Darth Vader was known to have two emotions prior to discovering Luke Skywalker, unhinged
anger and pure coldness.
But there were a few moments in his life as a Sith Lord where he
experienced some form of joy, one of which took place in the wilderness following his
greatest failure.
It took place right after the Battle of Yavin, where Vader barely was able to survive in
his starfighter.
Despite flying a severely damaged Advanced TIE, Vader’s expertise in piloting as
well as his ability to harness his anger allowed him to take control of the starfighter long
enough to arrive within an Imperial held planet.
The thing was, this planet was a backwater that held only a small outpost in the middle
of nowhere.
On top of that, the 3 Imperials on the base were accustomed to being left alone on
this inconsequential world, with them spending more time fighting their boredom than actually
during their duty.
So when Vader crash landed nearby, none of them were aware of his existence and thus
the Sith Lord was left to fend off the wilderness
of the planet on his own.
When Vader finally left his starfighter and began to explore the planet, for the very
first time the feeling of freedom came upon him.
Here in the middle of nowhere, he was no one's master.
No longer beholden to anyone but to himself.
Unfortunately for him, this peace of mind was quickly shattered when the Sith Lord was
attacked by the wildlife of the planet.
Vader made swift work on the beasts that attacked him, cutting
multiple of them in half with ease.
Eventually, Vader took out the beasts’ leader, causing the rest
of the pack to back off in fear and perhaps in respect.
Vader felt these emotions emit from the creatures, and for the first time in his darkness he
felt an exhilarating rush of joy and the feeling
of being alive.
For the first time in his life he made a choice of his own will without it being ordered
upon his Sith master.
As well, he gained the fear and respect of beings on his own without it
being forced upon the Officers and Stormtroopers he
led in the Empire.
As night fell, Vader decided to rest.
He realized of the Imperial outpost on the planet and
concluded he could reach it by the next day.
But a thought dwelled deep within him, that he
desired to remain in the wild a little longer to extend the rush of his new feelings.
During the short night, the same pack that had attacked Vader earlier came near.
But instead of seeking to attack him again, they came to
pay tribute.
They brought the corpse of their last leader, and signified Vader to be their new
chief of their pack.
Once more Vader felt emotions he once believed were forever gone.
The feeling of being proud of himself.
As once again, Vader achieved something all on his own, with
his newly acquired sense of freedom.
Following that, Vader accepted the beasts as his own.
Throughout the night, his new pack stayed near and protected him from the other
dangers of the wild.
As morning came, Vader quickly realized his pack was in danger.
They were being attacked by a giant creature.
For perhaps the first time in many years, Vader went out of his way to defend
living beings out of a sense of real loyalty.
He could have easily left them to their own battle and
made way to the outpost, but instead he did what a proper chief of the pack would do and
joined in the fight.
As the Sith Lord joined the battle, he made quick work of the giant creature, ending its
life in a fit of rage over its insolence to attack his pack.
Afterwards, Vader finally made his way to the
outpost, leading his pack along the way.
As he approached the small base, the 3 Imperials were once again slacking off and were
shocked to the bone to see what came.
A damaged Lord Vader who was being followed by a
pack of beasts.
When he approached, the 3 Imperials attempted to make excuses for why they
didn’t come to his rescue earlier, but Vader cared not and simply made way to the shuttle.
With the shuttle lifting off and Vader finally making his way off planet, the pack he led
quickly turned on the 3 Imperials and mauled them
alive.
Vader later returned to Coruscant to greet the wrath of his master over his failure in
protecting the first Death Star.
All the emotions he had gained during his short adventure faded away back
to the coldness of his servitude to the Empire, emotions he likely would never feel again
until the discovery of Luke Skywalker.
As he made his way toward the Imperial Palace, Vader demanded the retrieval of his personal
starfighter from the planet as well as a dispatch of replacements to the outpost that used to
be stationed by the 3 lazy Imperials.
And with that, he returned back into the darkness of being a
cruel, uncaring Sith lord.