The Slave's Gain, Part 3: My Equal
"Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk."
~Susan Scarf Merrell
"He [my brother] is my most beloved friend and my bitterest rival, my confidant and my betrayer, my sustainer and my dependent, and scariest of all, my equal."
~Gregg Levoy
"The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, and not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice."
~Arthur Schopenhauer
Chapter 1
The tiny ship shot into the darkness of space. A feral grin spread across my face seeing the puny cruiser trying so desperately to evade its pursuers. This was it. This was the day when the rock that the Rebel Alliance had been hiding under would be lifted up and used to crush them. I was so close.
Frantically, they fired back at us, but the courier ship was equipped with guns barely strong enough to knock over a paper cup, much less make a dent in the Alecto, the Star Destroyer of Lady Vader, Heir to the Empire and the Emperor's strong right hand. I smirked. After three years of patient waiting, Organa had finally made a mistake. And now here we were, pursuing that traitorous boy through the wilds of the Outer Rim.
"Approaching the Tatoo system, my lady," a technician called out.
I felt the rage building up within me. Of all places to run, he ran here? This had to be on the advice of Obi-Wan. I could only imagine that decrepit Jedi saying, "If you're ever pursued by Lady Vader or the Emperor, fly to this place. The memories they have of it will be so strong that they will turn around and leave you in peace." Pieces, more like. I snarled. Not even this place was strong enough to dissuade me from my goal. Not now. Not when I was this close. Instead, I gathered my anger and translated it into Dark Side energy. "Engage the tractor beam," I said.
I watched the tiny ship fight mightily against the pull before finally submitting and powering down. I felt the faintest whispers in my mind – Organa's thoughts, echoing through the Force. No matter how many times I searched him, it always struck me how closed his mind was. It was like hitting a brick wall and hearing only snatches of the conversation happening on the other side. With everyone else, the problem was picking out the stuff I needed without drowning under the writhing mass of thoughts around me. With him, I was lucky for scraps of thoughts, mere fragments of a much bigger whole. It was infuriating. I watched as the tiny courier was dragged slowly closer…and closer…and closer. "Prepare to board!" I yelled and strode from the bridge. I had a Prince to catch.
I stood amid the broken and twisted bodies of the fool Rebels who tried to resist me. I rolled a wounded one onto his back – an officer by his markings – as an Imperial officer I didn't know rushed up to me.
"The Executor plans are not in the main computer, my lady," he said, trying desperately to hide his fear.
I ignored him, instead fighting to make eye contact with the Rebel in my hands. He wriggled in vain like the worm he was, but he had been warned – by Organa, no doubt – to not make eye contact, no matter what the cost.
"Where are those transmissions you intercepted?" I said clearly. Without looking, I knew that everyone around me was holding their hands to their ears. But I also knew that that wouldn't help. The true volume wasn't audible – it was the pressure of my mind on those around me. Sweat was rolling down the rebel's face, but he kept his eyes tightly shut. My mouth tightened. I grabbed his collar, lifted him up by it and slammed him against the corridor wall. "What have you done with those plans?" I yelled, letting my anger stream forth to assault his mind.
"We intercepted no transmissions. Aaah..." he moaned in pain. "This is…this is a consular ship. We're…we're on a diplomatic mission."
"If this is a consular ship... where is the Ambassador?" I asked quietly.
He refused to speak, but little by little, his eyes opened. Then they met mine. He screamed in pain and began to convulse. Only when he gave one final twitch and became still did I toss him aside and turn to my troops.
"Tear this ship apart until you've found those plans. And bring me the Ambassador. I want him alive!"
Much to the credit of my troops, they brought Organa to me within fifteen minutes. I heard in my mind before I heard with my ears the tramp of troopers' boots and the soft pad of the finest leather money could buy. His Highness, Prince Luke Organa, Senator of Alderran to the Imperial Senate was led to me with all haste. His hands were bound behind him, and a defiant light was in his blue eyes. The troopers stopped him before me and shoved him mercilessly to the ground; I stared down hard at the kneeling prince, his eyes glittering with some unknown emotion. We held each other's gazes for a long time. Without breaking eye contact, he made the first move:
"Lady Vader, I should have known. Only you could be so bold," he said, his disgust a part of the façade he was erecting. "The Imperial Senate will not sit for this, when they hear you've attacked a diplomatic..."
"Don't play games with me, Your Highness," I snapped, feeling my anger surging back. "You weren't on any mercy mission this time. You passed directly through a restricted system. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said calmly. "I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan..."
"You're a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take him away!" I barked.
He was hauled roughly to his feet and marched away down the hallway. He looked back only once, to shoot me a look of hatred that I returned whole-heartedly.
Being the only Navy officer that I held a shred of respect for had its perks: Commander Menkis was able to say things for which others would otherwise have been instantly killed. "Holding him is dangerous," he said quietly. That was another thing I liked about the man – he wasn't one of the brazen and cocky young officers that spoke the first thing on their minds. "If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the Rebellion in the senate."
I gritted my teeth. "I have traced the Rebel spies to him. Now he is my only link to their base!"
"He'll die before he tells you anything," he said warningly.
"Leave that to me," I snapped. "Send out a distress signal and then inform the Senate that all aboard were killed!"
Another officer strode up to us. He stopped and snapped to attention. I nodded in recognition, and he stood at ease. "Lady Vader, the warship plans are not aboard this ship! And no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no life forms were aboard."
"He must have hidden the plans in the escape pod," I murmured, half to myself. To Menkis, I said, "Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander. There will be no one to stop us this time."
"Yes, ma'am," he said and strode away with the junior officer.
I stayed where I was for a long time, my thoughts traveling down the corridor that my greatest enemy had walked down. Now came the interesting part.
VVV
Hey! I have two more chapters to write in this Part, but I was hit by a rush of inspiration tonight and I had to go with it. Let me know what you think!
P.S. Now you know who exactly Lady Vader is in the Empire ;)
