy unless you attempt to escape or try to tamper with your security droid.”

Leia gestured toward Kayex. “I guarantee Han won’t touch Kayex. He finally taught the droid to play Sabacc. He wouldn’t want to accidentally delete that feature.”

Leia couldn’t see the guard’s face through the smooth faceplate, but she suspected he was rolling his eyes. The man gestured her to follow. They moved down the long corridor into a great room with vaulted ceilings. The room had a huge sectional couch surrounding a holonet projector, there was also a wet bar stocked with an assortment of liquors and wine. Along one wall was a large fireplace. As they moved through the great room, they came to a sizable kitchen with a KT8 cooking unit. They turned a corner and passed a formal dining room, a grand foyer, a library, study and then came to a closed door. The guard swung the door open and entered a huge bedroom with dressers, a second fireplace, large walk-in closets, a master bath, and sauna.

The guard didn’t comment on the bedroom, but simply let them look around before walking back out the way he came in. “There are other bedrooms further down the hallway.”

“Is that for all the houseguests and entertaining we’ll be doing?” Han said sarcastically.

The Commander stopped and turned to face Han. “The emperor might visit.” There was a slight pause. “He considers you family.”

He pushed open another pair of doors that led out to a second courtyard. This time it was Han that stopped suddenly. There in the center of the courtyard was the Millennium Falcon. “What the hell?” he muttered as he went to his ship running a hand lovingly over the hull. “I thought it would be forty years before I would see her again.”

“It lacks fuel,” the guard said before pointing to a large chain around the landing gear. “And it is equipped with a fortified infraction restraint…but you will be allowed to conduct any repairs or upgrades you desire during your stay.” He gestured toward another building with large roll-up cargo doors. “There is a fully equipped repair garage available for your use. In ten years, the restraint will release, the ship will be refueled and you, Captain Solo, will be allowed to leave.”

Han’s head jerked toward the man, anger narrowing his eyes and stiffening his jaw. “Skywalker and I had a deal. I get to stay with Leia for the forty years.”

The guard rocked back on his heels as he crossed his arms across his armored chest. “Emperor Skywalker’s father had rejected that arrangement and altered the deal.”

“This is so kriff’d up! I want to talk to Luke,” Han said heatedly. “I can’t believe he would let Darth Vader change our agreement.”

“The deal was changed for your benefit,” the guard bit out with irritation. “The original deal was to leave you two abandoned on a desolate world. You will be held at this facility instead.” He turned and started walking again. “When your ten years are up, Solo, you may take your ship and come-and-go as you please.”

“That’s not what…,” Han paused, his jaw slack. “What did you say? I can come and go as I please?”

The guard stopped and turned to face Han. “You may. Emperor Skywalker would not keep you from the princess.”

Han opened his mouth to talk but then shut it. He looked at Leia questioningly, before turning back to the guard.

“Wait,” Han said slowly. “If I can come and go in my ship…what’s preventing me from leaving with Leia?” His eyes went wide. “We’re not injected with explosive transmitter chips that will detonate if we leave this place are we?”

The posture of the guard changed, and Leia got the impression that he was outraged at the suggestion. “Emperor Skywalker would never do something so…loathsome.”

Han scrubbed a hand over his face before asking. “So…what prevents me from taking Leia and leaving.”

The answer surprised Leia. “Absolutely nothing other than it will result in you two forever being on the run from authorities.”

“That is better than forty years in prison.” Han gestured to the surrounding building. “This may be a palace, but it is still a prison.”

Leia heard the guard sigh under his armor. “Do you really think Emperor Skywalker is not considering a pardon or parole? The public has a short memory and, in your case…they have no knowledge of your arrest and conviction. Ewon Klanto will be blamed for the Dreadnaught attacks. In ten years, people will have forgotten about the rebellion.” He turned and addressed Leia. “You can quietly be released on parole and stay a free woman unless you decide to continue acts of rebellion.”

The thought of a parole was thrilling, but Leia wasn’t sure if she should believe him. “How does a guard know all of this?”

“I am Commander of the Emperor’s Guard. The emperor confides in me.”

“You acting as the emperor’s confidant worries me.” She pointed to his lightsaber. “I assume you are a former Inquisitor trained by Darth Vader.”

“I was trained by the Jedi Order.”

She wasn’t convinced. “The Jedi are dead.”

“No, the Inquisitors and Sith are all dead.” He unclipped and activated his lightsaber allowing her to see the blue blade. “Sith have red blades.”

Leia laughed at this pathetic attempt of persuasion. “So? You have a lightsaber with a blue crystal. That doesn’t prove anything.”

The guard deactivated his saber and clipped it back on the belt. “A Sith lightsaber does not have a special red crystal. Any saber, no matter the color, will eventually turn red when brandished by a dark force user. The process of changing the color is called bleeding. Negative emotions and the use of the darkside damages the kyber crystal giving it a distinctive crimson hue.”

Leia knew nothing about kyber crystals and had no way of verifying the man’s story. “If you are a Jedi, then what’s your name? My father knew many of the Jedi. Perhaps he mentioned you.”

The man took a step toward her. “All you need to know is… I am the person who interrogates prisoners, not the other way around.” Leia glared back at the faceless helmet unflinching. After a long moment the man’s posture relaxed and she thought she heard a chuckle coming from under the helmet. He motioned toward the ship. “Your astromech droid is inside. The emperor has also provided a medical droid and a protocol droid within the premises. If you need anything, within reason, let the protocol droid know and arrangements will be made for delivery.”

Leia took a deep shuttering breath of relief. She was expecting the worse, but Luke did everything thing in his power to make her and Han comfortable including not extending Han’s sentence. She had misjudged him terribly. When a tear rolled down her cheek the red guard cocked his head to the side questioningly. “Is there a problem?”

Leia wiped the tears away and shook her head. “No, this is just a bit overwhelming. Please tell Emperor Skywalker ‘Thank you’ on our behalf.”

The guard gave a curt nod of his head. “I will pass on that message.” He turned and walked back to the building leaving Han and Leia in the courtyard.

Leia gazed up at Han. “Can you believe this?”

He gave her his classic lopsided grin. “Yes. Luke cares for you.” He paused before adding. “I think he loves you…or at least he had a major schoolboy crush on you before he met his wife.”

Leia shook her head. “If he did, it was fleeting. He never expressed any romantic feelings.”

“That’s probably because he knew that with me as the romantic rival, he had no chance at wooing you successfully.” Han said lightheartedly. “After all, how can he complete with a gorgeous guy like me.”

Leia groaned as she threw up his arms in a dramatic show of frustration. “This is going to be a long forty years.”

 

Loved the exchange with the guards and the way Luke maneuvered things.

 

Thanks. I work this weekend so I thought I would get some writing done today.

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Emperor Skywalker’s Private Quarters, Royal Palace, Galactic City, Coruscant

Mara groaned and shifted uncomfortably in her chair when she heard the door chime sound in her and Luke’s quarters. Not wanting to drag her very pregnant self into an upright position she instead reached out with the Force and, upon verifying the identity of the visitor, told the central computer to open the door.

The Commander of the Emperor’s Guard sauntered in with a confident gate, his helmeted head held high, and a feeling of contentment oozing through the Force.

Mara chuckled as the door closed behind him. “Can I assume the princess and her smuggler consort have safely arrived at their luxurious prison?”

The red guardsman nodded. “Yes, and she wanted me to pass on their gratitude." He paused for a second before continuing. "There was actual emotion backing those words. They were not empty platitudes.”

Mara’s brow went up with surprise. She never thought Leia would come around, but perhaps she was mistaken. Maybe she will stop being an angry rebel trying desperately to topple the government. The Empress returned her attention back to the guardsman and frowned. “Will you please take that helmet off, Anakin.”

“Oh,” the clone pulled off the helmet revealing wavy blond hair that had grown out to almost shoulder length. “I wore a helmet for so long, I sometimes forget I have it on.” He smiled at her sheepishly and with surprising warmth.

She still couldn’t get over the change. He had once been Palpatine’s ruthless enforcer. After Luke joined him in ruling the galaxy, Vader had become less homicidal. Now that Darth Vader was no longer trapped in a faulty life support suit that kept him in constant pain, he was almost lovable. She said almost because Anakin still had a short temper, but at least he now tried to control his emotions and not lash out violently.

“Leia and Han are happy with their new situation?” she asked.

“They expressed shock at their good fortune.”

Mara chuckled. “I don’t blame them. It is an opulent mansion with every imaginable creature comfort.” She cocked her head to the side and gave him a knowing look. “When you told Luke about your plans to renovate Palpatine’s palace on Naboo he questioned you about the pool and gym. You said you had those amenities installed because you hoped to one day entertain grandchildren.” She looked down at her extended abdomen. “You weren’t talking about this baby…were you? You're hoping that Leia and Han will have kids.”

Anakin flashed a guilty grin. “Maybe.”

“You’re a big softy,” Mara teased.

“Only when it comes to family.” He went over to the kitchen and placed his helmet on the dining table before pointing to the cooling unit. “Do you mind if I get something to drink?”

“Help yourself.”

He pulled a sparkling water out of the unit. “You want anything?”

She rubbed a hand over her extended belly. “No, your grandson has been headbutting my bladder for the last hour and I don’t need more frequent trips to the ‘fresher.”

Anakin smiled widely…the smile of a proud soon-to-be grandfather. “Where’s Luke?”

“He’s in meetings.” Mara made a gesture of irritation. “Now he knows why you stepped down from being emperor. It is a tedious, thankless, and soul crushing job.”

Anakin laughed before taking a long swig of his drink. He then closed his eyes and made a sound of pure delight. “I love drinking something other than RepMed vitapaste.” When Mara gave him a confused look, he explained. “The suit could give me nutrients directly into my stomach through a gastrostomy tube or there were feeding straws in the helmet. The nutrition I needed to survive was called RepMed vitapaste and it tasted horrible, but if I didn’t occasionally take a sip my mouth would dry up. It was like Palpatine had built the suit just to torture me. Every day was pain and misery.” He heaved a sigh. “I suppose being in constant pain kept me fully immersed in the dark side of the Force. It was his plan all along.” He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Even breathing was painful back then.” He sat down on the couch and leaned back into the seat cushions. “Now I feel…I feel wonderful.” He looked over to Mara. “If I knew it was possible to transfer my conscience to a clone body, I would have done it decades ago.”

She gave a tight smile. Decades ago, he was best described as a darkside psychopath. If Darth Vader had a strong, healthy body would that have made him a more vicious and efficient killer?

Anakin noticed the change in her demeanor and correctly guessed what was bothering her. “Mara, I’m not that man anymore.”

“I know.” She decided to change the subject. “Was it nice seeing your daughter?”

Anakin’s smile faltered a bit. “Yes. I wish I could have a relationship with her like I have with Luke, but she is still angry with Vader.”

Mara noticed that Anakin had taken to talking about his former self in third person. Mara saw it as him trying to disassociate from his past. She went along with it and would discuss Anakin and Vader as if they were two different people.

“Darth Vader did unforgivable things to her and her loved ones,” Mara said softly. “I guess that means you will never tell her your true identity?”

He finished his drink and set it down on the side table. “No. I think it is better that the galaxy believes Vader is dead.” He glanced over to her. “I…ummm…I wanted to talk to you about something.”

She could feel a tinge of apprehension coming from the man making her tense. “And that is?”

He leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his knees. “I know my son is going to screw up one day and call me 'father' in public and I don’t want that to cause uncomfortable questions to be asked.” He paused for a long moment before just blurting out his request. “So, I thought we could maybe tell the public that I am your father.”

“What?” she asked in astonishment.

He put up a gloved hand. “Hear me out. I know we don’t look alike, but I will have to wear my helmet in public for a while. I look too much like I did when I was a Jedi Knight. Facial recognition software will immediately associate my new face with my old.” He raked a hand over his chin. “I’m not sure how old this body is, but it can’t be much more than thirty-five or forty years old. The last time Anakin Skywalker was seen was when I was twenty-two. I look too much like my old self.”

“Your plan is to keep your face covered and tell people you are my father?”

“It would explain Luke accidentally calling me father, it would give me a reason to spend time with my grandson, and it may allow me to occasionally interact with Leia without causing her to get suspicious as to why I am always showing up as Luke’s representative.”

Mara thought about it and shrugged. “Anakin, I don’t mind. You are already my father-in-law.”

He grinned broadly and Mara was taken aback by the resemblance between Anakin and Luke. Both had blondish brown hair, a cleft chin, and blue eyes. It saddened her that he might have to wear that damn helmet for the rest of his life or until he was so old and wrinkled that no facial recognition program could identify him as Anakin with any certainty. “You should grow a thick beard and I could do some slicing into Imperial databases and try to purge holos of Jedi Skywalker out of the system.”

He got up and retrieved another drink from the kitchen. “I really don’t mind the helmet.” He sat back down on the couch as he savored his beverage.

“Anakin,” Mara said softly. “I know that wearing the helmet makes it easier for you to interact with people in the way you were once accustomed…detached from personal interactions and human emotion, but you have a second chance at life. You could meet someone, marry and actually raise children of your own…the thing you wanted more than anything before Palpatine ripped that away from you.”

She felt the shift in his mood from jovial to something darker. “What I wanted was a life with Padme.”

She blew out a frustrated breath but dropped the subject. This was all too new for him. For decades he had lived a life devoid of love and human touch. She shouldn’t push him in that direction until he was ready.

“Sorry. I would be honored to call you father and I know you will be a wonderful grandfather.”

She felt the man’s mood lighten. “Thank you.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “Do you think I’d look good with a beard?”

“Yes, and I think it would be good for you to have sun on your face and finally get to enjoy life…life without the helmet. You are now free to be your own man.” She thought of Anakin’s early life as a slave, the restrictions put on him as a Jedi and finally his life under Palpatine’s thumb along with his imprisonment in a painful life support suit. Anakin Skywalker had never known freedom until now. “What are you going to do with your newfound freedom…father?”

“I suppose Commander Jade will grow a beard and think up an appropriate first name.”

She grinned. "That sounds like a plan."

 

Loved this talk. Anakin's confidings and Mara's empathy.

 

Thanks. Mara and Anakin are getting along fairly well...especially since in the beginning of this story she thought Vader would kill her. I am very close to ending this story.

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Imperial Palace, Galactic City, Coruscant.

Emperor Skywalker was relieved to get back to Coruscant having finished a diplomatic summit with the Queen of the Hapes Consortium. He was thankful to be back home not only because the Queen was a very disagreeable woman, but he was forced to leave his wife so close to her due date.

The Hapan worlds, a consortium of over one hundred planets, planetoids, and habitable moons, were located within the borders of the Empire, but were left undisturbed by the Empire for centuries, mainly because travel into the area was extremely hazardous. The Hapan Consortium was located within the Transitory Mists: an area containing massive gravity wells, cosmic dust clouds and frequent ion storms.

The Empire would have left the Consortium alone for the foreseeable future if they had remained within their borders, but after the official death of Darth Vader, the current matriarch, Queen Ta’a Chume, had decided it was time to expand her domain. She obviously assumed Emperor Skywalker was weak. After a few Hapan war ships, called Battle Dragons, skirmished with Imperial Star Destroyers Luke sent a delegation to Hapes to order the queen to stop her incursions into Imperial Space. The queen refused to talk to anybody but the new Emperor. Therefore, a month before his wife’s due date he was forced to either fly to Hapan space or risk a war breaking out within Imperial borders.

He arrived with Grand Admiral Thrawn’s entire fleet. It was an impressive show of force. Luke reassured the queen his intention was not to annex her territory into his Empire, although he was sure he could do so if he so desired. He simply wanted her to keep her military forces within their borders.

After a week of tense negotiations, Queen Ta’a Chume eventually agreed to keep her Battle Dragons within Consortium space, promising to only utilize them for planetary defenses. Luke was relieved the situation was resolved without violence, but he didn’t trust Ta’a Chume. Through the Force he could sense duplicity and arrogance. To ensure her compliance he placed Imperial probe droids surrounding the borders of the Hapan domain. If Battle Dragons encroached on Imperial space again, he would know.

His private Imperial shuttle landed in the Palace docking bay and he quickly walked toward his quarters eagerly awaiting his reunion with Mara. He hoped she was in a good mood…but he somehow doubted it. Before traveling to the Hapan Consortium, Mara had been irritable and complaining about swollen ankles, tender breasts, and heartburn. A very pregnant and cantankerous former assassin was terrifying for most of the palace staff. The only person, other than Luke, that didn’t fear her hormonal outbursts was Anakin. Luke shook his head. ‘Not Anakin,’ he reminded himself. After his father made the public announcement that the new Commander of the Emperor’s Guard was actually Mara’s father he had taken the surname of Jade. He then went about picking a new first name. After considering an assortment of virile given-names such as Stone, Blade, Draco, Maxim, Pierce, or Steel he finally settled on the more conventional name of ‘Victor’. Luke suspected he chose that name not only for the obvious reasons—victory over the rebellion, Palpatine and the Sith—but because Victor sounded slightly like Vader. Although his father now disavowed his Darth moniker and the darkside…it was a name he responded to for almost three decades and therefore having a similar sounding new name made the change easier.

Commander Victor Jade, acting as Mara’s father, would check on her in Luke’s absence. If she needed something—which was usually something sweet tasting—he would then order terrified stormtroopers to go to the palace commissary to bring the Empress some specific chocolate cream truffle to soothe her pregnancy cravings.

Luke chuckled at the thought of highly trained stormtroopers scrambling through the candy aisle scooping several varieties of truffles into a hand basket to increase the chance of getting the proper brand name. He could only imagine these troopers were probably reevaluating their life decisions while on these impromptu shopping trips. Luke decided anybody his father tasked for these domestic missions would be rewarded with a four-day pass. It was the least he could do to keep morale up.

As he approached his quarters, he felt a pang of pain through the Force and immediately knew it was coming from Mara. He rushed into his apartment and found his wife on their couch, her face grimacing and with hands on her belly.

Luke dropped down on the couch next to her, extending a hand to caress her stomach. “Are you in labor?”

“Contractions started a little while ago, they are infrequent, but my water just broke.” She said between deep calming breaths. “I called for the medics.”

The door to the quarters flew open and Luke’s father stepped in. He was in his red guard armor including full helmet. “Is it time?”

“Yes,” Mara said through clenched teeth. “The medics should be here soon.”

“I can carry you.” Luke offered.

She looked up to her husband in exasperation. “I’ll probably be in labor for hours. We don’t have to rush. I don't need people seeing you carrying your bloated wife through the palace.”

“You are not bloated. You are pregnant and beautiful, but okay…okay,” Luke said nervously before lapsing into a long awkward pause as they waited for the medics. Finally, a young Twi’lek female medic with greenish skin and wearing white scrubs entered the apartment. Following her was a human male wearing the same outfit and guiding a repulsor chair.

The medic asked Mara a few questions and then helped transfer her to the chair, then rushed her to the infirmary with Luke and his father following closely behind.
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Mara was brought to the infirmary and maneuvered into the birthing room and began her preparation for delivery. Luke and his father started to enter but upon seeing a nurse removing Mara’s boots and another nurse holding up a hospital gown, the former emperor made a quick about-face and marched back out the door. “I will be in the waiting room,” he called to Luke over his shoulder.

The doctor entered as the medics finished putting a gown on Mara. He was a tall, middle-aged human with greying black hair and eyes so dark brown they appeared black. Mara had met with him at a growing frequency throughout her pregnancy. What he lacked in bedside manner he made up for with technical expertise. There was no obstetrician more highly recommended within the Empire. “How are you doing Empress Skywalker?”

“Hello, Doctor Welton,” Mara said calmly. “My contractions started thirty minutes ago. They are sporadic and not too painful. Is it normal to go into labor two weeks early?”

The doctor put on surgical gloves then sat down on a small stool at the end of Mara’s exam table. He retracted foot stirups and guided Mara’s feet into them. He then reached under her gown and did a quick pelvic exam. “Since you are at 38 weeks of gestation this is not a problem. The baby will be fine. You are in the early stages of labor. Cervix dilation is only three centimeters.”

“How long before the baby will be born?” Mara asked.

The doctor stood as he removed his gloves. “It varies from mother-to-mother. Let us know when you experience the next contraction. We'll want to time them. The closer and stronger the contractions the closer you are to delivery. Labor can last for hours or even days.”

“Days!” She glared at the doctor. “I want something for the pain.”

“Mara,” Luke said softly. “I thought you wanted natural childbirth.”

She shot him a look that made him take a step back. Luke turned to the physician. “You heard her doctor.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “Sorry, you have to be further along in labor before we give you an epidural.”

Luke gave her his best soothing and reassuring smile. “Mara, let’s go over those meditation techniques we practiced.”

She glared at him, irritated that all the hard work to making a baby was up to her, while Luke’s part was the most enjoyable. She considered grabbing hold of his hand and through their Force bond give him a glimpse at what she was feeling, but instead she simply sighed and nodded.

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Victor paced in the waiting room. He was alone, but that was not because there weren’t other mothers giving birth. Happy expectant fathers or family members would come to the waiting room, see the red armored guardsman, and flee to other parts of the infirmary. He wasn’t sure why people avoided him. It wasn’t like he killed anybody since becoming Commander Victor Jade. He assumed his rank and close association with the emperor intimidated people.

Luke occasionally came out to the waiting room to update him on Mara’s labor, but there was no need. Victor sensed Mara’s emotions and intense pain through the Force. He did not know if this was normal for a person giving birth or if here was a problem. Finally, after five hours of waiting he felt a strong feeling of elation coming from Luke and Mara. He also felt another strong Force-user in that room…his grandson.

He wanted to burst into the delivery room to see the baby but knew that was not a good idea. He chuckled to himself as he considered how pregnancy hormones and five hours of labor probably trumped his twenty thousand midichlorians any day. He didn’t need Mara force shoving him through a wall.

After thirty long minutes Luke came out in the waiting room with a small bundle in his arms. He projected pure joy though the Force as he held out the baby to his father. “I would like to introduce you to Anakin Victor Skywalker.”

Victor took off his helmet revealing his now heavily bearded face and a broad smile before reaching out and gently removing the baby from his son’s arms. He looked down at the newborn who had wisps of reddish blond hair and bright blue eyes. The former emperor bit down on his bottom lip as he tried to rein in his emotions. He wished he had the chance to hold Luke and Leia like this when they were born.

“He is strong with the Force,” he managed to say when he felt he had control of his voice.

“He looks like his mother,” Luke said.

“He has your eyes,” his father pointed out.

“A good mix of genes then.”

“Yes.” Victor held the baby for a few more minutes before returning the child to Luke. He was somewhat overwhelmed at the changes in his life in the last few years. He found a son, then a daughter, gained a daughter-in-law and now a grandson.

Life was good.

 

One Year Later

Naboo Bastion aka ‘the most luxurious prison in the galaxy’

Leia, despite being indoors, looked up instinctively upon hearing the engines of an Imperial shuttle coming for a landing in the palace’s courtyard. She washed her hands in the kitchen sink. She had been in the process of preparing an old Alderaan recipe from scratch, not trusting the KT8 cooking unit to do the dish justice. “Han, we have company,” she called out. When he didn’t answer she questioned Kayex. “Is he tinkering with the Falcon again?”

The security droid turned to her. “Yes, Mistress Organa. Shall I get him?” She dried her hands on a kitchen towel while shaking her head. “No, he’ll hear the incoming shuttle. It is a little early for Commander Jade’s visit, isn’t it?”

The matte black droid’s body went ridged an indication he was wirelessly communicating with the main computer. After a brief pause, he turned to her and said, “The Emperor is arriving.”

“Luke?” she gasped. Although Luke had regularly communicated with her via the holonet transceiver, he had not yet ventured to the planet…until today. She wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or not. “Contact Han and tell him Luke’s in the shuttle.” The droid gave a nod of acknowledgement. Leia ran to her bedroom to put on something more suitable to greet visitors other than her pajamas.
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Commander Jade set the shuttle down in the northern courtyard and quickly ran through the shutdown sequence for the engines. He peered out the front viewport and saw Han Solo, garbed in long-sleeved coveralls, and standing under the portico of the side entrance. The smuggler gave his usual cocky smile and waved at Victor.

Over the last year the Commander of the Emperor’s guard would visit at least monthly to ensure all was well with the couple. He initially intended to stay for only a few hours at a time…mainly because he couldn’t think for a reason to remain longer without raising suspicion. He had hoped to develop some type of friendly relationship with his daughter, but it was Solo that always found a reason to spend time with him. Victor suspected Solo missed being able to throw back a few ales while discussing sports, blasters, and spacecrafts with another male.

Their unexpected friendship started with Solo asking for his help with the Falcon. Victor was at first wary that it was some sort of trap. Perhaps the smuggler thought he could overpower and hold him hostage as a bargaining chip for his and Leia’s freedom. But that wasn’t the case; he simply needed a hand with a heavy replacement part on his ship. He was accustomed to having a large Wookiee to assist him with repairs, but now all he had was Leia. Although Victor’s daughter was a fierce fighter, she was petite and unable to lift excessively heavy repair parts at odd angles. Fortunately for Han, Victor could levitate parts allowing the smuggler to bolt them into position with ease. After the first time they worked together Han offered Victor some Corellian whiskey. Having just started to grow his beard, he politely refused. Once his beard had grown out enough to disguise his face, he risked taking off his helmet to join the man for a drink. As he pulled off his crimson helmet, he noticed Han and Leia were surprised by his facial hair.

“I thought Imperial officers had to be clean shaven.” Leia had commented while scrutinizing his face.

“I am Commander of the Emperor’s Guards, but I am not exactly in the military. I do not have a commission, but I do have authority over military personnel. In the absence of the Emperor and Empress, I am considered the Imperial Regent. It’s like…” He paused in thought, stopping himself from likening his current rank and status to Darth Vader. He instead compared his position in another way. “It is like the Jedi leading the Army of the Republic. We all had the rank of general, but were not actually military officers in the true sense of the word.” He thought about it. “To be honest, the only reason the Jedi were given the rank of general was to ensure they were surrounded by clone troopers when Order 66 was given—the order to begin the Jedi purge.”

Leia’s eyes narrowed. “How did you escape the purge?”

Victor straightened his shoulders and answered truthfully. “By killing anyone who opposed me.”

“Where were you when the Rebellion was going on?” Leia had asked with an edge in her voice. “We could have used your help.”

“Leia,” Han murmured under his breath. “I would like Victor’s help with the Falcon in the future and that’s not going to happen if you interrogate him every time he visits.”

She blew out a breath and apologized. Since that day Leia had been polite with only occasional low-key prying into the Commander’s life.

When the shutdown sequence finished, Victor rose out of the pilot seat and entered the back cabin where Luke and Mara were undoing their crash webbing. “I do not wish my true identity to be revealed to Han and Leia,” he stressed to his son. They had already agreed that his secret would be kept, but he wanted to reenforce that desire. He had formed a bond—albeit a somewhat formal bond—with his daughter and her consort. He did not wish to lose what little goodwill he shared with the couple. If the truth was revealed Leia would immediately halt any interaction with him. Nothing good would come from her knowing his identity and this was one secret he was willing to bring to the grave.

Luke was the first to extract himself from his restraints. “I know dad. We won’t say a thing about that. As far as Leia and Han know…Darth Vader is dead and buried.” He turned and unstrapped the baby seat from the custom webbing. “I just want Leia to know her nephew. It’s time I tell her we are siblings. I want little Anakin to have an extended family.” He picked up the travel seat up with his one-year-old son sleeping inside and turned to his father. “If your secret is ever to be revealed to Leia…you’ll be the person telling her. We won’t say a word.”

Victor sighed deeply. “I’m surprised they don’t know already. I am certain their Artoo unit used to be my astromech. If he doesn’t recognize my face, my voice should give me away.”

Luke’s brow went up in surprise. “Wait, what? Artoo was your droid? How come Artoo never told me that?”

Victor shrugged. “He probably had a memory wipe. But even if he didn’t, Artoo units are programed differently from protocol droids. They usually don’t volunteer information not related with their primary function or a specific mission.” He went to the shuttle locker to retrieve his helmet but then remembered he didn’t need it here. He ran a hand over his beard and nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”
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Leia had joined Han by the time Luke walked down the shuttle ramp with Mara following close behind, cradling the baby in her arms. Victor was the last to exit the ship.

Leia gazed at Luke expectantly. He could feel a nervous anticipation flowing through the Force. They suspected his visit might mean good or bad news. He gave Leia and Han a broad reassuring smile. “I’m sorry that I’ve taken so long to see you in person.” He shuffled his feet as he steeled himself for their upcoming conversation. He turned to Mara and little Anakin. “I wanted you to meet my son.”

Up to that point Leia was standing stiffly, but one look at the baby made her smile “He’s beautiful. I saw him on the holonet news broadcasts. Anakin Victor…”. Her voice trailed off a bit. “You named him after his grandfathers.”

He could tell she didn’t like his choice in names. “Yes,” he said simply.

Leia turned to the bearded guardsman and smiled softly. “I hope he takes after his maternal grandfather.”

Victor chuckled and grinned at Luke.

Luke nodded in agreement. “Victor is a good man.” He took a deep breath and continued. “Anakin changed at the end of his life. He found redemption.”

“Pfft,” Leia made a puffing sound of disagreement.

“No, really,” Luke continued. “He truly turned from the darkside of the Force. He helped destroy a world of Sith.” He purposely left out the part of Palpatine reborn, not wanting it known that soul transference was possible. “He approved governmental reforms. And he deeply regretted hurting you and Han.”

Leia folded her arms across her chest and looked away.

“Leia, can we come in?” Mara interrupted as she looked up into the clear sky. “I don’t want Anakin to get sunburnt.”

“Oh, the baby…yes, of course,” Leia said apologetically as she ushered the group into the palace and down to the great room. She gestured toward the large couch. “Please sit.” They sat down together with Mara holding the baby on her lap. Victor remained standing while Leia and Han lowered themselves onto an oversized loveseat.

“Leia…Han,” Luke began, then stopped to take a calming breath. “I have something to tell you and I’m not sure how you are going to take it.”

Han’s expression darkened. “I hope you are not going back out on our deal.”

“No, no,” Luke waved his hand dismissing Han’s concern. “Nothing like that.” He looked down at the floor and then back to Leia who was obviously becoming anxious and probably thinking the worst-case scenario. “Leia…my mother had twins. I have a sister. A sister that was taken by the Jedi and given to the Queen of Alderaan.”

Her expression clouded with anger. “That’s a lie.” She rose to her feet. “Vader was not my father!”

Luke sighed deeply. “We could take a DNA test if you like. You are my sister. Reach out with the Force, you know it to be true.”

She gazed at him her anger turning to sadness. “Why are you doing this, Luke? Why are you lying?”

He dropped his head and dragged his fingers through his hair. “It’s the truth, Leia. And I’m doing this because I want my son to know his aunt.” He looked up at her. “You can stay in denial all you want, but know this… I believe you are my sister. You are my family…you and Han.”

She grimaced. “Is that why you put me and Han in this palace to serve out our sentences?”

He shook his head in frustration. “Yes and no. Leia, when I became Supreme Commander, I didn’t know I had a sister…but I pardoned and exiled you anyway. You are my friend and later I discovered you are my family. I couldn’t let you languish away in an Imperial prison.” He looked to Han and back to her. “I couldn’t keep you and Han apart.”

Han appeared very confused. He turned to Leia. “You can take a DNA test and put this argument to rest.”

“He’ll fake the results,” she said hotly.

“Why?” Han asked.

She looked at Han. “Why what?”

He put his hands out palms up. “Why would he make up a story that you are his sister?”

“So, he can…” she paused in thought. “I don’t know.”

“He doesn’t gain one thing by saying you are his sister.” Han said softly. “If anything, it makes you an unofficial Imperial Princess.”

She groaned while shaking her head. “It would also make me the daughter of Darth Vader.” She turned to him. “You may rethink having a family with me then.”

Han shook his head adamantly. “No, I would never do that. It’s not like the darkside is genetic.” His eyes widened as he turned to Luke. “It’s not genetic, is it?”

“No.” Luke reached over and picked up his son to bounce the child on his knee. The baby squealed in delight as he clapped his hands. “Leia, he’s your nephew. I would like him to grow up knowing his aunt and uncle and hopefully some little cousins one day.”

When he mentioned cousins, he felt a pang of panic from Leia, and he wasn’t sure why his offhand comment caused her such distress. “Leia, if you do have kids, they wouldn’t be confined to the palace. We’ll plan for them to go to school, field trips…” He was at a loss for words. This wasn’t a conversation had planned for. “I’d like to get you on parole by the ten-year mark. If you have kids in the next five or six years, they may never remember this place.” His words didn’t help. His sister remained distressed. “What’s wrong?”

She closed her eyes prompting tears to roll down her cheeks. “I’m pregnant.”

“Ohh…that’s wonderful!” Luke said enthusiastically, but his smile dimmed when he noticed Leia was not happy. “You don’t want children?”

“It’s not that. This wasn’t planned.” She looked to Han. “We were both on ‘repress meds.”

“Oh,” was all Luke could think of saying.

“Did the medical droid confirm this?” Mara asked.

Leia nodded. “Yes, we’re having twins…and if what you say is true…I am going to give birth to Darth Vader’s grandchildren.” Han put a reassuring arm around her shoulder as a sob escaped her lips.

“Leia,” Mara said gently. “You will have Han’s children. They will be reflections of their parents…not some grandfather they never met. I know what I'm talking about. I already gave birth to Vader’s grandson. I even named him Anakin. I would have never done that if I didn’t believe Vader redeemed himself. I spent a lot of time with the man. I knew him when he served Palpatine, and I knew him when he was Emperor. They were two completely different people. The Vader that served Palpatine I feared. He was a dangerous darksider. The man who became Emperor…I learned to love him like a father. He became a man I am proud to name my son after.”

Mara paused her speech when Victor cleared his throat and then quickly move to the kitchen. “I need some water.”

Mara collected her thoughts and continued. “Leia, we want to be a family. That’s all we want.”

Leia wrapped her hands around her still flat belly. “I’ll need some time to think about this.” She rose out of her seat and walked to her bedroom.

Han stood and moved to follow her, but she waved him off. “Han, you stay and entertain our guests.”

He acknowledged her request, moved to the bar, and pulled out a bottle of Corellian whiskey. “I know what Victor likes.” He gestured to Luke and Mara. “What can I get you two?” He gave a tight smile. “The Empire is buying.”

 

Naboo Bastion

Leia had hurried to her bedroom not only to think about what Luke told her, but to rush to the ‘fresher so she could empty the contents of her stomach in the toilet. She knelt in front of the commode, stomach heaving, until there was nothing left of her breakfast to purge from her system. She closed the lid and flushed before laying down on the cool bathroom tile to sob.

Luke’s news was just too much and had pushed her to her breaking point. She had experienced more emotional pain over the last decade than anybody could be expected to endure. The rebellion, the death of so many of her friends and family, her torture at the hands of Vader, Luke’s betrayal, followed by her capture, trial and the possibility of decades of captivity…. Now, on top of all that, she was told the person she hated more than anybody in the galaxy was her father. Luke, the friend that betrayed her and the rebellion, was her brother! And, if what Luke said is true, her unexpected pregnancy is the continuation of a Sith Lord’s bloodline. She laid a shaky hand on her belly wishing for the first time that she wasn’t pregnant…and at the same time hating herself for having such a horrible thought.

She wanted to believe Luke was lying, but he was right…she always felt a familial bond to him. It was something she never understood until today. She reluctantly had to admit she believed him; she believed they are siblings and therefore Vader fathered her. That realization brought about another round on sobs and a growing anger directed toward Luke.

He was selfish. He wanted an extended family and therefore he decided to dump the burden of her paternity onto her. She would have gladly gone her entire lifetime blissfully ignorant of the truth. What really infuriated her was he didn’t need to tell her; she could have had a relationship with Luke’s family as a friend. Luke had worked hard to repair their relationship and he had succeeded. Her anger over his betrayal had faded over the past year with every positive political and economic reform he established. He didn’t need to tell her, but he did, and now she was gutted.

She always knew she was an adopted war orphan. She believed her parents died at the hands of the evil empire…not that she was the daughter of the galaxy’s most depraved perpetrator of war crimes. Did her adopted parents know? They probably did. She wanted to be mad at them for lying to her, but that would be hypocritical…after all she was just telling herself that she would rather be blessedly unaware of the horrible truth.

‘Damn it, Luke,’ she muttered under her breath as she curled up into a fetal position.

She wasn’t sure how long she remained on the floor softly sobbing, but eventually she heard a knock on the door.

“Leia?” It was Mara’s voice. “Are you okay?”

Leia wiped the tears away from her face as she pulled herself into an upright position. “Yes,” she lied.

There was a pause. “Can I come in?”

Leia sighed deeply before answering. “You are the Empress and I a prisoner.”

There was another long pause. “Leia, I am asking as a friend.”

Leia blew out a frustrated breath before getting to her feet. She opened the door to find Mara standing in her bedroom holding her baby. Leia looked past her and when she didn’t see anybody else, she asked, “Where did the men go?”

“They knew you needed some time alone. So, they all grabbed an ale and decided to look at some problem Han is having with his hyperdrive.” She rolled her eyes. “Because everybody that knows nothing goes better together than alcohol and a highly sensitive propulsion engine.”

That comment got a smile out of Leia.

Mara gestured toward the ‘fresher. “Morning sickness?”

“No,” Leia said miserably. “Paternity sickness.”

Mara nodded somberly. “Luke struggled on whether to tell you. He thought you deserved to know the truth.”

“Deserved to know the truth,” Leia bit out bitterly as she pushed past Mara and walked over to the edge of her bed, sitting down heavily. “That is usually code for ‘I don’t want to bear the burden of the awful truth alone’”.

“That’s not true. He has me and Victor to lean on…to talk to,” Mara said softly. “Luke really struggled over telling you or not. He knew you would not take the news well…but he also knew you were far stronger and more resilient than he ever was. He got past the shock of his paternity, and he was positive you would also.”

Leia shook her head. “I wish he didn’t have such confidence in me. This is one truth I could have gone my entire life without knowing. If my brother has any other soul crushing news that he thinks I ‘deserve’ to know…tell him to keep it to himself. I would have been much happier never knowing the truth.”

Mara nodded in understanding. “Now that you do know…do you ever think we can be a family? Your children and my son will be cousins. They could grow up together.”

Leia looked down at her hand resting in her lap. “I don’t know. I’m very angry at Luke. He wanted his ideal family: wife, son and sister and he didn’t care how much the truth destroyed me.”

Mara took in a breath and let it out slowly. “Leia, Luke’s motive for telling you might be a bit self-indulgent…but I agree with his actions…for very different reasons. What we do as a family in the next decade might affect everybody in this galaxy.”

Leia was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Leia, Darth Vader reportedly was one of the strongest Jedi in history. Obi-Wan Kenobi thought Anakin Skywalker was the fabled ‘Chosen One’. The Jedi who would destroy the Sith and bring peace to the galaxy.” She paused to calm her fidgety son in her arms. When little Anakin settled down, she continued. “The bottom line is any children or grandchildren of Darth Vader will probably be strong in the Force. If there remains a rift between you and Luke it is very likely that bitterness will continue throughout the generations. Do you want your offspring to have an ongoing blood feud with Luke’s descendants? Or would you rather the cousins grow up as family with all of us working toward bettering this galaxy?”

Leia scoffed. “Is that my only two options?”

Mara put her fussy baby on the ground allowing him to explore before answering Leia. “Maybe not, but it is best for all involved that potentially powerful Force users don’t have animosity toward each other. Also, if your children have Force-potential they should be trained to control that power. Luke can give them that training.”

She shook her head. “I’m not a Force-user and there is no guarantee my children will have any Force sensitivity. This conversation is premature.”

“Perhaps,” Mara admitted. “Still, Luke has a dream where our child and your future children could one day grow up together and be a family. Luke was raised as an only child. He told me he always hoped his aunt and uncle might have kids, but they never did. When he discovered you are his sister, he mourned the fact that you two were not allowed to grow up together.”

“What are you suggesting?” Leia asked. “That I get paroled and move my family into the palace? The Imperial citizens would never allow that.”

Mara shrugged while keeping an eye on Anakin playing on the floor. “The public has a very short memory and, if things are going well with the economy, they are very forgiving. You don’t have to live on Coruscant once released. You can go wherever you want. We simply want to retain a good relationship and remain a family. Do you think that’s possible?”

Leia mulled over Mara’s words. She didn’t want strife between the Skywalker and Solo descendants…especially if they all ended up as strong Force users. She nodded her head. “I think it is possible…but I will keep the peace for my own selfish reasons.”

Mara cocked an eyebrow. “Which is?”

Leia stood to face her sister-in-law. “If we are a tight-knit family, I will hold some sway over the emperor. I worry about Luke. He is the most powerful person in the galaxy, and everybody knows absolute power corrupts. If Luke starts to stray from the path of righteousness, perhaps I can lead him back to the light.

Mara scoffed. “You won’t be alone in that endeavor…I will be right there by your side, but I don’t think you need to worry. Deep down he is the same farmboy who rescued you from the first Death Star.” Mara smiled warmly. “He’s a good man. I’m lucky to have him.” Mara bent over and picked up Anakin, cradling the child in her arms. “Are you going to be alright?”

Leia shrugged noncommittedly. “I survived the destruction of Alderaan. I suppose I will survive this.”

“We could leave.” Mara offered. “Give you some time alone to think.”

“No, stay.” Leia gazed up at Mara. “Han enjoys your father’s company and now that Luke is here, they have enough people for a decent game of Sabacc.” Leia paused in thought. “Mara, you may want to apologize to your father. When you were praising Darth Vader, Victor appeared overcome with emotion. I think you may have hurt his feelings. I don’t know your family dynamics, but he told me he is a former Jedi and since they were not allowed to have families, I assume you were not raised by Victor. It may have been painful to hear you say Vader was a father figure to you.”

Mara’s eyes widened before regaining her composure. “I will talk to him.”

Leia nodded. “Thank you.

After a long pause Mara said, “I guess Victor has made a favorable impression on you.”

Leia’s lips curled up in a soft smile. “He has. He is very professional and polite. He always addresses me as Princess.” She chuckled softly. “Han can spend all day talking to Victor.”

Mara’s brow rose looking incredulous. “Really? What do they talk about?”

Leia shrugged. “They usually talk in the Falcon while making repairs. I don’t like to intrude on their time together…male bonding and all…but occasionally I catch a word or two before they break out in boisterous laughter.”

Mara’s jaw went slack. “Victor was laughing…boisterously?”

Leia was confused by Mara’s reaction. “Yes…you haven’t heard him laugh?”

Mara made a face before laughing herself. “I’ve heard him chuckle, but never a belly laugh. I can’t believe Han is able to get him to say more than a few sentences.”

Leia did a palms-up gesture. “What can I say, Han has a way with people. He’s cocky, self-assured, and never fails to speak his mind. So much so, that even the most stoic and introverted person in the galaxy is hard pressed not to call him out on his Bantha crap.”

Mara laughed loudly startling Anakin who began to cry. “He’s probably hungry. I should feed him.” She turned to leave the bedroom but stopped and addressed Leia. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Yes, go ahead and take care of your baby.” Leia watched her leave and after a few moments she decided to follow. She was still angry with Luke, but he was family. She might as well get used to the idea.

 

Just a short update
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Naboo Bastion

Han crouched down under the Millennium Falcon and shuffled over to where the hyperdrive access panel was located. He released the four flush latches allowing the door to swing open. He then pulled a glowrod out of his side pocket and pointed its tight beam up at his increasingly unreliable hyperdrive. Luke and Victor moved close so they could see what and where he was directly his light. “There is the hypercoil going to the power coupler which is supplying power to the hyperdrive motivator,” Han explained. “According to the ship’s computer there is a power leakage problem making the Compensator to fluctuate wildly.” He pointed to another part of the engine. “I thought I could run a bypass to the Realspace Compensator and fix the problem that way.”

Victor choked on the Red Rancor ale that Solo had provided him. After coughing up the aspirated alcohol he starred at Solo in shock. “You do know that will destabilize the engines and could cause an explosion.”

Solo pointed a finger at him. “Could…that’s the key word. The ship’s computer calculated there was only a zero-point-five percent chance of that happening.”

Solo gave a self-confident grin that irritated Victor to no end…Solo’s ego could get Leia and his children killed. Victor gritted his teeth trying to tamp down his emotions. “Solo, you are going to be a father soon. Do you want to put your children on a ship that has a zero-point-five percent chance of exploding every time you fire it up?”

The grin slipped from Han’s lips and his shoulder’s slumped. “No.” He looked back up at the hyperdrive and sighed deeply. “I guess I have to stop taking big risks in the future.” He looked back up through the access panel and shook his head sadly. “That is the only way I can fix the ship from here. To repair it properly I would need to bring it to a shipyard where they have the equipment to pull the heavy engines.”

Luke took a sip of his drink before talking. “I can do that for you, Han. Naboo has some top-of-the-line facilities for starship overhauls.”

“Or,” Victor said slowly. “We can junk this freighter and get you a new ship. A ship fit for a princess such as a sleek H-type Nubian yacht.”

Han frowned at the suggestion. “I’m not giving up my ship.” He ran a hand over the hull lovingly. “She’s special.”

Victor wasn’t happy that Han insisted on keeping this death trap he called a ship, but he could understand how captains could get attached to their freighters. “You could at least replace the missing escape pods.”

Han nodded. “Yes, I can do that. You know, when I first saw this ship my friend Lando had a special made escape pod attached into the mandibular notch, but I had to jettison it to escape a giant, ship eating, jelly-fish monster near the Maw Cluster.” He took a sip of ale before smirking at Victor and Luke. “That’s within the Akkadese Maelstrom…where I did the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.”

Victor shook his head. “How can you do a twenty-parsec route in less than twelve parsecs.”

Han’s grin widened. “It can be done…if you round down.”

Victor scoffed while wondering about his daughter’s odd choice in men. “Did you round down from twenty?”

“No!” Han was insulted. “I didn’t go the normal route. I took a shortcut through the carbonbergs and ice as I flew by the Maw gravity well.”

“What about a jelly-fish?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, it was enormous with thousands of eyes and electrified tentacles that tried to grab and eat my ship.”

“In the vacuum of space?” Victor said skeptically, suspecting that Solo had been partaking the spice he once smuggled when he saw the beast described.

Han looked offended. “Yes, in the vacuum of space. Listen, I am not an expert on xenobiology, but space-borne creatures are not unheard of. Mynocks or space slugs are a couple of examples of animals that can survive in a vacuum. This thing was like a five-kilometer-wide energy creature. It tried to grab the Falcon but I lured it away by jettisoning the escape pod. As it chased the pod, I turned the ship around and burned engines in the opposite direction.”

Luke gazed at Han as he finished his beer. “Why were you in the Maelstrom in the first place?”

“I was being chased by your Imperial fleet,” Han replied with a sarcastic tone.

“It wasn’t my fleet back then,” Luke retorted, then smirked, “if it was my fleet…we would have captured you.”

Han laughed out loud. “Oh, you are so full of bantha dung.”

Luke grinned. “You are probably right.” He pointed up to the hyperdrive. “We’ll make arrangements for the Falcon to get a complete overhaul and replace those escape pods that we jettisoned before our capture by the first Death Star.”

The three men turned when they heard footsteps coming from the portico entrance. They squat walked out from under the ship to find Leia and Mara coming out of the building.

Victor could tell Leia had been crying and he was surprised by how much this bothered him. She loathed the man who fathered her and, in all honestly, he couldn’t blame his daughter. He did monstrous things while serving Palpatine. He Force choked his wife, tortured Leia and Han, and then sliced off Luke’s hand…and those were some of the least horrific crimes he committed. He wanted to console Leia, but that would make him feel like a fraud. He could only stand by and watch as Han rushed up and enveloped her in his arms. His daughter returned the smuggler’s embrace as he tenderly kissed the top of her head.

Luke shuffled his feet while looking heartbroken. “I’m sorry my news brought you so much pain, Leia.”

She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and gave a weak smile. “I’m sickened to know Vader was my father, but I’m not upset over having you as a brother.” She turned to Mara and the baby. “Or having a sister-in-law and a nephew.”

A hopeful smile bloomed across Luke’s face. “Good…that’s wonderful.” He blew out a relieved breath. “Leia, you were a politician. You can advise me on political matters. I want to make the Empire a place where you would want to live and raise your children.” He pulled in a deep breath before continuing. “I know our situation is complicated, but I think the Force is at work here.”

“How so?” she asked.

“I have been doing Force research using the Jedi relic Han gave me. It’s called a Holocron. It contains prophesies…some of which have come to fruition during our lifetime. My father was supposedly the Chosen One who will destroy the Sith…and it happened.” Luke’s eyes briefly glanced in Victor’s direction but quickly flitted away. “Most of the prophesies are so vague that they could be interpreted a hundred different ways, but there was one thing I found interesting. Many of prophesies contain twin births. The Holocron hinted that Force sensitive twins can act as natural dyads…which is the pairing of two strong Force users making them a stronger whole. A strong enough dyad can create shatter points.”

“What are those?” Han asked seemingly engrossed by the conversation.

It was Victor that answered. “It is a point in time or place where a specific action can result in a multitude of different futures. The citizens of this galaxy might think the future is set firmly on a specific route, but a dyad can fracture that path into a dozen smaller and very different directions.” He looked at Leia and Luke. “Palpatine thought he was all powerful and would reign forever, but a set of twins thwarted his plans.”

Luke nodded at Victor before turning his attention back to his sister. “I think we are destined to changed things…to bring peace and prosperity to the people of the galaxy. Do you think you can help me do that?”

She thought on his request for only for a brief moment before nodding with a smile. “Yes.”

 

Nine years later

Commander Victor Jade of the Imperial Knights piloted his shuttle to the Naboo Bastion. He had made the flight from Coruscant to Naboo hundreds of times over the years. He often spent days and occasionally weeks with the Solo family, the only exception was when he traveled to Naboo to witness the wedding of Han and Leia shortly before the birth of the twins. Luke officiated the ceremony with Victor and Mara acting as witnesses. After a small party the couple was left alone to pretend that they were off on some exotic honeymoon.

Luke and Mara originally planned to join him on this particular trip, but the demands on an emperor were never-ending. Currently, Luke was busy finalizing the formation of the Imperial Senate. It was his last step toward changing his current benevolent dictatorship into something closer to a constitutional monarchy.

Emperor Skywalker would retain substantial power, but a democratic constitution had been written up and ratified. The individual planets within the Empire would have planetary governors elected by the citizens of the world. Senators would act as representatives of the planetary governors and would meet within the Imperial senate on Coruscant.

The military would remain under the emperor’s control and Moffs would oversee protecting space in their sectors. The individual worlds would have their own standing planetary security force but could request Imperial military intervention in case of outside invaders. Leia was very helpful in giving Luke advice on establishing the senate. She knew what people to talk to and which politicians to avoid. The senate had been up and running for the last week with only a few problems that needed to be resolved.

As the shuttle reached the bastion, Victor flew a lazy circle overhead so he could get a good view of Solo’s totally renovated Corellian freighter. The ship’s once corroded and battered alloy skin was now replaced with top-of-the-line doonium and quadanium steel. The engines were pulled and replaced with a Class 0.45 hyperdrive…which Solo had to admit was better than the Class 0.5 hyperdrive system that he claimed to have installed in his freighter.

Victor chuckled to himself. He had the shipyard inspect the old hyperdrive and it was only a Class 1 system with some odd tweaking that Solo assumed made it faster and more maneuverable. Victor kept that information to himself, though. Solo would never believe he had anything but the fastest ship in the galaxy. Now, with the new engines…that boast might possibly be true. Victor wanted to replace the computer system but Solo balked. It was his belief that the ship’s onboard computer had a personality and replacing it would be akin to killing an old friend. Victor thought the idea was preposterous, but he ensured the computer remained intact.

Victor saw movement below as Solo and his Wookiee friend exit the Falcon. They looked up, hands shielding their eyes, before waving in his direction. Over the years it became apparent that Leia and Han had no plans to escape. After much discussion it was decided that they could have visitors. The Wookiee spent an exorbitated amount of time with the couple and their three children.

Victor grinned at the thought of his grandchildren: the twins—Jacen and Jaina—and his youngest grandson, Ben. After the birth of the youngest child, Victor asked Leia why she chose the name Ben. She explained that Obi-Wan Kenobi was a good friend of her father’s and according to Luke, he was the Jedi who placed her with her adopted parents. It was her message, placed within her Artoo unit, that dragged the Jedi into her fight against the Empire, and his death happened while helping her escape from the Death Star. She originally wanted to name her son Obi-Wan, but Han liked the name Ben better, so it was a compromise. Victor had to admit it made sense for Leia to want to honor Kenobi…and, over time, he realized having a grandchild named after his old Master didn’t bother him.

He maneuvered the shuttle down into the second empty courtyard and started the engine shutdown sequence. He looked out the flight deck observation window to see his daughter and her oldest son waiting for him under the doorway overhang. She wore a loose, one-piece jumpsuit with her hair tied up in braids in a way that reminded him of Padmé. She had a hand on her older son’s shoulder and was visibly holding the boy back from running to the shuttle until it was safe to do so. The brown-haired boy smiled widely while waving to Victor, excited by his arrival.

After landing and engine shutdown, he exited the ship only to be nearly bowled over by a happy eight-year-old Jacen grabbing hold of his leg in an impressive hug. “We missed you, Uncle Victor.”

“I miss you too.” Victor bent over and lifted the boy into his arms. “How’s my little Imperial Knight? Have you been doing your Force training?”

The boy nodded his head enthusiastically. “All of us have. I’m better than Jaina and Ben.”

“Watch the pride, boy,” Victor warned. “It is not the way of an Imperial Knight. Do you remember the oath?”

“Yes, Loyalty, Honor, Moderation, Duty. As Imperial Knights we will protect the citizens of the Empire and obey the emperor as he serves the light side of the Force.”

“Correct,” Victor said with pleasure. “Where does pride fall in the oath?”

Jacen chewed on his bottom lip in thought before answering. “Moderation. We will strive to balance the Force with ourselves. We will work toward attaining strength, knowledge, and skill but without pride and arrogance.”

Victor smiled widely at his grandson. “That is correct. You have been studying.”

“Can I build my lightsaber now?” he asked excitedly.

Victor saw Leia frown and he considered his words carefully. “Lightsabers are for adults. They are very dangerous weapons. You wouldn’t want to accidently hurt someone, would you?”

Jacen shook his head.

“Imperial Knights don’t practice with lightsabers until they are at least teenagers.” He looked up at Leia and smiled. “And with their parent’s permission.” He lowered the boy to the ground and addressed Leia. “Greetings Princess. I bring good news.”

She smiled back. “I know, Han has finished his sentence.”

Victor nodded as he pulled out a datapad from a side satchel. “Yes. This is a major event. Would you like to gather the family for the official proclamation?”

“Sure.” As she turned, Han and Chewie appeared in the doorway. “Victor wants to talk to all of us.” Leia motioned for them to follow her to the great room. Once there she indicated for everybody to sit while she got the other children from the playroom. Jaina came skipping into the large family room followed by five-year-old Ben Solo. All the Solo children had a strong family resemblance with brown hair and fair skin. The only exception was the twins had brown eyes, while Ben had his grandfather’s ice blue eyes.

When they were all seated Victor cleared his throat and read Luke’s proclamation off his datapad. “The Imperial Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Bureau of Adult Detention certifies that inmate # 111100, Han Solo, Documentation number 0621 is now released from confinement at the Naboo Bastion with his sentence completed with no parole.” He paused to smile at Han. “We will need your acknowledgment of receipt, but it is recorded properly in the Imperial databases.”

Leia clapped her hands before throwing her arms around her husband and kissing him fully on the lips. The children and a large Wookiee were also cheering Han’s release.

Victor cleared his throat. When he had their attention, he continued. “There is another document from the emperor.” He looked back down at the datapad and began to read. “‘Let it be known that on this day, I, Emperor Luke Skywalker, pursuant to my powers according to article 58, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Imperial Constitution, have granted unto Leia Organa Solo a full and unconditional pardon for her convictions…” Victor stopped reading. “The remainder is a bunch of legalese listing your convictions and docket numbers.” He grinned widely. “The bottom line is—you are free.”

Leia jumped up and shrieked with delight as Han and her children hugged her tightly. She was still crying as she untangled herself from her brood and impulsively hugged Victor. He tensed for a moment before returning the embrace knowing he may never have his opportunity again. She broke away from him looking a bit stunned or possibly embarrassed by her actions. “Sorry Victor. I know you are not an overly expressive man.”

“No problem. This is an event worthy of a hug. There is more.”

She looked at him dumbfounded. “More? How can there be more?”

He beamed at her. “Now that you are free, you need a job, and the emperor wants to offer you a position as Senator of New Alderaan.”

Her jaw dropped. “The planet Luke gifted to Alderaan families that were off planet when it was destroyed? I haven’t even been there. I wouldn’t feel right about representing them.”

“They have an elected planetary governor. They simply need a person to represent them in the Senate once they get to the required population density for representation. That should be within the year. You will have plenty of time to get acquainted with the people. We have talked to the leadership on planet, and they want you. They are thrilled that you are alive, and they want their senator back. Luke will make sure everybody in the galaxy knows you are back in good standing with the Empire.”

She moved back to the couch and sat down, her knees getting weak. “This is overwhelming.”

“Luke will have a residence built for you on New Alderaan if you accept the assignment. He will also acquire additional quarters in the Imperial Palace for you and your family.” Victor could barely contain his happiness at the thought of all his children and grandchildren together on the same planet. He looked to Jaina, Jacen and Ben. “Your cousins Anakin and Owen look forward to having you visit them on Coruscant. They were making a list of all the fun places to bring you.”

He looked around and motioned to the bastion that was their home for so long. “You are also free to stay here on Naboo if you like. I know the kids have friends here.” He looked to his daughter and smiled. “Take your time considering your options. This is not a decision you have to make today, tomorrow, or even next month.” He glanced over to Han. “I will arrange for your ship to be fueled and prepped. All the documentation you need is in your computer files.”

Leia sank back in the couch cushions while taking large deep breaths. “I can’t believe this. The senate has been reestablished and the Empire has a constitution. Luke did something in a decade that I didn’t think possible in my lifetime.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I feel awful for doubting him.”

“Princess,” Victor said softly. “Luke understands why you did what you did. The old empire was malignant and Palpatine was evil.”

“Not just Palpatine.” She looked up at him and added, “We can’t forget Darth Vader –Palpatine’s malicious sycophant.”

Victor regarded the top of his boots before nodding slowly and returning her gaze. “Yes, he was that and more.”

She appeared satisfied with his answer. He sensed she anticipated an argument from him...which was odd. As far as Leia knew, Victor Jade didn’t appear in the royal court until after Vader’s death and never met the redeemed Sith Lord. He cleared his throat. “If you decide to leave, I will arrange for cargo containers to be delivered. I assume most, if not all, of your belongings can fit into Solo’s freighter.”

Leia nodded. “I don’t think we will move just yet, but I would like to go see the new senate building and later visit New Alderaan.” She turned to her husband. “Would you like to get out of here for now and come back later to pack?”

“Hell yeah,” Han said enthusiastically as he jumped out of his seat and gave Chewie a playful smack across his shoulder. “What do you say. We take the Falcon out and see what she can do?”

As the furry alien roared in approval Victor noticed his daughter rolling her eyes.

He took a step closer to Leia and leaned down to whisper. “Would you and the children like to return to Coruscant on my shuttle?” he gave Solo a sidelong glance. “I suspect your husband may want to do a stress test on the engines.”

“And he’ll probably want to fly through an asteroid field or two.” Leia nodded knowingly before giving her full attention to Victor. “A ride on your shuttle would be lovely. It will also give us some time to talk.”

Victor immediately came to alert. “Talk? With me?”

She gave him a look he didn’t quite recognize. “Of course. Every time you’re here Han totally monopolizes your time. It would be nice to have a conversation that doesn’t involve weapons or starships.”

He relaxed slightly. “I look forward to discussing whatever topic you desire.”

 

Two days later

The Millennium Falcon was fueled, and preflight checks successfully performed. The family was packed, and the children were excited for their first off planet adventure. Off planet being the keyword, since the Solo children had never been confined to the Bastion. They attended a local private school and traveled throughout Naboo. Usually they were escorted by Victor, but occasionally their parents were allowed a furlough to accompany the children. At first all day trips were supervised by either Victor or a trusted Imperial guard, but in later years Leia and Han could attend school functions with the children with only the KX security droid as an escort.

Solo and Chewbacca said their goodbyes to Leia and the kids and wasted no time firing up the Falcon and taking off at high speed followed by a totally unnecessary aileron roll before leaving the planet’s atmosphere. Victor watched the smuggler depart then returned his attention back to Leia and her children. “Are you ready?”

The younglings shouted excitedly as they ran up the ramp of the Imperial Shuttle followed by Leia and Victor. Once the children were strapped in, each having a small datapad to keep them occupied, Leia walked up to the flight deck. “Do you mind if I take the copilot seat?”

Victor motioned for her to go ahead as he did his preflight checks. Once everything checked out, he lifted off leaving the Bastion behind. The children chatted excitedly for a long time until they either became engrossed in something on their datapad or fell asleep.

Leia was silent, but Victor could sense she was building up the courage to say something. Eventually the stillness became awkward, and he spoke. “You mentioned you wanted to discuss something? Does this have to do with your release or the senate?”

She shook her head. “No, it is about Force training.”

Victor relaxed a bit. That was a subject he was an expert on. “What would you like to know?”

Leia shifted in her seat, so she was facing Victor fully. “Luke said he senses Force potential in me. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

She nodded while running her hand over her chin in thought. “When Luke told me that he was my brother he advised me to reach out with the Force and I would be able to sense the truth of his words. I couldn’t feel it then but over the years it has become clear. I can sense my relationship to him through the Force. He is my brother.”

Victor remained silent, unsure where she was going with this conversation.

“After a while I could sense the connection between my children and Luke and I could also feel the family bond between Luke, Mara and their children.”

“Yes, their Force essence is similar,” he said warily, suspecting what subject she was trying to broach.

“I was surprised when I didn’t feel that same familiarity between you and your daughter, Mara,” Leia said softly. “But I did feel that similarity between you and Luke…and me…and my children.”

Victor’s posture stiffened.

“When I first met you, I felt there was something familiar about you...which was ridiculous because it took months before I even saw your face. I thought it was something about your walk, your voice, posture, or body shape that reminded me of somebody I once knew. But now I believe I subconsciously recognized your Force signature.”

Victor closed his eyes briefly before heaving a sigh.

“I don’t know how you did it, but you are Darth Vader. You are my father. Am I right?”

There was no use denying the fact. She was obviously stronger in the Force than he suspected. “Yes.”

“How…how is it possible?”

“I’m a clone.”

Her face scrunched up. “A clone…you mean you are not the man who tortured me, but someone born in a lab that lived a different life?” She thought for a second before adding. “Luke told me Palpatine was doing clone experiments. Was Darth Vader a clone? Did Palpatine create him?”

The thought never once occurred to Victor. His mother, Shmi Skywalker, always told him he had no father. He always assumed that meant she didn’t know who the father was…not that his mother was promiscuous. She was a slave…and things happened to slaves…unseemly things. Could she have been an unwilling participant in an early Palpatine cloning experiment? Was she implanted with a fertilized embryo and then her memory wiped?

“Victor!” Leia’s voice pulled him out of his musings. “Who are you?”

“I am Anakin Skywalker reborn,” he said softly. “I transferred my memories, Force essence and soul into a new body.”

She had been leaning toward him but now quickly pulled back with a gasp. “So, you are Vader in a healthy new body.”

“I am Anakin Skywalker.” He turned to her making eye contact. “Do you feel the malevolence that once permeated Darth Vader?”

She looked away. “No.” She shook her head in disgust. “You let me, and my family grow to love you. The children adore you. They call you uncle. How could you?”

Victor sighed deeply. “When Luke revealed to you your paternity you told Mara that if Luke had any other secrets to reveal, he should keep them to himself.”

She gave him a look of disgust before turning to stare out of the flight deck viewport silently.

“You have a right to be mad at me,” Victor said hoarsely, his voice full of emotion. “I deceived you to fulfill my selfish desires. I wanted to have a relationship with my daughter and my grandchildren. I knew I was wrong in deceiving you. I justified my actions by promising myself that I would be the man, father and grandfather that would have made my late wife proud. I had a second chance, and I would use it to make amends.”

His heart sunk as Leia remained facing away from him. He could partially see her face in the reflection of the transparisteel window and it was obvious she was tearing up. He reached to the side console and pushed a button closing the door to the flight deck. If she wanted to cry and shout at him there was no need for the children to hear. “I understand your anger and disappointment. You will never have to see me again. I will go no contact with your family.”

She turned to him sharply. “Oh no you won’t!”

Victor was taken aback by the ferocity of her answer. “I won’t?”

“No, my children love you. You are the man they want to train them to be future Imperial Knights. Han thinks you are his best friend. If you broke contact with the family I would have to explain why. Knowing you are Vader will devastate Han. He hated Vader for what he did to me…the torture and then making me watch as Moff Tarkin destroyed my home world. If Han found out who you truly are… he would attempt to kill you and would probably die trying. I am not going to lose my husband. My children will not lose their father.”

Victor stared at her in stunned silence.

“You,” Leia pointed a finger him while emphasizing the word, “will continue to be the loving ‘uncle’ to my children. You will train them to be upstanding Knights and to avoid the darkside. You will keep them from making the same stupid darkside mistakes you made as a young man. And you will continue to be nice to Han.”

“I wasn’t faking being Han’s friend,” he insisted.

“I didn’t say you were,” Leia said tersely. “I could feel your affection for him, the kids, and for me. That is the reason, the only reason, I am not cutting you out of our lives like a cancer.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Luke told me you found redemption. Mara said she learned to love you like a father. My children love you.” She paused as she took a calming breath. “I can’t help but believe that you did find salvation. I may never fully forgive you, but I see no need to traumatize my family with the truth. If today was the first time we met, I would have sent you packing, but you wormed your way into our family and excising you from our household entirely would cause my children pain.”

Victor gave a curt nod. “If you hate me, the children will sense it.”

She gave a scathing laugh. “Do you think I had an epiphany this morning? I suspected for quite some time. You mentioned to Han that you fought in the Battle of Christophsis. You must have forgotten that my father Bail Organa was organizing the relief effort on that planet. I knew Kenobi and Skywalker served on that mission. In addition, Luke almost always calls you father, but Mara usually calls you Victor. Also, when around you, Luke and Mara call their oldest son ‘Little Anakin’, but when you are not around, they call him Anakin. I assume they do this to differentiate between the two. It may be subconscious on their part, but they do it.” She glanced away. “My point is…I’ve suspected for quite a while, and I made my peace with that knowledge. The children haven’t felt any simmering animosity coming from their mother because I now see you as Victor Jade and not Darth Vader.”

Victor let out a breath of relief. “What is our relationship now?”

She turned back to him. “You are Mara’s father, and I will treat you with the respect you deserve but I will never consider you as my father. I had a father—Bail Organa.”

Victor nodded. “Fair enough…no, it is more than fair. I will be the best ‘uncle’ possible to your children.”

“You better,” she said tersely.

He glanced over to his daughter and reflected on how much she reminded him of Padme´. “I will,” he reassured her. “One problem, If you sensed the familiar connection between us through the Force…the children will eventually sense the same thing.”

Leia nodded. “Yes, there is that possibility. If it comes up, we will address it then. I was reaching out and purposely trying to utilize that Force ability to verify Luke’s story. I don’t believe it is something that becomes obvious unless you are looking for it.” She turned to him and glared. “Unless you tortured me knowing I was your daughter.”

He looked away, regret flooding through him. “No, I did not.”

She gave him a tight smile. “If the strongest Jedi turned Sith couldn’t figure out that I was his own flesh and blood, then perhaps his grandchildren won’t sense through the Force that Victor Jade is truly a Skywalker.”

“And if they do?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Then the truth will come out and hopefully it will not tear the family apart.”

“Hopefully,” he whispered.

“So,” she said slowly. “When this body gets old…what then? Are you going to a get new body, again and again for perpetuity?”

“No!” he said adamantly. “I don’t want another body?”

“That is hard to believe. Who wouldn’t want to be immortal?”

The question filled him with melancholy. “Princess…would you want to outlive your children?”

She took in a sharp breath at the thought. “No…no I wouldn’t.”

His eyes met hers, direct and penetrating, “Neither would I, Princess, neither would I.”

 

~Epilogue One~

Twenty-three years later

First Captain Victor Jade, commander of the Imperial Knights, sat alone in his office staring at his datapad as he went over the details of youngest grandchild’s knighting ceremony. He wanted everything to be perfect for Hanna Skywalker.

Twelve years after the birth of Anakin Victor Skywalker and nine years after the birth Luke and Mara’s second son, Owen Skywalker, the royal couple was blessed with an unexpected pregnancy. Unexpected, but a very welcomed surprise. Due to Mara’s age, it was considered a geriatric pregnancy and it was not without its problems to include preeclampsia and labor complications that resulted in an emergency surgical delivery five weeks prior to the due date. Hanna Skywalker weighed less than three kilograms at birth, but Victor knew she would be fine. She had a strength in the Force that he hadn’t seen since…well probably since he was born.

She grew fast and strong until she was the spitting image of her mother with long red gold hair and a fiery spirit. Because of the large age gap, she apprenticed under her cousin Jaina who was eleven years her senior.

All of Victor’s grandchildren were highly decorated Imperial Knights—or in Hanna’s case…an apprentice—with multiple campaign medals earned during the Imperial-Grysk war. A conflict that just recently ended with an impressive Imperial victory at the battle of Mon Salinas on the planet Oviedoi in the Unknown Region.

The last four years of war were grim, but now that the Grysk had been routed from the galaxy, it was time to celebrate, and he knew no better way than to give an apprentice their knighthood.

There was a soft knock on his office door. He pressed a button on his desk allowing the door to slide open. In walked Lieutenant Jaina Solo in full Imperial Knight black and red armor and cape. She gave Victor a lopsided smile that made her look so much like her father. “Hanna is ready for the knighting ceremony, but I can tell she is nervous.” She laughed. “I think this is the first time I have seen her anxious.”

Victor shook his head. “I’ve seen her nervous before. When we went to talk with the Daimyo of Mos Espa on Tatooine the old warlord arrived at our meeting place riding a Rancor. I felt a slight tremble in the Force from Hanna when that beast drew near.”

Jaina chuckled. “I don’t blame her.” She walked up to the chair in front of his desk but didn’t sit down. Instead, she rested the palms of her hands on the backrest of the sturdy wooden seat. “Now that the war is over, are we going to slow down in recruitment?”

Victor thought about it. For the last four years the Order of Imperial Knights had brought in Initiate volunteers at a much higher rate. So much so that there were more apprentices than skilled Knights to train them. “Yes. We need to concentrate on finalizing the training of the younglings we currently have. The mission of the Imperial Knights is to mainly defend the emperor and the capital, not to act like the Jedi Generals in the Clone Wars. Unfortunately, because of the Grysk pseudo-Force abilities allowing them to enslave minds, we got pulled into this war far more than I would have liked. Apprentices should not have been thrown into battles at such a young age.”

“They did exceedingly well,” Jaina pointed out. “We had very few casualties.”

Victor glanced away guiltily. “I don’t like the idea of younglings dying.” A shiver went down his spine as he remembered the horrific acts he performed as Darth Vader.

Jaina obviously felt his distress and quickly came to his defense. “You had no choice to use some of the teenage apprentices. Only Force-users could block out the Grysk psychic influences.”

He gave a nod, knowing she didn’t understand his pain and deep regret for his past evils. “You are right. Only a Force-user could resist their mental manipulations.” He took in a deep cleansing breath and changed the subject. “You did an excellent job training Hanna.”

A wide smile blossomed across Jaina’s face. “Thank you. When will I be assigned a new apprentice?”

He shook his head. “We like to give a break between apprentice assignments. You need some you time…to recharge. Get out and socialize. I am sure your parents look forward to becoming grandparents one day. That won’t happen if I don’t allow you a personal life.”

Jaina rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust. “Mom has been trying to play matchmaker for the last ten years. I’m thirty. I have plenty of time to give her a grandchild. Anyway, she may have a bunch of grandchildren she doesn’t know about. It’s not like Jacen and Ben haven’t been dating. Also, those two have went on two ‘recruitment’ missions to Dathomir with Captain Durron.” She threw up her hands in disgust. “Half the kids there are probably fathered by our exalted Captain of the Imperial Knights over the last twenty years. The other half, probably belong to my brothers.”

Victor covered his mouth with his hand to suppress his laughter. Kyp Durron was one of Victor’s first students. He also was a very popular visitor to Dathomir where male witches aka ‘Force-users’ are greatly prized as breeding males. Years ago, Victor brought a twenty-year-old Kyp Durron with him to search for willing apprentices among the Force-strong witches. The women of the Singing Mountain Clan agreed to allow volunteers to accompany Victor and Kyp back to Coruscant if the two men provided them with Force-strong babies. Victor immediately rejected the notion, but Kyp was more than willing to assist the Imperial Knights in any way possible.

Victor regained his composure and gave Jaina a curious look. “Do you really think your brothers…” He bumped his fists together in front of his chest armor. “Do they…ummm.” He stopped himself. He was not going to discuss his grandsons’ love lives with his granddaughter. He waved his hands as to dispel the notion. “I’m sure your siblings are very professional in their dealings with the Dathomir citizens…especially since the planet has joined the Hapan Consortium.”

Jaina made a show of considering the possibility—looking up to the ceiling while rubbing her chin in thought. Finally, she returned her gaze to Victor and smirked. “Maybe Jacen. I think he has a crush on one of the Hapan royals, but Ben…he is a lady’s man.”

Victor chuckled. “Perhaps, but I believe you are using your brothers to change the subject. Getting back to the original topic, I want to wait at least a few months before assigning you a new apprentice. Go on vacation. Or if you can’t stomach relaxing on a beach…go train on the Empire’s new TIE Silencers. Admiral Fel’s son Jagged is commander of the flight school on Kuat. I’ll get you a slot.”

Her eyes brightened when he mentioned the TIE Silencer…or perhaps she reacted to the name Fel. Victor had heard rumors that Jaina was on friendly terms with one of Admiral Soontir Fel’s sons, but he hadn’t investigated further.

“I wouldn’t mind getting some flight time with the new Silencer.”

“Good, I will make the arrangements.” He stood tossing his datapad onto his desk before adjusting his red armor and cape. He admired the look of the Imperial Knight uniform, but his chest place would ride up uncomfortably while seated, forcing him to pull it back into place when he rose from his seat. “Are your brothers and cousins in the Grand Hall?” he asked as the office door slid open and he strode into the corridor.

“Yes, including Anakin’s wife and son.” Jaina said as she fell in step with Victor. “Of course, my parents are in attendance along with Luke and your daughter. I also saw the Karrde family among the spectators.”

Victor gave Jaina a surprised expression. “Really?”

She gave a slight shrug of her shoulder. “I know about Karrde capturing my parents, but my dad admitted he was trying to kidnap Talon at the time…so there are no hard feelings.” She smirked. “It didn’t hurt that Karrde gave a very generous donation to the Alderaan Relief Fund.”

Victor nodded as he walked through the opened double doors leading to the palace assembly hall. Inside there were over a dozen round tables with cabaret seating facing the stage. The massive room was filled with friends and family along with a group of young apprentices that Victor assumed were Hanna’s friends. The Emperor and Empress were already on the stage and chatting with their daughter while the remaining guests milled around talking with each other.

Victor was halfway to the stage when he was intercepted by Han who grinned happily at his daughter. “I’m proud of you, kid.”

She returned the smile as she wrapped her arms around her father. “Thanks, Dad, but it’s Hanna getting knighted.”

Han pulled back and gazed at his daughter proudly. “But you trained her and when she’s knighted you will be given the status of Master Instructor. Jacen is still a year off on getting his apprentice knighted. You are the first in the family to reach that level.”

“Anakin became Master two years ago,” she pointed out.

Han waved a hand dismissively. “I mean our immediate family.” He turned to Victor and smiled broadly as he gave a playful slap on the man’s shoulders. “I hear you are thinking of retiring, old man. Getting a little past one’s prime to fight?”

Victor’s eyes narrowed wondering where Han gets his information. He had mentioned the possibility to Luke just yesterday. His body was probably approaching seventy years in age and four years of combat only accelerated the aging process. His blondish brown hair and beard were now streaked with gray, and he was looking at getting a knee replacement due to a shrapnel injury that bacta couldn’t fully heal. “Who are you calling old?” Victor shot back. “We’re around the same age. And I am positive I could take you on any day, old man.”

Han rolled his eyes. “Your trust in that hokey religion makes you way overconfident.”

Victor gestured to Jaina. “Your children are Force-users. How can you still not believe in the Force?”

Jaina groaned and shook her head in frustration. “Not this again.” She put a hand on Victor’s shoulder. “My dad believes in the Force. He just says he doesn’t to irritate you and Uncle Luke.”

Victor glared at Han while giving the man a gentle Force shove.

“Whoa!” Han chuckled as he took a step back to regain his balance. “There is no using non-existent energy fields to do your dirty work.”

Victor shook his head before continuing toward the stage. He approached Leia who stood next to her Wookiee friend and her gold protocol droid. She smiled at him…or perhaps she was simply smiling at her daughter. Over the years his relationship with his daughter had improved. She never officially granted him forgiveness, but he could sense she no longer held any animosity toward him. Victor stopped, looked around, and then asked, “Where are your sons?”

Leia rolled her eyes and pointed to the group of young apprentices, most of which were young women in their late teens or early twenties. Talking to a small group of young ladies was Jacen and Ben. Victor couldn’t hear what was being said but by the way Jacen was gesturing and the look of awe on the faces of his audience, Victor assumed it was a war story depicting Jacen or Ben’s adventures.

Jaina looked at her brothers and then turned to Victor. “Believe me now?”

“Yes,” Victor said slowly before returning his gaze to Leia. “Congratulations of your promotion to First Senator.”

She chuckled darkly with a dismissive gesture. “I was chosen to keep the peace between three overly ambitious senators vying for the position. My appointment was pushed through on the bases of seniority. I am the only person who served prior to Grand Moff Tarkin dissolving the Imperial Senate. I am seen as a political moderate and more likely to maintain order.”

Victor’s brow rose. “I fear for our political system when a former Rebel's political views are seen as mainstream.”

She gave a tired nod. “Honestly, I’m glad Luke retained much of his power. The bickering within the senate creates gridlock that only the emperor can unsnarl.”

Her confession shocked him. Leia always talked about creating a full democracy and had advocated for Luke to step down. The senate must be truly stalled for Leia to appreciate having an emperor to streamline bureaucracy.

She obviously noticed the look on his face because she frowned before saying, “Don’t gloat. During time of war people can die while a senatorial committee is in deadlock. Luke’s leadership saved billions, possibly trillions, of people throughout the galaxy. I am not too stubborn to admit that.”

“And now that the war is over?” he asked.

She looked down at the floor and sighed before shaking her head. “I don’t know.” She gestured to the stage. “This is not the time or place for political discussion. Hanna is waiting for her First Captain to promote her.” She waved her hands to shoo him off.

“A discussion for later then,” he said as he walked away. At the table closest to the stage, he found his other grandchildren, Anakin and Owen.

Anakin Victor Skywalker was tall like his grandfather, just shy of two meters. He inherited the Skywalker blue eyes and cleft chin, but his mother’s red hair which the kept closely clipped to his scalp.

“Hello, Grandfather,” the young man said while extending a gloved hand in greeting.

“Anakin.” Victor quickly shook his hand before leaning down and picking up his first great grandchild, eighteen-month-old Rowan, an adorable redheaded, green-eyed boy. “Gran Gran,” the boy cooed as he snuggled up into Victor’s arms. He smiled warmly at the child before looking back up to Anakin. “He’s getting big.”

Anakin blew out a frustrated breath. “Big and strong in the Force. He’s already levitating things into the playpen…including sharp objects and sometimes the poor pittin. Babyproofing our quarters is getting impossible.”

Victor laughed as he handed the boy back to his father. “You’ll survive. Your parents did.”

He turned to Anakin’s wife, Kaylee who was a physician associate at the local hospital. “I’m glad you could make it to the ceremony.”

She laughed softly. “I am married to the emperor’s son…I doubt my manager even considered not giving me the time off.”

“That’s probably true,” Victor turned and greeted his grandson Owen who was standing a few feet away. “How are you feeling, Owen? I heard you got food poisoning after eating at a Wookiee restaurant.”

Owen closed his eyes and sighed. “I was hoping that story wouldn’t get around.” The young man grinned sheepishly before moving forward to give Victor a quick hug; one that was made awkward due to their body armor. “Don’t worry, grandfather, I learned my lesson.”

Victor chuckled as he gazed at the boy. Twenty-nine-year-old Owen Skywalker was of average height, much like his father, but with burly muscular frame, dark brown hair and facial stubble, and ice blue eyes. Owen was named after Luke’s step-uncle Owen Lars and although the two men shared no blood relationship, the younger Owen reminded Victor of his namesake. He was disciplined, pragmatic and a hard worker…much like Owen Lars. If you had a difficult mission to accomplish, Owen was the man to get it done.

“It’s time,” Victor heard Jaina’s voice coming from the stage. He gave his grandsons a quick wave and climbed the stairs to where the ceremony would take place.

A hush came over the room as the guests moved to their seats in preparation for the ceremony.

Emperor Skywalker walked to the podium to say a few words. Normally Victor, as the First Captain, ran the ceremony, but this was a special occasion. Not only was Luke and Mara’s youngest getting knighted, but they had finally achieved victory over the Grysk invaders. For the first time in four years, they were at peace.

Luke paused at the podium long enough to straighten his black and gray uniform with gold-trimmed black cape. He looked at his daughter and wife standing at the side of the stage, smiled and then returned his attention back to the audience.

“This is a very special occasion for me,” he started out. “My youngest child is to be knighted today…and that alone makes this a very momentous event. But what makes this day truly special is she will be knighted during peacetime.” He looked up at the people in attendance and smiled warmly. “This glorious day was made possible because of the actions of almost everybody in this room today.” He gestured to the young apprentices. “I am forever grateful to the young men and women, apprentices, initiates and Knights-errant that volunteered to fight our enemies.” He looked to the fully fledged knights. “I give thanks to our Knight Lieutenants and Seated Knights that led our forces to victory.” He looked to Captain Kyp Durron and to Victor. “I commend the excellent leadership of our Knight Captain and First Captain.” He paused as his gaze glided across the people in the Great Hall. “Not all heroes wore Imperial Knight Armor.” He looked directly toward Leia. “People like First Senator Leia Organa Solo helped organize relief efforts and evacuations of war-torn planets. Philanthropists like Talon and Karrina Karrde made generous contributions to refugee assistance programs.” He turned his attention to Han. “Members of the Smuggler’s guild were able to slip behind enemy lines to provide food and medicine to civilians trapped in war zones.” His eyes fell upon his toddler grandson sitting on his mother’s lap. “And on the home front the families of our servicemen and women endured long, anxious, separations while continuing to work and raise families. Everybody was affected by this war, and everybody did their part without complaint and for that you have my undying gratitude.” He gestured to Victor. “I will turn this ceremony over to First Captain Jade.”

The two men exchanged places at the podium. “Will Apprentice Hanna Skywalker and her parents please come to the front of the podium. Victor waited as the three lined up in front of the stage, facing out to the audience. All were wearing a full ensemble of Imperial Knight armor with the exception of Hanna who was missing the black cape.

Knight Captain Kyp Durron walked out from behind the side stage curtain carrying a folded black cape and handed the garment to Victor before exiting the stage. Victor unfolded the cape and draped it over an arm before addressing the audience. “The Imperial Knight cape is the last part of the uniform to be earned by an apprentice. Today we will knight Apprentice Hanna Skywalker who was trained by Knight Lieutenant Jaina Solo. Hanna Skywalker completed her trials during combat at the Battle of Gijon on the planet Santander. Using the Force, Apprentice Skywalker successfully disrupted the psychic hold the Grysk commander had on a division of enslaved client species throwing their defense into disarray and allowing our military to overrun their positions. During this assault Hanna Skywalker was wounded by a barrage of indirect fire but recovered fully after the battle.” He turned and gestured for Jaina to come forward. “Knight Lieutenant Solo I give you the honor of presenting the cape to your apprentice.”

Jaina Solo smiled at Victor as she took the cape from him. She walked around the podium to were Hanna and her parents stood. “Apprentice Skywalker. Please take one step forward.” She looked to Luke and Mara. “Would the parents like the honor of clipping on the cape?”

Luke and Mara smiled broadly. “We would,” Luke said, his voice taunt with emotion.

Jaina held up the cape allowing the Skywalkers to take the clasps and hook them on to their daughter’s shoulder pauldrons. Once the final component of the uniform was attached Jaina moved back to stand next to Victor.

“Will all members of the Imperial Knights stand,” Victor boomed out. When all knights and apprentices had risen to their feet he said, “The Knights Creed sums up the ideals of the Order of the Imperial Knights which are: loyalty, honor, moderation, and duty. Of these ideals the most important is moderation because only through self-discipline can we avoid the darkside of the Force. If one is seduced by the darkside...values like loyalty, honor and duty are simply dangerous vows of fealty to evil. Please recite with me the lessons of Moderation.” He paused for a second and then began to recite the creed with the knights in the room joining in. “As Imperial Knights we will protect and defend the citizens of the Empire and obey the emperor as he serves the light side of the Force, but to do this we must first conquer arrogance, overconfidence, stubbornness, recklessness, aggression, and materialism. And conquer them we will.” He turned to his granddaughter. "Hanna Skywalker throughout your training you have exhibited great courage in combat, selfless devotion to duty, unwavering integrity, and a resourcefulness usually not seen in one so young. Your dedication and commitment to excellence reflect great credit upon yourself and the Order of Imperial Knights."

He paused and all stood in silent anticipation for Victor’s next words. He looked out at the audience before saying, “It is my great honor and privilege to present to you Imperial Knight Hanna Skywalker.”

 

Epilogue Two

Skywalker Dynasty Bicentennial Celebration

Emperor Jaden Kol Skywalker sat slumped and exhausted on his cushioned Imperial throne within the Royal Palace. He groaned prompting the family’s old protocol droid See Threepio to shuffle up at the base of the stairs that led to his seat of power and inquire if he required any assistance.

Jaden waved the droid away. “No, I’m just tired of all the pomp and circumstance of this celebration.”

“Understandable, Sire. Your event planner was overly enthusiastic when it came to scheduling.”

The young man chuckled as the droid walked off to finish whatever errant he was doing. “That is putting it mildly.”

Jaden was a direct decedent of Emperor Luke Skywalker, with six generations separating him from the greatest emperor the galaxy had ever seen.

He wished he had known the legendary leader. Especially now when he could really use the advice of his ancestors. He had the Skywalker holocron, but that was a poor substitute for the real thing. The man was a legend. He brought peace and prosperity to the galaxy. He was a politician, teacher and warrior. The history books are full of Luke’s adventures. He was beloved by his people and was known by his many regnal names such as The Great Liberator, The Colonizer, The Beloved Leader or Luke the Virtuous. There are even stories that he never died but continues to wander the universe as a Force wraith in an unceasing battle against the darkside.

Jaden sighed, knowing he would never live up to the Skywalker name. He was twenty-two and recently orphaned by a horrific natural disaster that took from him his parents and brother. He never expected to be sitting on this throne. That honor was to go to his recently deceased older brother Kade. Because of this, Jaden never took his royal studies seriously. To add insult to injury, he is the one of the few Skywalker descendants that was not a strong Force-user. He would never be a true Imperial Knight. He wouldn’t lead his soldiers into battle while swinging a lightsaber. At least not without the risk of auto-decapitation.

By a cruel twist of fate he was now the supreme ruler of the known galaxy. He was his obligation to represent the Empire, lead armies, oversee the senate and make treaties. In addition, as emperor he was expected to have memorized the genealogy of his family, all important dates and events of the Skywalker Dynasty and the names of all heroic Imperial Knights throughout the history of the order.

He slouched even further into the throne padding. He sat brooding until he was startled by a female voice. “Are you troubled, Sire?”

He quickly straightened in his seat and gave a weak smile to Lieutenant Katey Ikkesant, a young Imperial Knight recently appointed as his personal guard and assistant. She was a beautiful woman: tall with a slim but muscular build with curves in all the right places. Her skin was a light bronze color from living a decade on a planet with binary stars. She had the face of a fashion model with high cheek bones, full lips and striking green eyes. Her hair was long and a sun bleached blondish brown, which she kept tied back in a tight bun. She was assigned to him shortly after he was crowned emperor. Jaden often wondered if Katey got the job due to her beauty and cheerful disposition. He suspected his great Uncle Joel assigned the Imperial Knight to him in the hopes that a stunning woman would distract him from the death of his family.

“Hello, Lieutenant Ikkesant,” he said formally. “Of course, I am troubled. I am in mourning.”

She blanched and looked down at the floor in embarrassment. “Of course, Sire. That was thoughtless of me.”

He sighed realizing he was being cruel to the woman. “Sorry, Lieutenant. I have an interview coming up for the Bicentennial. I am expected discuss Imperial history at a historian level and I am woefully unprepared.”

She approached the stairs but stopped at the bottom step. “I can help you with that, Sire. I have a university degree in Imperial history.”

‘Of course you do,’ Jaden thought, now positive that Katey was handpicked by his uncle to be his aide.

“Where are you having problems?” She asked. “The Imperial-Grysk war? The outward expansion? The Treaty of mutual aid between the Chiss and the Empire? The allegiance between the Hapes Consortium into the Empire? The Sesquicentennial Celebration of Enduring Peace”

He shook his head. “No, more like the exploits of the Imperial heroes from the Nine Great Families: Skywalker, Solo, Fel, Horn, Vanto, Durron, Karrde, Jade and Djo.

Her brow went up. “Is that all my Lord? Each family has over a dozen heroes of distinction.”

He leaned forward in his seat and dropped his head in his hands with a groan. “I know. I shouldn’t have slacked off on my training in my youth. I just never thought…” He choked up at his loss. “I always thought my family would be here for me.”

Katey face dropped, looking crestfallen. “Sire, the loss of your family is felt throughout the kingdom. The Emperor, Empress and your brother were beloved by all. Please remember, you still have your extended family. A family who loves you. You also have your loyal Knights. You will never be alone.”

He heaved a sigh and tried to smile but failed. “Thank you for your kind words.”

She put one foot on the bottom step and looked up at him. “The interviewer for the celebration knows you are still suffering from your loss. He or she will be gentle when asking questions. You will only need to know one hero from each family and that I can help you chose which family member to discuss.

.

.

.

Later that day Lieutenant Ikkesant provider Emperor Skywalker with a short genealogy and summary of the most important family member from each house. Luke and Mara Skywalker along with Leia and Han Solo were left off the summary because their place in history was fixed and it was believed that recognition should be given to a descendant.

The list included the following:

Rowan Anakin Skywalker—son of Anakin Victor Skywalker and Kaylee Signet: Emperor who first normalized relations with Hapes Consortium and forge a strong binding alliance between the two governments.

Knight Captain Lyla Solo—daughter of Ben Solo and Tahiri Veila: Imperial knight, Master Instructor and recipient of the Medal of Freedom, Medal of Heroism, and the Medal of Valor for actions in defense of the Empire.

Senator Rykor Fel—grandson of Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel: Former Special Forces soldier, multiple anti-piracy deployments to Unknown Region, two-time Medal of Heroism recipient, Imperial Star Destroyer Captain, Bentoy Planetary Governor and Senator to Bentoy.

First Captain Tyka Horn—granddaughter of Valin Horn III and Maya Solo: Imperial Knight, Master Instructor, Grand Master Instructor, Medal of Valor recipient for multiple anti-terrorism deployments in Outer Rim.

Grand Admiral Jace Vanto—son of Admiral Eli Vanto and Mitth‘vah’nya (core name Thvahny. Formally Oxyly-esehembo Vah’nya). Recipient of the Medal of Freedom, Medal of Valor, Medal of Heroism, and the Distinguished Warfare medal for multiple deployments in defense of the Empire.

First Captain Jonathon Durron—great, great grandson of Kyp Durron and Sersa Anshi (Misty Falls Clan, Dathomir): Imperial Knight, Master Instructor, Grand Master Instructor. Recipient of the Distinguished Warfare medal and the Imperial Knight Legion of Honor for anti-slavery campaigns in the Unknown Region.

Duncan Karrde—grandson of Talon Karrde and Karrina Shotts: Philanthropist and founder of the Duncan and Syyna Karrde Foundation providing educational resources to Outer Rim worlds, majority donator to the Foundling Fund providing food, health care and educational resources to children orphaned by war, and Founder of the Prosthetic Foundation providing free prosthetic care to wounded warriors and civilians affected by war and terrorism.

Senator Erik Jade—Foundling and adopted son of Victor Jade (original First Captain of the Imperial Knights). Imperial Special Forces Commander, Commandant of Imperial Academy on Corellia, Admiral of the 501st Legion prior to retirement and entry into politics.

Queen Allana Djo (Solo)—Daughter of Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo and former Imperial Knight Jacen Solo: Reigning queen who formalized relations and allied with the Empire.



Emperor Skywalker read through the list wondering if he could ever live up to the legacy of these heroes. He smiled at his assistant. “Thank you, Katey.” He stopped when he realized he broke protocol and called her by her first name. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant Ikkesant. That was unprofessional of me.”

She smiled warmly. “That is quite alright. You may call me Katey if you wish. We will be working closely together.”

He gave a slight nod. “Thank you. You may call me Jaden.”

Her brow rose at the comment. “I…ah…that would not be proper.”

“In private,” he quickly added.

“Maybe…eventually I will feel comfortable doing so, Sire.”

“But not now?”

She laughed and the sound lifted his spirits. “No not now…but eventually.”

.

.

.

From the Netherworld the spirits of Emperor Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara, watched the new Emperor and smiled.

“He’ll be alright,” Mara said softly.

“I was concerned, and his father Kol was also greatly concerned. The death of his parents and brother is very traumatic. It could lead him to the darkside.”

“He is not very strong in the Force,” Mara pointed out.

“What he lacks in Force-abilities he makes up with his personality. He may not have the confidence to lead now, but the power is within him.”

Mara turned to her husband. “Did you have a vision?”

He nodded. “A vision and a visit to the Room of Mirrors to confirm. The time of the long Enduring Peace will eventually come to an end. He will lead the Empire to victory against outside invaders.” He turned to the Jedi Masters who materialized next to him. “Isn’t that right, father?”

Victor Jade nodded in agreement. “He will have the will and the fortitude to bring the entire galaxy together against a common foe.” He turned to Obi-Wan standing next to him. “He will succeed even if he doesn’t have the high ground.”

“I sense that you are still miffed over your defeat.” Obi-Wan chuckled. “I expected more from a Jedi Master…oh wait.”

Victor turned to him incensed. “If you weren’t already dead, I would kill you…again.”

“Stop fighting.” Master Yoda chided the two. “Acting like children you are.”

The two men grumbled under their breath but obeyed their old Master.

“He will prevail,” Luke assured his father and the Jedi Masters. “He will have the help of all the Jedi and all the Imperial Knights of old. We can help him in need.” He turned to the group. “Master Jinn has showed me how.” He turned back to the imagine of Emperor Jaden Skywalker swirling within the ether of the void. “All we can do now is wait…wait, watch and be ready.”



~FIN~

 

This story is done. It took over two years, but I think I tied up all the loose ends. I want to thank all of my readers and especially to @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha who has been my most faithful reader.

 

I adored the Leia/Mara talk and the whole bunch of kids LOL Mara and Luke deserve a big family. Luke makes a great Emperor and I'm glad the Solos/Skywalkers were able to be close.

 

WOOT! You are back! I was worried when you disappeared! Glad you are alright.

Thanks for all the reviews. I really appreciate it. I am glad you like the ending to the story. I wanted to give everybody a happy ending!