Chapter 52:

Vader sensed that the preparations were in order, and went down to the hangar to see his son once more before he left. Lord Atrox, he called as he arrived.

Atrox heard his father's call as he walked through the ship to the entrance ramp, Yes, Master?

Vader surveyed the ship with distaste, but simply asked, Is there anything further you require? Or are you ready to depart?

Atrox's eyes glittered as he thought about setting out on his mission. We are ready to depart, master. Would you like to inspect Solo's work on our… improvised brig?

Let me see what he has accomplished, Vader replied. He followed his son up to the storeroom-turned-detention facility, and began surveying it, critically. I assume these components have not been tested?

Atrox turned towards Vader and smirked. Let's find out. He reached out and touched Solo's mind and said, Solo, come to the brig immediately.

Solo immediately left what he was working on and returned to the brig. "You needed me, sir?"

"Have these facilities been tested?" Vader put in, coldly.

Han hesitated. "Er… no they haven't, your highness. I basically had to rewire half of it for it to even fit in here, but it'll get the job done."

Vader drew out a comlink, and thumbed it on. "Send one of the political prisoners to Hangar 12 immediately," he ordered, and replaced it on his belt. Reaching out with the Force, he switched the force cages on, watching them power up.

Atrox watched as the force cages powered on, the hum of the energy they used filling the room. His eyes slowly turned to the two scan grids in the room. He allowed his thoughts to wander as he began to think about what he would do to some of the Rebels. How he would use the scan grids to break them, if not just to cause them agony. A dark smile formed on his face as his thoughts continued.

Vader's comlink chimed, and the metallic voice of a stormtrooper stated, "Lord Vader, the prisoner you requested has arrived."

Vader turned to Solo. "Escort the prisoner up here, Admiral."

"Yes sir," Solo said, and immediately went down to carry out Vader's orders. At the foot of the entrance ramp, he was met by Mara, accompanied by two of her guards, and looking extremely annoyed. "Where is Lord Atrox?" she asked him.

Solo waved a hand up the ramp. "He and Lord Vader are inspecting the brig. They want a test subject, so I'm down here picking up a prisoner."

"I'll join you," Mara said, as the trooper escorted the prisoner up to them. Mara's eyes widened with surprise. The man was an Imperial Moff she was personally responsible for taking into custody during her time as Emperor's Hand. She could tell he recognized her, too, and remarked dryly, "Always nice to see a familiar face." She and Solo brought the man up to the brig, where Atrox and Vader were waiting.

Atrox turned to both Admiral Solo and his apprentice. A dark smile formed on his face. "Prepare him, my apprentice."

"Yes, master," she replied, not meeting his eyes. She seized the prisoner's shoulder and pulled him forward, roughly, towards the waiting scan grid. His eyes widened with fear, but she shoved him onto it, pulling a strap over him and locking it in place. Now the terror set in, and he began to struggle, striking out at Mara and anything else close by in his attempt to break free. She managed to block a kick at her stomach, her danger sense screaming a warning at her a split-second before.

Atrox sensed the danger to their baby and immediately gathered all of his anger and began to feed it into the dark side of the Force. He slammed the Moff down with such a force that he was knocked unconscious.

Mara stared down at the prisoner, one hand protectively placed over her womb, her heart racing with anger and reflexive fear for her child.

Atrox stared at Mara and sent through the Force, Come back here, Mara.

She went to him, still shaken by the unexpected danger their child had been in. F-forgive me, master.

Atrox walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. There is nothing to forgive, Mara. Atrox then directed his attention to the unconscious Moff. He used the Force to engage the rest of the restraints on the scan grid, then touched his mind, forcing him to regain consciousness. Atrox slowly walked up in front of the Moff and locked his eyes with his.

The Moff stared into Atrox's burning yellow eyes, fear and horror written across his face.

Atrox made it so that his face was mere centimeters from the Moff's. "I will make sure that you die a slow, painful death for threatening my apprentice's child." He said, his voice a deadly whisper.

The Moff opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was a frightened whimper.

Mara glared at him, fiercely. "My master will make you suffer for endangering his child, coward."

He managed to choke out a few incoherent words, but no more, his eyes riveted to Atrox's compassionless gaze.

Atrox took a step back and looked over to his apprentice. "Begin on level six... slowly increase it up to maximum." He said with a dark smile, his voice matching the darkness of his smile.

Mara stepped up to the controls, cautiously. "Yes, master." She powered on the scan grid, and it began to move toward the prisoner, slowly. She dialed up the power to the sixth setting, and stood back, well clear of the machine, still unsettled.

Han, too, was uneasy. He didn't know what it was, but something about that scan grid bothered him. He had a very, very, bad feeling about it, and wanted nothing more than to get out of the room. He suspected, however, that Atrox would not allow him to leave, and so kept quiet, and did his best not to look as uncomfortable as he felt.

Atrox looked at Han and remembered about Han's reward. "You are dismissed, Admiral Solo. We will depart when we are finished here."

Han looked up, relieved. "Thank you, sir," he said, gratefully, then left the room as quickly as he dared. Knowing that Atrox would want to leave the moment they were finished in there, he headed for the bridge, to see what could be done about getting the ship launched. He frowned as he took a look around. They would need a crew of at least 10 if they ever wanted her to get off the ground. A scream echoed down the passageways, and he winced. The sounds continued for several minutes, then fell silent.

Atrox walked up to the scan grid and turned the dial from ten back down to the deactivated position. He turned back towards Vader. "It works, master."

"Indeed it does, my apprentice. I trust you will make full use of its capabilities." He glanced at the machine in disgust. "Have someone clean that up before you depart."

"Yes, master." Atrox said then motioned two of the guards toward the scan grid. They unstrapped the body, silently, and carried it away.

Mara watched them go, contemplating what she had just seen. "He deserved it," she whispered, vehemently.

Atrox turned around, walked up to his apprentice and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Yes. He did."

Vader raised an eyebrow at them, but simply said, "Well, apprentice, it seems you have everything you require for your mission. I have full confidence that you will complete it successfully."

Atrox nodded. "Yes, master. I will not fail you, or the Empire." He said coldly.

"I know you will not," Vader replied, and with that, they went their separate ways; Atrox and Mara to the bridge, and Vader back to the Imperial Palace to resume putting the Empire back in order.

Han had more or less sorted out what they would need to operate the ship. As Atrox and Mara entered, he said, "We're going to need at least ten experienced crew if we're ever going to get this ship off the ground."

Atrox looked at Solo, a cold look in his hard, judging eyes. "First off, congratulations on the success of your improvised brig, Admiral; secondly, contact my master about personnel, he will want to approve them for this assignment, to ensure the integrity of this mission."

"Yessir, I'll contact him immediately," Solo answered. He turned away to attempt to raise the dark lord on his comlink.

"Vader. What is the problem?"

"Uh, for this ship to operate, we need an experienced crew of at least ten." Han told him, uneasily.

"You will have ten Imperial Officers within the hour." Vader said into the comlink, then shut it off, placing it back on his belt. He frowned, thinking. He noticed an Imperial aide slip down a side corridor, and followed him, wondering what he was up to.

The aid paused, as if sensing he was not alone, and Vader accosted him. "Stop there," he ordered, harshly.

The man turned, apparently calm. "Can I help you sir?"

"Come here!" Vader demanded, his tone cold and threatening.

He came towards him, slightly uneasily. Once the aide was directly in front of Vader, he entered his mind. "What are you hiding from me?"

"N- nothing, sir!" the man choked out, painfully.

Vader knew that the aide was lying and dug even deeper in to his mind, not caring about how much pain he was causing. You lie! Vader boomed inside his mind, sending dark energy into the pain centers of his brain. The man crumpled to the floor, in agony, clutching his head instinctively to protect it. Vader was surprised by the strength of the man's mental barriers, but they merely took more effort to break through. Within moments, he had shattered them, and soon after had the information he desired. He looked at the form of the broken man lying at his feet, entering his mind once more, forcing him to regain consciousness. "So… you are a Rebel spy. You are foolish for even coming here and even more so for attempting to deceive a Sith Lord."

"If it weren't for you, Skywalker, I wouldn't have had to try," he ground out past the pain.

Vader couldn't help but laugh at the Rebel's implication. "Indeed. If it were not for me, the traitorous Jedi and their vaunted Order along with the pathetic Republic they served would still be in power." He chuckled. "But it really wouldn't matter; my former master was their chancellor… until he became the late Emperor." He knelt down so that he was eye level with the Rebel, "No… I believe the one you are looking for is my apprentice, Darth Atrox," he said, a smirk present on his face.

A faintly perplexed look crossed the spy's face. "Darth…" his eyes narrowed, and he asked, shallowly, "Who are you?"

Before Vader could respond, he sensed Padmé behind him. "A- Lord Vader? What happened?"

Vader glanced at Padmé, then returned his attention towards the Rebel spy in front of him. "I caught this Rebel spy infiltrating our ranks." He chuckled for a moment. "Not only that, this pathetic excuse of a Rebel is attempting to give me credit for my apprentice's wise decision in taking up his rightful place at my side."

Padmé's face held an indecipherable expression. "I… I see."

A look of wonder mixed with fear and horror appeared on the Rebel's face. "Vader…"

Vader laughed at the figure before him. "It is not me whom you should truly fear, Rebel. The information which you hold will greatly aid my apprentice. I'm sure he will enjoy extracting it from you." Vader said as he pulled out his comlink and contacted the Executor, "Admiral Piett."

The rebel could only shiver at the tone of Vader's voice, and the meaning behind his words. Piett's voice crackled through the comlink. "Yes, Lord Vader?"

"I am temporarily reassigning you, and ten others whom you believe have the most experience on board. Meet me in my throne room within thirty minutes." Vader said, savoring the fear he felt from the man lying at his feet.

"I'll be there, Lord Vader. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that is all Admiral." Vader said into the comlink, then cut the transmission. After a moment's thought, he keyed in Atrox's code, and when it connected, he said, "I have a… gift for you, my apprentice. I believe you will find it most entertaining."

The spy, who until now had held on to consciousness, barely, collapsed to the floor again.

Atrox's surprise was evident on his face. "I will be there momentarily, master," he said, touching Mara's mind with the Force. My master has something for us. Would you like to come with me to get it?

Mara seemed to hesitate. Yes, master. I would, if you so will it.

Very well. Meet me at the entrance ramp of the ship. Atrox replied, heading for the ship's exit.

She met him at the ramp, falling into step behind him quietly. "What do you think it is?"

"I am unsure, I am... curious to see what it is."

She nodded, silently, and accompanied him to the throne room. Vader stood there, waiting for them. The captive spy hung suspended in midair behind him, still unconscious. "Apprentice. I found this lurking in the halls, and I thought it might amuse you to have it." He waved a hand at the Rebel.

Atrox turned around and looked up at the man hanging in midair and formed a dark smile on his face. "Impressive." Atrox paused, "How foolish of the Rebels to think that they could send a spy here with two Sith Lords." he sneered.

Vader chuckled. "The Rebels think they can get away with anything… especially since the destruction of Tarkin's technological terror. Do what you will with him; he may have information you can use."

Atrox's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at the Rebel hanging before him. "The Rebel Alliance is nothing without me. It truly shows how pathetic they truly are. I can't believe that I used to actually be one of them." Atrox said in disgust, turning to face his master once again. "He knows the location of the Rebel Fleet, doesn't he?"

Vader shrugged. "I'll leave that for you to discover. Personally, however, I doubt it. He may have a lead for you to follow, perhaps his contact knows more."

Atrox's dark smile grew as he thought about ways he could… motivate his prisoner. "I will enjoy extracting the information from him. Thank you, my master."

Vader nodded. "And on a related note, Admiral Piett should be waiting for you at the ship along with ten of his best men. I'm sure that the admirals could learn much from each other. Now, is there anything else you will require for this mission?"

Atrox locked eyes with his Vader, "Not that I know of, master. As soon as Piett arrives we will depart." His sickly yellow eyes narrowed as he added through the Force, And I will begin to… play with my gift.

Very well. Vader responded. May the Force serve you well, my apprentice.

I will not fail you, master. Atrox said through the Force, letting his determination seep through. With that, he turned towards the exit to the throne room, reaching out and dragging the Rebel spy behind him with the Force.

By the time they arrived at the hangar, Piett and his men had landed. The admiral approached the young Sith Lord, and bowed formally. "Lord Atrox, it is an honor to serve under your command. Lord Vader speaks very highly of you."

Atrox stopped directly in front of Admiral Piett, a cold, judging look on his face, hidden under the darkness of his black cloak's hood. He reached out and began to skim over the admiral's memories, thoughts, and personality, being gentler than he would normally be, not wanting to cause the admiral who his master spoke so highly of any pain. After several moments passed, Atrox nodded. "He also has spoken very highly of you as well, Admiral. You will be in command on this assignment. Admiral Solo is new to his rank and I feel that he may benefit from your leadership."

"As you wish, my lord." Piett responded. He met Atrox's gaze evenly, though it seemed to give him a… disconcerting sensation. Not painful, quite, but… He could tell why Vader set such great store in the younger man; the similarities between them were striking. Very striking, in fact… "What are your orders?"

Atrox chuckled when he picked up on the Admiral's thoughts. "Prepare the ship for departure. I want to leave within the hour." He paused, and his tone grew cold, the threat evident in his voice. "If Admiral Solo gives you any trouble about my orders… tell him they were my direct orders and if he wishes to take them up with me, he is certainly welcome to risk it."

"As you wish, my lord." Sensing that he had been dismissed, Piett bowed once more and departed, once again struck by how like this former Rebel was to his new master.

Upon his arrival at the bridge, he approached Solo, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Admiral Solo? Firmus Piett. Lord Atrox ordered me to serve as commanding officer under him on board this vessel."

Han started to open his mouth to object, when Piett continued. "It's not my intent to supersede your authority, Admiral. I'm just following orders. You can take it up with Lord Atrox if you wish; he felt that we would both be able to learn from each other, though I am the senior officer on this mission."

After a moment's hesitation, Solo nodded. "The bridge is yours, Admiral. Any orders?"

"Contact Lord Atrox and ask him if he has any destination in mind. If so, calculate the shortest route there. If not, then take us someplace quiet in the Mid-rim, where we can lie low until we have more information."

"Yessir. I'm on it." Han saluted, stiffly, before turning away to contact Atrox on his comlink.

Mara accompanied Atrox to the brig, where he was taking his new prisoner. Her eyes followed him, allowing her thoughts to turn over the enigma of her love for him. There were times when he was so like his father it scared her, and yet, at other times he was so different. "I'm surprised the rebels were able to even smuggle a spy in here," she admitted. "The security here is the best the Emperor could obtain."

Atrox turned towards her as he used the Force to secure his gift into one of the cells in the newly created brig. "I will be sure to extract that information as well during his interrogation. It will also provide us an excellent chance to further your training," he said coldly.

She bowed her head. "As you wish, master."

Atrox's comlink beeped, quietly, and he flicked it on. Solo's voice could be heard, faintly, as he said, "Er, sir, Admiral Piett ordered me to ask you what course you wanted set."

Atrox turned and looked at the Rebel. "I have not determined that yet. Have him lie low for now… somewhere in the Mid-Rim away from any other ships."

"Yessir. I'll get on it. Solo out."

Mara looked down at the Rebel slumped to the floor of the cage. "Looks like it wouldn't take much more to kill him."

Atrox reached out with the Force, sensing that his apprentice was correct. "Then we will have to modify… how we interrogate him." He paused. "Wake him."

She obediently reached out towards him, touching the Rebel's mind just enough to cause him to awaken. The man blinked, groggily, as he struggled to sort out his surroundings. His eyes widened as he looked up at the Sith Lord standing over him. "Skywalker…" he whispered, raggedly.

Atrox locked his eyes with the Rebel before him and glared. "Skywalker is dead, I am Darth Atrox." He said coldly.

The man chuckled, dryly. "If I were the traitor, I'd probably want to change my name too." His head felt like it was split in a thousand fragments, each in intense pain. "If you're going to kill me, get it over with. I don't have what you want to know."

Atrox began to send large amounts of dark energy into the pain centers of the Rebel's brain, knowing that anything else he did might kill his new... plaything. As he continued to send the dark energy, he growled "Oh, I don't think I will kill you… yet. My master gave you to me as a gift and I will not spoil it so quickly." Once he finished his sentence, he intensified the amount of dark energy he was sending into the Rebel, enjoying watching the agony he was in.

The Rebel's face creased in sheer agony, gasping out ragged screams as Atrox tormented him. The knowledge that he was not going to be killed only served to further his grim despair.

After several minutes, Atrox tripled the amount of dark energy he was sending into the Rebel, a dark smile on his face which only kept growing as he continued to watch him. Apprentice, use your anger from earlier and release it all on him. This is one of the proper places for your anger and rage to be freely unleashed. However, do not kill him, I want him alive.

Yes, master. Mara summoned the anger she still harbored, and released it, blasting the Rebel's mind and pushing him to the edge of endurance. Her eyes began to become more flecked with gold as she poured out her frustration and rage into him, until suddenly, the man crashed to the ground, unconscious, knocking her abruptly from his mind. Her eyes widened with surprise, and reverted to their normal green. "Forgive me, master. I- I didn't mean to take it that far." She gazed down at the Rebel, anxiously, and noted with relief that he was still alive, only… knocked out.

Atrox was thrust from the Rebel's mind as well and turned towards his apprentice, a smile present on his face. "You did well, my apprentice. Come, let us see how Admiral Piett and Admiral Solo are doing on the bridge. We will come to extract the information we require later."

"Yes, master." She followed him down to the bridge, and Solo looked up from the navicomputer as they entered.

"I've got coordinates patched in for the Zonju system. It's fairly out-of-the-way, I think it's controlled by the Hutts, but as long as we don't provoke them or look like we have anything they would want, we should be left alone."

"Very good, Admiral," Piett responded. He turned to the rest of the crew on the bridge. "Take her up." The men began powering on systems, and Piett strode over to where Atrox and Mara were observing. "I wanted to confirm our destination with you, sir. Admiral Solo has the Zonju system ready in the navicomputer, I've got the crew assembled and the ship is operational. The information Lord Vader gave me indicated that this was a covert mission, so I ordered them to pack accordingly. There wasn't time for them to change ahead of time, but I can have them in civilian gear as soon as we make lightspeed."

Atrox turned to look at Admiral Piett. "Proceed, Admiral. However, remain in uniform until I say otherwise."

"As you wish, milord." Piett watched as the crew busily brought the ship out of the hangar.

"Imperial Center Control, this is the Tardon, requesting permission to leave atmosphere."

"Tardon, this is ImperialCenter Control. You have permission to depart."

The ship cleared the city, and soon was free of the planet's atmosphere. "The bridge is yours, sir," Piett said to Atrox, quietly. "Your orders?"

"Make the jump to hyperspace. You have the bridge, Admiral Piett." Atrox said coolly as he turned around and walked out of the bridge.