Bail Organa sat at one end of the long conference table, while the formidable Darth Vader sat at the other. They had been sitting in silence for too long now, and Bail was becoming anxious. He knew why Vader was here, but he needed to hear him say it.

Vader's voice finally boomed out through the silence. "I am sure you know why I have come."

The viceroy swallowed hard, his temper flaring slightly. He hated Vader's games. "Not just to terrorize our civilians?"

"You know I wouldn't terrorize your people without a purpose."

Bail almost let out a bitter laugh at his lies. Thinking back many years, he wondered what purpose slaughtering younglings had. "You have precedent."

All of sudden, Bail felt a slight constriction around his throat. No air was coming in or out of his lungs and he struggled slightly against the invisible hand grasping his throat.

"Don't. Test me, Viceroy."

Vader released Bail, who glared at him while he caught his breath. He should have seen the Force-choke coming, not that it would have stopped him from calling out Vader.

"I wish to speak with your daughter," Vader rumbled.

"Princess Leia?"

"Do you have another daughter, Viceroy?" Vader responded tersely, his patience running low. "Where is she?"

Bail decided to stall. "Is that why you have your soldiers searching the city?"

"Answer me!" Vader boomed.

"She is not here, Lord Vader. She is off-planet."

"I know about her meeting with the Emperor on Coruscant. He told me it was...strained."

"That surprises me. Princess Leia is very tactful and diplomatic," Bail replied.

Vader ignored Bail's comment and continued, "The Emperor also informed me that there was a great disturbance in the Force not long after their meeting. He felt its presence was near. Do you know anything about that?"

He knows. He knows about Leia.

"That's impossible. The only Force-users still alive are you and the Emperor. Maybe something happened to you and he felt it. That's the only way I could explain it," Bail said.

"Always a possibility, Viceroy," Vader droned. "But I would feel more comfortable confronting this matter with the Princess herself. As a precaution. I am sure you understand."

Bail gulped, his heartbeat quickening ever so slightly. "Certainly, Lord Vader. But as I said, she is not here. I am not sure when she will return."

Darth Vader stood up and reached his full stature, then approached Bail's side of the long table. Inches away from Bail's face, he said, "Then maybe you can tell me where she is."

The viceroy struggled to slow his pulse as he answered, "Honestly, she is probably in hyperspace right now. I don't know how you would find her." Bail hoped he wasn't pushing his luck too much.

"Then tell me her destination!" Vader roared. Bail had pushed too much.

Bail's mind raced as he tried to think of a planet on the opposite side of the galaxy from Dantooine. He needed to throw Vader off the trail.

"Bakura. She's on Bakura," Bail stated as confidently as possible.

Vader immediately straightened up. "Bakura. Thank you for being reasonable, Viceroy Organa."

Keeping up the act, Bail asked, "What will you do once you find her?"

"Merely speak with her and relay the information to the Emperor. You will not find her harmed."

What will happen to her once he doesn't find her on Bakura? Bail wondered.

"Thank you, Lord Vader, I am truly grateful."

Vader nodded and swiftly turned to leave the room. "My troops will now leave your presence. Pray we won't have meet again for a long time, Viceroy."

I will. Bail thought as Vader swept out of the conference room.

Leia paced around her quarters on Dantooine nervously, wringing her hands and trying to decide what to do. She desperately wanted to call Oliver again, but she didn't want to put anyone in danger. Multiple times, Leia's finger lingered over the holoprojector button, then flinched back. She tried sitting down and reading some environmental reports for the new Rebel base, but couldn't focus on the first sentence. Leia huffed and threw the reports aside.

"I won't even sleep if I don't take action," Leia said to herself. She turned to the holoprojector and sent a transmission to Oliver, her heart thrumming in her ears as she waited for him to pick up. But he never did. Leia considered leaving a message for him, but thought otherwise and ended the transmission.

Leia dejectedly picked the reports up off the floor and started to flip through them again. After ten minutes of reading the same sentence over and over again, she let out a frustrated sigh and started another transmission. Once again Oliver didn't pick up, but this time Leia decided to leave a message. It was a secure transmission after all.

"Hi, Oliver, I just...really want to make sure you're all right. I haven't heard from anyone in a couple hours and I don't know if you or my family is okay. You mean the galaxy to me, and I need you to be okay. Please..." Leia choked up for a moment. "Please stay safe. You still need to take me on that epic date we talked about." She laughed lightly. "Send me a transmission when you get this. Goodbye."

Vader bowed before the hologram of his master, part reverence and part fear.

"Have you found the Princess of Alderaan, Lord Vader?" The Emperor asked.

Slowly rising, Vader replied, "I have not, Master. However, I have retrieved the location of the Princess. She is on Bakura, or so Viceroy Organa told me."

"Hmmm...I would not be so trusting of the Viceroy's information. He has never been an easy man to break. I do not believe he would release his daughter's whereabouts so...willingly," the Emperor drawled.

"There were some methods of persuasion involved, I assure you."

The Emperor smiled, sickly imagining all of the methods his apprentice may have used. "I have no doubt, Lord Vader. But I suggest you check your facts. Who may be an easier alternative for interrogation?"

Vader paused to think, then responded, "My intelligence troops discovered that she is involved in a romantic relationship. Perhaps he could provide us with an alternate opinion."

Once again, Emperor Palpatine's lips twisted into a grotesque smile. "Ah yes. Capture the boy and bring him before me. Love can make one weak. You of all people would know that, Lord Vader," he said with a cackle.

Vader grimaced underneath his helmet, but still replied formally, "I will find him, my Master."