Chapter Twenty-One
Vader prowled around the rooftop of the building beside his mansion like a giant cat. From here he could see anyone attempting to enter or leave the grounds, and he had felt his son land on Coruscant – Imperial Center – only an hour ago. It may take time, but Vader planned to be waiting when Luke came calling.
He thought back to his conversation the previous night with the Princess. He had felt her roaming the mansion, but hadn't expected her to walk in on him making himself a midnight snack – without his suit, no less. Not the healthiest thing for him to do, but he did it anyway.
He had thought his home was bigger than that.
Apparently not.
She hadn't known who he was, that much was certain. She had actually pitied him! He resisted the urge to laugh. He didn't need her pity.
It was kind of nice, to have someone care like that . . .
But he didn't need it. He was a Dark Lord of the Sith; he needed nothing but the Force.
He would have to watch her even more carefully now – and what would happen when he no longer had any use for her? He had planned to use her as a hostage against the Alliance (he couldn't exactly kill her, if his son cared about her) but if she ever began to suspect he was the man she had seen in the kitchen last night --
Unacceptable.
He watched the scene below for any sign of Luke. It was quiet so far. He watched Solo and Piett make their way up the front walk. They'd be looking for him, but he had more important things to deal with at the moment.
Han and Piett walked through the huge front hall of Vader's mansion after hiring the four pilots they needed. "Is he here, do you think?" Han asked in a hush voice, a bit intimidated by the never ending black of the mansion's interior.
Piett opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off. "Nope, he's outside," Jix said, strolling up to them with his hands in his pockets, looking completely at home. "Waiting for his kid."
Piett's eyes grew huge. Jix threw up his hands. "You didn't know either? By the Force, he's antisocial! Okay, here's the scoop --"
"Is it going to get me killed?" Piett wanted to know, but Jix rolled right over his objection and told him the whole story anyway.
"His name's Skywalker, he's the one who blew up the Death Star . . ."
It was only when Jix was finished that Han looked around again, and saw the Princess standing at the top of the stairs. From the look on her face, she had heard every word Jix had spoken.
She ran. Acting on a strange protective instinct, Han followed.
Vader smiled as Luke crept up to the gates of his mansion. The child was looking furtively around to make sure no one was watching, but he was not trained enough to remember to look up. Vader jumped off the roof, using the Force to cushion his silent fall.
He landed on his feet, catlike, behind the boy. Luke whirled around at the soft crunch of his boots on the duracrete, and his eyes widened. He gulped, but to his credit, he quickly composed his face into a passively blank look and calmly ignited his lightsaber, a shimmering blue Vader knew all too well.
So that's what Obi-Wan did with my old blade . . . Vader's eyes narrowed as he ignited his own weapon. "The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."
Luke swung. Vader easily blocked and returned the blow, and the battle had begun.
Han caught the Princess's arm just before she made it to the door to her room. He swung her around to so that her back was to the wall, his hands on either side of her.
"Move," she demanded, sounding as if she were fighting tears.
"No," Han shot back.
Her chin rose. "I don't want to talk to you!"
"Tough."
"I just found out my best friend is an Imperial. Can you blame me for wanting to be alone?"
"He's not an Imperial, Princess --"
"He's Vader's son!"
"He doesn't know that."
That shut her up for a moment. "What?"
"He doesn't know, Princess. He's as loyal to you and the Rebellion as ever. He's here to attempt to rescue you."
Understanding dawned on her face."I was bait."
Han nodded. "Don't be angry with him, Leia. I have a feeling that once Lord Vader is done with him, he's going to need you more than ever."
Vader forced the boy back against one of the large gates that housed the mansion, and then away, sliding into the shadows of the dark, smooth walls. Vader , thanks to his mask, didn't even have to blink, but the sudden change in light threw Luke's perception off, the glow from the lightsabers distorting his vision until his eyes adjusted to the dark. He tried to whirl out of the shadows, into the street, where he would have better vision and more room to maneuver, but Vader kept him firmly at the wall, trying to keep the fight as private as possible.
"You have learned much, young one," Vader commented, pleasantly surprised. Had he taught himself all this?
"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Luke snapped back. Vader mentally shook his head. How disrespectful.
"Your destiny lies with me," Vader said as he feinted a cut at Luke's neck, only to change direction mid-swing and swipe at his legs. The child barely managed to jump over the blade. "Obi-Wan knew this to be true."
"No!" Luke shouted, but a blow aimed at his shoulder distracted him enough so that he didn't say anything else on the matter. He used the Force to jump up onto the the twenty foot wall.
"Impressive," Vader said, smirking behind his mask as he looked up at his son, who was eying him warily. "Most impressive." Then he jumped up beside him.
Luke was wide-eyed. He hadn't expected such an agile move from the armour-clad warrior. "Shall we continue?" Vader asked pleasantly.
Luke swung again.
Leia stared hard at the Imperial before her, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. If she ignored he uniform, she had to admit he was quite handsome . . .
A strange noise distracted her. She glanced down the hall and out of the huge window at the end. "By the Force," she gasped in shock.
Luke and Vader were dueling on top of the wall.
"For the love of . . ." Han said, his jaw going slack.
There were footsteps on the stairs. "Hey, you two, can we join the party?" Jix asked, Piett hovering at his shoulder. The two men followed their gazes. "Holy Force," Jix breathed. The four of them ran to the window.
"Ten credits says one of them falls off," Jix breathed, enchanted by the sight of the dancing lightsabers.
"Which one?" Han replied.
"Don't you dare bet on something like this!" Leia ordered in a tone so like Vader's all three Imperials unconsciously stood a little straighter. "Life and death isn't a game."
"Don't worry about the kid," Jix said soothingly. "Uncle D won't kill him. He is his kid, after all."
Leia gave him a funny look. "Uncle D?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "And you aren't dead yet?"
"What can I say?" Jix shrugged. "He loves me."
Leia snorted and turned her attention back to to duel outside the window -- just as Luke stumbled.
Luke had thought he was holding his own fairly well until he tripped and nearly fell off the wall. Instead he was flat on his back on the top of it, while Vader held his crimson lightsaber to his throat. "You are beaten," Vader informed him. "It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."
Luke gathered the Force around himself as Yoda had taught him and used it to leap back and up, away from Vader's blade and to his feet. He barely had his footing before he slashed at Vader, determined to hurt him before the monster got his guard back up.
His blade smacked into Vader's shoulder. The Sith shied back from it; combined with the protective layers built into the suit, the blade didn't sink in very far, but Luke did glimpse an angry, cauterized red welt underneath the folds of the suit before Vader forced his to run backwards along the wall, he came on to him with such a vengeance.
Luke realized he didn't have a chance approximately two seconds before Vader slashed his hand and lightsaber from his body.
Leia gasped and tears came to her eyes as the four companions watched Luke's hand tumble over the side of the wall. "Ouch," Jix commented. Leia smacked him on the back of the head.
"What's he saying?" Leia asked anxiously, as Vader's helmeted head bobbed up and down in speech.
"How should we know?" Jix asked irritably, rubbing the back of his head.
They all heard Luke's scream of, "NO!" as Vader took out his comlink. Jix's rang.
"Hey Uncle D! Great battle! We've been watching!"
"We?" Vader asked dangerously.
"Yeah! Me, and Han, and Firmus, and Princess Whats-Her-Name."
"Leia," Vader and Leia said at the same time.
"Her name is Leia," Vader continued. "Send a medical squad out. And have a couple girls prepare a room next to the Princess's.
"Sure thing, Uncle D." The connection ended. "To answer your question, darling," Jix said to Leia, "I think our young Mr Skywalker just found out who his daddy is."