The Son of Suns trilogy, which consists of Into The Storm
, In Shadows and Darkness and At the Brink of the Dawn and the Darkness, is an AU Star Wars trilogy written by blank101, branching off from the end of The Empire Strikes Back when the Millennium Falcon is captured while attempting to escape Bespin and Luke is taken captive and taken to Coruscant, where the Emperor tries to sway Luke to the Dark Side...and succeeds, and the consequences that this has on the rest of the galaxy.The author's homepage is here.
This fanfiction series contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Vader might mean well, but there's no denying that handing your own son over to Palpatine is not going to win you any 'Dad of the Year' awards.
- Awesome by Analysis: A standard part of Sith training: Palpatine, Vader, and Luke all employ this during their duels.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Ultimately, Palpatine... albeit posthumously.
- Depending on your perspective, Luke also qualifies.
- Bastard Understudy: Luke
- Beware the Nice Ones: Luke Skywalker in spades.
- Big Bad: Palpatine for the first two stories.
- Madine gets a turn during At the Brink of the Dawn and the Darkness.
- Break Them by Talking: Palpatine's weapon of choice.
- Luke demonstrates his aptitude for this trope during his final conversation with Madine.
- The Chessmaster: Palpatine.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Into The Storm, from start to finish. Makes a return in the final installment.
- The Corrupter: Palpatine, rather more successfully than in canon.
- Downer Ending: Played straight with Into the Storm.
- Played with in At the Brink of the Dawn and the Darkness: Luke has made peace with the Rebels and claims to eventually restore democracy... but is firmly in the grip of the dark side and has unwittingly secured Palpatine's genetic dynasty.
- The Emperor: Palpatine, obviously. Luke, by the beginning of the third installment of the trilogy.
- Et Tu, Brute?: This is Leia's reaction to the revelation that Luke has been spying on the Rebel Alliance from the very beginning. Subverted, as Luke is entirely innocent and was loyal to the Rebellion, but double-subverted when Luke falls to the Dark Side for real.
- Evil Gloating: Palpatine, naturally. Employed by Luke to disturbing effect in the final chapter of At the Brink of the Dawn and the Darkness.
- Face–Heel Turn: The whole first story is an extended one for Luke.
- Genius Bruiser: Palpatine, Vader, Luke.
- It's All About Me: Palpatine's motivation in a nutshell.
- Hyper-Awareness: Lots of characters.
- Killed Off for Real: Mon Mothma, Vader, Palpatine.
- Manipulative Bastard: Emperor Palpatine. Luke gradually becomes one himself, thanks to the Emperor's training.
- Master Swordsman: Vader & Palpatine begin the story as such and Luke progressively becomes one.
- Averted with Mara Jade, to her chagrin.
- Mind Rape: Palpatine gradually employs this when Luke's resolve holds.
- The Mole: Played with. Palpatine arranges for evidence to be planted that Luke was an Imperial agent within the Rebel Alliance by using an actual mole to lay the false trail, and Luke himself, once he becomes emperor is noted for his fondness for using moles in the third installment.
- My God, What Have I Done?: This is Vader's reaction when he sees what Palpatine's manipulations have done to his son towards the end of the first installment.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Frequently traded between Luke, Vader, and Palpatine. Mara and Madine occasionally get in on the action.
- Redemption Equals Death: Vader, as in canon, towards the end of the second installment.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: Palpatine, when Luke attempts to escape during Into The Storm.
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Vader, with some degree of moral ambiguity.
- The Starscream: Luke, through out the second installment and by the end he succeeds!
- The Strategist: Luke and Madine.
- Torture Technician: Palpatine.
- World of Badass: Pretty much every major character qualifies.
