Entry 21
As I prepared to leave my hotel room I glanced in the mirror for one final inspection of my attire. I want to keep Skywalker off balance, so I decide to use his obvious personal interest in me to my advantage. I had cast off my common trousers and tunic I had worn to blend in with the local commoners and instead donned at sleek, form-fitting, black leather, zip up body suit over knee-high black leather boots. It was an outfit I wore when I was the Emperor's Hand. It was practical, durable and turned more than a few male heads when walking in public. It also gave me an aura of power. Assassins, pirates and bounty hunters normally wore leather. It had become the apparel of dangerous people…especially Darth Vader—a leather-clad psychopath who instilled fear in all he met.
In this case, I wore it to distract Skywalker, not to intimidate and especially not to seduce. I wanted him to be preoccupied with thoughts other than my motives in reestablishing contact with him.
I smiled at the mirror as I readjusted my blaster belt. Usually I have a hidden holdout blaster, but with this outfit there really isn't any place to hide a weapon. I picked up a small satchel containing my communication device, credits and a fake Identification, threw it over my shoulder and left the room, making my way down to Skywalker's hotel.
It was a short walk to Skywalker's location. I knocked on his hotel door and waited and waited and waited. I didn't know what was taking so long. I knew he was inside the room. I could feel his presence through the Force. I ended up pounding on the door before Skywalker finally answered. When I saw him I understood the delay. He was standing in the doorway, dripping wet while clutching a small white towel around his waist.
"Sorry Litassa. I thought I had enough time to shower before you arrived." His tanned skin turned a deep red as he ushered me inside. "I'll just take me a minute to dress." He quickly moved to his bed and grabbed some clothing before disappearing into the 'fresher.
I sighed in frustration before closing the door behind me. I intended on showing up and flustering the former farmer with my tantalizing outfit, but he one-upped me by opening the door nearly nude, water glistening over his toned body and with the smell of citrus scented body wash clinging to his skin.
'Damn, I hate that man!'
I have no idea if his naiveté charm was a facade or not. It is hard for me to believe that somebody as outwardly trusting as Skywalker could have survived this long without somebody putting a vibroblade in his back at some point. He exited the 'fresher wearing snug utility trousers but remained nude from the waist up. He looked at me apologetically as he pointed to clothing perched on the room's dresser. "Sorry, I forgot my tunic."
As my gaze raked down his pectorals and abs I seethed with irritation. "Really?" I scoffed incredulously. "Can you be more obvious?"
He must be a great actor because the look of confusion on his face seemed genuine. "What? What are you talking about?"
I pointed to his half-dressed state. "You come to the door wearing only a towel knowing full well that it was me standing on the other side and then you conveniently forget your tunic so I can get a second gander at your toned abs. You are doing this to put me off balance. It is straight from the espionage playbook."
He looked me up and down and smirked. "Is that your reason for the skintight leather outfit?"
'I am really starting to despise this man.'
I turned around giving him some privacy while shaking my head in annoyance. "Just get dressed."
I could hear movement of fabric and a soft chuckle. "Sorry." There was a slight pause before I was given the all clear. "Okay, all done."
I turned to find him admiring my clothing. "I like your outfit. It's…ummm."
I could see him struggling to find complimenting words that wouldn't offend or come off as sexist.
"I'm not sure how to describe it," he finally said.
I looked down and spread my arms to the side, giving him a clear view. "I had a male coworker once tell me it looked Vader-esque. Is that what you were thinking?"
He laughed out loud. "Believe me, the last person that pops into my mind when looking at you is my father."
'Father!' My face went slack in shock. He blanched, obviously sensing my surprise through the Force. "You didn't know?" he whispered. "The Emperor knew. I thought Imperial Intelligence also knew."
It took me a moment to regain my voice. "They may, but I didn't. I am only privy to information on a need-to-know basis. I obviously didn't need to know about that." I looked over to the small table where we ate our meal earlier that day. I pulled out a chair and sat down heavily taking some time to process this information. Everything was starting to make sense. He was hidden on Tatooine. That meant somebody knew he would be strong in the Force and would gain the attention of the Emperor. I looked over to him. He was sitting on his bed, a guarded expression on his face. I could tell he was concerned about my reaction to the news. "Did your father hide you on Tatooine to keep you from the Emperor?"
He shook his head sadly. "No, I was brought there by a Jedi Knight named Ben Kenobi. He gave me to family members. Vader grew up on Tatooine. He supposedly hated the planet and vowed never to return. I assume my old master thought the desert planet would be the best place to hide me."
"So," I muttered while desperately trying to put the pieces together. "The Jedi kidnapped you from your father?"
"No…I wouldn't call it kidnapping. My Master Yoda told me Vader believed my mother died before she gave birth. Darth Vader not only didn't know that I lived, but that my mother was carrying twins. My father didn't learn about me and my sister until after the destruction of the first Death Star."
"And your sister? Who's your sister?"
His eyes went wide, his mouth opening and then closing. "We thought the Imperials knew…but if they don't, maybe it is best it remains that way."
I thought back to the things he said about his sister. She was raised on Alderaan, she just gave birth to a baby boy she named Ben. My brow shot up as I remembered a holonet news show I watched a few weeks ago. "Princess Leia? Your sister is Princess Leia, Han Solo is your brother-in-law…and Darth Vader is your father!"
He put a hand up in a shushing gesture. "Not so loud. We figured the Imperials may have known, but we definitely don't want the general public to know of our heritage."
I leaned back in my chair and guffawed. "I can understand that. Two of the key members of the New Republic are the children of the third most hated Imperial in the Galaxy after the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin."
He blew out a breath. "Litassa, I'm not like my father. You have to believe that."
I let out a short laugh and shook my head. "I know that. I have dealt with your father more than once. You are the polar opposite of the man." I stopped, now realizing what that eerie familiarity in the Force came from. "When I met you I thought you felt familiar in the Force. Now I know why. If you stripped away Vader's malignant darkside stench, his Force signature would resemble yours."
He rubbed his hand over his chin while staring at the room's stained carpet. "He once was a good man. A Jedi Knight." He glanced up at me. "I guess this lowers my chance of convincing you to train with me. When you came earlier you said you changed your mine…or was that just a ruse to get some information out of me?"
I gave an apologetic shrug of my shoulder. "It was a ruse. I wanted to see if you found smugglers to bring you on a trade run to the Unknown Region. If so, I wanted to tag along."
He fell silent for a long moment. "Can I assume any interaction with me is strictly business and that you are still in spy-mode?"
I nodded. "I'm always in spy-mode. What I am not in is kill or capture mode. The peace treaty brought an end to that." I gave roll of my eyes. "You make it sound like I'm doing something unseemly. I can guarantee if I breached Imperial security protocol and spilled some information vital to the rebel cause you wouldn't hesitate to pass on that information."
He pursed his lips in thought before giving me a soft smile. "You're right."
"So," I said slowly. "Do you have a way to get into the Unknown Region? Is that why you met your contact?"
He nodded slowly. "I have a way in. I'm willing to share with you any information I discover."
I shook my head emphatically. "No, I should go with you."
"You can't. I don't know the smugglers doing the run. Han made arrangements for me…just me. He's no fan of Imperials…and you can imagine, my sister is not too fond of the Empire either. There is no way they would help arrange passage for you."
I leaned forward in my chair. "Then don't tell them who I am. I have alias documentation. Tell them I am another rebel."
"My sister would know you aren't a rebel. She keeps track of those things."
"Tell them I'm a new recruit."
He shook his head. "They still wouldn't feel comfortable. Besides, I don't want to lie to them." He glanced up suddenly as if an idea just took hold. "I did tell them about you and your Force abilities….off the record of course. They know I am trying to get you to train with me. They may overlook your Imperial ties if they knew we have an arrangement to train together."
I made a sound of disgust. "Please stop trying to nag me into training. The Force corrupts. It gives people too much power. You of all people should know the danger of the darkside. Your father, who I assume was trained from birth, slipped into the darkness. You have only…what…a year or two of formal training under your belt. You are a prime candidate for Sithhood. You are messing with something very powerful."
He looked at me pleadingly. "That's why I need you. You've been trained and you haven't turned to the darkside. If I am an accident waiting to happen, then help me. Help me learn to control my power. Help me make the galaxy a better place. Help me keep the peace between our governments."
I didn't want to say yes. I really didn't, but I know this is exactly what my commander would want. He'd want me to start working with Skywalker, earn the trust of the New Republic officials and learn everything and everything about their military just in case the treaty failed.
"I'll train with you, but we have to keep it secret. The Moffs' goal is to eradicate all Force users from the Empire. If it becomes known that I have Force abilities it would endanger my life."
He grinned happily. "Sure, anything. We'll use one of your aliases when on this mission. Maybe we can make up some excuse to spend time together alone to train…like we're dating or something."
I groaned. "No."
"What other reason we could give for sneaking off to a private location and spending time together?"
I folded my arms across my chest. "Maybe we can say I am your psychiatrist and we need time alone for your therapy sessions. You must be suffering from some psychological disorder, maybe Combat Stress Syndrome or some phobia…perhaps rancorphobia."
He gave a snort. "So when it comes to a cover story you want to say I have a psychological disorder instead that we're in a relationship."
"That's sounds good to me." I smirked. "Listen, we don't have to explain anything to anybody. The first rule of undercover work is don't give more information than needed. Let people assume what they want and leave it at that."
He looked over to his comlink sitting on his dresser. "If I do this, you have to promise me you won't tell your superiors anything about me, my family or any rebel intelligence you happen upon. You'll only report on what we discover in the unknown region."
I thought about that for a while. "My people probably already know about your family history."
"Just in case they don't. We always assumed they did, but if they don't, I would like to keep it that way. I want to keep my nephew safe. There's that new cult of Vader that has been growing in numbers and lunacy. They worship my late father like some dark prophet. They don't believe he's dead or if he is he'll return in some other form. All I need is those lunatics getting the idea to kidnap Darth Vader's grandson."
I nodded knowing full well what he was talking about. After the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader a group of Sith wannabe's started appearing all over the galaxy. Most didn't have a milligram of Force ability, but they prayed to the Darkside asking for riches, revenge or anything else that popped into their deranged minds. They were rumored to pay huge prices for what they consider religious relics…meaning anything related to the Sith. It was reported that somebody found Vader's melted armor and helmet on Endor, which was ridiculous. Vader was vaporized when the second Death Star exploded. There was no way his suit survived the blast and then the descent through the planet's atmosphere. "I promise to keep your family affairs out of my report to my superiors. As for not reporting rebel activities…as long as I won't endanger the Empire by doing so I can agree to that."
"Okay. We're in agreement." He stood and grabbed his comlink that I assume is slaved to his ship's transceiver. "I'll talk to Han."
