Chapter Text
INTRODUCTION
Darkness
RISE OF THE EMPIRE
The Jedi Order has fallen,
slain with the help of former
Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker,
now feared Sith Lord Darth Vader,
at the behest of his new Sith Master,
Darth Sidious, known publicly as
Senator Sheev Palpatine.
Among those who fell during the
Jedi purge was Jedi Knight and
general, Obi-Wan Kenobi, slain
at the hands of his former apprentice,
Anakin Skywalker himself.
Just as Darth Sidious declared
himself Emperor of the galaxy,
Vader turned on his Master, killing
him and claiming the title for himself,
becoming the feared Emperor Vader…
***
CHAPTER 1 - REMNANTS OF THE PAST
981 AS (19 BBY)
Within the darkened corridors of the once bustling Jedi Temple, Clone Troopers stood guard, blasters at the ready. Anakin Skywalker stood at a data terminal, scanning row after row of logs and recordings. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for exactly; just that he’d know it when he saw it. He began to feel his was a hopeless quest, his face grimacing in frustration. But then, something caught his eye, and he stopped scrolling through the records.
“Did you find something, sir?” A clone, clad in white and yellow armor, asked with both hope and apprehension in his voice.
This was Commander Cody, one of the most skilled and loyal clones Anakin had ever had the pleasure of fighting alongside.
“I’m not sure… maybe…” Anakin enlarged a section of text, carefully reading it over carefully. “Yes, this is it.” Anakin said, his voice dropping an octave, as he turned to face his troops.
“What is it, sir?” Cody asked.
“A mission, authorized by General Kenobi. Inform the ship that we’ll be departing soon.”
Commander Cody, also known by his clone designation of CC-2224, followed the order without question. He always did. And that’s why Anakin, why Darth Vader, trusted him with his life. Within moments of giving this order, another clone approached Vader.
"Sir, your presence has been requested."
"By who?" Vader asked with a scowl, not bothering to turn around.
"One of the prisoners. Sir…"
***
Darth Vader marched into the prison facility on Coruscant, each footfall echoing off of the cold, durasteel floor. His path was followed closely by Cody, as the pair neared the high security wing. When he arrived, two Clone Troopers waited to greet them. One of them slid a card through a reader next to the door and it clicked, before sliding open. The clone who unlocked the door remained behind, while the other ushered Vader and Cody inside.
Vader passed cell after cell, hateful gazes falling on him as he passed. Behind each and every orange, crackling forceshield sat a criminal the Jedi had managed to apprehend; some by Anakin Skywalker personally. But it was only one cell Vader was concerned with and, soon, he came to stop at the cell of a young girl. She had a malicious and egotistical smirk across her face, as she sat on the small shelf that passed for a bench. But when her eyes fell on Anakin Skywalker, the smirk dropped from her face, giving way to a look of genuine surprise.
Just as the girl had recognized Anakin, he in turn recognized her. He could never forget their last encounter. It was Barriss Offee, former Jedi Padawan to Luminara Unduli. Both belonged to the Mirialan species, possessing a similar hue of light green skin. But where Barriss’ eyes once also matched her master’s shade of deep blue, now they were a piercing shade of yellow.
Having grown disillusioned with the Jedi Order, much like Anakin had, Barriss chose to bomb the Jedi temple, killing six of her fellow Jedi in the process. Somehow, that didn’t bother her as much as what she did next; frame his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, for the crime. Though she was cleared of all charges and Offee’s scheme unveiled, Ahsoka had chosen to leave the Jedi Order shortly after. In a way, her actions spared her the fate of many other Jedi after the Empire rose to power. A cell was better than ending up a corpse; although the latter was still an option, Vader thought to himself as he glared at Barriss.
“So, what’s the deal with a visit from the Republic’s poster boy? From what I hear, the Jedi got themselves wiped out.” Barriss said, as she stood and approached the shield partition between the two of them. “I asked to speak with whoever’s in charge now; Darth Vader was it?” She added and throughout all of it, Anakin remained silent.
A moment later, the Clone Trooper who escorted him to Barriss’ cell suddenly stood at attention. “What are your orders, Lord Vader?”
The Tropper’s words caused Barriss’ look of shock to return and Vader cracked a small smirk of satisfaction at her realization.
“Take her-” Vader began, turning to look at the Trooper; but his eyes were drawn to the cell just over his shoulder.
His smile faded as he scrutinized the figure within the cell. He was a tall humanoid with gray skin; a Pau'an, from the planet Utapau.
“Who’s he?” Vader asked, without removing his eyes from the figure. The figure in turn stared directly at Vader, yellow eyes made all the more vibrant juxtaposed against his dull, gray flesh.
“He’s a former temple guard, sir.”
“Why wasn’t he killed?” Vader asked.
“Because he didn’t fight. Well, not us. When we found him, he was surrounded by other temple guards, all dead. But we didn’t kill them. He turned his lightsaber on them. And that’s where we found him. Just… sitting there.”
After another moment of thought, Vader turned to face the Clone once more. “Prep Barriss for transport, bring her to the shuttle… And bring HIM with you as well. I’d like to have a few words with him, when we’re finally underway.” At that, Vader left, returning along his path, and out of the temple, before returning to the Lambda-class shuttle awaiting his return.
Within a few minutes, Vader sat in the troop transport, as it raised into the sky and moved to depart the planet’s atmosphere. Sitting across from him were Barriss and the former temple guard; neither of them spoke a word. They were surrounded by a battalion of clones, and watched intensely by Vader himself; escape, if it was on either of their minds, was next to impossible.
Once they cleared the orbit of Coruscant, an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer was waiting for their arrival. The shuttle made its way toward the cargo bay, passing effortlessly through the shield, before finally touching down. When the door opened, Vader was the first to depart, followed by Cody and finally, his clone contingent, two prisoners in tow.
“Take these two to the brig. If they give you any trouble… kill them.”
“Yes, sir.” Cody responded, gesturing for the clones to bring the prisoners along. He didn’t have to undertake this task himself, but Cody always felt better overseeing such a dangerous task.
“You, soldier, what’s your designation?” Vader gestured toward one of the many Troopers that came to see their ship down.
“What, me? Uh…” The clone looked momentarily taken aback, before gulping and trying to steady his nerves. “...CT-6922, sir. But you can call me Dogma. Ah, sir, forgive me, that was out of-” Vader put his hand up and cut Dogma off mid sentence.
“Dogma it is. Can you deliver these coordinates to the navigators on the bridge? And tell them to depart immediately.” Vader asked, as he placed a small data drive in the clone’s hand.
“You can count on me, sir!” The clone said, with more gusto in his voice than he’d meant to, considering the job at hand and, with just a moment of lingering awkwardness, Dogma turned and walked toward the bridge.
With nothing more to be done, until they arrived at their next destination, Darth Vader retreated to his quarters. There, he reflected on the way things had turned out; his mistakes, difficult decisions. And hard choices still yet to be made. He delved into the force for answers. But a sudden ringing of his comm system broke Vader’s concentration and his yellow eyes snapped open, before fading back to their calm shade of blue. “Come in.”
The door to Vader’s quarters slid open, revealing Moff Tarkin, standing with his arms crossed behind his back, before he stepped into the dim of the room’s lights. “Lord Vader, may I have a word with you?”
“You’re speaking now, Tarkin. What do you want?” Vader shot back, without standing, or turning around. Tarkin looked mildly annoyed, but he soon composed himself.
“Very well. Sir, you need to consolidate your power, to solidify your position as rightful Emperor of this galaxy, before someone else does. Not go on quests for old friends. Palpatine understood this!” Tarkin snapped. And it was at this moment that Vader stood from his place on the ground and slowly turned to stare Tarkin down.
The usually stoic and composed Tarkin was visibly shaken by the glaring stare of the Sith Lord. “I will make my impact on this galaxy felt in time. As for now, when I give an order… I expect it to be followed. By everyone. Make no mistake Tarkin, I AM the Emperor of this galaxy.” He declared before walking past Tarkin, before stopping and, without turning around, added one final thought. “Unless you plan on trying to take that title from me.” Tarkin was left speechless and motionless in Vader’s doorway, as the Dark Lord made his way to the bridge.
Vader watched from the command deck, as the Star Destroyer took up orbit over an arctic moon. “Sir, we’re picking up readings; it’s the Tribunal, sir. It was reported as lost.” A clone reported from a computer terminal near Vader.
“That’s where we have to go.” Vader said with a somber voice.
“Sir, the wreckage is presently on the dark side of the moon, the temperature is minus one hundred and eighty degrees. Nobody could survive that for more than a few moments.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be prepared. Hold this position.” Vader commanded, then, with a press of a button on the gauntlet of his wrist, he activated his comm device. “Commander Cody, meet me on the bridge.”
“Right away, sir.” Came the simple response.
***
“I want you to select those you consider to be the best among the soldiers on this ship, no more than a dozen. Have them outfit in the new subzero gear and meet in the hangar bay. We’re heading to the surface.” Vader instructed Cody.
“Understood sir. But, if I may, what do you need an elite clone unit for? What are we expecting to face down there?” Vader looked at Cody for a long moment, before responding.
“Not here. There’s one more mission after this, the most important task I could entrust you with. And I want your best. I want you to lead the 501st Legion.” Cody saluted Vader, not sure what else to do, but follow protocol.
“Yes, sir! I mean, I won’t let you down sir.” Vader nodded and offered a small smile of approval.
“I know you won’t, Cody, you never have.” And at that, Vader walked away.
Vader retreated back to his quarters and touched a panel on the far wall, opening a concealed, sliding door that revealed his jet black armor. The face of Anakin Skywalker reflected back at him, from the well polished surface. Vader stood for a moment, lost in his thoughts. Before he finally reached forward, to grab his suit from its compartment. The man who entered Vader’s private living quarters is not the figure that left, the fearsome Lord of the Sith stepping with grand purpose, long black cape fluttering behind him as it did its best to keep up.
The terrifying black knight stepped into the hangar bay, his presence immediately commanding the attention of his newly formed iteration of the 501st Legion.
“And who have you brought me, Cody? Designations AND names, please.” The pleasantries surprised them greatly.
Many of them had known him when he had predominantly gone by Anakin Skywalker. But his mood had shifted lately. He was more serious now, more angry. The moment of levity caused the clones to relax somewhat.
“I see you’ve decided to include Dogma. Welcome aboard.”
“Thank you, sir.” Came his response. Vader now waited patiently and the clones soon got the message that he wanted them to offer introductions.
“CT-5748; Gaffa.”
“CT-9544. Name’s Scythe.”
“CT-7286. Cutter, sir.”
“CT-4311. Horns.”
“CT-81657. They call me Cannon."
“CT-399. I’m uh… Glitch. Sir…”
“CT-4367. Heater.”
“CT-54007. Gunner.” Vader looked at the last two Troopers who had yet to introduce themselves. The first looked even more unsure of himself than Glitch had. Vader could feel his stress levels rising.
After another moment, the clone began to speak. “CT-3899. I’m-”
“Rookie.” Gunner introduced with a playfully mocking tone.
“When are you gonna stop calling me that?” ‘Rookie’ shot back.
“When you’re dead.” Heater offered back and Rookie just chuckled back, in resignation. Next, Vader eyed the last clone in the row.
“And what's your name, trooper?” Vader asked.
“CT-515. Sister.” The clone said and Vader was momentarily surprised to hear a decidedly female voice come from behind the helmet.
"It's how my brothers tell everyone I belong."
"Belonging is important." Came Vader's simple response. It was true. And in a way, Vader himself was still looking for that place…
