CHAPTER SIX
The immense durasteel doors moved aside to grant entrance to Lord Vader and his guest to the bridge of the Executor. Luke checked himself one last time as the bridge came into view; his face was blank despite the excitement that ran through him. Vader threw a glance in his son's direction as he felt the waves of emotion emitting from him.
Please remember, I'm here to work... do try to keep it down.
Before the question fully formed in Luke's mind, Vader answered it. Your excitement. It is ringing through my head. You might as well be screaming aloud. After a brief moment he added, Don't.
The sarcastic retort that Vader expected did not come; instead, the young man's awareness flooded his own senses with the inevitable question: Ben was never bombarded by my emotions as you are... Why do my feelings affect you so much?
Vader pulled up a barrier so quickly that even his untrained son felt it. Luke turned his attention towards enjoying his visit to the bridge, but Vader knew that the question would return.
An officer stepped forward, distracting the Dark Lord from his musing. Luke's eyes grazed his rank plaque and identified him as an admiral.
"Milord, we have reports of the Rebel fleet massing near Arbra."
A jolt shot through Luke's spine at the news as he tried to look over Vader's arm at the report in the man's hand. "Is the Falcon with them?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.
He felt annoyance emit from the Dark Lord, but the Sith only nodded at the admiral when his questioning eyes sought permission to answer.
"Yes, the Millennium Falcon is present."
Luke cringed and turned away slightly.
What is it?
It's standard procedure to go to an alternate rendezvous as soon as possible if one who knows the original point is captured. If Han and Leia are with the fleet, then they know that I'm here... Arbra is a trap.
And why are you betraying this information to me?
They've just lost a major battle; their forces are weakened. It'd be suicide.
And you wonder why anyone would take such a risk for you.
Hey, you stick to reading the thoughts that I throw at you.
Luke felt a wave of dark amusement flow from the Dark Lord.
"Leave them, Admiral; set our course for Coruscant."
The man's eyes widened slightly, as did Luke's.
"But, Milord, the Rebel fleet is there, and it is weak-we need only to strike. To let the opportunity pass would be foolish—"
Vader, who had half turned away from the admiral, stopped dead in his movement. His head tilted slightly to regard the man again. "Am I mistaken, Admiral Ozzel, or did you just refer to me as foolish?"
Ozzel paled several shades as an invisible grip took him by the throat and began to squeeze. As the man fell to his knees, an involuntary cry came from the mind of the young man standing by, watching in horror.
You're killing him!
The cry was mingled with a jumble of emotions: shock, fear, disbelief.
Vader looked at Luke as if seeing him for the first time, and suddenly Ozzel was free. His hands planted firmly on the floor just inches from his face as he struggled to regain his breath.
"Never question me, Captain."
Ozzel nodded, clearly relieved that demotion was the price of his infraction rather than his life.
An honorable man would see it the other way around.
Well, Luke shrugged mentally, he is an Imperial.
Vader shot him a dark look then stalked down the catwalk to exit the bridge.
Luke tried to act like he didn't notice that the entire bridge watched him as he followed the Dark Lord out.
Luke kept his mouth shut until he and the Sith were sealed alone in Vader's quarters; then he couldn't stand it any longer.
"What was that?"
Vader's back was still turned, but his voice was very clear. "You distracted me."
"You were going to kill that man." Luke's eyes were wide as he stared at Vader's perfect black form.
The Sith's head turned slightly, silhouetting the mask that concealed the man within; he looked like he was going to speak, but he only turned away again.
"Why didn't you kill him?" Luke's voice was quieter now, probing. Vader knew that the boy was already apprehensive of his attitude towards him; this had only made matters worse.
Vader quickly moved back towards the door. "We'll talk when I return this evening."
Luke ran forward. "No! We need to—"
The door slid shut in his face.
"—talk now..." he finished quietly, staring at his distorted reflection on the door.
The remainder of his duties passed too quickly for Lord Vader; it was all too soon before he was free to return to his quarters, and for the first time in two decades, he did not want to go.
He didn't want to face his son. He didn't want to tell him.
He wasn't ready.
But Vader wasn't one to back down, he sternly reminded himself as he strode into his quarters to find Luke sitting on the dark leather couch that he had moved to this room so the young man had somewhere to sit while pestering him.
Luke looked up from the report he had been reading, his blue eyes dull in his boredom.
"There's something I need to tell you," the Sith said, wasting no time on pleasantries.
Luke raised an eyebrow, lowering the datapad he was reading. "Yeah?"
Vader snatched the report from Luke's hands as he strode by; he grabbed another from his desk and replaced the one he'd taken; he then leaned against the corner of his workstation, waiting for Luke to read.
Luke's eye narrowed as he read; Vader saw his eyes moved faster and faster, back and forth across the screen, until finally he allowed it to drop into his lap as he looked up, his jaw dropped.
"What is this? This is crazy!"
Vader nodded. "I want you to help me take care of this problem."
Luke stood, waving the report in Vader's face. "This is an order from the Emperor..."
Vader nodded.
"…Commanding that you lay siege upon Corellia and obtain for him two-hundred crates of cotton candy!"
Vader nodded once again. "Yes. He has gone quite... mad."
"You bet he has! Corellia is under Imperial control- you just need to put in an order!"
Vader tilted his head dangerously.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist."
Vader shook his head. "This is serious, Skywalker. He's been like this for months, and I can hide it for only so long."
Luke crossed his arms; he stared at the Dark Lord with narrow eyes. "Is this why I'm here? To help remove the Emperor and place you on the throne?"
"Partially."
Luke's jaw dropped. "Will you please stop playing these games?"
"I will inform you of what you need to know as you need to know it, Skywalker."
"I'm part of the Alliance, or don't you remember? Why did you choose me to help you?"
Vader paused for a moment, before carefully speaking the truth, "You are the Son of Skywalker; it is your destiny."
"My destiny? What is?"
"To rule at my side."
Luke took a step back, his eyes wide. "What? I don't know what makes you think you have claim to me, but you don't!" He turned and strode angrily towards the door; just before he hit the release, he turned back towards the silent Sith still standing by the desk. "Why don't you get your own son and leave Skywalker's alone?"
He opened the door and almost ran square into the newly appointed Admiral Piett, who seemed to be trying to muster up the courage to ring the bell.
Luke stepped back, looking at Piett in shock.
"What is it, Admiral?" Vader asked from behind the surprised youth.
"Um, I, um, well, a few of the other officers and I are gathered at the Officer's Club, and we thought perhaps that," he paused as he glanced at Luke, "Commander Skywalker might like to join us."
Luke crossed his arms as he looked between Vader and Piett. "And you drew the short straw?"
The admiral's eyes widened slightly as he looked from Luke to the Dark Lord. He nodded once, swallowing a lump in his throat.
Luke shrugged, throwing a defiant glance in Vader's direction. "Yeah, I'll go," he said, walking out into the hall. He frowned when he realized that Piett did not follow; he remained standing in the doorway waiting for the Sith's approval.
"Have him back at a reasonable hour, Admiral." Luke heard the ominous voice say.
Admiral Piett nodded. "Yes, Milord."
The door slid shut and Piett turned to Luke, smiling stiffly. They began walking towards the lift. Once inside, Luke slumped up against the lift wall as Piett keyed in the level they wanted. He then turned his eyes onto the young man.
"Were you going somewhere when I called upon you?"
Luke almost laughed. "I wouldn't have made it far, I'm sure."
Piett frowned slightly. "Are you a prisoner? You don't seem..."
Luke shook his head. "I don't know what I am."
The lift door opened, cutting off the awkward conversation. Luke followed the admiral from the lift and down a bright corridor to a tidy and classy club: the Officer's Club.