With his legs sticking straight out in front of him, Darth Vader sat on the floor of his meditation chamber across from his egg-like hyperbaric chamber. Lights recessed in the dark walls emitted just enough candle power to see. Not a wattage of power was wasted. The light gleamed off the polished, black floor. 

His son and apprentice Luke Skywalker sat across from him. The boy's young, pliable limbs flexed easily to rest his feet on top of his thighs. 

Vader sighed. Oh, to be young again.

This was Vader's second day training his apprentice, and this was the second day he was surprised. "Very good, Luke. Now, I want you to just breathe and relax. Let the Force flow into you and out of you at will. All I want you to do is feel it."

"Oh!" Luke exclaimed as he felt the Force energize him.

"Silence." 

Luke lifted his hand, and the lightsaber on his father's belt started to rise.

"Stop that, Luke. We aren't working on levitation yet." Vader was pleasantly surprised his son had figured out how to levitate without instruction, but there were more important things to learn first. "I want you to build a wall."

"With what? There's nothing here, Father."

"When we are training, you will call me 'my lord' or 'Lord Vader.'" 

"I don't understand why—"

Vader raised his hand. "No, there is no why."

"Yes, my lord."

"Good. Now, build a wall in your mind, the strongest that you can create. Use the Force to power it." Vader sighed as he watched his son with his Force-sight. He watched the tendrils of the Force swirl around Luke, flow within him, flow out. He felt Luke's emotions, pain, pressure.

Luke closed his eyes. After a few minutes of intense concentration, he reached out, pulling the Force in, strengthening the wall. More pressure came. He pulled more Force in, building the wall higher.

"Luke, strength—"

The boy screamed, and the wall collapsed.

Vader shook his head from side-to-side. "An adequate start, but not good enough. If you cannot keep me out of your mind, how will you ever keep the Emperor out? He is more powerful than you realize."

"But why would I want to keep you out of my mind, Lord Vader?" Luke's bright eyes sparkled with the innocence of youth. "I have no secrets."

Vader leaned forward and stroked his son on the cheek with affection. "And that is how I hope it will always be. Unfortunately, the Emperor can never know that you are my son, or he will take you from me. Then he will either make you a Sith Lord or destroy you."

Luke gazed into the shining dark helmet with his blue eyes. "But I want to be a Sith, just like you, my lord."

Vader smiled under the helmet, fatherly pride welling up in him. How precious this boy was to him, whom he had only known for under a week. No, not a Sith. "You will be a Jedi, like your father before you. Now back to the wa—"

The hatch to the meditation room slid open unexpectedly, revealing the stiff figure of Lieutenant Piett with his ever-present datapad in hand. The officer waited patiently to be acknowledged. 

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

Piett cleared his throat. "The Emperor has requested communication, my lord."

Vader stood up, his metallic joints creaking. "Very good, Lieutenant. Have Admiral Ozzel move the Executor to the far side of the planet so that we may send a clear transmission."

"Yes, my lord." Piett transmitted the order he had anticipated on his datapad.

Vader stopped him before he exited. "Lieutenant, I will be busy for quite some time. Please escort the boy to my quarters and instruct him in basic mathematics. His current level is unsatisfactory for even basic duties."

"Yes, my lord." Piett turned to Luke. "Come with me, Luke."

The boy stood quickly and turned back to his father. He gave him a winsome smile before leaving with the aide.

Vader smiled underneath his helmet, hoping that the time to move the ship would allow him adequate preparation to hide the truth about Luke from the Emperor.

He disappeared into his hyperbaric chamber. As soon as he was seated on the chair, the upper piece of the chamber lowered, sealing the small room from the ship's atmosphere.

The room flooded with oxygen, bringing the small chamber to one hundred percent pressurized flow. Once the room reached full operation, an arm lowered from the ceiling, clasping onto and removing Vader's helmet.

The dark lord used this chamber for sleeping, eating, and changing of clothing. While in this special chamber, his suit no longer managed his breathing. He was able to take a long breath of meditation, inhaling and exhaling at will. The air still burned on his scarred lungs, but the high percentage of oxygen and the increased air pressure were healing agents by themselves.

His consciousness floated on the tendrils of the Force as he slipped into meditation. The light called to him. He wanted to follow it. But the darkness. He had to hide Luke from Sidious. The darkness. He had to dive into the darkness, or Sidious would know.

An hour later, the top of the hyberbaric chamber pod opened lifted to reveal the menacing form of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. He plodded to the round holographic transmission pad in front of the pod.

As soon as Vader had kneeled on his left knee, the lights in the room dimmed and the transmission pad lit up in bright blue. After a few flickers, the dark-robed image of Sheev Palpatine, the Emperor of the Galactic Empire, appeared. 

A large, black throne all but encased the emaciated figure. His dark cloak shrouded the Sith Master's hideous face, scarred by Force-lightning eight years earlier.

Vader knew what his master looked like, just as he knew the true evil that consumed this man's heart. He preferred him cloaked.

The tremulous voice wavered across the hologram. "Greetings, Lord Vader. I hear that your work on Tatooine has been successful. Good." The transmission cut in-and-out with interference.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

The Emperor leaned forward into the light, causing his hologram to brighten. "Your work here is finished, my friend. Intelligence has intercepted Rebel transmissions. We believe they were headed to a secret Rebel base. I want you to investigate these transmissions, suppressing all elements of the Rebellion in that sector."

"Where is the point of origin, my master?"

"Naboo." Palpatine tilted his head, observing Vader's reaction. "Now you know why they must be eliminated. I cannot have my home planet be the source of treason."

"I understand, my master." Her. Padmé. My angel. No—Luke. Padmé. Focus on Padmé. Don't let him know about—focus on her curls, her smile. Oh, I miss you so much. 

"I sense that you are unwilling to take on this assignment." Palpatine's voice pulled Vader from his mental battle. "You aren't considering treason, are you?"

"No, my master. I had many friends on Naboo at one time."

The Emperor chuckled. "Don't worry, Lord Vader, your friends that still live are no longer your friends. The others you killed many years ago."

Pain shot through Vader's heart, causing him to fall forward. The Emperor was not above torture, and the man had many methods.

"I expect regular reports, Lord Vader. And when you have completed this mission, return to Coruscant and bring your new apprentice with you."

Vader jerked his head at the hologram.

"Oh, come now, Vader, did you actually think you could hide a young boy on a star destroyer? I have eyes everywhere."

Vader had prepared for this attack. He acted surprised, but actually he was not at all surprised. The Sith Lord spoke his rehearsed words with passion. "The boy has barely begun his training, but I feel a great darkness within him. He will be a powerful ally, my master."

"Yes, I know." Palpatine rubbed his hands together, laughing darkly. "Quench the Rebel influence on Naboo and then report to me."

"As you wish, my master."

The transmission cut off, leaving Vader staring down at the floor, wondering what Naboo would yield. 

Did you know . . .

● Palpatine was the senior senator of Naboo to the Galactic Republic. Watch the prequels to find out the rest.

Tell me what you think . . . 

● Why do you think Palpatine wants Luke and doesn't order Vader to kill the boy?