Corridor outside Darth Vader's private chambers
The Executor
In orbit around Zygerria
A standard week later
"Given the instability in that region of the galaxy, the currently unexplained death of Jabba the Hutt is considered vitally important by our primary analysts," Admiral Piett reported. "With Isard's push for power on Imperial Center, it seems likely she is at the center of the Hutt's death and plausible that she is planning an offensive strike into the Outer Rim regions near Tatooine."
Darth Vader considered for a long moment, then nodded, "I agree, Admiral. Tatooine is a wasteland but her position on the Outer Rim is strategic, especially given the near locale of Naboo, Palpatine's homeworld. She may wish to take control of the region in order to bolster her attempts to be crowned Empress. Keep me informed, and prepare the third fleet for immediate departure. If Isard is moving, we will counter."
"Yes, my lord."
Vader turned, opened the door to his chambers with the Force, and strode in. The door slid shut behind him as he walked into a small office where two voices were in energetic discussion.
Luke looked up as he entered, his face widening into a smile, "Great! You're here. See, Doctor Sert ..."
The youth gestured at the image on the holoscreen and then walked over to his father, "Obviously the lungs need more work, and if Father gets more oxygen with every breath it will reduce the strain on his body even more ..."
"But with all due respect, Commander," Sert responded, "the reality of digestive issues ... pardon me, my lord ... mean that Lord Vader is unable to gain much nutritional value from the food he is ingesting and that is limiting his ability to self heal ..."
"But lungs ...," Luke said, then huffed aloud, "I can sense his lungs better than his digestive tract. I'm not saying we should just go with easy, but I can work better with you on the lungs right now. I'm studying those medical manuals you gave me and I think with a bit more work, I can really help you with digestion more in ... probably in a few days. But lungs. I just get the lungs, if you know what I mean."
Sert frowned and walked over to the holoscreen which, Anakin noted with an uneasy eye, was now scrolling through a series of unnerving scans of his own disaster of a body.
"I don't understand, Commander, as I am not a Force Sensitive," the good doctor said slowly, even as he turned back to stare at the young man. "But without a doubt, you are performing miracles on Lord Vader's physical state. My medical expertise is considerable, but your father's improvement defies medical wisdom or experience. So by all means, let us proceed with further work on the lungs."
"Do I have any input in this decision?" Anakin asked curiously.
Sert looked alarmed, but Luke laughed, "No, Father, you don't. You are just our medical experiment."
The doctor now looked horrified, but Anakin merely chuckled through his vocoder and placed an affectionate hand on his son's slim shoulder, "Very well, I am delighted to be your experiment given how much better I am doing. I am grateful to you both. I will, regrettably, be unavailable for the next two days. Unexpectedly, the Hutt crime lord on Tatooine sickened and died this week and Isard may well be behind it ..."
"Actually, he was poisoned during an Alliance operation," Luke interrupted with a cheerful smile. "The Rebellion is planning to move into the region shortly, so it would be best if you didn't interfere."
Anakin blinked for a long moment, then shook his head, "The Rebellion killed Jabba?"
"Uh huh, by manipulating him into eating frogs with poisoned capsules in their stomachs," Luke said firmly, then lifted his eyebrows. "He wasn't ... er ... an ally of yours was he? I thought you disliked the Hutts."
"I hated and despised Jabba, certainly," his father replied. "His death is a blessing to Tatooine and the surrounding environs. I hope your sister is keeping herself safe, however. It dismays me to consider she might be on Tatooine mixing it up with the Hutts."
Luke grinned a little, "No, she's not going to Tatooine, she's coming here. Like, in three days. To talk strategy with you. So anything medical needs to happen now, not later, Father."
Anakin had missed most of his son's words, "The princess is coming here?"
Luke nodded again, his smile fading as his expression grew serious, "I convinced her she'd be safe. She will be safe, right?"
"If anyone so much as touches a hair on her head, I will personally rip his body to pieces and feed his entrails to the dianogas in the trash compactors," Darth Vader vowed.
His son winced openly, "I didn't really need that mental image, but I get the picture. She may yell at you, so be prepared."
Vader went from righteously protective to subdued in a moment.
"She has every reason to hate me, Luke. If all she does is snarl at me, I will be surprised."
/-
Docking Bay #4
The Executor
In orbit around Zyggeria
3 days later
"How is that ship still functional?" Admiral Piett demanded of his lord's son.
"Han says she's got it where it counts," Skywalker responded with an amused grin. "I'd say he's right about that too. The air of general decrepitude is just a cover. She's really an awesome ship."
The ramp had been lowering during this inspiring speech, and Admiral Firmus Piett heard Princess Leia's voice before he saw her. She sounded ... displeased.
"We're lucky we didn't end up in a supernova or stranded out in the Far Outer Regions, Han," she complained. "Of all the things to go wrong with this heap of junk, the hyperdrive failed? The hyperdrive?"
The woman was in sight now, with the tall, rangy Corellian following a step behind.
"It didn't exactly fail, your Highness," he huffed indignantly. "We got here."
"Threepio said that the motivator was sparking, literally sparking ..."
The girl stopped speaking now and ran forward to throw herself into Skywalker's arms, "Luke!"
"Leia! Han! Chewie!"
Belatedly, Piett noted the appearance of a very tall Wookiee, the mighty Chewbacca, no doubt. It was obvious that he was a close friend to the young Skywalker as well.
Moons of Corellia, the Wookiee was even taller than Darth Vader.
Since the Rebels and Luke Skywalker were greeting one another with gratuitous hugs, Piett allowed himself the luxury of staring at the small group. He was, truth be told, quite astonished at how truly gorgeous Leia Organa was. What a beauty!
And she definitely didn't look like her twin brother. The genetics involved in the union of Darth Vader with the children's mother were far ranging as far as appearances went.
To his dismay, Skywalker abruptly broke free from his embraces and turned a curious gaze on Piett, which reminded the admiral that Luke Skywalker was Darth Vader's son and growing in his Force abilities which meant he might be able to read minds and that wasn't a good thing ...
"Admiral Piett," he said with a lurking smile, "please let me introduce you to Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca."
"It is my honor to meet you," Piett said diplomatically.
The princess looked at her twin and raised one eyebrow delicately.
Skywalker responded promptly, "Yes, the Admiral knows we are Anakin's twin children, as does the doctor treating Father. Other than that, a few select individuals know about me, but not you."
Organa stared at Piett for a moment, then a longer moment, until the admiral began focusing on his breathing. That stare was thoroughly unnerving and reminded him all too well of her father's glare before he began choking someone.
The woman finally broke away her basilisk gaze and turned to her brother, nodding, "Very well. So where is he?"
"In some boring command meeting," Skywalker responded. "The Admiral will take us to your quarters and later, if you are willing, we'll have a discussion about the state of the galaxy in general and the family in particular.
"Lead the way," she said.
Piett bowed slightly and turned to lead the small party out of the hanger. Surreptitiously, he lifted a hand to loosen his collar slightly.
Whew. The princess was scary. And the Wookiee was scary. In his own way, Skywalker was scary. Probably Solo was scary.
For the first time in his life, it occurred to Piett to hope that Lord Vader knew what he was doing.
/-
Darth Vader's private office
2 hours later
He sensed her coming long before she arrived.
Padme's daughter. The last princess of Alderaan.
Dread filled his heart as she approached. He had tortured her. Murdered her friends and compatriots. Destroyed her planet. How did they come back from this? He didn't expect ... forgiveness, but would she even talk to him? Strategize with him? Stay ... safe for him?
The door slid open and Luke stepped into the room. His eyes met his father's, and the young man's gaze was both sympathetic and reassuring.
Anakin Skywalker took a deep breath. Regardless of what did or did not happen with Leia, Luke had made it clear that he cared for his sire. That was more than Darth Vader had hoped for in the last 20 plus years, ever since he'd risen from his bed of agony and been told by Sidious that his wife and child were dead at his own hand.
Leia Organa stepped through the door behind her brother. She was dressed in the white robes of a princess of Alderaan, and her face was as determined, her posture as regal, as her mother's had been in the days of Padme Amidala's rule as queen of Naboo.
Anakin took a stuttering breath through the oxygen mask around his mouth and nose, even as he remained motionless. He remained seated, wishing to appear as ... well, harmless wasn't possible, not for Darth Vader. As unmenacing as possible. That was also why he had chosen to remove his mask and allow his daughter to see him as he truly was. Burned, scarred, broken, old before his time.
Organa approached still closer, her eyes nearly level with his own even though he was seated. She was so tiny.
Like her mother.
Behind his daughter was the Corellian pilot Solo, who had shot Vader off Luke's back over the Death Star. Behind them both was the giant Wookiee, Chewbacca.
The princess gazed straight into his face, which was exposed in all its charred glory.
"Stars and galaxies," she said after a moment, "you really are a mess."
Anakin was torn between embarrassment and relief that his daughter was at least talking to him (as opposed to leaping on him and trying to rip his throat open.)
"This is actually a significant medical improvement, Princess," he said carefully.
"So Luke tells me," she responded. Her Force sense was muted by her remarkable shielding, but he sensed a dim mixture of horror, curiosity, and a strange twist of anticipation.
"Lord Vader, I would prefer to discuss political issues first, and our family ... concerns at a later time," she said. "I assume you are aware that Ysanne Isard is working toward being crowned Empress in the next few weeks?"
Anakin nodded slightly, "Yes. It is not surprising to me. She has long been extremely ambitious. She was completely loyal to Palpatine but now that he is dead ..."
"Thanks to you," Luke chimed in.
His father smiled slightly at his son before continuing, "Indeed. It was natural that she would attempt to reign in Palpatine's stead. She no doubt wishes to continue to rule much like he did, to continue the legacy of Darth Sidious."
The princess stared for another moment, then turned and walked over to the transparisteel window through which shown the stars of deep space.
"She is not a Force sensitive, correct?"
"No," Anakin assured her.
She turned now, her face sorrowful, "We are hearing reports of rampant brutality to a level that, apart from the destruction of Alderaan, seems excessive even for the Empire. The bombardment of planets in the Core, sometimes because of the careless words of a high level official about Isard's leadership. Imperial Center is under martial law, famine is spreading due to a blockade due to her fear of invasion, and her citizens are suffering greatly."
"She is afraid," Anakin replied simply. "She is not the Heir Apparent to the Imperial Crown. I am. She is brutally subjugating all possible dissension because she knows that her control on the Core Fragment of the Empire is fragile."
"She needs to be stopped," Leia said flatly. "Soon. Many more will die if she is indeed crowned Empress and is allowed to reign over the Core unchecked."
Vader stood now, shaking his head slowly, "It will be difficult. We have reports that she is hidden away in private quarters much of the time, that she is utilizing decoys, that she has kill switches set to destroy much of Imperial City if she is attacked."
Leia walked close to him now, raising her eyes to meet his, "I know. We have a plan to bring her down. But we need your help."
He hesitated briefly, then nodded, "I assure you I will assist you in any way possible, Princess."
To his surprise, both Solo and his son chuckled softly.
"I hope you are still willing to assist when Leia gives you details of the plan, Father," Skywalker said with a grin.
/-
Imperial Holonet Studio
Imperial City
Imperial Center
4 weeks later
Relinka Spetzv gazed into the mirror in her preparation room and spoke into it, "This is just an interview, Relinka. Just an interview. Don't behave like a fangirl. You will be professional. You will be cool and collected. It's just Lady Alana, the most famous, most amazing singer in the entire galaxy."
In spite of herself, she squealed aloud, then shook her head in frustration. This was never going to work if she didn't get control of herself.
She took a breath, straightened her shoulders, and marched out of her room and out onto the stage. It was backlit with soft, warm light, and the stage itself was something that Relinka fondly hoped looked like the bottom of an ocean. With air. And light. And comfortable chairs. The Lady Alana's favorite colors were purportedly greens and blues, and Relinka hoped the singer would appreciate the effort the official Imperial Network was making to ensure the singer was happy. The Holonet host had even dyed her hair aquamarine for the occasion, which was not her favorite look.
For a brief moment, trepidation overwhelmed Relinka's nervous delight. Not only was Lady Alana coming for an interview, but later tonight (after Ysanne Isard was crowned Empress at an impressive but no doubt dull ceremony) the singer would be performing a brand new song about the new Empress. Relinka Spetzv had only interacted with Isard a few times and she was a frightening personage. The new Empress was also a big fan of Lady Alana, and Relinka had better handle this interview well.
"You all ready, Relinka?" her producer asked.
Relinka plastered on her famous smile.
"Absolutely."
/-
Author Note: I obviously switched back and forth between calling Anivader "Anakin" and "Vader". He has largely integrated now but sometimes he is more one than the other. Truth is, Anakin had his own issues and Vader, with his vast experience with politics, is more equipped to handle some of the intergalactic insanity than Anakin is.