For You
By jedi1952

Disclaimer: This story was created purely for fun and is NOT an attempt to make money and/or to infringe upon any copyrights and/or trademarks held by Lucasfilm

A/N: This is an AU that takes place at the beginning of A New Hope. In the movie, all we really saw was the result of the Imperial raid on the farm. But what if…..?

A/N 2: My thanks go to GreatOne for her taking the time to look over this little story. Her insights and suggestions were of tremendous help.

A/N 3: Do not reproduce this story anywhere without my express permission.

Owen and Beru sat at the table. They were worried about Luke.

Owen frowned and said, "Beru, you say that Luke left very early to go get the new droids' memories wiped?"

Beru blinked back tears. "Yes, I heard him get up and when I asked why he was up so early, that is what he said." She shuddered. "But Owen, that was many hours ago and we still have not heard from him…"

They both fell suddenly silent as they heard the approach of many vehicles. Not a usual occurrence in the wilds of the Tatooine farms.

Before they could react they heard an odd sounding voice call out, "In the name of the Empire, come out with your hands up. Resistance will be met with force."

Owen and Beru froze in terror. That was the voice of a stormtrooper. Was their worst nightmare about to come true?

Before they could react further, they were surrounded by stormtroopers and forcibly led out of the home into the desert. An Imperial officer faced them.

The officer looked at them in a superior manner. "Where are the droids?"

Owen replied, somewhat confused, "What droids?"

"The droids you purchased yesterday from the Jawas."

"They are not here," Owen responded.

"Where are they?"

"Not sure," Owen replied. "Could be out on the North ridge."

The officer looked at the Larses intently. His eyes grew even harder. "They don't know anything. Kill them," he ordered.

The stormtroopers raised their weapons.

Suddenly a dark shadow appeared overhead. Distracting everyone. It was an Imperial shuttle. And not just any Imperial shuttle. It was Darth Vader's personal shuttle.

Everyone froze.

The shuttle landed with a hiss of hydraulics. The ramp lowered.

All held their breath in anticipation or terror….

Down the ramp strode the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Vader looked upon the scene and ordered, "Belay that."

The Imperil officer looked at Vader in confusion and gulped, "My Lord?"

Vader regarded the officer with contempt which, even hidden by the mask, all could feel. "I said belay that order. Can you not comprehend that?" he said menacingly.

The officer, clearly quaking, said, "Yes, My Lord."

Vader moved away from the group and pulled out his comlink. He hesitated. Who should he contact to carry out his next order? Not the Admiral. That idiot could not be trusted to ensure his order was executed correctly. He mused for a moment considering more junior officers. Ones he could rely on. He activated his comlink. "Piett."

"My Lord," Piett, who was in his quarters, answered.

"Piett, remove all references of the Larses from the records of this mission. And do so quietly."

"It will be done My Lord," Piett replied, hiding his shock at the direct contact from the Dark Lord.

After closing the comlink, Vader pondered his next step. Obviously he needed to eliminate any witnesses to the Larses involvement with the droids and this mission. So be it. Vader approached the officer ordering, "You and the sergeant will remain here with me. The rest of your squad will return to the Devastator."

Vader then turned to face the squad, focusing on the corporal. Drawing on the dark side, Vader issued a mental order through the Force for the corporal to make certain mechanical modifications to their shuttle. Those modifications would result in the shuttle exploding as it left Tatooine's atmosphere. Witnesses eliminated. Ah well, accidents do happen in space, Vader thought with dark satisfaction.

That taken care of, Vader returned his focus to the officer and the sergeant. Both of whom were staring at him in terror. "Sergeant, take off your armour."

"My Lord?" the sergeant stammered.

"Do it."

"Yes, My Lord."

Vader used the Force to pull a 'discarded' flame throwing weapon of destruction to him. He then fired it at the officer and the stormtrooper sergeant. The result was two bodies burned beyond any hope of analysis or recognition. Vader then set the weapon on overload and threw it onto the pile of stormtrooper armour. The resulting explosion vaporized any remaining evidence.

Turning back to Owen, who was now very pale and shaken, Vader said, "You and Beru must leave Tatooine, change your name, and disappear so all will think you were killed. Don't go to Anchorhead, Mos Eisley or Mos Espa. Depart the planet from at least as far away as Bestine."

Ever practical, despite his fears, Owen replied, "Anak...Lord Vader, how will we do this? We have few liquid credits, our assests are tied up to the farm…"

Vader nodded in understanding. He handed Owen an untraceable credit chip. "This should get you away and tide you over for a while. I will transfer more when it can be done anonymously. But let me be clear. I do not do this for you or Beru. I do this for Shmi."

Owen and Beru, while still worried about Luke, were thankful that they had hid his existence throughout this ordeal. They knew that to continue to do so they would have to leave immediately and without him. They prayed that he was safe and would know to seek shelter with the Darklighters.

Sensing Owen and Beru's concurrence, Vader turned and entered his shuttle to return to the Devastator. He thought, this was for you Mom. I know you would want your adopted family protected.

Little did Vader know that shortly after his departure, a certain farm boy of Tatooine would return to his burned down home and see two corpses burned beyond recognition. And that the farm boy would be off on a journey to his destiny.