Fanfic / Limpet AU

The Limpet AU is a series of Star Wars Legends Alternate Universe Fic by frodogenic (who also wrote Sibling Revelry), in which Darth Vader and his entire crew aboard the Executor managed to survive the destruction of the second Death Star by hyperspacing into the Unknown Regions. After drifting across the uncharted space for twenty-five years, the Executor stumbles back into a galaxy where the Empire has fallen, the New Republic reigns supreme, and the last of the Sith Lord finds himself fulfilling a hitherto unknown role... Grandpa.

The series currently six stories: five one-shots and one multi-chapter prequel, "Meet the Skywalkers", which is told from Admiral Piett's point-of-view detailing the Executor's unexpected return from the Unknown Regions and their transition into a New Republic life.

---

The Limpet AU contains examples of:

• Affectionate Nickname: Ben Skywalker is referred to by the Solos as "the Skycrawler". Also, the Solo children call each other using pet names — "Jasa" for Jacen, "Jaya" for Jaina, and "Nicky" for Anakin.
• All-Loving Hero: Luke Skywalker, as usual, although Piett quickly spots that he has Vader's temper, albeit on a much tighter leash. He turns up on the Executor and despite the understandable negative associations Piett and the other officers have with him (he killed over a million of their comrades in one raid, and they spent months hunting him while Vader took his frustrations out on them), he quickly charms them all. Piett spends most of "Meet the Skywalkers" wondering how the hell you put Darth Vader in one end of a reproductive cycle and get Luke out the other, repeatedly marvelling at what a woman his mother must have been.
• Aloof Leader, Affable Subordinate: Darth Vader, who is the de facto leader of the Empire after Palpatine's death, projects himself as an inscrutable and untouchable force of nature; his second-in-command, Admiral Piett, is far more approachable and the latter would normally serve as a mediator between Vader and the rest of the officers. Vader himself muses on this at one point, when forwarding what he considers a particularly impudent requisition form to Piett, because everyone knows that Piett is the nice commanding officer.
• As the Good Book Says...: In "Meet the Skywalkers", an aggravated Piett starts talking to a stained-glass image of a woman, pouring out his heart about the stresses of working for Vader. Later, he finds an inscription of the image quoting 1 Corinthians 13:8 ("Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."). That woman? Padmé Amidala.
• The Atoner: Vader, in his own very awkward way, clinically offering Leia the opportunity to kill him and detailing various methods and their relative efficiencies/levels of pain caused (it's a standing offer), and later offering to claim that he released all parental rights to Leia (as her adoption by the Organas could not technically be formalised without it), since all documents would have been kept on Alderaan - which is now gone - and his word would do instead. Leia is visibly touched by the latter, and says she'll think about it.
• Big Brother Worship: Piett mentions that his younger sister Carilla used to hero-worship him, and was very proud of his status as a naval officer.
• Blasé Boast: In "Driving Lord Vader", the former Sith Lord assures his namesake that he could pass his space license exam by telling the younger Anakin that he was able to fly a starfighter into orbital combat when he was only ten, as if that's a very normal thing to do.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: The one thing that Han and Vader can agree on is that they're equally appalled by the idea of some boy getting too comfortable with Jaina.
  Han: You tell Brant Nobody if he puts one hand on you I'm gonna — I'm gonna send your grandfather after him!
  Vader: He may count himself fortunate if I wait until I arrive at the academy to kill him.
  Jaina: Between you two, I'll never get within half a lightyear of a male my age.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Jaina enjoys winding up her father and grandfather alike (including leaving a matte pink kiss on her grandfather's helmet), especially on the one subject they agree on: the terrible nature of boys. This rather aggravates said grandfather, who internally notes that he much prefers the very satisfying reflexive "yessir!" he gets from Jacen and Anakin whenever he addresses them.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Mara does this to Vader on Luke’s behalf in "Meet the Skywalkers" when Vader tries to push Luke away. Ironically, and perhaps typically, this makes Vader abruptly decide that Luke did make a good choice in wife after all.
  "You won't harm him? You have a toll-free hyperlane right into his heart, and the first chance you got you flew a Death Star into it and lit him up like Alderaan. He still wakes up with a Bespin nightmare now and then. He went through hell for you at Endor, he's kept going through hell for two decades because he admits to being your son, and now that you've finally decided to grace us all with your presence again, you're giving him more hell for sticking up for your undeserving butt against his actual friends. Around here we call that harming someone. You're not doing any more damage on my watch."
• Card-Carrying Villain: Supposedly. In theory, Vader still sees himself as an evil Sith Lord, his internal monologue routinely mentioning his intentions to take down the Jedi and the New Republic and re-establish the Empire if ever the opportunity arises. Given that one of these mentions is in "Driving Lord Vader" about how Leia has boxed him in regarding Anakin Jr's driving test — he can't refuse to take him, as that would establish him as a heartless monster who Anakin would never trust again and would therefore never trust him and/or join him on the Dark Side — it's less than believable. In "Argos", he tacitly admits to R2 that he's moved firmly away from the Dark Side (by irritably asking R2 if he is trying to push him back over the edge). In general, he spends most of time trying and miserably failing to deny the fact that he is, in fact, spoiling his grandchildren and that he has — to his own disgust — gone soft.
• Children Are Innocent: Ben Skywalker, a very adorable and completely innocent toddler whose sweet and sunny nature leads Piett to observe that the genes of Darth Vader are in complete hiding (although he immediately disproves this by demonstrating an apparently perfect impersonation of his grandfather's "impress me, if you can" look). Since this renders him completely immune to intimidation by Vader, and also renders Vader himself far less intimidating (to Vader's dismay), the results tend to be hilarious.
• Dead Guy Junior:
  • Five years after the Executor disappeared and its crew was presumed dead, Piett's sister had another daughter named Wesla, after Piett's middle name, Weslerman.
  • Anakin the Younger was intended as this, on similar grounds. However, it's made abundantly clear that Leia found her father much easier to deal with dead than alive — and even before they become friends, even with his Undying Loyalty to Vader, Piett muses that he can't even remotely blame her.
• Deadpan Snarker: More or less everyone gets in on it, with even the toddler, little Ben, teasing his 'gampa' by mockingly repeating his words. Vader in particular has moments, commenting - when Leia asks incredulously how he thought the politically naive Luke ruling the Empire was possibly a good idea, Vader, internally acknowledging she has a good point, intones, "an improvement on previous management." When the bickering over who the title he abdicated devolves to settles on Luke abdicating, which would make his two year old son Emperor, Vader, still deadpan, remarks, "still an improvement on previous management."
• Didn't Think This Through: Leia accuses Vader of this in "How To Succeed Without Really Trying" after he claims the throne of the Imperial Remnant so that he can retroactively accept the peace treaty with the New Republic, and then abdicates two minutes later. While it does help settle many of the legal issues regarding the Executor's status in the New Republic, it also raises several new ones when the Imperial Remnant tries to pass the throne to one of Vader's legal heirs, i.e., Luke or Leia.
• Doting Grandparent: Vader, especially towards Ben. He pretty much allows the toddler to walk all over him, buys him toys, displays the toddler's drawings on his office wall, and eventually relents to "play fly" with him. He's also one of the few who can reliably translate from toddler to Basic.
• Easily Forgiven: Both played straight and averted.
  • Played straight with Luke, who is overjoyed to see his father again, and actively seeks out a relationship with him. Even Piett believes that Vader doesn’t deserve this.
  • Averted with nearly everyone else, as the galaxy has not forgotten Vader's crimes. Leia in particular has definitely not forgiven Vader for all of his actions against her personally, and their interactions are still tense months after his return.
  • Those averting it include Vader himself, who stoically handed Leia a blaster in private, offering her the chance to kill him and pointing out various available methods by pain inflicted and length of time lasted. He also makes it clear to her that this is an open offer.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Jaina and Jacen do this when they meet Piett. It’s unclear if it's just how they normally talk or if they're deliberately playing it up to annoy him, though Anakin the younger does note in passing that they have a mental link.
• Forbidden Fruit: After Luke introduces Rebel sabacc to the Imperial officers aboard the Executor, Vader puts it on the top of the list of Disallowed Recreational Activities roster (ahead of stun tag, mouse droid racing and cockroach olympiads), and Piett mentions that it has become the most popular activity on board as a consequence.
• Friendship Moment: Vader may regard Piett as his Only Friend, but for the most part their interactions are limited to their roles as a commander and his subordinate, and Piett still fears for his life when talking with Vader at times. It isn't until chapter 13 of "Meet the Skywalkers" that they have a heart-to-heart after Vader almost accidentally killed himself by taking off his life support to hear his mother's last holo-message and share a laugh over Piett's family life and his alternative career choice.
• Gargle Blaster: Due to supply shortages during their twenty-five-year pilgrimage through the Unknown Regions, the crew of the Executor took to a concoction they call "starshine" by distilling engine coolant. When Piett mentions this to Luke in "Meet the Skywalkers", the latter comments that he's used to the Rebellion's own dodgy alcohol, although he doesn't specify exactly how they made it outside of saying that "it's amazing how many things you can do with a tauntaun". Leia independently makes the same comparison when she swigs a large decanter after a "talk" with her father, remarking that it reminds her of "Echo Base vintage."
• Good Parents: Luke, Mara, Han, and Leia are all patient, loving parents to their children. Vader is... trying.
• Helicopter Parents: Vader shows signs of being a helicopter grandfather in "Driving Lord Vader". Once he agrees to send Anakin Solo to his driving exam, he becomes paranoid that the ship might get attacked and insists on accompanying his grandson in the practical drive test. When the director tries to refuse, Vader threatens to send an entire squadron of TIE fighters as an escort instead.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Vader has a very well hidden streak of charm, when he chooses to exercise it — once, as Piett remembers, in terrifying, mocking fashion as he killed Lorth Needa, and in "Meet the Skywalkers" when he responds to Mara's What the Hell, Hero? speech about his parenting (and tendency to chase off Luke) and her ultimatum that they pretend to like each other for Luke's sake, to be sealed with a handshake. Instead of shaking her hand, he reaches out, taking her chin, and remarks that he was mistaken in his initial judgement — Luke did a good job when he chose his wife. Mara freaking Jade blushes like a sunset.
  • More of an unexpected skill, but thanks to a quarter of a century guiding the Executor through the Unknown Regions, Piett can run complex navigational calculations off the top of his head with ease — which he demonstrates when helping Anakin Jr with his homework, impressing both Anakin and Han Solo himself.
  • Likewise, Leia is capable of Jedi Mind Tricks, to her father and son's astonishment, and willing to use them (just once) to bail them out of trouble with Coruscant's traffic police.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Vader absolutely refuses to admit that he Took a Level in Kindness thanks to Palpatine's death and Luke's influence, makes up seemingly "pragmatic" excuses for his more merciful actions, and dismisses his doting treatment towards his grandchildren (including babysitting Ben and putting up with the kids' antics) as nothing but necessary diplomacy to survive in the New Republic. He even tries to internally justify taking Anakin Jr to his driving test as necessary to prevent Anakin losing all trust in him and seeing him as a heartless monster, and therefore never being willing to join him on the Dark Side and re-establish the Empire etcetera. Absolutely no one with even a passing acquaintance of him, from the crew of the Executor to the Skywalker-Solo family, believes him.
• Hold Your Hippogriffs: In "Meet the Skywalkers", when Vader comments on Luke's talent for destroying ordered systems, Luke responds with "Talk about the Toydarian calling the Jawa cheap".
• Honorary Uncle: Ben refers to all of Luke's former squadmates (Wedge, Hobbie, Tycho and Wes) as uncles. Mara later adds Piett into the roster, to the latter's horror — although by the end of the story the Admiral doesn't seem to mind too much being called "Unca Peet".
• Identical Grandson:
  • In "Driving Lord Vader", Darth Vader reflects on how Jaina looks almost identical to her great-grandmother Shmi.
  • In a more metaphysical sense, Vader's and Luke's Force signatures are so similar to one another that it took some time for Luke's infant son to realize that his father and grandfather are, in fact, different people. Even after this, Vader dourly observes that he gets the feeling that his grandson still sees him as a mixture of Daddy 2.0 and a fascinating droid to play with.
• I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: At first, Vader refuses to entertain Ben's persistent request to play flying with him, and does everything he can to distract the toddler with other activities so that he doesn't have to indulge in the toddler's favorite game. When he eventually gives in and agrees to play fly with Ben, he gets so carried away that he fails to notice Luke and Mara arrive to collect their son until they're right behind him.
• I Need a Freaking Drink:
  • After Luke's first holo-call with Leia from the Executor in "Meet the Skywalkers", he more or less staggers out and explains Leia to a concerned Piett: "Imagine my father's temper compressed into a third of the volume, then pump it full of estrogen." Piett considers this horrifying image for a moment, then offers Luke a drink of the ship's Gargle Blaster, which Luke desperately latches onto.
  • Leia, after a "conversation" with Vader, guzzling the decanter of said Gargle Blaster.
• Inheritance Murder: Discussed for laughs in "How To Succeed Without Even Trying". Luke asks Vader if he has a will, and when Vader asks why he wants to know, Luke flippantly mentions that Leia's cutting his funding for the Jedi Academy, so he's planning to kill Vader to get his inheritance.
• Insistent Terminology: Whenever Vader gets sulky or pouty or idly bored, he would always insist that he's "meditating" instead.
• Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Two-year-old Ben Skywalker thinks the world of his "gampa", and the epilogue of "Meet the Skywalkers" shows a scene of Ben copying Vader's intimidation pose and speech after stealing the latter's lightsaber. Vader, for the most part, wants nothing to do with the clingy toddler (since babysitting is beneath Sith dignity, and Ben's presence harms his intimidating factor) even as he develops a soft spot for his grandson — from the very start, Piett notes that his claim that Ben is "impudent and demanding" is delivered with a certain approval and his exasperation is feigned.
• I Was Quite a Looker: When the Solo twins shows Piett a holovid of Vader while he was still Anakin Skywalker, the Admiral is surprised that the horrifically scarred and bald head behind the mask used to bear a face that could invite a lover's swoon, while Jaina snarks to Jacen "and you wonder why grandma liked him?"
• Last-Second Word Swap: While complaining about politicians, Han begins to say "ass"... before switching it to "asteroids" when Leia reprimands him for swearing in front of their son. Anakin doesn't buy it.
• Magnetic Hero: Luke and Leia, Luke especially — a Jedi Master revered by trillions and capable of acting as a human shield between Vader and the galaxy as a result, the only person who can reliably keep Vader calm, and a mere couple of weeks on board the Executor has him thoroughly befriending all the officers. More than once, Piett is left astounded by the concept that Darth Vader could have produced someone like that (although he's a little less surprised when he sees a flash of Luke's temper and the shared Skywalker obsession with treating every ship like a starfighter).
• Mama Bear: Mara is a devoted and protective mother, and any perceived threat or insult to her son is enough to draw forth a temper that balks even Vader.
• Married to the Job: Admiral Piett's career as a naval officer prevents him from settling down and having a family, and his decision to join the navy caused his mother a lot of grief for precisely this reason. Piett himself declares that "the Lady" is the only woman for him and he's clearly content to be single the rest of his life. Despite this, he does have a good relationship with his sister's family.
• Mood Whiplash: Chapter 13 of "Meet the Skywalkers" has Piett and Vader share a heartfelt Friendship Moment, only for them to start bickering when they realize that Piett had let their shuttle veer off-course into an asteroid belt during that heartfelt moment.
• Old Shame: In-Universe. Vader finds his creation of C-3PO embarrassing, to the point that Artoo is able to use this fact to blackmail him into fixing Artoo's rocket boosters.
• Only Friend: Outside of his family, Admiral Piett is the only person that Vader can be considered somewhat close to. Mara and Luke both pick up on this immediately. While arguing with her father-in-law, Mara claims that Vader has only one friend in the entire galaxy in reference to Piett, and Leia muses that Piett and Luke are probably the only two people who'll miss Vader if she kills him.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After returning to Coruscant after decades, one of the first things Vader does is give Piett a two-months holiday (although he calls it a "disciplinary leave order") and calls Max Veers to escort Piett to his sister's home.
  • The entirety of "Driving Lord Vader" is this, with Vader realising how much he unnerves his comparatively shy middle grandchild, Anakin (not so much for his sake, but for everyone else's) and how nervous Anakin is about his pilot's license, on the grounds that he comes from an entire family of legendary ace pilots, including the two best Force-sensitive pilots and probably the best non-Force-Sensitive pilot in galactic history, and he's terrified of disappointing his family. Vader comforts him on the latter by telling him that his father wants his son to join him precisely because he's proud of him already, avoiding a perfect opportunity to snipe at Han in the process. He also boosts his confidence significantly by pointing out that, yes, he terrifies literally everyone in the galaxy — so if Anakin can argue back at him, without hesitation, why should anything else bother him? He even takes responsibility for the little training flight (and the ensuing mass destruction), and backhandedly offers future driving lessons.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Over the course of "Meet the Skywalkers", Piett realizes that he and Vader have essentially become this by the time they emerge from the Neutral Zone. It's hammered home near the end of that fic when Piett asks Vader to show him what the Force is like, and Vader obliges and admits that only one other person (all but stated to be Padmé) has ever asked him to do so.
• Poke the Poodle: What Vader's supposed Card-Carrying Villain status is reduced to these days, somewhat to his disgruntlement.
• Prequel: How Vader managed to survive the events of Return of the Jedi, his return after twenty-five years, and Luke and the others' reactions towards this event is only briefly alluded to in the opening crawl of the first written fic, "Lord Vader's Limpet", but is expounded on in a much greater detail in the third, "Meet the Skywalkers".
• Psychic Powers: All the Force-sensitives, naturally, with Piett being The Team Normal and providing a perspective on the occasionally unnerving dimension this adds to interactions with the Skywalker clan - and noting the distinction between Luke consciously reining in his sixth sense to avoid unsettling the likes of Venka, and Vader, who simply doesn't bother.
• Redeeming Replacement: When his claiming of the Imperial title for about two minutes to revolve a diplomatic snafu over the Bastion Accords and consequent abdication means that the Imperial Throne theoretically devolves to Luke or Leia (neither is sure which is older, and neither wants the job), Vader is entirely fine with the idea, intoning "an improvement on previous management" even when Leia points out Luke's complete lack of Realpolitik skills meant that if he had ever taken up the offer, someone more politically savvy would have had him for lunch. Luke then says that he'd abdicate... meaning that his toddler son, Ben, would become Emperor. Vader's sole comment.
  Vader: Still an improvement on previous management.
• Short-Lived Leadership: When the Executor first returned to the galaxy after twenty-five years of absence, there was a controversy over the crew's status in the New Republic, which brought up the question whether the treaty signed between the Imperial Remnants and the New Republic was valid when the former had acted without the approval of its ruler, that is Darth Vader. To settle the conflict, Vader declares himself the Emperor after the Battle of Endor, agreeing with the accords signed with the New Republic, and immediately abdicating the throne. By Leia's calculation, he was officially Emperor for only two minutes. This leads to a small problem when it turns out that abdication means that in theory, the title devolves to one of his children, and no one's sure which of them is the older.
• Shout-Out: In "Argos", Artoo quotes Gandalf's line about wizards never coming late, replacing "wizard" with "droid".
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Hilariously, this is more or less what Vader and Han's relationship has settled down to — Piett observes that despite Vader's occasionally longing caresses of his lightsabre in Han's presence, he only really sees Han as an annoyance (Mara, by contrast, he sees as a potential threat to Luke). The one thing they agree on is that where Jaina is concerned, boys are awful, to the point where Han threatens to set Vader on Jaina's potential boyfriend and Vader not only agrees but doubles down.
• Speed Demon: To Piett's despair and disgust, Vader and Luke are both like this, with Vader's lamentable tendency to treat every space-going vehicle like it's a TIE Fighter. Also, choosing Piett's shuttle to cannibalise and rewire while he's away, into something that — supposedly — he will find much better.
  Piett: I will find it much faster, you mean, sir.
  Vader: That is what I said.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Vader and Leia's relationship has developed into this by "Lord Vader's Limpet" and "Driving Lord Vader". Vader even keeps a mental scoreboard in his own head, which he is losing.
• That Man Is Dead: When Artoo refers to Vader by his real name, Vader immediately says that Anakin Skywalker is dead. That being said, he does respond to that name, if very, very grudgingly.
• Toilet Humour: In Lord Vader's Limpet, little Ben Skywalker, a toddler, is dropped off with Vader and eventually - to Vader's horror - the inevitable happens when Ben needs to "gaz doodoo." Vader has never actually raised a child, so is a bit at a loss, and rings up Mara for help. When little Ben informs her somewhat sorrowfully of what happens, Vader being flummoxed causes her to almost cry laughing.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Vader's subordinates agree that the man has gone much softer after the Emperor's death, and even more so after reuniting with his family. Vader refuses to admit this of course, claiming — to himself — that he's merely forced to be more diplomatic in his dealings with others since he no longer has the Empire's backing against the New Republic. One gets the impression that even he doesn't really believe it, to the point where he tacitly and irately confirms to Artoo that he's turned away from the Dark Side.
• Un-person: There are (almost) no existing records of Anakin Skywalker when Piett tries to discover more about his superior's former identity on the holonet. According to the author’s comments, Vader himself deleted the records, wishing to purge everything of his past from living memory. However, a clip from the Clone Wars is found in a back archive even Vader missed.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Piett and Vader, sealed in "Meet the Skywalkers", with Vader realising that Piett genuinely is his friend, and saying that while he doesn't totally trust him, Piett has more than earned it — the problem is on his end (he has many, many trust issues). Piett is also one of the very few people who isn't related to him who's willing to snark back at him, and whom Vader genuinely respects.
• We Have Reserves: Averted with the Executor when it was stuck in the Neutral Zone. This prevented Vader from killing his officers for any perceived failure, which in turn helped mellow him out.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: In "Driving Lord Vader", Vader destroys a couple of media droids that were harassing Anakin on their way to the latter's space license test, and denies his grandson's accusation of murder by claiming that droids aren't alive. When Anakin asks if he’d be that indifferent to droid life if it was Artoo, Vader dismisses the comparison by saying that R2-D2 is "different".

---