Chapter 11:
Leia had been on Imperial Center for nearly two days and in that time she had barely came into contact with the Emperor. After her initial encounter, she had been ushered away to a large suite in the Imperial Palace and only saw her father a few times since then. Most of his time was spent doing his master's bidding.
Like her father had told her, the Emperor was very powerful. Even now, while she was in a completely different wing of the massive palace than he was, she could feel the Sith master's presence strongly. His power seemed to penetrate every molecule of every item in her suite, from the luxurious carpets to the electronic door chime. There was no way to escape him.
She told her father that she did not feel comfortable all alone in the suite, but he told her that she must conquer her fear. In the short time that she had been with him, since arriving at the capital, Vader had taught her to harness the power that was all around her to make herself stronger. It seemed to work, but no matter what she did, she knew she would never feel comfortable inside the Imperial Palace.
Leia had no idea how long that she would be here. The last time she saw her father she asked him when they were leaving and he did not give her an answer. She got the feeling that he did not want her here but had little choice in the matter.
She heard her door open and was surprised that it was not her father; it was one of the red-robed soldiers that followed the Emperor everywhere he went. In the time that she had been in the palace, she had seen these eerie beings patrolling the grounds as she watched out the window. She wondered what was underneath those masks.
Leia tried to remain calm. Vader had taught her that she was to never show fear, and she refused to do so in front of these men. "Why are you here?" she demanded in a confident tone that she hoped hid her nervousness.
The men did not speak; instead, they held out a datapad from the Emperor. It was an immediate summons to his throne room. "Where is Lord Vader?" She did not want to face him alone.
Again, they did not speak; Leia wondered if they even had that ability. She knew that she was expected to follow them, but all she wanted to do was hide under her bed. Somehow, she knew that would not be tolerated. Steeling herself for whatever was coming, Leia squared her shoulders and told the guards that she would come with them. I must not show fear, I must not show fear...I will not show fear!
During the long walk to the throne room, she prepared herself mentally for what was to come. She could not sense her father's presence inside the palace so she knew that she would be facing the Emperor alone. Leia tried to remember everything that she had been taught, by Vader and by the others.
The others was how she referred mentally to her adoptive parents. She remembered how her adoptive mother had walked and how regal she always looked; Leia tried to emulate her confident stride.
Leia did not have much time to prepare herself before she was standing in front of the massive doors of the Emperor's throne room. The doors opened and she walked slowly into the large room. Striding in a straight line, directly toward the Emperor, she hoped that she at least appeared confident. Remembering everything her father had told her about how to act around the Emperor, Leia approached the throne and bowed before him.
Immediately, she felt the man's presence inside her mind. "I see your father has taught you well, young Leia."
She was not certain how she was supposed to respond to what he said. "He has taught me many things, Master."
She did not like using that title in reference to the Emperor. From her studies on Sith history and philosophy, she knew the meaning behind it. For reasons she was not sure she understood completely, Leia felt that the man sitting on the throne did not deserve that honor.
Even though a cowl covered most of his face, she could still see the Emperor's broad grin. It made her even more uncomfortable. "Very good, stand up my girl."
Quickly obeying, she stood up to face him; Leia was glad that she did not have to kneel any longer but she wondered why he was allowing her to break protocol.
"How have you been?" The Emperor had adopted a friendly tone, one like she had heard many adults use when speaking to children. However, there was a hard edge to it that Leia did not trust.
"I have been well, I appreciate the accommodations that you so graciously provided." Leia was taught from a very early age how to conduct herself when speaking to those in authority; she knew she was expected to be polite and very formal.
The Emperor laughed, "It's funny, I can't decide which of your parents you favor the most. For a while I thought that you mostly took after your father, but now I see much of your mother in you."
The mention of her mother got Leia's attention. She knew nothing about her and every question she ever asked about her was met with stony silence or a burst of anger from her father. "You knew my mother?"
"Oh yes, very much so."
"What was she like?"
"Hasn't your father told you all about her? You are her daughter, I would think that you had a right to know." The Emperor then frowned, "Of course, considering the circumstances of her death, I can imagine why he might be hesitant."
Leia had forgotten all about her earlier discomfort; that had been replaced by curiosity. She wanted to know all about her mother and this man seemed willing to tell her, something her father had so far refused to do. "What circumstances? How did she die?"
"It is not my place to tell you. That should come from your father. Although, I can't promise you that he will ever tell you." He leaned toward her in a show of compassion. "It was a very tragic situation; your father never did learn how to control his anger and sometimes that causes unfortunate...accidents."
"He got angry with my mother and hurt her? Is that why she is dead?What happened?" Leia demanded, her own anger was growing as the Emperor held back information.
The Emperor shook his head regretfully, "I'm sorry dear, it seems I've said too much. I did not mean to get you so stirred up. I guess you are more like your father after all."
Leia was speechless, rage at the situation was filling her entire being. Finally, after a few moments of silence, she trusted her voice enough to speak again. "He will never tell me. I deserve to know what happened to my mother."
"That you do, but it is inappropriate for me to be telling you things your father should be." The Emperor smiled again, "Now, I think it's time for you to return to your suite. Your father will be returning to the palace shortly. You will see him again very soon."
Leia did not speak as two members of the Imperial Guard escorted her out of the throne room. What she did not hear after the doors closed was the sound of an old man's laughter, "All too easy."
Sokoris was a very different world than Tatooine; that was something that Obi-Wan was very grateful for. In the nearly eight years that he had been an inhabitant of the desert world he had never gotten used to its oppressive heat.
Sokoris was a beautiful, but very remote, Outer-Rim world home to mainly human settlers, and a few alien traders. The world had very few cities, most of the inhabitants lived on sprawling homesteads separated by many kilometers of wilderness.
The planet was very remote, so remote that the Republic, and later the Empire, had very few connections with this planet. Only one hyperspace route led to it and that suited the inhabitants quite nicely. Most of them were fiercely independent and believed in being self-sustaining. All offers of outside aid by the Republic were refused by the people and the Empire seemed to be content with completely ignoring the small world. It had no strategic value.
The trip to the planet was very long; it took days in his commandeered ship to get there. It was extra challenging with a child and a newborn baby. Luke had been quiet, but the Jedi knew that he was reeling from the trauma of Owen and Beru's violent death. Through the Force, Obi-Wan could sense the boy's deep sadness and when he slept, Luke was tormented by the memory of watching Beru's brutal torture at the hands of the sandpeople.
Obi-Wan did not know what to do to help him, he wished that he could take the memory from him; but the child's already strong Force presence made that impossible. Even so, he was not sure if it would be right to do such a thing even if it were possible.
The baby was another matter. The only training that he had ever had regarding the care of infants was when he was a padawan learner and his master made him work in the crèche nursery a few times. That did not prepare him for the challenges of looking after a baby full time.
Siri was not a contented baby. In the time that he had cared for her, he had struggled. He was trying his best but he felt that he was doing everything wrong. Nothing he did ever seemed to make her happy. Obi-Wan wondered if the tragic circumstances of her birth had somehow imprinted on the tiny girl and changed her disposition.
Luke came into the cockpit as Obi-Wan was beginning the landing sequence. "Ben, is that the new planet?"
"Yes it is. What do you think?"
The small child looked out of the window onto a world unlike anything he had ever seen before. Where Tatooine was brown and sparse, Sokoris was green and full of trees. The planet was covered by kilometers of very old forests. "I've never seen trees like that; I've never seen trees at all."
Obi-Wan smiled, he knew that Luke would have to do much adjusting but he was glad that the child would be able to live on a world with so much life. "They are beautiful."
"They're weird looking. Why are there so many?"
Obi-Wan patted Luke on the shoulder, he could feel the boy's apprehension. "I know it's very different than what you are used to, but we couldn't stay on Tatooine."
Luke nodded solemnly, "I just hate leaving them." After Obi-Wan buried Owen and Beru they had only stayed long enough to buy supplies and obtain a ship. The Jedi never told Luke that the ship was stolen; still, the child had figured it out fairly quickly but decided not to comment.
"They have been transformed to the Force; their bodies were only crude matter." Over the time that Luke had been his charge, Obi-Wan had begun to tell the boy about the Force. He hoped to begin his actual training in a few months, when the loss of his aunt and uncle would not be so fresh.
"You said that the Force was all around us. Does that mean that Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen are around me?"
Obi-Wan was not certain how he should answer Luke's question. According to Jedi teachings, all living things return to the Force after death. However, only those strongest and most attune with the Force in life could retain their identities.
While it was true that Owen and Beru were transformed to the Force, what made them who they were was gone. They existed only as pure energy. Qui-Gon's return from the netherworld of the Force was a monumental and, as far as Obi-Wan or Yoda knew, first time occurrence.
As Luke waited for an answer, Obi-Wan could not help but be reminded how Anakin used to ask him questions of that nature--questions he did not know how to answer. "They are energy now, and that energy is helping to sustain life."
Luke frowned at Obi-Wan's answer; he wanted to know more but he decided to ask some other time. As the ship approached the landing area of the small settlement, Luke pointed to something in the distance. "What's that?"
Obi-Wan looked over at what he was pointing to, "It's a waterfall, Luke."
The boy was dumbfounded, "Water just flows everywhere like that! I bet whoever owns that could buy an entire system."
Obi-Wan could not help but laugh. In actuality, the waterfall they were looking at was fairly small. He had heard that the planet contained several much larger ones, he hoped to show them to him someday. "Water is in abundance on this world."
He landed the ship and that seemed to be Siri's cue to wake up from her short nap. Within a few seconds, her cries could be heard throughout the small ship. After feeding and changing the girl, Obi-Wan and his charges left the ship for their new life on an unfamiliar world.
There was much to do. He had to sell the ship and with the proceeds of the sale obtain a place for them to live. And I have to contact Master Yoda. Obi-Wan had taken with him the communication equipment necessary to contact the Jedi master on Dagobah. He needed to tell him what was going on and explain to him the reason why he did not rescue Leia like he was told. He knew that Yoda would not be happy about the turn of events, but he hoped that he would understand his decision.
Vader had been summoned to the throne room soon after he returned to the palace. He did have time to visit Leia. He did not like leaving her alone so close to his master, but Sidious had kept him busy ever since he had arrived on Imperial Center. He had no choice but to obey.
As he stalked the long hallways of the palace, Vader thought about his last encounter with his daughter just moments ago. When he arrived at her suite, he found her meditating. He could feel Leia's anger, but when he asked her what happened, she told him nothing happened and she was only focusing on past events to increase her connection to the dark side.
Vader suspected that she was not telling the entire truth. After questioning her further, he discovered that she had been summoned to the Emperor earlier. She told him that he only spoke to her for a few minutes, but Vader sensed that she was not telling him everything. He received his own summons to his master before he had a chance to get any more out of his daughter.
The Sith was not surprised that she was brought to him, but that did not make him like the idea of his daughter being in a room alone with him. He suspected that she had been tested in some manner, whether Leia knew it or not.
He did not have to wait long before the doors to the throne room opened. As per custom, he knelt before the Emperor, "What is thy bidding, my master?"
"Rise, my servant, we have much to discuss." Vader complied, he knew that this conversation would be the one that determined Leia's ultimate fate.
"As you are no doubt aware, I spoke to the girl this afternoon."
"Yes."
"She's a powerful thing, perhaps a bit too powerful." Sidious looked at Vader thoughtfully, "You have certainly brought out the darkness in her. I have to say, I am impressed."
"Her training is going well; she is a natural."
Sidious laughed, "Yes, I supposed all Skywalkers are alike in that respect."
Vader wished that he would just get on with it. He was aware that Sidious had made his decision but was drawing it out as a way of controlling his apprentice.
"I want the Devastator and its battle group back in space, there are important matters I need you to attend to. As for your daughter, I am going to temporarily allow her to go with you. Her training is going well, I cannot deny that."
Somehow Vader did not think that it would be this easy, he wondered what the catch was. "The Devastator will be ready to leave within the hour, my master."
"There is one thing, her existence is going to be announced to the public. She will be introduced as your daughter, Leia Vader. Since Bail Organa's execution, many unpleasant things have been released about his character. Kidnapping a child will be just another of his many sins."
Vader knew that Leia could not remain a secret forever, but he was surprised that she was going to be announced to the public this soon. He was not surprised, however, that Sidious insisted on her surname being Vader. He wanted it to remain Skywalker because that was her name at birth before Organa took her, but Vader did not want to push his luck by protesting his master's decision. "I understand."
"I think the girl could be quite useful to me, politically, if she receives the right training. I think she could be a wonderful public face of the Empire. I will be sending a tutor for her while on the Devastator."
He's sending a spy. Vader had no choice but to acquiesce. "Yes master."
"Lord Vader, should any accident happen to befall him while he is in your custody, I will be quite displeased." Sidious smiled again, "You are dismissed, I will have the girl's tutor sent to the Devastator immediately."
While Vader was not thrilled by the prospect of having the Emperor's spy aboard his ship, he still could not shake the notion that being able to keep Leia was far too easy. Sidious was planning something, he was certain of that.