Conference Room #6
The Death Star
In Orbit Around Scarif
12 hours later
"The Emperor has dissolved the Council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away," Tarkin stated with satisfaction.
"That's impossible. How will the Emperor maintain control without the beauracracy?" demanded General Tagge.
"Regional governors will now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the systems in line. Fear of this battle station."
Vader tuned out. This was a boring conversation between boring people about boring plans which, if he and Padme had their way, would not come to fruition.
If they had their way. Yes, she was brilliant and he had the Force power of the ages, but there were so many potential dangers. Nevertheless, Padme was right. They could not allow the Death Star to traverse the hyperspace lanes with the ability to destroy planets. Not that he cared about the planets, per se, or the people on them. But given the personalities and character of the twins, either Luke or Leia or both would likely end up on a planet which would be a target for Tarkin and his rule through fear. And that was not acceptable. He would not, after 19 years alone, lose his family. The rest of the galaxy could dissolve into chaos, but he would keep his family safe.
Nor could he hope to hold the Death Star himself. If he tried to take the battle station, all of Palpatine's power and might would be unleashed upon him. No, regrettably, the Death Star must be sacrificed.
The plan that he and Padme had developed was risky, but given their combined knowledge of Tarkin, it just might work. Once the Death Star was destroyed, once Tarkin was ignominiously defeated, he would pursue the ultimate prize. The death of Palpatine, then the galactic throne, with his wife at his side, his children at his back.
A beatific smile crossed the hidden face of Darth Vader.
"Do you have any additional news about the Rebel base and the Death Star plans, Lord Vader?"
He turned his attention to Tarkin, vaguely surprised to discover that this (tedious) meeting was over and the room empty save for himself, Tarkin, and a couple of bored guards.
He hesitated. Was this really the best plan?
Yes, it was.
"Yes, Governor Tarkin, I have additional information about the Rebel Base. My … informant awaits your pleasure in the cell blocks below."
/-
Cell 2187
Cell Block AA23
Death Star
Governor Tarkin stepped through the cell block door and halted. A woman, clad in a white robe, with a hood over her head, rose from the metallic shelf which was the cell's only amenity, and stepped forward even as she removed the hood.
The head inclined slightly, even as a sardonic smile grew on her lovely, familiar face.
"Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. What a delight to see you after all these years."
Tarkin was not used to being surprised, nor did he much appreciate it. And he was now extremely surprised.
"Senator Padme Amidala," he stated after a long moment. "This is an unexpected pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine, Tarkin," Amidala said sarcastically, "though I do not appreciate the amenities provided by Lord Vader. Your cell blocks are cold and dismal, though I will at least concede that they are clean."
Tarkin shot an irritable glance at Vader, who was impersonating a monolith by the cell door.
"Perhaps you would care to explain this situation, Lord Vader?" he said irascibly.
The black mask inclined slightly, "I was ordered to Siskeen by the Emperor himself to find and retrieve the leader of Dalam Enterprises, a trading and supply company which has gained a controlling interest in this sector of the Outer Rim. The former Senator is the head of Dalam Enterprises. She claims to be able to determine the location of the Rebel base, but only in exchange for certain privileges. I thought it best that you speak to the Senator personally."
Tarkin swung around to stare at Amidala, "You know the location of the Rebel base?"
She shook her head, smiling slightly, "I do not, Governor Tarkin. I can, if I wish, obtain it for you."
He stepped closer, looming over her, "Lord Vader is quite adept at obtaining information from those who choose to be uncooperative, Senator Amidala. I suggest that you alter your attitude. It would be regrettable if your stay here became even more … unpleasant."
Vader took a menacing step forward and Padme Amidala shot him a frowning glance before turning back to Tarkin.
Her expression hardened, "Let's not waste either your time or mine, Tarkin, shall we? I'm not one of those compliant, feeble individuals that you so enjoy intimidating. I am Padme Amidala of Naboo, survivor of Geonosis and numerous assassination attempts. Yes, Vader could make things supremely painful, but then you would not get what you need. I promise you that. On the other hand, in exchange for certain … concessions, we will both get what we want."
Tarkin stared at her suspiciously, his eyebrows raised, "Why would you provide information on the Rebellion, Senator? You were an ardent defender of democracy and so-called freedom during your days in the Senate."
Padme looked annoyed, "Really, Tarkin, do you imagine I haven't changed, and matured, in my views, in the last 20 years?"
She began pacing within the narrow confines of the cell now, "The Rebel Alliance is a hopeless cause. Anyone involved in the economic aspects of the galactic government and business and trade would know that. The Empire's stranglehold on the trade routes and supply routes is nearly complete within the Core, and even the Mid Rim is nearly a monopoly. That is why I chose to work in the Far Outer Rim and even into the near Unknown Regions. Aside from the economic factors, the military firepower of the Empire is far beyond anything the Rebellion could hope to combat."
Tarkin stared at her intently, "Their fight is a futile one, certainly, but I find it hard to believe that you would betray a cause which seeks to restore the Old Republic which you once championed so … emphatically."
"I understand from Lord Vader that this battle station is capable of destroying entire planets. Is that true?"
"It is."
She shook her head, "Then this feeble Rebellion will only cause destruction on a mass scale, will it not? I presume that for economic reasons, if nothing else, you will not destroy planets haphazardly so long as the Rebellion is destroyed?"
Tarkin smiled thinly, "That will not be necessary, no."
Padme nodded, "So you see? I will provide the location of the Rebel base, in exchange for the privilege of continuing as the leader of Dalam Enterprises. I have family and associates who depend on my business economically. That seems like a fair trade, does it not?"
"And how?" Tarkin demanded, "will you discover the location? If you can do so, you are obviously working with the Rebels in some official way."
The woman looked irritated, "I work with a great many people, in a great many places, for a great many reasons. Have I supplied the Rebellion? Almost certainly. Am I definitely aware who or who is not a Rebel? I am not. But I know people who know people, Governor Tarkin. I will provide you some information right now – Dantooine is the location of a former Rebel base, though I believe it was abandoned some time ago. I suggest you send your scouting ships there to see if I am correct. And once you find the base, you can decide whether you wish to make the trade – the location of the current Rebel base in exchange for my continued leadership at the head of Dalam. If you decide against it …"
She stepped closer now, her eyes narrowed, "You can kill me, yes, or torture me. I will tell you nothing. I promise you that. And given my knowledge of Palpatine, failure to find that base will be unpleasant for both you and your leashed rancor here."
The woman turned now and sat down on the bench, leaning back even as she closed her eyes, "Perhaps you will tell me when you have made a decision, Tarkin?"
Tarkin took a deep breath, turned, and marched out of the cell with Vader in pursuit.
"Order a small team to Dantooine, Lord Vader."
/-
Padme's new quarters
The Death Star
In Orbit around Scarif
24 hours later
Vader stalked menacingly into Padme's quarters, and shut the door behind him.
"Good evening, Anakin," Padme said absently, frowning down at a holopad, R2M3 at her side. Vader had run complete diagnostics on the droid and returned it to his wife, though with a restraining bolt firmly in place. He felt a twinge of concern as she lifted her head to look at him. Her face was pale, her eyes weary, with dark shadows under them. He knew that she was sleeping very little as she worked frenetically over secure transmissions to put their plans into place. She was also, he knew, reading up on many secret details of the last 19 years of galactic history, a rather unnerving reality since he knew she disapproved mightily of the Empire he had helped create.
"You thump very well," Padme added with a tired smile. "The whole corridor shakes. How is Tarkin doing?"
"I nearly throttled him a few moments ago, so he is doing better than might be expected."
She stood up now and walked over to place her small hands on his giant forearms, "Is he threatening me again, Anakin? That's good, right? We want him to be planning my unpleasant demise."
The gauntleted hands tightened in rage, "That he should use his foul tongue to even speak of you in such a way is almost more than I can bear …"
Padme lifted her hand now to cover the mouth of his mask, "Shhhh, Anakin, it's entirely all right. Just so long as he doesn't talk to Palpatine. If he does, we're obviously in real trouble."
He shook his head gently to shake off her hand, "He will not. Tarkin wishes to destroy the Rebellion personally after his failure on Scarif and the loss of the plans. He knows that we were once acquaintances, but nothing more. He is intimidated by you and your abilities, and will certainly keep the reality that you are assisting us from Palpatine for fear that the Emperor might bring you into his inner circle. Tarkin is rather a paranoid man, at least where his position of power is concerned."
She nodded, uncertain but also unwilling to worry her husband, who was clearly struggling with major anxiety. And anxiety over her safety was not a healthy thing for Darth Vader … or those who happen to be nearby.
"So how long do I have, Ani?" she asked.
"I would say a maximum of two days, Padme. Tarkin will likely grow impatient if it is any longer. He wishes to destroy a populated planet as an example to the galaxy, and will move forward in doing so immediately if he is not provided the location of the Rebels soon."
She nodded, "Two days it is then. That will give us the time for some of our other plans to come to fruition."
He hesitated, then asked carefully, "And you believe you will be able to provide the information Tarkin requests?"
She looked surprised, "I know where the Rebel base is now. Bail Organa told me."
The cyborg's hands clenched slightly at the reminder of the Organas, who had taken his daughter, who had hidden her away from him, and then allowed her to recklessly get involved with the Rebel Alliance.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
The former Senator shook her head, "No, Anakin. I don't trust you enough to tell you now. Kenobi may be there, as well as the twins. I can just see you brooding over your rage against your former master and your obsessive concern of the twins such that you move too soon."
The Dark Lord moved closer, menacingly, "You do not trust me, but you trust Kenobi?"
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, "I don't trust you or Kenobi, but I trust Kenobi more, yes. He has made idiotic decisions more than once in the last decades, but he never actually choked me. Whereas you, the supposed love of my life, the father of my children, leaped to the ridiculous conclusion that I had betrayed you and decided to strangle me on the spot on Mustafar. I mean, who does that?"
His rage dissipated quickly, to be followed by horrified shame, "I am … sorry, Padme."
She sighed, "Look, Anakin. I love you dearly, but my assessment of the Dark Side is that while it does give you power, it also creates some major interpersonal problems. Here you are, getting mad at me again because I challenged you. I know you well enough to interpret your body language, even without seeing your face. And I'm going to be honest. I'm going to keep pushing you emotionally, because better you attack me in a rage than the twins. You absolutely must learn to control yourself if our family is to find any kind of unity. Leia, in particular, will not be very compliant once you meet again. And Luke – Luke hates slavery. I was awake much of the night analyzing files. Kashyyyk is a horror, Anakin, and you are responsible! Our son is going to be enraged and distressed about that."
Vader took a step back, "The current level of slavery is certainly a regrettable feature of the Galactic Empire, Padme. When I rule …"
She interrupted now, her face alert, "Anakin, when you think of strangling me on Mustafar, what emotion do you feel?"
He hesitated briefly, anger warring with shame. Why must she continue to talk about this?
"I am ashamed," he finally said.
"And does shame fuel the Dark Side or the Light?"
"The Dark," he responded immediately.
She nodded thoughtfully, "So does it help if I tell you that I forgive you completely, Anakin?"
He stared at her, then burst out, "Why should you forgive me, Padme? As you said, I doubted your love, I attacked you while you carried my children! There is nothing I can ever do to make up for that. I will hate myself for the rest of my days for what happened on Mustafar; you survived, yes, but at what cost to your life and to the lives of our children, of our family?"
"Oh Anakin, can't you see that so long as you carry such guilt in your heart, our family can never be healed?"
She waited, while he stared at her, uncomprehending.
"We have a lot of work to do," she said, repeating her words of a few days earlier.
/-
The Death Star
Padme's quarters
2 days later
"Well, Senator? The base?"
Padme waited a couple of seconds, then lifted her head from her holoterminal and turned toward Tarkin, who stood tall, gray, and cadaverous, at the entrance to the rooms where she was currently staying.
"The fourth moon of Yavin," she said simply.
He strode forward, menacingly, "You are certain?"
"Yes."
"And who is your source?"
She stood up now, "I don't reveal my sources, Tarkin. Suffice it to say that my informant is trustworthy."
The Moff hesitated briefly, then nodded, "Very well, Padme Amidala of Naboo. If you are wrong, if you are tricking us, I promise you that you will die a death worse than anything you could possibly imagine."
He turned on his heel, even as Vader twitched noticeably.
The Dark Lord was no doubt looking forward to personally destroying the Senator.
Author Note: I will admit I'm struggling with the 'feel' of this story. In some ways it is quite cracky, in other ways it's about a messed up marriage that is struggling to get back on track. It feels somewhat uneven, for which I apologize. I do hope it is enjoyable.
