Chapter 4:

As Vader was lowered into the bacta tank, he felt something new along with the familiar sting of the healing fluid on his fresh burns. He felt, for the first time in his life, old. For so many years he had toiled away haplessly for the Empire, acting out the role of Palpatine's chief executioner, an only half willing subordinate. So much of his body had been replaced with prostheses, most officers he worked with barely seemed to perceive him as another sentient. To them, he was just weapon, or worse, a monster.

Vader had come to see himself in much the same way. He had traded in his humanity long ago, and in exchange, no Jedi remained who could rival his power. Through his connection to the Dark Side, pain was transformed into a valuable resource, fear into a weapon, and hatred into an inexhaustible fuel propelling him through history as he welded disparate chaos into sleek, modern, industrial, imperial, order. A fair exchange, but a costly one nonetheless.

As his body was submerged, he could swear he felt his arms and legs burning into useless coals as they had on Mustafar so many years ago. He remembered vividly the first time he awoke in his new mechanical body. Palpatine was there at his side. The first thing Vader asked him was "Is she alright?", was Padme safe? The bathda tank began shaking and the the liquid's temperature rose almost to the boiling point.

All these years, Vader had hated himself for killing the beings he most loved. Now he knew the truth. Many terrible things though he was, he was never Padme's murderer. What had happened to Padme before she died all those years ago? She survived long enough to have Leia, but how much longer was that? Was Palpatine aware of their filial relation?

There was a knock on the bacta tank.

"Lord Vader-"

"Not now!"

"My Lord, Emperor Palpatine is on holo and wishes to speak with you immediately."

Vader's regeneration cycle was barely half complete when his body was lifted out of the bacta tank and into the cold re-scrubbed air of the med bay. The massive blue projection of Palpatine's face glared down at him.

"I am informed that Tarkin has been killed."

"It is true, my master."

Palpatine squinted, studying Vader's pale and deformed visage with unusual scrutiny.

"What happened?"

"The engineers report there was a power surge on the viewing deck when the weapon was fired. My suit was incapacitated. Tarkin and his men-"

"The engineers report this?"

"Yes, my master."

"Curious…. Chief Engineering Officer Mel Koani reported no aberrant power surges anywhere on the station during or immediately after the firing sequence."

"I shall instruct our engineers to investigate the situation more thoroughly at once."

"See that you do… and Vader," Palpatine leaned in close, his face taking up nearly half the med-bay. "What is the status of Princess Organa, did she survive this… power surge?"

Vader longed for the security of his mask. His heart raced and it took all his discipline and focus to prevent his face from revealing the rage boiling within his heart.

"Governor Tarkin thought it best to retain Princess Organa in a holding cell during the ignition test. She is uninjured."

"That's utterly unlike Tarkin! He always makes them watch!"

Vader clenched fists that were no longer there as tightly as he could. He wanted nothing more than to rip the rotten flesh from that hideous holographic face. In as dispassionate a voice as he could muster, Vader concocted a plausible explanation for Leia's absence.

"Princess Organa became hysterical and began screaming. Governor Tarkin remarked that her incessant screeching was not the proper accompaniment to such an historic occasion."

"Pathetic! And I thought Tarkin was one of the few left who still had an ear for real music! Before Princess Organa was detained, did she identify the location of the rebel base?"

"She claims their main base is on Dantooine, my master,"

"Hmm, I have my doubts. I will arrange for further reconnaissance. In the meantime, I shall have the Princess interrogated again. We can't use Alderaan as leverage anymore, so we'll have to rely solely on physical pain."

"I shall oversee the interrogation personally, my Emperor."

"No, Lord Vader. I want you back at full strength as soon as possible. Resume your bacta treatment and report back to me in 5 hours."

"At once, my master."

As soon as the holo cut off the bacta tank shattered and boiling hot bacta flew around the room. The metal walls shuddered with Vader's rage as it spilled from his mind into the reality through the Force. The Sith Lord, still weak from his injuries, and lacking the stabilizing effect of his respiratory support system, overexerted himself in this fit of rage so much that he fainted and lost consciousness for several minutes. When he came to his men had repaired and re-assembled his suit.

"Lord Vader, at Emperor Palpatine's personal command, Princess Organa is being moved from her cell into an interrogation unit off the main brigg. What are your orders, sir?"

Vader reached out, summoned his lightsaber to his hand and ignited it.

"Watch the rear flank. Don't fall behind. Destroy any who contest our advance."