Chapter Ten
Once again, Vader had to endure Tarkin's presence. He even had to report to him. That, more than anything, was what was pissing Vader off.
"Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from her."
An officer walked up, reporting on the Death Star's status. Upon hearing that the station was operational, Tarkin broke into a wide, evil grin. "Perhaps she would respond to an alternative form of persuasion."
Vader had known this would happen. He had even told Solo about it. But that did not make him dread it any less. The actions of one wayward princess was not enough to kill billions of people, in Vader's opinion. "What do you mean?" He managed to ask, sounding as if he had no idea what kind of plot Tarkin had cooked up in his petty little mind.
"I think it is time we demonstrate the full power of this station." He turned to an officer standing nearby. "Set your course for the Princess's home planet of Alderaan."
"With pleasure," the officer replied. Vader resisted the urge to choke him, too. He had already nearly killed one of Tarkin's lapdogs. He doubted the Grand Moff would forgive him another.
Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, known to the locals of Tatooine as Ben, stood at the entrance of Docking Bay 94, staring at the Wookiee pilot's ship. Luke's jaw dropped. "What a piece of junk!" he gasped.
Ben merely smiled grimly. He had a bad feeling about this, one that he couldn't place, and it was bothering him. There as no sense in worrying Luke over a vague feeling of apprehension, however, so he kept his council.
He did notice, however, that the Wookiee, Chewbacca, talked to them as little as possible and was also slightly uncomfortable with their arrangement. He wondered what was bothering the hairy giant.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one with a bad feeling today. But they had to get to Alderaan.
A squad of stormtroopers suddenly appeared and opened fire on them. Chewbacca roared, and Luke and Ben dashed aboard the Millennium Falcon, Chewie at their heels. He immediately blasted out of the docking bay, and they were on their way.
But the stormtroopers hadn't been the cause of Ben's distress. He turned his attention to Luke and gave the boy a training device, determined to teach him as well and as quickly as he could.
Chewie strained his sensitive hearing, making sure the boy and the old man – especially the old man – were securely away in one of the holds. Hearing both their murmured voices, he relaxed, satisfied, and switched on his comlink.
Han answered immediately. "Hey, Chewie, how's it going?"
I have the droids with me, Chewie growled softly. Stormtroopers chased us off-planet, so you may receive a report otherwise, but I have them.
"That's great, Chewie! So – wait, did you say us?"
The droids are in possession of two humans. They want to get to Alderaan.
"We're right by Alderaan. How about this: Drive into the tractor beam kind of accidentally on purpose, you know? They won't suspect a thing! I'll tell Vader."
Chewie agreed and ended the connection. He still didn't feel very good about this.
Just then the old man entered the cockpit. "Who were you talking to?" he asked Chewie, staring through him with piercing blue eyes.
A friend, Chewie growled, conveying reluctance to talk.
The old man stared a him a moment longer, then left to return to his companion.
Chewie sighed and wished there was an alternative to his current situation.
Luke shut down the lightsaber. He wasn't having much luck with it anyway, and Ben looked worried. "What's wrong, Ben?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, Luke. Just an old man's paranoia."
"Come on, Ben you can tell me!"
Ben patted his shoulder. Force, but he was so much like his father! He even wheedled answers out of Obi-Wan like Anakin had.
But Ben was older and wiser than Obi-Wan, and he knew better than to give in and give the boy a hero complex. Anakin had always done that; tried to make things easier for Obi-Wan. It usually just caused more trouble, but he had never reprimanded Anakin for it. What harm was there in trying to help someone?
If only he had known.
"I could help you, Ben. I know I haven't done a lot, but I'm pretty good at figuring things out."
Ben smiled. "Thank you, Luke. I appreciate the offer, but I assure you, this is something you cannot help me with."
Luke looked at the floor. "Alright," he muttered, and went back to his exercises.
Vader followed the Princess into the control room of the Death Star. She marched right up to Tarkin and began to snarl at him. Vader was pleased. Tarkin deserved her wrath far more than he did.
"Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash." Vader frowned. No need to rub it in. "I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." He nearly laughed at that. When it wasn't aimed at him, he had to admire her spirit.
Tarkin, apparently, did not share the sentiment. "Charming to the last," he replied, lips pinched. "You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life." That was news to Vader. The order must be sitting on his desk. He hadn't bothered to look at anything waiting there for him this morning.
Even faced with death, she still had the nerve to insult the Grand Moff yet again. "I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself," she said, her smile cold.
Tarkin looked down his nose at her. "Princess Leia." He says Leah too! Vader noted. "Before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now."
This was actually quite entertaining. He looked down at the princess as she answered. "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station," Tarkin smirked. "In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power... on your home planet of Alderaan."
That got her attention, and effectively wiped all confidence from her being. "No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons! You can't possibly --"
Tarkin stood menacingly over her. Unlike Vader, however, he had to work at it. "You would prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system!"
She remained quiet.
"I grow tired of asking this," Tarkin hissed. "So it'll be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?"
Leia took a deep breath. "Dantooine," she said softly. "They're on Dantooine."
Tarkin smiled victoriously. "There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable." he turned to one of his men. "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready."
"What?!" Leia gasped, staring at him with wide eyes. Vader growled under his breath. He hadn't expected any less of Tarkin (or of the Emperor) but they could have at least checked the validity of their claim before blowing up an entire planet!
"You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration." Huttese curses ran through Vader's head. It's not that far out of the way, you lying, slimy -- "But don't worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough."
"No!" the Princess cried, moving toward Tarkin. Vader pulled her back against his chest.
The order was given, and Alderaan disappeared. Vader immersed himself in the Dark Side, trying to avoid the backlash that would come through the Force due to so many deaths. Leia seemed to forget who he was as she huddled back against him, shaking her head as tears streamed down her face.
Vader caught sight of Solo, standing at the back of the room near the exit. He wrapped his arm around the Princess's waist and led her, shocked, over to the pilot. "Take her back to her cell," he ordered gruffly. "I'm going to meditate."
Solo looped his arm around her waist, much as Vader had done. Completely in shock, she didn't resist as he gently encouraged her to move her feet, one at a time, in the direction of the detention block.
Ben's headache was on a level with a migraine. Still, he worked through the pain as he had been taught all his life.
Their pilot tersely informed them that they were coming out of hyperspace. Ben nodded.
Vader listened dispassionately as Tarkin raged.
Of course she lied to you! She didn't actually think you'd blow up a planet without checking out her claim first! That's too barbaric for most people to comprehend, no matter what they've seen! She thought she'd escape, or get a message to her friends! She thought she would be able to warn them!
Truth to tell, he still had some trouble believing that Alderaan was gone for good himself, and he had had years to get used to the idea of getting rid of planets the Emperor didn't like.
"I told you she would never consciously betray the rebellion," he reminded Tarkin, happy that he could throw this back in the man's face.
Tarkin glowered. "Terminate her – immediately!"
Chewie came out of hyperspace and entered into massive turbulence. He fought to hold the ship steady as Luke and Ben rushed up to ask what was happening. He just growled at them.
He saw the small round figure of the Death Star in the distance, dead ahead. That was good. He didn't want his passengers to get suspicious, which they would have if they had changed course. Of course, he could have just said that he was trying to get out of the turbulence.
At any rate, it was no longer a problem. It was right there, directly in front of them.
Chewie watched out of the corner of his eye as the old man grew uneasy. He knew the station wasn't a moon. He said as much to the boy. Eventually he turned to Chewie and urgently asked him to turn the ship around.
Chewie fiddled with the controls, pushing buttons and pulling levers that didn't do anything to change the direction the ship was traveling in. When he eventually got around to the steering, it was too late. The tractor beam had them.
Vader and Han stood side by side as the Falcon gently touched down on the polished floor of the docking bay. With stormtroopers at their backs, they began to board. Vader stopped suddenly. "I sense a presence, one I haven't felt since . . ." he paused. "Go ahead," he ordered Han. "Secure the droids and have the passengers taken to the detention area. I have to talk to Tarkin."
Raising an eyebrow – since when did Vader voluntarily go talk to Tarkin? -- Han sketched a salute and replied, "Yes, sir." He walked up the ramp and entered his ship.
"Hey, Chewie," he greeted the Wookiee cheerfully, who roared happily and gave him a big hug. Han grinned. At that moment, an old man and a kid walked up.
They stopped dead at the sight of their pilot embracing an Imperial, and the old man, face pale as death, ignited a lightsaber. Han eyed it. "That's interesting," he drawled, drawing his blaster. The two faced off, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
That was how Vader found them. "Hello, Obi-Wan," the Sith Lord said, igniting his own lightsaber. Only Han, working closely with Vader for six years, was able to pick out the tones of dark, mirthless glee through the vocalizer.