AU: The Empire's Hero

[Stephen 0]

[Originally posted on Jedi.net on Jul 15, 2004]

Captain Luke Skywalker sat in his TIE Fighter watching a Correllian Corvette fly away from him. From his viewpoint inside the hanger of the Devastator, he could only see the green turbolaser bolts zipping by with an occasional rapport of crimson energy. He glanced down at his display and registered the corvette to be called the Tantive IV.

Strange, he thought to himself. Why is a Rebel ship heading towards Tatooine? There?s nothing there except sand and petty criminals. Jabba gets more powerful each year.

A voice came over the earpiece in his helmet, ?Sir, isn?t Tatooine your home planet??

?What are you implying, lieutenant?? he answered sharply.

?Uh, n-nothing sir,? he stammered. ?Forget I said anything.?

?Just so you know,? Luke continued, ?there was no Rebel activity when I lived here. Before my aunt and uncle were killed by Jabba the Hutt for harboring a prisoner of his, they sent me regular correspondences. They never mentioned any rebellious activities of any sort.?

?But, Sir,? the lieutenant ventured, ?if they themselves were part of the rebellious factions on Tatooine, would they honestly tell their nephew who had joined the Imperial Academy??

?No, I guess not,? he said after a brief pause. ?It?s in the past though. It doesn?t matter. Let?s clear the frequency and follow our orders. We need to be ready for any action the Tantive IV might take.?

?Yes?sir,? the pilot said before the comm transmission light went out.

Tatooine of all places, Luke thought. Why Tatooine? I don?t get it. What?s the significance?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hours later, Luke sat at a table with other officers for dinner. He sat next to the Commander of the troopers. He was telling the other officers about how he had boarded the corvette with Darth Vader himself and found a key member of the Rebellion. The Commander?Vrekk, Luke remembered?said that Lord Vader mentioned plans of some sort being sent to Tatooine. He was going down in the morning to search for them.

Luke spoke up causing the other officers to look in his direction, ?Who was the Rebel leader??

?Excuse me?? Commander Vrekk replied.

Luke continued unfazed, ?Who was the Rebel leader taken hostage from the Tantive IV??

?Well, I highly doubt you have true need to know being a space-jockey,? he said icily, ?but her name was Princess Leia Organa.?

Luke?s eyes went wide in disbelief. ?The Princess Leia Organa? She was in that piece of junk??

Vrekk became a little annoyed, ?That ?piece of junk? almost took out the foreword shields of an Imperial Star Destroyer. It packed more punch than even Lord Tion had assessed. Lord Vader was quite upset with the Captain.? Vrekk?s voice became a low whisper and he swallowed hard. ?I hear he even choked the Captain using that ?Force? of his. He let him go after the Captain passed out.?

?Wow, unbelievable,? Luke said shaking his head. ?To be in control of that kind of power must be incredible.?

?Ha!? laughed Vrekk, ?why do you think he?s the leader of all the Imperial Navy? If someone gets in his way to power, he?d just kill them!?

With this the officers laughed all the way back to their quarters where they had to get ready for the following day.

If only I had that kind of power, Luke thought as he lay down to sleep in his bunk, then it would be me laughing at Vrekk instead of the other way around.

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