Lando Calrissian would have greatly preferred more notice before having a major figure, the major figure, the head of the Imperial military, on his station. Honestly, he would have preferred not having the Emperor's newest enforcer here at all, but at least some time to prepare. Rumors abounded about Darth Vader since the former Supreme Commander if the Imperial Military had vanished, most seeming to agree that he had left Imperial service, some suggesting that he had defected to the Rebels, or become a wealthy hermit on a pleasure world in the Corporate Sector. Some believed he had been banished or even executed by the Emperor for some slight. Whatever the real story was, the main point was that Darth Vader was out, and Darth Pedance was in. And the new supreme commander was coming to his city. Now.
Lando had had everything arranged even as he panicked, preparing to make every convenience, amenity, facility, and whatever else Pedance might desire ready to be offered to him at a moments notice. Give him what he wants as quickly as possible, get him out of here as quickly as possible. Lando was a businessman first and foremost, having Imperial forces here was bad for business. And offending the new enforcer could very well be bad for his life. Lando liked his business, and his life.
It seemed like no time at all before the shuttle was landing on one of Cloud City's many shuttle docks. It had been close to a standard hour, as bringing a Star Destroyer into the system, orbiting a largish planetoid on the other side of Bespin's star, (and wasn't the sight of that coming into range absolutely terrifying) and flying a shuttle to the planet itself were not tasks done in the blink of an eye, but fear had a way of making the time jump by. The shuttle was landing, it had landed, it was here, he was here, the ramp was lowering, there were Stormtroopers, of course there were Stormtroopers, an entourage and display of force all in one, and there was Darth Pedance, here, on Lando's floating city. In front of Lando.
Lando had seen Darth Vader once, at some distance, during a business trip to Imperial Center. A few other times in various Imperial propaganda shows. The armored man had been larger than life, constantly brooding and threatening. You could almost see through the armor (and it was said that he was mostly mechanical limbs and burn scars life support systems without it) that he was in a constant state of preparedness, ready to kill whoever he or the Emperor desired, and he was legally permitted to kill almost anybody in the galaxy, on his own authority, answerable only to the Emperor.
This new commander, Darth Pedance, didn't have Vader's sheer size. In fact, he (Lando felt certain it must be a he, few women rose to prominent positions of power in the Empire) stood an inch or two shorter than Lando himself, even allowing for the height of his helmet, a sleeker affair than Vader's, with a perfectly blank faceplate, not even the vaguely human face Vader had favored. All in black of course, black helmet, black mask, open black robe over black tunic and trousers, black boots, black belt with a black lightsaber hanging off of it. The stark, unrelieved black would have been a little comical (Lando was certain he'd seen a similarly dressed villain in a show he'd watched as a child, who had been regularly defeated and sworn he'd get the hero next time over and over again), but Lando wasn't in a laughing mood right now.
Pedance didn't have Vader's looming and brooding. He cut a lithe figure, and seemed to exude energy. If anything, the man seemed downright twitchy. Somehow, that was even scarier, Lando didn't like the idea of a twitchy enforcer within lightsaber range of him, and tried to remember if the stories he'd heard about the Jedi ever mentioned how long a lightsaber was, so he could try to keep at least that far away. Without looking like he was, of course, offending this man might be the last thing he ever did. Lando, in his role as Baron Administrator, was used to greeting powerful and dangerous guests, and managed to smoothly hide his fear behind a mask of rakish charisma, and more than a touch of obsequiousness.
The man simply stared at Lando a solid half minute after his welcome before speaking.
"Lando Calrissian, Baron Administrator of Cloud City for two years, following a host of other careers, some more legal than others," the man spoke quickly, with a touch of the aristocratic accent common to those who lived on Imperial Center, with a touch of something Lando couldn't placed, filtered though a vocoder producing a voice just a tad deeper than Lando's own, rather than the deep booms of Pedance's predecessor, or the tinny sounds the cheaper commonplace vocoders built into Stormtrooper gear. "Your Emperor has need of your services Baron Administrator Calrissian. Should you fulfill his wishes, you will be rewarded. I do not recommend finding out the alternative."
Lando blinked, and suddenly Pedance was no longer at the bottom of his shuttle ramp between his Stormtrooper entourage, but was within mere feet of Lando himself (probably well within lightsaber range, Lando tried not to think about that, or how quickly the man had moved).
"Of course, my lord," was out of his mouth before he could think, not that there was any other response that wouldn't have him learning all about that alternative in great, probably excruciating, detail. "I'll gladly do whatever I can for the Empire, of course. Can I offer you and your men some refreshments while you explain what's required of me?"
The robed man's head tilted, almost appearing puzzled for a second, before straightening and bending in a nod, gesturing with one hand for Lando to lead on and with the other for the entourage to follow. "Your quick acceptance and admirable dedication to duty will be noted Baron Administrator Calrissian. In the days to come the Emperor will have need of dutiful individuals with governing experience… but I get ahead of myself. I will properly inform you on your task in private, but I can tell you in brief that a rebel ship, a freighter called the Millennium Falcon, will be arriving here shortly, carrying rebel passengers you will deliver to me, including..."
Lando listened and nodded and prepared to do everything Pedance said. Han Solo was a jackass who deserved a lot of things, but Lando knew he wouldn't be able to rest easy after delivering his old friend to the dark lord. Still, at least he would be alive to have that uneasy rest. And if Darth Pedance's trap worked and he got that Skywalker kid he was after, Han might even be alive at the end of his. Still, it hurt knowing what he was going to have to do, and Lando knew he wouldn't be able to hold Han's treachery against him, not anymore. Not now, when he was going to do something so much worse.