Author's Note: God. I'm so sorry. I wasn't happy with what I had planned to do with Moloch—and I had to alter everything I had written from Chapter 10 on. And then… things just took a dive. Not only did I completely hit a writer's block wall after changing course, RL hit me—well—really hard. I'm not promising that I'm back. But I am trying to finish this story.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Luke fidgeted as Vader adjusted the insignia on the borrowed Imperial uniform. He had never felt more uneasy on this insane trip than he did when he put on this uniform. He was outfitted as an Imperial wing commander. He was to exit the landing shuttle hundreds of feet behind Vader. Moloch was being similarly outfitted and would be traveling with Luke. At first Luke had thought Moloch was being assigned as a guard, but after watching the gear being strapped and concealed all over the Chiss' body Luke realized Moloch's true purpose—bodyguard. He also realized why Vader refused to tell him anything at breakfast, not out of cruelty as Luke had originally and angrily concluded, but as a safeguard. As long as he held the secret truth about Luke's father over his head, Luke would follow after him like a scavenger; Vader knew it and Luke knew it.
"ETA for the shuttle to the surface?" Vader asked evenly without looking away from Luke's uniform.
"Twenty minutes, Milord." Thrawn replied coolly. "We can arrive late, but Luke and Moloch need to be prompt."
"No one is going to question a Chiss pilot?" Luke asked, watching Vader's adjustments closely.
"Not with Grand Admiral Thrawn onboard," Vader replied, still concentrating on making Luke's uniform perfect to military standards.
Luke pressed his lips together and nodded; he was slightly apprehensive that the Alliance had never spoke of this Grand Admiral Thrawn who was obviously respected among the Imperial ranks. He was having these moments more and more often, when he questioned the Alliance in light of what he discovered aboard the Executor... and now he was going to Coruscant.
Vader straightened and looked Luke's uniform over once more and then nodded his approval. "Don't mess it up on your way to the landing bay."
Luke gave him a mock salute as he hurried out the door after Moloch.
Luke kept his chin up and shoulders straight as he and Moloch strode through the orderly hustle of the pre-departure preparations.
"Which shuttle are we on?" Luke asked from between his teeth.
"We're on the first shuttle: Lord Vader's shuttle," Moloch replied softly.
"How convenient."
The Chiss almost smirked.
Moloch and Luke stepped up to the ramp of the shuttle and presented their clearances to the stormtrooper posted there. The trooper gave them each a long look, then waved them through. Luke and Moloch exchanged a satisfied yet disappointed look- wouldn't it have been fun to have Vader come and find them arguing with the stormtrooper?
They settled into their seats and waited for departure.
"You're breaking him down slowly."
Vader nodded. "I fear that revealing our true relationship with no preparation would result in his rejection of me."
Thrawn tilted his head in agreement. "That would be most unpleasant."
"I am not so naïve to think that his time with me will elicit an instantaneous bond; I'm just hoping that he won't scream and jump off a balcony."
"You'll be there to catch him."
"That depends on what happens between now and then."
"I think you will find, Milord, that the bond between child and parent is the strongest in the cosmos."
Vader tilted his head to gaze pointedly at the Chiss.
"Even stronger than the Dark Side," Thrawn continued softly.
Vader moved to protest.
The Chiss cut him off. "Trust me."
Moloch saw Luke stiffen slightly. His brow furrowed and he tilted his head to throw a questioning look at his companion; his question was answered, however, by the entrance of Lord Vader and his father. He suppressed a smile. So, the stories about the Jedi children are true.
Once Vader and Thrawn were seated, the shuttle crew immediately began preparing for departure. The Dark Lord threw a nonchalant glance down the passenger compartment of the shuttle; Luke and Moloch were seated relatively close in respect to how close the pilots were allowed to sit to the second-in-command of the Empire. He noted with satisfaction that his son and Moloch pulled off the "bored-yet-obedient" pilot act very well. Moloch was most certainly acting; Luke probably was not.
"Does Vader always get such a crowd to greet him when he comes home?"
Leia threw Han an annoyed look as she, Wedge, and the sarcastic smuggler pulled the armor from three unlucky stormtroopers.
"This is a small reception, Han, if it were Palpatine on that shuttle, there would be hundreds of troops to greet him."
"Seems like a waste of overtime to me."
It was Wedge's turn to get the Princess' eyes rolled at him.
"Now remember," Leia said, pulling the armor over her shins. "This is a scout only; there is no way we can rescue Luke and get out of here alive with all of these troops around."
"If he goes into the palace, we're not gettin' him out, sweetheart," Han protested.
"That's what we said about him being taken to Coruscant, and here we are. We need to be patient, see what the situation is."
Both of the men nodded reluctantly.
"You seem restless."
"I am a prisoner, you know that, right?"
"You do not act like a prisoner."
"I'm not treated like one."
Moloch pressed back a small smile. "Then can it not be concluded that you are in fact not a prisoner?"
"No," Luke bit back stubbornly.
"Your logic is dizzying."
Luke smirked at the Chiss; despite everything, he really liked Moloch. The Grand Admiral's son was not at all what Luke would have imagined him to be if he had only heard of him from an Alliance briefing. It was realizations like this that made him question his loyalty. There was one undeniable fact: his time on the Executor had shown him a side of the Empire he had never imagined. Moloch was a big part of that. Moloch and his father were impossibly intelligent and calculating, it seemed they knew what you were going to do before you even knew— and yet they were with the Empire... why? If the Empire was nothing but an oppressive, brainwashing, war machine, what part did these two Chiss have in it?
Or did this have to do with what Vader had hinted to him: that Palpatine was dying and a new Empire was going to rise?
He felt a chill course up his spine. When he looked up, he realized Vader's fathomless black eyes were upon him.
The shuttle touched down perfectly. Vader rose and hid his reluctance to leave his son behind. He had to; he had to keep up the façade. A pilot exiting the shuttle with the Dark Lord would not be perceived as normal. He wasn't so worried about Luke trying to escape as he was about what would happen if his friends had made it to Coruscant. Would they coax him into leaving despite the information he held over the young man's head?
All of this ran through his mind as he moved towards the shuttle hatch as if nothing were amiss. He could feel Moloch's alertness through the Force; he was thoroughly impressed with Thrawn's training of the younger Chiss. He was disciplined, skilled, and always alert. He had a long way to go with his own brash, impatient, idealistic, ex-rebel son.
He exited the shuttle and moved gracefully through the receiving ranks of stormtroopers and officers. Thrawn walked at his side seeming completely unmoved by any of his surroundings.
"Who is that guy?"
Leia frowned at Han. "What guy?"
"The blue guy."
She pressed her lips together. "I don't know..."
"There's Luke." Wedge broke into their contemplations. "There's another one of those blue humanoids with him. He's dressed as a pilot."
"Not just a pilot," Han corrected. "A wing commander."
Both Wedge and Leia looked at Han.
Han's mouth bent slightly. "Now why do you suppose he's doing that?"
Luke kept his eyes focused on the nape of the man's neck in front of him. He fought to keep his breathing steady and his limbs from trembling. He suddenly felt a light brush from Moloch, and he knew what the Chiss was telling him: Relax. He drew a subtle breath and kept his steps steady. He really didn't even know who he was trying to hide from. He didn't understand why they weren't just marching him into the palace as a prisoner-of-war.
Suddenly Luke was jolted by a warning in the Force, and without a thought he moved to grab Moloch, but the Chiss shoved him back, pushing him down against the shining surface of the landing pad. A blaster bolt seared the air above Luke's head and collided with the chest plate of one of the stormtroopers lining the walkway. Luke's eyes widened as he realized the trooper had been hit because they had moved. He started to rise and go to the fallen man. Moloch caught him by the wrist and shook his head. The look in his eyes told Luke not to argue. In the moment of inattention, a second blaster bolt struck Moloch in the shoulder. The force of the blast pushed the Chiss' frame back several inches, but he quickly regained his equilibrium and kept his body between Luke and the oncoming fire. Luke cried out in rage as Moloch was struck a second and third time.
The Chiss pulled Luke behind him into the ranks of stormtroopers who were now forming up to serve as human shields to the line progressing from the shuttle. It was painfully obvious, as stormtroopers fell around them, that the shots were aimed at Luke and Moloch.
Moloch grabbed Luke's shirt, demanding his attention. "You can make it to that alcove. Go."
Luke shook his head; he couldn't take his eyes off from the scorch marks adorning the Chiss' flight suit. "I think they're aiming at you."
"Ridiculous," Moloch scoffed.
"No one knows who I am," Luke hissed. "You're the only other Chiss in a group that includes Grand Admiral Thrawn."
"That is of no consequence. You need to go—"
Luke pulled the Chiss' hand from his collar. "You're coming with me."
Moloch seemed to roll his eyes. "Lord Vader wasn't kidding when he said you were stubborn."
Luke smirked despite the situation— and gasped as the wind was knocked out of him.
When he recovered, he and Moloch were smeared against the marble wall in the alcove, surrounded by three stormtroopers.
"We thank you for your assistance," Moloch said politely, yet in a cool enough tone that said he had had the situation under control.
Luke tried to look at Moloch's injuries again; the Chiss frowned and crossed his arms across his chest to evade the young man.
The troopers were looking back the way they came, positioning themselves to cover their two charges. One of the troopers glanced back at Luke.
"You okay, kid?"
Luke's forehead creased in confusion.
Moloch immediately had a viroblade pressed against a weak point of the trooper's armor. The stormtrooper's blaster clattered to the floor. The other two troopers swung around and held their weapons on the Chiss. Luke just stood and stared at the display.
"Drop your weapons. Remove your helmets," the Chiss hissed.
The troopers exchanged looks. Moloch pressed the viroblade closer.
The two stormtroopers slowly lowered their blasters and placed them on the ground between their boots. One gently tugged the helmet from his head, closely followed by the other.
Luke groaned.
Moloch narrowed his crimson gaze and then glanced at the trooper against his blade. "I suppose that leaves you to be none other than Han Solo."
Han pulled off his helmet and grinned at the Chiss. "Who's your new friend, Luke?"
Luke rubbed his eyes, as if the three would disappear if he did it enough. When he pulled his hands from his face, Leia, Wedge, and Han still stood before him clad in stormtrooper armor.
"How many times are you guys gonna use this trick?"
"Hey! It's a good idea!" Han protested.
Luke dragged his fingers through his hair and leaned against the wall. Things had been so surreal for the last couple of weeks that his friends showing up in stormtrooper armor on a palace landing pad didn't seem so weird. "Get that viroblade off him, would ya, Moloch?"
The Chiss didn't move. His red eyes remained eerily locked on the former smuggler; his lips were pressed tightly over his teeth.
"Moloch, please, I promise you it'll be fine," Luke begged.
Moloch held Han for a few moments longer before releasing him and backing away slightly, still keeping himself between Luke and his friends. The three saw Moloch's deliberate placement and decided not to push the Chiss.
"You shouldn't be here," Luke said softly.
"We wanted to see that you were okay," Leia said softly. "We weren't going to attempt a rescue until we had a better idea of the situation; but then the shooting started..."
"Yeah," Luke pressed his lips together. "Speaking of that..." he stepped in front of the Chiss and gingerly attempted to check his wounds again. The flight suit was charred, and Luke couldn't see the injuries.
Moloch brushed Luke away. "I'm fine."
"You were hit three times!"
Moloch clenched his teeth in annoyance and pushed Luke away lightly. He peeled back his smoking uniform to reveal body armor that Luke had never seen before. It glimmered like the shielding on an X-Wing.
Han whistled, impressed.
Luke suddenly looked to his left, his fingers still grasping onto Moloch's sleeve. He stared off for a few moments then looked back at the others. "He's coming. You'd better get out of here," he said softly.
"No! You're coming with us! We can get you out of here!" Leia cast a weary look at Moloch; it was apparent that she wasn't quite sure how true her words were.
"No." Luke shook his head. "You need to go."
Leia's lower jaw dropped slightly; her eyes seemed larger. "What... What has he done to you?"
Luke smiled slightly; the irony played on his lips. "I... I need something. Something I can only get here. I..." he looked into the eyes of his friends and saw horror there. Horror of his betrayal. "Please, understand."
"No, Luke! We don't understand!" Han stormed forward and reached to grab Luke by his borrowed uniform, but Moloch moved slightly to stand between them; his narrow gleaming eyes stopped Han dead in his tracks. The sound of approaching footsteps drew all of their gazes to the left.
Luke caught Han's eye and said firmly, "There's no way I can get out of here, but if you go without me they won't pursue you."
"Kid, I'm not leav—"
"Han," Leia curled her fingers around his shoulder. "They're getting closer. I don't think we have a choice."
Han narrowed his eyes at Moloch, who stood like a statue between him and Luke. He jabbed his finger at the Chiss. "You lucked out this time, buddy!"
Leia rolled her eyes as she, Han, and Wedge grabbed their weapons from the floor. "Take care of yourself," she said. She threw an uncertain look at Moloch and added, "We won't be far."
Luke pressed his lips into a tight line as he watched them disappear into the frantic crowd on the landing pad. Moloch was facing him, his head bent and his eyebrow arched. Luke glared up at the significantly taller Chiss through his eyelashes. "I hope you're happy," he growled.
"I know you are," Moloch replied.
"Happy with what?" Thrawn asked as he and Vader stilled their strides about a meter from the two young men.
Luke crossed his arms and turned to face two of the most intimating figures of the Empire; he decided to change the subject. "Someone just tried to kill your son," he said.
Thrawn stepped forward and took Moloch by his bicep, his eyes moved up and down assessing his son's body for damage; he didn't seem overly concerned.
Moloch pulled back on his arm gently. "Father, I am fine. The body shields held."
The Grand Admiral turned his red eyes upon Luke. "What makes you think that they were firing upon Moloch?"
Luke felt his lip jerk slightly in irritation at Thrawn's doubt. "The most immediate reason: not one blast came close to me. Moloch was hit three times."
"I was in front of you, Skywalker," Moloch reminded flatly.
Thrawn picked at a bit of hanging material on Moloch's sleeve and inspected it closely; he could just make out the scorch marks in the dark material. "I would have liked a more controlled test, but I am glad you chose to wear it regardless."
Luke frowned and pushed forward; he ripped some of the material away from the Chiss' chest to reveal a control panel. Moloch smirked and tapped at a few buttons. The mini force field powered down and revealed the Chiss' skin—unharmed.
"What the..." Luke murmured in amazement.
Moloch pulled away and covered the exposed area with his hand; his gaze pierced the young man. "I like to invent things… I'm still testing this."
Luke struggled to withhold a pout as Moloch brushed by him and strode towards the palace.
