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Luke jumped out of his TIE fighter and threw his helmet onto the hanger floor. His gloves were cast aside too as he hurried to the door ignoring the droids and deck officer clumsily rushing over to greet him. He had no time for them.
Pilots, officers, and stormtroopers glared or shouted after him as he dashed past. The rides in the turbo lifts were the worst. He couldn't control their speed so he had to wait impatiently. Once the doors were open, he was rushing down the long corridors. The pilots had disappeared as soon as he left the area near the hangers. But now even the troopers thinned. It was mostly officers and staff. None of them recognize him. All they saw was some brash Imperial pilot rushing through the halls.
But Luke was barely aware of them.
Finally, finally, he reached the office of the station's command. He fumbled getting out his code cylinder and slamming it down into the door panel. For a second he feared the door wouldn't open. It should. He had unlimited access to anywhere in the Empire.
A heartbeat. Two.
He was about ready to use the Force to push the door in, but it opened.
He marched into the large room. The far wall was nothing but windows showing the white speckled blackness of space. In the center of the back wall was a large sleek desk.
"Leia!" he called out.
His sister stood by the desk. Her back had been to him as she looked out the windows, but now she turned. Her outfit was supposed to mimic that of an Imperial officer's, but it was all black, lacked a rank insignia, and was more fitted to her body so it was easier to move in.
"Luke," she greeted. Her voice was formal, lacking warmth. There was no smile on her face or any sign of relief she usually had for him.
He stopped only a step away from her.
"What have you done?" he demanded. He had no warmth for her either.
She stiffened and raised her chin. "What had to be done."
"What had to be done? You killed millions of people!"
"This is why Father named me heir," she said in a low voice.
"And heir you still are," Luke growled back. "You have overstepped. The Death Star is only to be fired with permission from the Emperor himself, and Father was not going to–"
"Father is in a bacta tank," Leia said.
The air was sucked right out of his lungs. He stared at her, but she was unmoving. She only glared back.
"What?" he finally asked.
"An assassination attempt," she spat.
"Is he– what–"
His thoughts spun as a chill settled over him. Father was alive; if not, he would have felt it. (Right?) Plus, Leia said he was in a bacta tank.
"He is fine," she said. "Mostly minor injuries that will heal easily."
"When did this happen? Why didn't I know about it?"
"No one knows about it except the senior command. We didn't want to make the situation worse."
Luke paused. "You haven't even told Mother . . ."
Finally, there was a crack. For a split second, she looked concerned or maybe guilty. She looked away.
"As I said– " she said. Her voice was no longer as confident. " –I didn't want to make the situation worse." She took a deep breath before she looked back at him. That hardness was back. "And I did what had to be done. The Empire had to be protected."
"From farmers?" Luke said. The chill inside of him was quickly being replaced by a growing heat. "Factory workers? Children?"
"Terrorists," Leia hissed. "Death. Do you know what would have happened if I didn't use the Death Star on Servtax?"
He gritted his teeth. He knew of the situation well.
Imperial intelligence reported the creation of the Federation, a mix-match group of several systems from across the Empire. The Federation's leadership was meeting on Servtax to draft their declaration of independence against the Empire. It was also the planet where they had been stockpiling their weapons and building their troops. If the Emperor didn't grant them independence, they were going to fight for it.
The Empire didn't want another war. Luke's father had fought tirelessly over Luke's entire life to bring peace to the galaxy. Though the Federation was small, especially compared to that of the Separatists from the previous war, they had developed bioweapons.
The reports from Imperial spies said these biological weapons could infect and decimate entire planets.
That is why Luke's father had brought the Death Star to Servtax, and that is why Leia fired it. She was saving countless other planets by destroying one.
Luke sat by his father's medical bed. Emperor Darth Vader had been taken out of the bacta tank and should awake soon. Leia was right, the injuries were mostly minor. Just a few bolt wounds. Nothing his father hadn't dealt with before, and he should recover quickly from it.
Yet, Luke couldn't help but feel anxious, but he couldn't completely place why.
Was it the assassination attempt? It was only the latest one of many. Was it because it had managed to injure Father? Or was it that it had taken place on the Death Star implying there had to be traitorous officers who had given information and access to the Emperor's location? It could be Luke feared his father's wrath upon awakening. Vader would show no mercy to those who had plotted against him.
It could be he was worried about his mother. To his knowledge, she did not know about her husband's current condition. Did she even know about the successful firing of the Death Star? He had no messages from her on his commlink.
He sighed.
His mother wasn't just against the use of the Death Star. She loathed the whole battle station to its core. She had tried over the years to get rid of it, but his father never had. Luke suspected she had a hand in slowing its construction. She was adamantly against firing the Death Star on Servtax. She had pleaded with her husband to try again with negotiations with the Federation.
Luke knew Father had been conflicted. The Death Star was always going to be a last resort. It was there to be used as a scare tactic. At least, that's what Luke had been told.
He looked down at his father. His skin was pale and littered with pale scars, many of which were burn marks as old as Luke. He kept his hair shorn short. All four of his prosthetic limbs had been reattached as they had been taken off for the dip in the tank. He was dressed in a white medical gown, which showed off two thin metal strips between his collar bones. A sign of the many different surgeries and reconstructions he had gone through.
There was a sharp gasp and Vader's eyes snapped open. Before Luke could move or say a word, Vader was already sitting up. The medical machines he had been attached to were beeping faster.
"Father!" Luke said jumping up and grabbing his father's arm. "You have to lay down."
Gold eyes focused on Luke.
"Leia," Vader croaked. His voice was dry and scratchy.
"She's fine," Luke said softly.
It had been his sister who had found Vader shot up in a meeting room. The corpses of the would-be assassins were dead. If Vader was going down, he was taking them all with him. Had he still been conscious when Leia arrived?
"What has she done?" Vader demanded. His voice was still weak, but the heavy angry tone was still there. "Did she fire it?"
Luke glanced away, but only for a second. "Yes."
Vader growled. He started to rip off the various sensors. Luke tightened his grip on his father's arm.
"You need to rest," Luke pleaded.
"I can rest later," Vader said. He pulled his arm free and ripped the blankets off.
Luke sighed. He wished his mother was here; she could get him to stay. But Luke could sense the anger boiling inside his father. There was a cold energy crackling in the room as if lightning was about to strike.
"Leia and I can deal with the traitors," Luke said.
Vader had swung his legs off the bed but stopped. "What?"
"The ones responsible for attacking you," Luke said matter-of-factly.
"There no traitors," Vader said as he stood up. "No assassins."
"What?"
Luke jumped up. He had seen the corpses in the morgue. They had all been dressed as stormtroopers and officers. He wanted to know if he recognized any of them. He had not.
"It was . . ." Vader's words trailed off. His eyes got a distant look in them.
"It was what?" Luke asked.
Vader gasped as he fell to the ground. His hand was instantly on his side where the blaster bolt had hit him. Pain was blooming in his shoulder and upper calf where the other two bolts had landed. It had been some fast shooting to get all three shots on him before he hit the ground. None were lethal, but all three limited his mobility.
He lifted his head and looked at his daughter. She held a small blaster pointed directly at him with her finger on the trigger.
"What are you doing?" Vader asked.
"Protecting the Empire," she said. Her voice was calm and even.
He gritted his teeth as he fought to keep his breathing steady. She took a step closer.
"You're too soft, Father," she said.
"Soft?"
Preposterous. Him? Soft? Weak? He was Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, Emperor of the Galactic Empire, the one who had finally brought peace to the galaxy.
"For Mother," Leia continued. Her voice wasn't as sharp. "I know she begged you to open up negotiations again, and you relented. You couldn't bear to break her heart. As I said, you are soft. But I understand. Truly I do. I love Mother deeply. You and Luke too. My family is the most important thing in the galaxy to me. That is why have no problems on eliminating this threat."
"You mean to fire the Death Star on Servtax," Vader said slowly. She nodded her head slowly. "Leia . . ."
His tongue suddenly felt thick and heavy. What could he say? She at least was partially right. He hadn't planned to open negotiations with the Federation again. He meant to issue an ultimatum to them.
"I can tell what you're thinking," she said taking another step closer. "You wanted to threaten them. See if they'll give in with a threat. They won't."
"You cannot say that for certain," he growled.
He eyed the blaster in her hands. He would be too slow to draw his lightsaber out to block any bolts. He knew all too well how good of a shot she was as he had taught and trained her himself. She also hadn't taken her eyes off of him. She was watching him and his every flinch and muscle twitch. The blaster was pointed at his shoulder; she wasn't aiming to kill. Only to keep him down, especially if he tried anything. Even in using the Force, he would be too slow to stop the bolt.
"They're already preparing their ships, Father. They're going to try to rush past the blockade. What will happen if even one of those ships slips past? Have you even read over the latest intel reports? Do you know what planets their number one target is? Coruscant and Naboo. Even more specifically, the Imperial Family residences. They're targeting not just our homes, but also Luke and Mother. I won't allow that."
He did know that. It had been the main point of his argument with Padme.
"Leia, they will not–"
"You're right. They won't."
She used the Force to flip the switch on her blaster to stun. He opened his mouth, but never got a sound out before the round stun bolt hit him.
Darth Vader stood in the small private medical room. His son stood next to him staring at him with eyes far too much like Padme's. It wasn't just those eyes Luke had inherited, but also his mother's heart. There was a gentleness in him.
Luke would have made a benevolent and beloved emperor. Vader had given great consideration over which of the twins he would name his heir. In the end, he had picked Leia. There was a sharpness to her that at times was too sharp. But Leia took after her mother too, especially in politics. She was stunning and brilliant. He thought that her sharpness would serve her well as empress. She would have no hesitation in using it for the greater good.
Vader never imagined she would have turned it against him.
His mind raced as he tried to prioritize what he needed to do. What did the public know of what was happening with Servtax and its destruction? What was the status of the senior command staff? What did Padme know? And . . .
And where was Leia?
"It was what?" Luke asked.
Vader blinked. It had felt like long minutes had passed, but it was nothing more than a few heartbeats.
"Who attacked you?" Luke continued.
Vader could see the demand for justice simmering in his son.
"It was . . ."
He couldn't say it. He knew that no matter which twin took the throne, the other would be right there. Luke and Leia had always been inseparable. They always supported each other, always would . . .
Except if Luke knew the truth . . . it would cause an irreparable tear between them. Luke would never forgive his sister for attacking their father to fire the Death Star. And Padme . . .
This would break his family. It wouldn't shatter them. They were a family, and they loved each other. But the pain and betrayal would create scars that would never fully heal.
He couldn't do such a thing.
Vader's prosthetic hands curled into fists.
"You're too soft, Father."
Leia.
She knew.
She knew he wouldn't reveal the truth to Luke or Padme, that he wouldn't rip his family apart.
"It was what?" Luke asked again.
Vader reached over and placed a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed it. He wouldn't say the truth.
It was Leia.