Hullo everyone! Sorry this wasn't updated last night. I really have no excuse other than I completely forgot I was doing this! Updating will be on time for now on, though, so don't worry about that!

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Hope everyone has a good week!

MLV

Darth Vader peered out of the view screen into the blackness of space. If all went according to plan, then in less than two days all the major leaders, as well as a good piece of the rebellion, would be destroyed, along with the so-called hope that the usurpers were trying to spread across the galaxy. His spy had sent word that the rebels were fleeing their base and moving on. He had yet to learn where this new base was, but in a few short hours his spy would report back and then he could start his plan of attack.

Vader quelled the thought that the success of this entire plan rested on the shoulders of a simple intelligence officer. As long as he kept Tano busy for even a few days, then all would be right. Once the leaders of the rebellion were destroyed, then Vader could focus all of his attention on finding and capturing his elusive former apprentice. The togruta had proven herself over and over to be worthy of his time and attention. The slipperiness of the rebellion was due to an overall lack of ability on the side of the Empire; as much as he loathed admitting it, but when he tried to work with multitudes of other creatures-oftentimes incompetent of catching even a dewback on Tatooine-things tended to get screwed up. But when it came to Tano…the moment the time was right, he would seize her.

Perhaps he could even convince her to join him in his quest to rule the Empire. But even as the thought entered his mind, he knew his headstrong former apprentice would never betray her ideals. She was too stubborn. He also knew that she would never trust a single word uttered from him, regardless of the bond they had once shared. But perhaps he could fool her into believing that he truly wanted the Emperor dead, which wasn't actually a lie. Perhaps his former apprentice could be tricked into creating an alliance to destroy the emperor-she was an idealist, after all-and then once the deed was done, he could turn around and destroy her before she had the chance to do the same to him.

He sensed someone at his meditation chamber door, and that gave him an excuse to stop his thought process before it veered into an area in which he did not wish to go. He opened the chamber and saw the operative in charge of bringing him news that was sent by his spy.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Vader asked, anticipating good news.

"I'm afraid I have some rather bad news, lord Vader. The rebel leaders all took separate transport ships, and they've all headed in different directions." The lieutenant's voice trembled by the end, and his hands were wringing together. But the lieutenant stood tall and never once broke eye contact with the sith.

Anger flared inside of Vader, and he struggled to keep his calm. If the small man could stand in front of the most dangerous man in the galaxy and deliver bad news, then Vader could at least not kill the man right away. But the answer was obvious, and the lieutenant's ignorance was annoying.

"Tell our spy to remain where he is and to transmit the coordinates when he receives them. The ultimate ending will happen, even if it takes a few more days."

The resolve was breaking in the lieutenant. "B-but lord Vader, I'm afraid that's what he's trying to tell us. He doesn't believe they're going to land for some time. Apparently according to their protocol-"

Vader stood up, and the room was suddenly filled with his anger. Pieces of furniture began to vibrate, and the air grew thick. The lieutenant visibly trembled, obviously fearful for his life, but he still refused to break his eye contact. This reaction gave Vader a sense of pleasure, and he calmed down somewhat, but his anger with the spy was still a thousand fold. He would not take excuses for not getting a job done.

"I don't care about their protocol. Tell the spy that he needs to give me some tangible information in one day, or else he shall suffer the same fate as the rebels."

The lieutenant nodded vigorously, and carefully strode out of the room, saluting the sith before exciting. Vader watched him leave and allowed the frustration to fuel his desire to destroy the rebellion. He glanced back out at the stars. An unsettling feeling overcame him, and he moved away from the scene. Perhaps the crew of his ship needed more persuasion to get their mission done, and he assumed a demonstration was in order. He marched out of his meditation chamber and onto the main deck.

"Lord Vader, exciting news!"

Vader turned to the lieutenant from a few moments ago had regained his resolve and stood tall once more, triumph lining his eyes. "We've gotten word from our spy: he has the whereabouts of Princess Leia Organa and is currently transmitting them to us."

Vader felt a surge of pleasure. Though the princess was not the only piece on the board, she was a high ranking official and if captured (Vader ignored the word again) would surely dampen the resolve of the rebellion.

"Plot an intercept course, midshipman," he ordered. In a matter of hours, the Empire would once again be in the possession of the Rebellions golden child. With her death would also undoubtedly bring about a discouragement in the rebellion. Nothing was like crushing your opponent's spirit before dealing the final, swift blow. He felt a small amount of perverse pleasure at the thought of recapturing her after her escape from the Death Star. Perhaps he could merely claim her dead and discover why she was able to resist his interrogations?

"Lord Vader, there is one other thing," another man said, his voice low. He walked over to the Sith lord. His voice did not carry the enthusiasm of a man bringing good news. "Delta team has lost contact with the subject."

Intense anger and rage filled Vader's spirit, and a few of the computers began to spark under the pressure. That damned woman had done it again. Even the men personally trained by himself couldn't even keep an eye on her. He willed himself to calm down. The success of his mission relied on keeping her on Coruscant.

"Where was she last seen?"

"She was still on the lower levels of Coruscant."

"Double the stormtrooper presence on all docking bays, including private ones. Make sure there is no possible way for her to leave that planet," Vader ordered.

"But my lord, wouldn't it be better for us to send a legion of troopers to find her?" the man questioned.

Vader's anger flared once more at the impertinence of being question by someone of such lowly standing. He used the force to grab ahold of the man's throat and squeezed tight.

"We need her in one place, lieutenant. We need to keep her there long enough for our mission to be completed. Is that understood?"

A pitiful nod and a grunt was the reply. Vader let go of the man, who fell to the floor. Vader walked away from the scene, hoping that it had reaffirmed just how serious he was about completing this mission.

Once he was alone in his chambers, Vader removed his suit. He hated living in that thing, even if it demanded a sense of terrifying fear from anyone who looked upon it. He focused on breathing techniques to help his lungs have an easier job, and soon his mind grew restless.

Vader. Darth Vader.

Immediately on the alert, Vader sensed that no one was outside of his chamber, but the voice was still there, and was whispering his name.

I know you can hear me. I am coming for you, Vader. You cannot hide from me, nor can you keep me here. I know you too well; you are too stuck in your ways. You have become predictable.

He instantly recognized the voice, though how she was able to send a telepathic message so far away was unknown to him.

I am coming for you, Vader. You cannot hide from me. You cannot run. I am coming.

A sense of foreboding entered his soul. If there was one thing that Vader had learned over the past twenty years of dealing with his former student was this: she was stubborn. She would never give up until she had gotten what it was that she wanted. He didn't, however, know what that was. The foreboding gave way to determination, and he replied with three simple words: I am waiting.

The base was quiet, excepting the blaring, white noise from the alarms. Leia looked out the thick, sturdy viewing window and wondered what the new base would look like. It wouldn't be as pretty as Yavin 4, she knew that much.

"Come on princess, it's your turn to get on a ship," Lando's words startled her, and she whirled to face him. "It's okay, it's just me. Nothing to be scared about."

"Oh, sorry, I was thinking," Leia said, a bit flustered. Sending one last glance at the view, Leia turned her attention to the abandoned control room. "Is that really it? Is everyone gone?"

Lando nodded, resting his hands on his hips. "Yup, excepting two or three people, yourself and me, of course. Oh, and we can't seem to find your personal droid anywhere."

Leia faced Lando once more. "Threepio? You can't find him?"

Lando placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort, but she simply shrugged them off. She didn't want to be coddled. "I'm sure he made it on one of the other transports. But he's for sure not on this base."

Leia nodded slowly. "I hate that we're leaving without some kind of clue of where Han and Luke are, or even how to let them know where we're going." She started to move away from him, but then stopped. Where exactly would she go?

"Like I've told you before," Lando said, taking her hand and giving it a friendly squeeze. "They're smart. They'll be okay. Now. Shall we head to our transport?"

Leia laughed softly, but inside worry still clawed at her heart. But the safety of the entire rebel fleet was more important than calming the growing monster in the pit of her stomach. "Okay, let's go."

"Do you have any idea where our next base is located?" Lando asked once they were safely inside the transport.

Leia gave him a questioning look. "'Our base'? Where you planning on staying with us?"

Lando chuckled. "Well, I suppose so. For a while, anyway. At least until Han comes back. I'm pretty sure he'd have my hide if I didn't look after you."

Leia blushed, and turned her head to hide it from the dashing business man. "Oh, I don't think Han's too worried."

Lando chuckled, and there was something in the way he did that made Leia curious. What did Lando know that she didn't? But even if Lando knew something, he was too close to Han to reveal anything to her. And then again, were they that close? Leia didn't even know how they met. Perhaps they were just acquaintances, and Lando simply owed Han a favor. Leia turned back towards him.

"So how did you meet Han anyway?"

"We actually met at a sabaac tournament."

Leia gave him a dubious look. "Really?"

Lando nodded solemly. "Yup. That was the day that he took the Falcon off of my hands."

"He won his ship in a game?" Leia asked, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "From you?"

Lando nodded again. "Yup."

A small smile found its way on Leia's lips, and she turned away from Lando. Something about Han winning his most prized possession in a sabaac tournament. Her thoughts wandered to the smuggler. Worry stabbed at her heart, and she wondered where he was, if he was doing alright. Glancing at her hands, she wondered if he would get the message she left behind for him. It was a risk, she knew, to leave it for him. If the Empire found out-

"Incoming fire!"

Their transport jostled and Leia found herself being thrown to the other side of the ship. Bracing herself as she landed, Leia managed to only strain the muscles in her hands. Quickly standing up, Leia ran to the pilot.

"What's happening?" she demanded to know.

The pilot was working quickly on the controls, but Leia could see that he was badly injured. "A star destroyer, out of nowhere, your highness. It fired on us, not a kill shot." The pilot strained under the pain, and he bit his lip. "I'm going to try to find a place to land."

Leia left the pilot to find Lando. He had a small wound over his right eye, but otherwise seemed unharmed. "Lando, please go help the pilot. He's injured, and he might need a hand." She used her best 'authoritative' voice, leaving no room to argue.

At that moment, the warning lights went on, and the whole room was engulfed in a flashing red.

"Your highness, I suggest you sit down and strap yourself in. I'm going to try to make this as smooth as possible, but that isn't exactly saying much." The pilot's voice was strained, but strong. Leia admired the pilot, and made a mental note to commend him when they were back with the rebellion and away from the Star Destroyer.

"Leia, strap yourself in!" Lando's face was close to her ear so that she could hear him over the blaring alarms. Leia pushed him back and attempted to stand-someone needed to go help the pilot.

The next few moments happened in slow motion for Leia: the blaring of alert alarms drowned out any other noise. Lando had moved away from her, and was now yelling something to the pilot, but did not hear what he said. The transport stopped rocking, and for a moment she thought that everything would be alright, but right then the blinking lights held, and there was a steady stream of red lights. A soft voice in the back of her head whispered at her, telling her how important it was in that very moment for her to strap herself down. What struck her the most was how much the voice sounded like Luke.

"Incoming fire!" The phrase from before was shouted again, but this time Leia was ready. The ship rocked, and she saw Lando get thrown from his spot in the cockpit and land hard on the floor. He didn't move. Fear struck her heart, and she began to unstrap herself to help when another shot hit their transport. There was a blinding light, and Leia found it hard to focus on anything. Her fingers fumbled with the straps, but her vision was so blurred by the piercing light.

The light got brighter and brighter, until Leia could see nothing at all. Her arms flailed as she finally got loose of her binds and flung herself towards where she had last seen Lando. The pilot was yelling something, but there was a white noise in the background that refused to let anything else be heard. Leia grabbed Lando and pulled him towards the seating and attempted to strap him down. She had barely secured the first section when the pilot screamed something at her. This time, however, she heard him.

"We're crashing!"