Chapter 10: Dying Principles

"The party went well last night, wouldn't you agree?" the Emperor asked, conversationally.

Vader stared at the Emperor, wondering if there was a point to this question. He had hoped, when he had received this summons, that the Emperor had information about Obi-Wan for him.

"Yes, my master," Vader replied, hoping to conceal his impatience.

"What is your opinion of the points Senator Lerrod raised during his speech? Their ramifications for our future are great."

Vader thought back to last night, trying to shed some light on what the Emperor was referring to. Perhaps he should have paid more attention.

The Emperor continued, saving Vader from thinking of a reply. "Perhaps the immediate future is of more importance to you."

The Emperor turned, staring out the window overlooking the city.

"My master?" Vader enquired. Had the Emperor had a vision? Perhaps he had discovered Obi-Wan's location. If so, why did he not just tell him? Why this skimming around the point?

They were interrupted by the sound of the throne room doors hissing open. Vader turned and found himself looking at the grinning Senator Lerrod. In a blaze of anger, he was about to rebuke him, when the Emperor spoke up.

"Greetings Senator Lerrod! Congratulations on your speech last night. Many of my servants have spoken of its eloquence and dramatic delivery."

"Thank you, my Emperor," Lerrod said, bowing as he walked forward to join them. "I learned from the best - my predecessor."

"Ah yes, the late Senator Denna," the Emperor said. He didn't look at Vader, but it felt as if he had.

Meanwhile, Lerrod continued his meaningless banter with the Emperor, leaving Vader stewing with impatience. He glared at Lerrod, considering all the ways he would like to kill him. He was stirred out of these murderous thoughts when he heard his name mentioned.

"Perhaps Lord Vader could give you a tour of the Royal Arrowhead now?"

"That would be an honor, if Lord Vader isn't busy, of course?" Lerrod said, smiling at Vader.

Tour? Of the Royal Arrowhead? The Royal Arrowhead was one of the Emperor's newest luxury liners. So far, only the most favored of the Emperor's servants had been allowed on board. Certainly no mere politicians. Why would the Emperor start with Lerrod? And now, of all times.

"I am quite sure Lord Vader is not busy. I, however, must attend to more pressing matters."

"Of course, your highness," Lerrod said, bowing again.

Vader couldn't even muster the words to protest. Surely, he had been punished enough, without having to babysit an irritating politician? The Emperor had begun to walk towards a side exit, trailed closely by the royal guards. It was clear this wasn't up for discussion, and Vader was left with no choice but to make an exit. Lerrod trotted along behind, like a bantha after its master.

Vader was angry, so angry he almost bumped into a child, waiting outside the outer doors to the throne room. He glared down, about to push the boy out of the way, but found himself staring at two blue eyes. It was the boy from the party. His eyes were wide with terror, and he appeared frozen to the spot.

Lerrod rushed in front, breaking the contact.

"Get out of the way, boy!"

The normally smiling Lerrod surprised Vader with the anger in his tone. He didn't seem the type to be yelling at children. The boy scurried away, clearly terrified. The senator turned to Vader, the smile back on his face, and the picture of good nature.

"My deepest apologies, Lord Vader."

"Your son?" Vader inquired, curious. It would be cruel twist of fate if a two-faced, bootlicking politician like Lerrod should have a Force-sensitive son. He glanced over at the boy again, who was now staring at him from behind a nearby statue. He was certainly strong in the Force - even clearer now that they were in such close proximity. But not much else, unfortunately. Short, skinny, and the scruffy clothes did not help.

Lerrod laughed. "No, no. My son is at school right now."

Vader waited, expecting to be further enlightened. He was certainly curious to know why an aristocrat like Lerrod was in the company of such a poorly cared for child.

"So, which way to the hangar?" Lerrod said, making a show of looking around, "I'm always getting lost in this place. It is rather large, after all, isn't it?"

Vader glanced between Lerrod and the boy, wondering if he should press the matter. The senator clearly did not wish to discuss it, and Vader had no real reason to demand an explanation. He could always ask one of his spies to investigate afterwards. The less time he spent with Lerrod the better. Vader began to walk, as fast as he possibly could. Lerrod had to jog to keep up with him.

When they reached the hangar bay containing the Emperor's personal shuttles, Lerrod finally shut up long enough for Vader to get a word in. He had been droning on about the latest gossip from the senate, despite Vader's obvious lack of interest.

"Is the boy coming with us?" Vader asked.

"Boy, my lord?" Lerrod asked.

Vader swept his gloved hand behind them. The boy was partially hiding behind a tank of starship fuel, but he needn't have bothered. His presence was like a blaring fire alarm to Vader.

"Ah. Excuse me a moment." Lerrod walked over to the boy's location and dragged him further out of earshot.

Not out of the range of the Force however. Vader enhanced his hearing ...

"I don't know my way back to the landing pad!" the boy was whining.

"For stars sake! One would think, after paying twenty thousand credits, I could have got a child with at least half a brain!"

"You're the one who made me come here with you!" the boy protested, "Why couldn't I wait in the speeder?"

"Get out of here before Lord Vader loses his patience!"

Lerrod gave the boy a push, and the boy made a swift dash for the doors. The senator then returned to Vader, once again smiling in his irritating way.

"My apologies again, my lord. Kids! They can be a handful." Lerrod laughed.

Vader was anything but amused. He didn't know exactly what the senator had referred to when he mentioned paying twenty thousand, and for Lerrod's sake, he hoped it wasn't what he thought it meant.

"What, exactly, is your relationship with that boy?" Vader asked, pointing a finger at Lerrod's chest.

"Ah," Lerrod stuttered, eyeing the finger. "It's ... it's a long story. Perhaps I should explain during our journey into orbit?"

Vader nodded, once. Without a word, he boarded the shuttle and went to inform the pilot of their destination.

Luke wandered through the palace, staring around him in awe. Everywhere there were tall pillars, high ceilings, massive sparkling windows. Statues of the Emperor appeared at regular intervals, as did all kinds of wall hangings and sculptures.

He heard footsteps and quickly hid himself behind an open doorway. Across the other side of the hall, a man in a purple robe passed by, holding a stack of old-fashioned books. Luke breathed out in relief and then resumed his meandering along the corridor. It was silly to hide, in a way. After all, he'd just come face to mask with Lord Vader. No one else could possibly be as scary as him.

Still, he wasn't taking any risks.

As he came around another corner, he was so busy looking around for a signpost, that he bumped into a pedestal. The porcelain jug on top rattled back and forth, causing Luke to dive forward to prevent it from crashing. It was a full minute before he stopped shaking - the thing was probably worth a million credits and he had nearly broken it!

Luke looked around nervously, seeing an entire corridor of expensive looking art. How did a boy from a farm on Tatooine end up among all this?

He was not the only one to wonder that, because he was soon approached by one of the red-robed Royal Guards.

The guard didn't say anything, he simply stared down from what seemed like a great height to Luke. His helmet was so shiny, Luke could almost see a reflection of himself. His eyes wandered to the left, and he saw the guard was holding some kind of spear-like weapon. It looked very sharp.

"Um," Luke said, finally, "I'm trying to find my way to the landing pad. I came in with Senator Lerrod, but he went off with Lord Vader and told me to find my own way back. Now I'm lost. Could you help me?"

The guard remained silent.

"Maybe I should ask someone else," Luke said, stepping backwards.

"You are Senator Lerrod's son?"

The strange sound of the words through the guard's helmet caused Luke to jump. He sounded a little like LJ did, yet more distorted.

"No," Luke said, wondering why everyone was always mistaking him for Chilee. "I'm staying with the senator for a few months. He needed me for his political campaign."

"I see," the guard said, sounding a little amused, for no reason Luke could understand.

"I didn't mean to get lost," Luke said, "It's just that ... I've never been here before, and ... I've only been on Coruscant for a short time, and my old planet was nothing like -"

The guard raised a red-gloved hand. "Come with me," he said, patting Luke on the shoulder.

Vader didn't bother to sit down as he entered the passenger compartment. He stood just inside the door, ensuring a quick escape route, should Lerrod's personality exceed his tolerance levels. In his absence, the senator had helped himself to the shuttle's alcohol supply and was reclining on one of the couches.

He became aware of Vader's return and looked up, smiling. "We should be docking in a few minutes, then?"

Vader ignored his question. "The boy."

Finally, he stopped smiling. "Ah, yes. It all started when I saw the news footage of the Jedi attack ... just the thought of all those poor kids without parents to take care of them. It broke my heart! So I thought 'here am I, with all my wealth, the least I could do would be to take one of these poor, lost souls into my home and care for them'."

He paused to take another sip of his drink, and Vader felt like he was expected to burst into applause. No wonder the Emperor had chosen Lerrod to make the speech the other night. He continued to divulge his story in the heart-felt tone.

"So I went in to investigate and they say, 'Sir, we've got a boy here who keeps running away and getting into trouble. He'll end up in juvenile prison if we don't find a home for him soon. Everyone has turned us down so far.' So what could I say? I had some reservations about having a delinquent child in my home, and my wife wasn't too impressed, to say the least. But I thought, don't we all deserve another chance? Don't we all just need a leg up now and then? So I agreed to take him."

Vader's mind was spinning at this news. So the boy had come from Family Services ... could it be a coincidence that the very same facility had been attacked by a Force-user a week earlier? They were after the Force-sensitive child!

"Who were the boy's parents?" Vader asked.

Lerrod shrugged. "I'm not sure, my lord."

Vader was willing to bet his life the boy had been sired by a Jedi. The boy appeared young enough to have been born after the purge began ... perhaps the remaining exiled Jedi had made the decision to reproduce, to restore their flagging numbers.

Vader walked over to the viewport, contemplating the planet below. They were out there, somewhere. Planning to raise these new padawans to bring down the Empire.

Obi-Wan and this other Jedi had come to Coruscant to retrieve the boy. But something had foiled their plan, or they would have taken the boy already. Perhaps they didn't dare risk a strike while the boy was in such close proximity to the Sith.

Lerrod had been droning on in the meantime, and Vader resumed listening.

"It hasn't been easy, adjusting to life with a new member of the family. But I know it will be worth it in the end."

"I wouldn't get too attached to the boy, if I were you," Vader said, more to the window than to Lerrod.

"Do you have an objection to his presence, my lord? If so, I will of course return him to the Family Services facility immediately -"

Vader didn't bother to explain. The senator would likely faint if he told him the boy would have to be killed. Politicians never did like getting their hands dirty.

When, was another question. Now that he knew Obi-Wan's plans, perhaps he could use the boy as bait, to draw out the remaining Jedi.

"Sounds like we're here!" Lerrod said, cheerily, as the clunk and bang of the landing struts filled the ship.

"Unfortunately," Vader mumbled. In many ways. He should be on Coruscant, finalizing this plan with the Emperor. But if he presented himself in the throne room, without having given Lerrod this tour ... it was always better to give a new proposal the best possible environment before introducing it. Especially where the Emperor was concerned.

"Move quickly," Vader ordered, exiting the passenger lounge without looking back.

"You seem so normal," Luke said, staring at the now helmet-less guard. After accompanying him to the nearest landing pad, they had loaded into a black speeder marked with the Imperial icon. His new friend had removed his helmet to pilot the speeder, revealing a 30ish bearded man with black hair.

"Should I take that as a compliment?" he asked, glancing over at Luke.

"No ... I mean, well I didn't mean it as an insult. I didn't mean to say you were boring."

"It's okay if you do," he replied. "My son thinks I'm boring. He's around your age."

"You have a son?" Luke said, surprised. "This is what I mean. You don't think of guards as having families. Maybe I'm just used to the stormtroopers - they don't even have proper names."

"Oh, we have proper names. They're generally kept secret, though. Except to our fellow guards."

"Can you tell me?" Luke said, grinning.

"I could ... but then I'd have to kill you."

Luke stopped smiling and stared in shock.

"I'm just kidding," he said, smiling, "Sephan Jarnet, captain of the fourteenth squadron of the royal guard. And you are?"

"Luke Skywalker."

"An unusual name."

Luke nodded. "My mother named me," Luke said, "At least, that's what my aunt told me."

"You never knew your parents?"

Luke shook his head, sadly.

"That's too bad."

They were dropping out of the traffic, and Luke was looking at the senator's mansion in disgust. He didn't want to go back there. But he didn't particularly want to be out here, either.

"Thank you for the ride," Luke said, as they set down.

"You're welcome. Perhaps I'll see you over at the palace again."

"No way!" Luke said, "I'm not going back there! I nearly bumped into Lord Vader, and I nearly broke an expensive vase! That place and me don't mix!"

"I happened to like it," Captain Jarnet said, smiling. "Goodbye, Luke. Meeting you was an unusual experience in my otherwise normal day."

Luke stepped out onto the landing pad, grinning at the guard's words. He waved goodbye until the speeder was no longer in sight.

"Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan rubbed his head, feeling like he'd been sleeping for several days. He opened his eyes and found several sets looking back at him.

"He's coming around."

"It's about time."

"Shhh!"

A hand was placed on his chest, and he felt waves of healing flow through his body, helping him call on the Force to strengthen him. He waited until he was fully aware and then sat up, suddenly.

There were no weapons pointed at him. Only concerned gazes. Except one, which he recognized as belonging to the Lars' murderer.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The one who had spoken first pulled back her brown hood.

"Isel?" He smiled in recognition of the Saslum Jedi healer. "Isel Arperh. I had no idea you were still alive."

"I can say the same about you, Master Obi-Wan," Isel said, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

Obi-Wan cast his eyes around the other two in the group, not recognizing them. Judging by their ages, they wouldn't have been more than 8 or 9 at the time of Palpatine's takeover. Their presence in the Force was weak, barely stronger than that of a non-Jedi. Perhaps that was why they had managed to survive.

Obi-Wan looked past his companions and saw they were in some kind of cave, hollowed out of a dark gray metamorphic rock. A stream bubbled away nearby, cutting through the rocks at the top of the cavern and flowing out at the lower end. He could see no other entrance or exit to this place.

Before him, his nemesis stood up and drew back his hood. His gray head was shaped like a squashed triangle, and his eyes were of the large, compounded variety. Now that he could see him in the light, he was vaguely recognizable to Obi-Wan. He believed he was knighted shortly before Anakin.

In the Sectoid symbol of greeting, he extended all six abdominal appendages from the folds of his robe. It appeared the one Obi-Wan had sliced off on Tatooine had since grown back.

"We meet properly at last, Master Kenobi," he said, in the same raspy, hissing tone Obi-Wan had heard on the night of the Lars' murder. "I am Murzil Tis, former padawan of Master Lee Yanbur."

"I fought with Master Yanbur in the in the Battle of Konopal," Obi-Wan said, "He was a dedicated Jedi of unswerving faith. How would he feel to know his former padawan had become a murderer?"

"Grateful that he was a good enough master to prevent his padawan from turning traitor," came the sneering reply.

"Stop it!" Isel said, standing between them, "Tis, who did you kill?"

"A pair of innocent farmers, while they slept in their beds," Obi-Wan supplied.

"It was necessary to retrieve the boy," Tis replied, "Besides, they resisted. I would have let them sleep if they hadn't started screaming."

"Resisted," Obi-Wan repeated, "Fancy that. You were going to kill their nephew!"

"I was never going to kill the boy."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, but Isel spoke up in his defense.

"Our plan was to train the boy," she said, turning to Obi-Wan, "We need a Jedi, a strong Jedi, to defeat Palpatine and Vader. Many have tried, but all have fallen."

Obi-Wan nodded. He had thought along similar lines himself.

"Who better than the son of Anakin Skywalker?" Isel continued, "We all know Anakin was one of the strongest Jedi the order had ever seen. He may be injured now, but he is still powerful. Only someone of Luke's strength will be able to defeat Vader in combat."

"Your plan is sound," Obi-Wan admitted, "But he was never yours to train. Owen and Beru Lars were his rightful guardians - it was their choice, and they said no. I was watching over the boy until he reached an age where he could decide for himself. Jedi do not steal children from their guardians!"

"The Jedi are all but dead and you want to talk rules?!" Tis replied.

"No, I want to talk principles," Obi-Wan said, "What is the point in restoring the Jedi if we violate all the values we stood for?" He looked up at Isel. "You agree with what he's done?"

She shook her head, turning away. "I don't know anymore," she said. "It's been a decade since the Empire was born, and we have made no progress. If we wish to succeed against the Sith, perhaps we must become as ruthless as they are."

Obi-Wan shook his head, feeling like a cloud had been cast over his mind. If even a Jedi healer could be corrupted like this, perhaps there was no hope for any of them.

"Where are we?" he asked, feeling suddenly old.

"We are not on Coruscant," Tis said, "We are in a secret location. You are our prisoner."

"Of course," Obi-Wan replied, dryly.

"You will be free to go once we have the boy. Unless you wish to stay and help us train him, of course. Still, given your track record with Skywalkers, a few years in your presence and we might have another Vader on our hands."

"That would be more desirable than what you will do with him," Obi-Wan said, "At least Vader doesn't pretend to be a Jedi."

With a sweep of his black robe, Tis suddenly drew his lightsaber and stepped menacingly towards Obi-Wan.

"No!" Isel said, again jumping in the way, "Give him a chance to change his mind!"

There was a tension-filled moment, and then the blade was switched off.

"Very well. I will be making another attempt to retrieve the boy soon. If all goes well, I will bring him back with me, and then we will decide what to do with our unwelcome visitor."

He dived into the stream and did not resurface. As Obi-Wan had suspected, the entrance to this place must be on the other side of the water.

"You're not unwelcome," Isel said, sitting back down beside Obi-Wan. "We always welcome Jedi here. I fear we are the last of them, though."

"If we are the last, then it is even more vital that we stick to our principles," Obi-Wan said. "I can't allow him to train Luke. He will teach him to hate Vader and Palpatine as much as he does."

Isel shook her head, sadly. "The Dark Side is strong, Obi-Wan. The Jedi are not."

Obi-Wan lay down to rest, fearing that Isel might just be right.