All in the Family
The dark figure knelt slowly and reverently before the massive holoprojector. Beside him, a much smaller form looked questioningly at her companion's posture. "What are you doing, daddy?"
"Quiet child," was all the young girl got as a response.
This was not an acceptable answer to the six-year-old, and she was about to question her father further, but the holoprojector flickered to life and drew her attention away. The large image that appeared before the pair was of an aging man. Only his hooded face was visible, and the enlarged features of his sinister visage were frightening. The small girl knelt beside her father quite involuntarily.
"You called for me, my Master."
The girl took careful notice of her father's voice. It was deep and sincere. He was showing more respect toward this old man than she had ever seen in anyone before.
"The time for action is upon us, Lord Vader," the image replied. The emotion on his face was unreadable, but his eyes kept throwing flirtive glance toward the young girl kneeling beside his servant. "As we suspected, the Jedi Council has scattered under the pressure of your foolish brethren. Eliminating them will take some time and effort now. Your Sith acted too quickly."
"My Master," Vader began, his voice begging forgiveness, "they felt surprise would be-"
"Surprise?!" the projection shouted. "Surprise?! Jedi will never be surprised. Their attention to the Force and the heightened awareness it gives them far exceeds that of your brethren. You should not underestimate them!"
"Why is he so angry, Daddy?" the girl whispered to her father.
Vader did not offer a response. "We will be more careful next time, my Master."
"I hope so," he replied, his anger somewhat forgotten by the reminder of the girl's presence, "for your sake. Because of your carelessness, we now need to hunt down the Jedi in order to remove their influence over the senate."
The girl got, up rubbing her knees and stretching her legs after kneeling on the hard metal floor.
"It would be wise of you to hire someone to assist you. We need to conduct this purge without alerting the senate. Our resources are stretched thin and-"
Vader's daughter was now fiddling with the lightsaber that hung at on her father's belt. "Who is that?" the Palpatine finally asked.
The girl seemed to recognize that the conversation had suddenly shifted to her, and she dropped back in to a kneeling position. Vader turned to look at her. "This is my daughter, Leia."
"Why did you not tell me you had a daughter? Her training should begin immediately."
"I only found out this morning," Vader admitted. "Obi-Wan hid her from me. She is now the adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa. They thought it might be a good idea for her to learn what her real father does."
"What?!" Palpatine shrieked. "What do you think this is? Take Your Daughter to Work Day?!"
"Actually," Vader started to agree, but Palpatine cut him off.
"No matter. You have your instructions. I trust you to carry them out."
Vader bowed. "Yes, my Master."
"Yes, my Master," Leia echoed in her best imitation of her father's deep voice.
Vader turned to frown at her, but she was already fiddling with his weapon again. "You need to learn to control yourself better than that, Leia."
She stopped playing with the lightsaber and looked up at her father's face, or at least at the black helmet behind which she knew her father's face must reside. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he replied, patting her head as he rose. "Come now, we have business to attend to."
* * *
Darth Koral was deep in meditation when he felt the presence of his lord approaching. He cleared his mind and repositioned himself on his sleeping cot. Lord Vader entered the small room and was accompanied by a young girl dressed in Alderaanian attire. Darth Koral bowed slightly, looking curiously at Leia. "What is it Lord Vader?"
"You led an attack against the Council."
"Yes, my Lord. I felt it was best to catch them unawares."
"They escaped. Now they are alerted to our presence."
Darth Koral looked confused. "They were lucky, my Lord. We can easily crush them. I shall see to it personally."
"No," Vader said, taking a step toward the seated Sith, "you shall not."
Koral looked even more confused, but as he felt his throat tightening, he understood his fate. "You have failed me for the last time, Darth Koral."
"No, my Lord, it was not my fault," he choked out. "They knew we were coming. Someone must have warned them."
"Fool! Your eagerness for violence has blinded you to the true strength of the enemy."
"But . . . I . . . Ahhhk," Koral gagged on his rebuttal.
Leia saw the performance and thought the dying man looked funny grabbing at his throat and sputtering out words. She giggled.
Both men paused in their actions to regard the curious response to the display. Leia took in their looks and swallowed down her laughter with a loud gulp. "Sorry."
Koral used the distraction to draw his weapon. Or at least he tried to draw his weapon. Vader was quicker. He turned back around, and his lightsaber was out in the blink of an eye. The red blade severed Koral's arm at the elbow before he could even turn his weapon on, sending both it and his forearm to the floor. The shock of the attack shook all composure out of the man and he scrambled from his bed.
Vader quickly backed him against the wall, his lightsaber held menacingly before him and his chokehold still intact. "Your death will teach the others not to make the same mistake."
Koral tried to sputter out one last plea for mercy, but the Dark Lord ran him through. A slight whoosh of energy left the rapidly cooling body, and Vader stepped back to let it fall to the ground.
"Was he naughty?" Leia asked carefully.
"Very," Vader confirmed and turned on his heel to head out of the room.
Leia walked up to the dead Sith carefully, scared he might come suddenly back to life. She kicked his head. "You were a bad boy." She quickly hurried out of the room to catch up with her father.
* * *
Vader led Leia wide-eyed onto the bridge of his Super Star Destroyer. The young girl was totally in awe at all the colorful screens and blinking lights. Vader strode quickly across the raised walkway above the collection of sensor and science stations. His cape billowed out behind him, and Leia had to jog to keep up, playfully trying to step on the elusive black cape.
"Lieutenant," Vader called as he neared the helm, "plot in a course change fo-" his words stuck in his mouth, and he was yanked slightly backwards as Leia succeeded in her playful task. The Dark Lord of the Sith turned about suddenly and dropped into a crouch.
Leia knew she was in trouble instantly. "Sorry, Daddy."
"You can only say sorry so many times, honey," Vader said, barely restraining his anger. "You need to control your playfulness and try to be more serious. The bridge of this ship is not a playground. Understand?" Leia nodded meekly. "Good."
Vader stood and turned back to the lieutenant. "Plot in a course change for the Colian System."
"Yes, my Lord." The man turned back to his station and brought the ship out of hyperspace. Leia was drawn to the sight out of the huge glassine panels. She had seen ships jump in and out of hyperspace before, but on the bridge of this huge ship, the panoramic sight was something else.
Vader allowed his daughter the view, and when they were back in hyperspace along the new course, he ushered her back down the walkway and off the bridge.
* * *
The pair came to Vader's private chamber and Leia walked curiously up to the large sphere that resided in the center of the room. "What is this, Daddy?"
"This," Vader said, flipping a switch to open the large device, "is my regeneration chamber. I was injured a few years ago and that is why I have to wear this protective suit. With the help of this chamber I hope to be fully healed soon."
"Does it hurt?"
"A little," Vader said as he moved toward the chamber.
"One time I fell off my hoverboard and scrapped up my knee real bad. I showed it to my mommy and she kissed it all better. Did your mommy try to kiss your boo-boo?"
"Not quite," Vader replied. "Now I need to sit in this chamber for a while. Can I trust you to behave for an hour?"
Leia nodded quickly. Vader doubted it, but he had no other choice. He climbed into the chamber and closed himself inside.
* * *
Forty-five minutes went by before Vader's communicator sounded. "Sir, we have reached the Colian system."
Vader did not respond verbally, for he had his mask off and did not want the officer to hear him with his weak voice. Instead, he ended his session early and emerged from the chamber. As expected, Leia was not in the room. Her presence was not difficult to pick up in the Force, and he was surprised to find it was leading him back to the bridge.
When he stepped onto the bridge, he was rather shocked by what he saw. Leia was wearing a black mop bucket on her head and had Captain Ozzel pinned against a wall with a mop handle poking him in the gut. "You have failed me for the last time, Captain," she said in her deepest voice possible. She then breathed in an out as heavily and as loudly as she could.
"My Lord," the captain saluted as soon as he saw Vader step onto the bridge.
Though she could not see too well from under her bucket, Leia immediately knew her father had shown up. She quickly removed the bucket, tossed the mop handle aside, and turned to face her father. She looked as innocent as possible, but Vader did not buy it. "What did I tell you about playing on the bridge?"
Leia could not look her father in the face. Instead she was staring at the floor drawing circles with her foot. "That I'm not supposed to do it."
"And what were you just doing?"
"But Daddy," she pleaded, looking up finally, "I want to be just like you."
Vader did not know what to say to that, so he turned to his Captain. "Report."
"There is a mercenary ship waiting for us. The Soul Reaper, by name."
"Bring him into hangar 13 with a tractor beam. Have two security guards meet him and bring him to the conference room. If at any point during the boarding he brings his weapons on line, obliterate him with out warning."
"Yes, my Lord."
Vader beckoned to Leia, and she scampered like a puppy after her father. They boarded a turbolift and descended toward the hangar. "Where are we going?" Leia asked.
"We are going to a meeting with a very dangerous man. I need to hire him to do a job for me."
"Has he been naughty too?"
Vader looked down at her. "Not yet."
They rode the lift the rest of the way in silence. At the bottom of the shaft, the doors opened and they stepped out. Two security guards were standing outside the conference room door. "Lord Vader, the bounty hunter is inside."
"Go in and make him place all of his weapons on the table. If I find that he has kept anything hidden on his body, I will kill him. Then I will come out for you. Is that understood?"
"Yes, my Lord." The two men disappeared into the conference room.
"Daddy?" Leia began in a voice Vader knew was going to produce an annoying question.
"Yes, Leia."
"Why does everyone call you 'Lord?'"
Vader let out a long sigh. "It is part of my official tittle. I am the Lord of the Sith. They call me Lord out of respect. You could learn a little respect."
A few moments later the security guards returned. "He has complied, my Lord."
Vader nodded and turned to Leia. "Let's go."
"Yes, Lord Daddy."
Leia was very anxious to show her father that she could control her playfulness, but as soon as she saw what was in the room, she nearly lost control right there. The man sitting at the table was dressed in the most elaborate armor Leia had ever seen. It had been polished to a very high shine and did not have a scratch on it. His helmet sat on the table and looked almost like a computer with dozens of wires and antennas decorating the outside.
But what really caught her attention was the myriad of weapons that covered the table. She understood why her father, as powerful as he was, wanted to make sure this man was unarmed. Each weapon on the table looked ten times better than even her best toy back on Alderaan. She almost ran over to the table to play with them, but Vader had a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome, Andoran Fett. You were wise to heed my call."
"I always look forward to our meetings. Dealing with you has been most profitable."
"Call him 'Lord!'" Leia demanded of their guest.
Andoran looked at the little girl and laughed. Leia had her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. "And who is this? A new recruit?"
"You would do well to listen to her," Vader replied. Leia gained a measure of confidence from this and marched over to the table to sit down. Vader preferred to stand. "The Jedi Council has been disbanded. They have scattered at our presence."
"And you desired this?" Andoran dared question.
"It was an error," Vader said coolly. "And it was punished."
"He was naughty."
"Indeed," Andoran said, taking a liking to this kid. "And you need me to track them down."
"You and your brethren. This is not a task to be taken lightly. The Jedi can sense our presence too easily and it is necessary that you not be noticed. Once they are found, you may use your own discretion in this matter, but I at least want to see each Jedi's body. I will not toler-"
Vader stopped talking as a high pitch whirring noise came from the table. He saw Leia instantly drop the thermal detonator she had been playing with. The whirring's pitch grew at a very alarming rate, but Andoran swiped up the device and deactivated it before any damage could be done. Leia sat on her hands and avoided her father's stare.
"I will not tolerate failure," Vader completed his last statement. It was meant for Andoran, but he was looking at Leia.
"And the payment?"
Vader turned his stare from his mischievous daughter to look at the Mandalorian. "You will be paid according to your performance. That is the way we have operated in the past, and that is how we will continue to operate."
"As you wish," Andoran rose from the table, bowed slightly, and, looking at Leia, added, "my Lord."
Vader led Leia out of the room as the bounty hunter collected his equipment. The guards were waiting for them outside. "Lead him to his ship," Vader responded. "If he tries anything, kill him."
The lift was waiting for them where they left it, and the father and daughter team made there way back to the bridge. "You need to curb your curiosity, Leia," Vader said after several silent moments. "You are eager to learn, and that is good, but there is a time and a place for everything. Do you understand?"
Leia did not understand, but she had seen what happens to those that do not understand, and she lied. "Yes, Daddy."
"What?"
"Um, I mean, yes, Lord Daddy."
Under his helmet, Vader smiled.
* * *
From the bridge, Vader watched Andoran's ship leave the shuttle bay and disappear into hyperspace. "Set a course for Alderaan," he commanded. "It's time to bring our guest of honor home."
"Ahh," Leia moaned, "is it time already?"
"I'm afraid so."
Senator Bail Organa was at the rendezvous on time and met Leia in the shuttle bay. "Well," he said when Leia ran up and hugged him, "did you have a good time?"
"I sure did. Lord Daddy showed me all over his spaceship. We got to go to the bridge. We had an important meeting. I saw a regeneration chamber. We punished a naughty Sith. We had a busy day."
Bail stood up and led his daughter to his ship. "Well, I'll want to hear all about it." He turned to cast a glance back at Vader. "All about it."
The End