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Chapter 13

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Vader's Shuttle - Hyperspace - Month Twenty Three, Day Nine PEF

The shuttle ride back to the Exactor was relatively quiet and Vader took the controls himself. None of the pilots complained as it was widely known that Vader was unmatched in any aerial vehicle. Not that they would have complained otherwise. To do so would have been to die a quick, pointless death.

Asajj was the only other passenger in the cockpit, Vader having made everyone else vacate only moments after entering Hyperspace. He was staring at her now, his arms crossed over his chest, one gloved finger tapping at the opposite bicep as he examined her thoughtfully. His gaze was unnerving, as if contemplating something unmentionable - and unbearable - for the duration of their hyperspace flight.

In an attempt to divert his attention, she broached the dangerous topic of his wife. "Padmé is the Jedi Hunter."

"So it would appear."

"The missing Jedi was not enough proof for you?"

"Should it have been? This is a fairly active system, Ventress. Many people land to resupply."

"Yet none have the same track record as Padmé."

"True." He leaned back in his chair, his hand dropping to the waistband of his trousers.

Asajj flinched and looked away.

Harsh laughter echoed in the cockpit. "Nothing so crude, Ventress."

A piece of flimsi floated into view and she removed it gingerly from the invisible grasp. "What is this?"

"The Hunter's trademark." His tone was dry. "My wife's way of saying hello."

Asajj read the contents and arched her eyebrows. The words "We were here but now we're gone - you never could take a hint" were slashed across the page in block lettering, indistinct and untraceable. "Her idea of a joke?"

"I have something of a collection. One for every Jedi she's spirited away."

"Are they all the same?"

"Never."

"Then why?"

"A shot at my pride, I am sure."

"The only shot she is capable of." Contempt laced Asajj's words. "Perhaps I should instruct her on how to wound you properly."

He reached across, planting one hand on her thigh as the other retrieved the flimsi. His fingers dug in painfully, a silent lesson for her to mind her tongue before he leaned back and away. His fingers caught across her skirt, pulling the fabric to the side and allowing it to fall - revealing the skin underneath from her boot to the top of her thigh. The purple welts on her white skin were clearly visible as to where his fingers had been. "Watch your tongue, or I shall find better uses for it."

Asajj glared at him. Her face still stung from the backhand he'd delivered earlier - but she didn't hold her tongue. "That is a matter of opinion."

"And yours is one I am not interested in." Glittering dangerously, his eyes warned her of her punishment should she continue being insubordinate. "What else do you know of Padmé's plans?"

"The information on the ship yard is being analyzed for infiltration points. I was sent to investigate a certain prison complex on Yaga Minor."

"The political prisoners." A smug smirk crossed his lips. "So she's not changed as much as you seem to think."

"It is for distraction purposes only. I believe she may be after the records more than the prisoners themselves."

"I see." Vader rubbed his thumb over the tips of his fingers absently, contemplating the information and their current predicament. "How long is your mission supposed to take?"

"You do not honestly think I will return to her after this!" Asajj was half out of her chair before she realized it.

Vader planted one hand firmly in the center of her chest and pushed her back down. "Not only will you return, but you will return with the information she requires."

"I will never help that sorry excused of an- urk!" She gasped, her words cut off by the sudden cessation of air to her lungs.

Vader's outstretched hand was semi-clenched, the invisible fingers of the Force having wrapped themselves around her throat and were squeezing, preventing her from finishing the sentence. "I would rethink what you are about to say, Asajj; carefully."

Clawing at her throat, she nodded once and the pressure eased, but didn't disperse completely. As if Vader waited for her to slip again. "I will not help anyone who assists Jedi!"

His hand relaxed and the pressure eased all together. "And so you are not."

She blinked, surprised. "You said I would return to her with the information she required."

"And so you shall."

"How is that not helping her?"

"Padmé will never get the opportunity to use the information."

It took a moment before Asajj realized what Vader was hinting towards. "You wish to trap her."

"You are correct." Vader's eyes fairly gleamed with anticipation. "You will bring her to me."

"She'd be better off dead!"

Snap!

Asajj didn't even have the time to inhale before Vader slammed bodily into her, his hand about her throat, pinning and holding her to the wall. The snapped base of the chair she'd been sitting in was visible just beyond his shoulders as she clawed at his hand. His finger tips dug into the tendons of her neck, cutting off the blood flow to her brain and black spots started to encroach on her vision almost immediately. In seconds she'd be unconscious and she kicked out in an attempt to dislodge him. Vader's body pressed closer, rendering her small rebellion futile in a matter of heartbeats. His breathing seemed to be matching the furiously labored drum of her heartbeat.

"Is that your opinion of your current circumstances?"

Unable to breathe or move, she simply stared at him. The grip on her throat effectively immobilized her head and the pressure against the arteries was giving her tunnel vision. Her fingers still clawed at his, but weaker now as her strength drained away with her ability to think.

"I thought not."

Blood rushed through her system as his fingers eased off on the pressure. Lightheaded, Asajj couldn't find the words to refute his claim. No matter what she said, it would make her a liar. Those who are unhappy with their lives don't fight to keep them. Regardless of her circumstance, Asajj had no desire to die.

Vader's hand slid from the threatening position down to rest on the V of her collar bone, his fingers lightly touching the sides of her neck. Asajj barely heard what he told her, the words registering in the back of her mind, but not coalescing into any semblance of order as he spoke in a concise fashion. Shaking her head to clear it, Vader paused.

"You have another objection?"

Mild though his words were, there was a dangerous undertone; a warning flag for her to tread carefully. Heeding it - she had no desire to encourage what he would likely use to punish her next - she pitched her objection diplomatically. "What you are proposing is possible, Master. Providing she does not attempt to kill you again."

"I should think you would want her to succeed."

"If I believed her capable, you would be long dead and we would not be having this conversation."

"Or the… pleasure of your company?" The gleam she'd grown to loathe and fear came back to his eyes as his hand curved about her hip and began to slide upwards with near-painful pressure. "Kill her and you seal your own fate, Ventress. I have a use for you yet, and you will cooperate."

There was no question of fighting when Vader's face drew near hers, or when his hands found the fastenings to her clothing - only acceptance. Acceptance that, for the here and now, there was nothing she could do to defy him and win.

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Vader's Flag Ship Exactor - Month Twenty Three, Day Sixteen PEF

Pain exploded through her shoulders as Asajj lifted her arms over her head, reaching for the ceiling of her quarters. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to continue the stretch.

Examining herself dispassionately in the full length mirror, she took note of the new bruises and wounds. Her near-naked body was marked, her jaw still sore from its recent healing. Vader had dislocated it violently in getting his point across, tearing several tendons, and she'd spent the better part of last three days in the bacta tank. Her shoulders were stiff from the workout he'd put her through the previous night both in the training salle - and in her bunk.

Shying away from the thought - and the way he'd taken great satisfaction in making her respond to him and his ministrations - she focused instead on the purple welts across her torso.

A round impact mark in the center of her chest marked where Vader's heel had struck. Five welts along her hip, four at the back and one at the front, marked where his hand had grabbed her. Another five along her left deltoid and bicep and yet another along the back of her right shoulder and along her collar bone. A fading yellow and green band around her waist displayed where his legs had scissored and struck, squeezing her so tightly her back had cracked in two places.

That had been another reason for her stay in the bacta tank.

Determined to find some effective means of striking back at him, when she wasn't on the mat - or in her bunk - catering to his whims, she spent the time vigorously training to withstand his next round of assaults; or in the bacta tank recovering from them. Vader was a harsh Master, brokering no disobedience and allowing no rebellion. No visible rebellion. The man truly was a disciple of the darkside and while Asajj loathed and hated him, she also grudgingly admired him for what he had become; a weak Jedi who had taken the power of the darkside and bathed in it so thoroughly there were few conceivable weaknesses.

Padmé, from what she could see, was the only one. And one Vader had strictly forbade her to do away with. Her lips twisted into a sneer as she lowered her arms, reveling in the ache of honest hard work.

Vader allowed nothing and no one around him to dictate his agenda save the Emperor, and Asajj had begun to notice that Vader often interpreted his orders to suit himself. Her own continued existence only showcased his independent streak and she doubted her Master answered to his own in the ways she did. Somehow, despite having met Darth Sidious, she couldn't see Vader complying meekly with his every order though she did see him fulfilling them to his own gain. The Emperor would have to watch his back lest his apprentice decide to try and seize power.

Turning away from the mirror, Asajj began to dress. A meeting had been scheduled for this morning between her and Vader, one she dared not to arrive late to. He'd spent the better part of the last week "informing" her of his displeasure with her desire to eliminate Padmé as a threat. He'd become impossibly more violent, but controlled, making his points in the most painful and non permanent ways possible. She had no desire for a repeat of their encounter on the shuttle or the last session in his office and training salle. The man was insatiable - in more ways than one - and had no qualms about using any means to get his way.

Tugging on her boots, she secured the fasteners and checked her appearance once more. Other than the shadow along her jaw that was quickly fading, none of her injuries were visible. A nod to her reflection and she turned on her heel, heading for the door.

Vader was absent when she stepped into his office minutes before their appointment. She took the opportunity to study the place, dispassionately viewing the newly repaired desk and console. Her legs ached just looking at it and she turned her attention instead to the holo image on the wall. Blue skies, green plains and waterfalls in the background. A strangely beautiful piece that seemed out of place with Vader's darker tendencies. A display plaque below it read "The falls on Naboo."

That explained it.

Asajj's lips twisted a she turned away.

"Not to your taste, Ventress?"

To her credit, she didn't jump at his amused inquiry but it gave her no comfort - she hadn't heard him, or sensed him, enter. "I prefer the storm clouds of Kamino to the sunny skies of Naboo." Squaring off with him, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you have another lesson to teach me today?"

"Only if you persist in your stubborn objective." Vader settled himself on the edge of his desk. Asajj despised him for it - at least behind the desk there was a semi-barrier between them. "Do you?"

"It will be your funeral."

"Something, I am sure, you would not dare miss even if it were to simply dance on my grave." Vader regarded her intently. "You will be expected back with the rebels shortly, Asajj. Do you understand what you are to do?"

A shadow crossed her features as she glared at him. "Against my better judgment, yes."

"I do not keep you for your judgment. There will be no mistakes this time, Ventress. You have two weeks to accomplish your mission. If you have not succeeded by then, your usefulness to me as a field agent will need to be reevaluated."

The insinuation caused a shiver of dread to skate down her spine and, bowing low, she stepped back and away. She refused to even consider what capacities he might keep her around for, caged and chained to submit to his will. "It is not much time."

"It is more than you require. You will be expected to return with the information you were dispatched to assemble within the next couple of days." Vader lifted one hand and a data disk rose from one of the half-open drawers of his desk. It moved quickly and smoothly to Asajj, who accepted it with one hand. "That disk holds a good deal of information about the prison facility, including a list of prisoners who were there in the last week. There are holo images taken with generic micro-binoculars and schematics of the base. Delete what you cannot use on your way back to Padmé."

Pocketing the disk, Asajj waited, knowing there would likely be more. She wasn't disappointed.

"You fighter has been tampered with to appear to have taken some damage as well as having been on Yaga Minor. The radiation signature has been slightly altered to coincide with the Sun's levels this past week. Your clothing has also been treated to appear to have been well used though the smell may make the interior of your cockpit uncomfortable for the return journey."

"You have thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Perhaps." Vader straightened. "Once you return to Padmé, proceed with the plan as we have discussed."

"Of course Master, was there anything else?"

"Do not fail me, Asajj."

She didn't intend to. With a nod and a half bow she turned and departed, As much as she hated Padmé and what choices she'd made, part of Asajj hated Vader more. They deserved one another.