Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars

Prologue

"The Emperor has decided that my dreams carry some relevance. We both believe that I have a sister," Luke told his father acidly. It was the first time that his son had spoken to him in over a year.

"Sister?" Vader asked.

Darth Vader stormed into the icy entrance of the rebel's base. The fools thought that they could hide on the desolate planet Hoth but that had proved futile.

"Imperial troops have entered the base! Repeat: Imperial troops have entered the base!" A voice called out on an electronic over speaker. It was eventually muffled when the storm troopers apprehended the source.

"My lord, it appears that mosts of the rebels have already escaped. Nine of the launches were successful in slipping past the blockade," A nervous lieutenant reported to the Sith.

"Twin sister to be precise." Luke remarked.

It took Vader a few moments to process the news. Luke was all but lost to the Emperor now. His master had completely turned the youth against him. His son was a monster, twisted and unreachable. To learn that he had a second child hidden away brought both relief and pain.

If he could somehow find this estranged daughter then maybe…

"Who?" Vader asked eventually.

Luke smiled nastily at him.

"Oh you're going to love this. It's the rebel senator, Princess Leia Organa," Luke sneered.

Stretching out into the force, Vader was relieved to sense that the princess hadn't left the base. Yet.

"At the present moment, your objective is to seal the main entrances. All prisoners are to be taken alive and accounted for," he told the officer. The lieutenant quickly nodded his head.

"Y-yes sir.." He stuttered. Without another word, Vader strode past him. Time was of the essence. He only had one chance to find his offspring. Her presence burned brightly in the force, just as Luke's once had, before the emperor corrupted him. Now was his only opportunity.

Heavy blaster fire from a narrow passageway soon caught his attention. The rebels must have barricaded themselves beyond the corridor. He could not determine if the princess was among them.

"The emperor has decided that it would be better if you brought her in," Luke's tone made it clear that he did not agree with the idea.

"And the Emperor thinks to turn her?" Vader asked, after a moment of stunned silence.

"Yes. I would rather her death, she's too much of a threat but the emperor wants to test her first," Luke growled.

The Imperial walkers above the base caused snow to collapse in the already unstable environment. In a matter of moments the entrance to the corridor was completely sealed off, crushing several rebels in the process. To Vader's relief, the princess was not one of them.

"If it continues at this rate, the enemy's ranks will all but be buried alive," one of the troopers commented. It was clear that the man thought his job had been taken care of for him.

"No, commander. Make no mistake. I want every rebel accounted for. Gather your squad," the Sith commanded.

The trooper saluted and left.

Vader turned away from his son, unable to look at him.

"Does she know?" He asked eventually. He felt rather than saw Luke shrug.

"Possibly. The emperor doesn't think that she has had any prior training so it is unlikely that the Jedi told her anything. But, if she's having dreams like I am, there is a chance."

Vader closed his eyes and allowed an image of the princess to flow into his mind. How blind and foolish he was! The answer was there, as plain as the day. He had encountered the fiery princess on several occasions. She was the spitting image of Padme and had inherited his own ruling passion. But he had been too preoccupied with Luke. Raising his son left him too distracted to ever think of the possibility that there might have been a second child.

More blaster fire came from the distance followed by a structural collapse in one of the side hangar bays. It would have been of no consequence, if not for the distinct feminine scream that followed. Vader honed in on it. A squad silently took up formation behind him.

He had never consciously sought out the princess's mind before but as time fell short, Vader found himself reaching out… only to be rebuffed on her end. The princess's force signature was not unlike Luke's; but where the boy had once been warm and receiving, the princess's was very well shielded and uninviting. She knew he was searching for her.

"Hurry up Goldenrod! You're about to be a permanent resident!" a distant male voice called.

More blaster fire followed. She was very close now. Silently, Vader gestured for a squad to enter the hangar bay. The troopers would serve as a fine distraction

Vader marched down the icy corridor with what he barely recognized as apprehension. A vague plan formed in his mind on how he planned to confront the princess but the outcome would be less than desirable. A brief onslaught of images of him interrogating her aboard the Death Star came to his mind. She would resist. His daughter hated him. Not out of the basic principles of war, but on a much more personal level. He knew that there was no way that she would come with him willingly. She would kill herself out of spite if given half the chance. He would have to act quickly if he was to capture her.

There would be no happy family reunion. Establishing any kind of healthy bond with her outside of the necessities was something that Vader believed was beyond them. There was just too much history between them. Even if her rightful place was at his side...

'It was all for Luke,' Vader reminded himself. Once he captured the princess, it would only be a matter of convincing before she came to understand his plans. Her compassion for her childhood friend, her brother, would surely drive her to accept his proposal. Once she was trained in the arts of the force, once she became his apprentice, then together they would overthrow Sidious and free Luke from his master's dark influence.

He felt his son reaching out and testing his power.

Vader wanted to take pride in his son's growing force skills. But there was only bitter regret and a deep sadness. The emperor had taken away his heir and had made him his enemy. The raw power that Luke had inherited from him the emperor had now bent to serve his own purposes.

He felt Luke draw back and he knew his son was displeased. The youth had grown well into his skills but he was still outmatched.

If Luke tried to fight him, in his present state he would still lose.

The corridor branched out into another direction before leading into the far side of the hangar bay. Vader found himself adjacent to the shipyard's exit. Immediately, his optical lenses zeroed in on the petite woman in a white jumpsuit running towards the Corellian space freighter Imperial Intelligence had identified as the Millennium Falcon. In front of her, the criminal space pirate, Han Solo and his Wookiee companion, were running up the ship's ramp. Behind her a protocol droid followed, calling out and begging for the humans to wait.

The party was preoccupied with the troopers firing at the ship to notice his presence. Igniting his lightsaber, Vader waited until the pirate and the his co pilot had boarded before using the force to close the ramp.

"What the-" the pirate's voice began only to be cut off by the Wookiee's snarl as they finally noticed the Sith Lord's presence. Then the ramp was closed and it was too late for the to act.

Turning, Vader watched as the princess skidded to a halt. Her eyes widened in fright before anger overcame her and she reached for a blaster tucked into her side.

"Oh no! It's Darth Vader!" the droid exclaimed but was ignored.

Wasting no time, the princess fire several shots at the Sith only for his red blade to deflect every blast sent his way. It was with extra effort that he made sure none of the attacks were redirected at her. Of course even with her attacks, Vader noticed how the princess had begun to retreat.

That could not be allowed.

"Don't be coy princess. Cowardice does not suit you," He called out, hoping to bait her.

"The enemy stands vulnerable in your midsts. Surely such an opportunity to strike will not come again."

The temptation was poor and under normal circumstances, the princess's better judgement would have won out and she would have fled. Vader could feel her fear and anger, however. It rolled off of her in waves and clouded her judgment.

"Vulnerable? Hardly," she snorted in disgust and fired at him again. Vader raised his blade and advanced. Behind him, his troops continued to fire at the Millennium Falcon while the space pirate attempt to start the freighter's engines.

The princess continued to fire, gaining more confidence as the moment dragged on and taking an offensive step towards him. It was a mistake. Seeing an opening, Vader closed the gap between them and sliced the weapon in half. The resulting impact sent the princess sprawling to her knees. Brown eyes full of loathing stared up at him.

"What do you want Vader?" she hissed and scrambled to hide behind the underbelly of the the ship's port side, refusing his proximity.

"Princess," he called as she withdrew further. Feeling his patience grow thin, Vader reached out a hand and called on the force to drag her out of the shadows.

"Stop it! Let go of me!" she screamed and struggled in vain at the empty air around her.

"Leia, this is important," he began, pausing at the use of her name. He couldn't recall ever saying it…

"Don't call me that!"

The princess twisted and moved to kick at his boots. Vader lowered his blade and singed the left side of her thigh to incapacitate her. The princess immediately cried out and the Sith Lord was forced to remind himself the necessity of his actions. The pain would keep her still.

"You-you hell spawn!" she shouted in rage. Vader ignored her and reached down to grasp her arm and pull her to her feet. His hand completely encompassed her tiny bones.

"The emperor has taken a sudden interest in you. He believes that you have the potential to become a powerful ally. You have inherited a great power just as Luke has," he told her. A brief pain flared up and it took Vader a moment to realize that it was coming from the princess.

"I'm nothing like that dark prince," she growled and struggled weakly in his grip. Only then did Vader remember that princess had been friends with Luke in their youth. As two children of powerful parents, the two had met in both the Senate and the Imperial Palace on occasion. Of course now, that bright, blue eyed boy that had befriended her was long gone. Vader could only imagine what she thought of Luke as he was presently.

"How does Legious sound to you, father?" Luke asked casually. Vader turned to look at him questioningly.

Luke's cold yellow eyes pinned him in place

"For a Sith name," he clarified.

"The emperor advised that I choose one to use after I defeat you," he taunted. Vader studied his son silently. The boy's eyes had begun to change color, now beginning to resemble the poisonous amber that all Dark Sider's possessed.

By the force it hurt, oh he thought he would recover but the wound would never heal. The boy hated him plain and simple. There was no disillusion to what the future had in store for them. They would face off and fight for the rightful place as the emperor's apprentice. Only one of them would come back alive.

Vader turned and walked away.

"I have come here today to collect you," he told her and stepped aside to allow a trooper to cuff her from behind.

"Damn you! What do you want!?" she cursed with both anger and desperation. The princess was ripe for training. All was coming together as Vader had planned. Once he had her transported to his Star Destroyer, he would have one his agents discreetly relocate her to safe location beyond Luke or the Emperor's reach.

"Luke is all but unreachable to me now. But there may still be a chance to redeem him," Vader told her in a lower voice. The trooper holding her ignored their exchange.

"That's impossible. You've ruined your son! He's turned to the Dark Side just like you." The misery he detected in her spirit mirrored his own.

Waving a hand, he dismissed the soldier and moved to guide the princess towards his unit. Behind him, several troopers continued to fire at the freighter but Vader ignored them. He had what he came for.

Despite her injured, the princess continued to fight her captivity with rough shoulder yanks and misguided kicks. Vader did his best to ignore her struggles.

"Luke will come for you, and he will be angry. You need to be prepared. You will need a teacher," he explained and despite the circumstances Vader felt an old excitement flare in him at the prospect of having one of his offspring join him.

"You must do this. I cannot reach him anymore but maybe," and then he did pause.

"as his sister, you can," he told her and waited a moment for the news to sink in. Briefly he wondered if the princess would deny the truth. However, the backlash of anguish he felt through the force told him that she believed.

"No, that's not true! That's impossible!"

At that moment the Millennium Falcon's weapon system came online and turned on Vader and fired. Pushing the princess down, the Sith re ignited his lightsaber to parry the shots. The unlucky troopers around however, all fell quickly to the blaster fire.

The freighter's ramp opened to reveal the space pirate. Despite her cuffed hands, the princess quickly found her feet and ran towards it.

"Leia!" Han Solo called and reached a hand out towards her.

Vader moved to intercept her, but the ship continued its attack relentlessly. It wasn't until she and her droid had safely boarded that the firing ceased and then it was too late for Vader to stop the ship from clearing the hangar bay.

The princess had escaped.