Chapter 93

Gwori - Month Twenty Seven, Day Sixteen PEF

Afternoon

Asajj watched, amused, as the crowd around Vader grew and grew, swelling from the population of the base to several thousand in a matter of minutes. How they'd bypassed the security of the base, she didn't care; Vader would investigate and kill the individual who had done it. What was done was done, though, and now he was forced to cater to the public, using the charming half smile of his as he waved to the crowd.

Staying where she was, tucked away at the back of the platform by the prototype that was being readied for flight, Asajj took the opportunity to examine the crowd.

The jubilation rang as false to her ears and examining the people only proved it to be true. Oh, there were groupies of the Sith, every world seemed to have them, but tucked within the ranks of the supporters were enforcers. She watched as one jabbed a citizen they didn't feed was screaming loud enough, forcing him to be louder. Another, just at the edge of her vision, was holding a blaster to a woman's side and the forced smile on her face was anything by convincing. There were real fans, though, with large signs and imprinted T-shirs, like he was some holo star. Which, technically, she supposed he was, however, Asajj had long since seen past the charm to the corruption beneath.

Let them scream and fawn and beg for attention. Vader's focus and attention had ever been consumed by his headstrong, but now bent, wife and now was no different. Soon, the Emperor would know of that rekindled obsession, if he didn't already, and Asajj was anticipating being the tool to end it once and for all. The former Senator deserved no less.

The sound of an engine rose above the cacophony of the crowd, a familiar whine that had her looking back towards the hangar bay of the Exactor over the tops of the crowd. Slowly, a ship rose from the landing bay and into view; a ship that Asajj hadn't thought to see in flight again.

Her ship.

The ship she'd been told was no longer space worthy.

Asajj rose partly to her feet as she watched the ship ascend vertically, ungracefully, from the deck. The hatches were all closed but even from this distance she could see there was no familiar shimmer of a shield and the cannons hung loosely. The ship trailed a few wires and cables, clearly having been put back together in a hurry.

Her eyes narrowed and she reached to the Force, searching for a sense of who the pilot was and why they'd be-

The familiar presence in the Force caught her by surprise.

Padmé!

Asajj was fully on her feet and sprinting for her new ship, which was still crawling with technicians, one eye on the ascending spacecraft. "Technician Mills!"

"Yes, Lady Ventress?"

"That ship needs to be space worthy. Now."

"We're almost finished-"

"NOW," she left no room for argument, putting the power of the Force behind her command.

"N... now... but, mistress, we haven't yet completed-"

"Do the engines work?"

"Yes."

"The shields and weapons?"

"Y-yes."

"Life support systems and structural integrity?"

"They've never been tested-"

"Then we're testing. Clear out your technicians," Asajj looked to the sky where the ship was just hitting the upper atmosphere and headed for space. "Now, Mills."

Mills paled and scrambled, barking orders to his team, which Asajj ignored, her gaze still firmly on the ship in the sky. Only as it passed beyond the barrier of the upper atmosphere did Asajj turn her gaze from it and glance across the still cheering crowd, some of them pointing at the craft while others took the opportunity to slip away during the distraction.

The figure across the plaza drew her gaze. His hands were clenched, his posture ram rod straight, and nowhere was the smiling, easy going visage that he had cultivated for the holo screens. Vader's gaze was heavenward, his expression blank, but Asajj could feel the fury radiating off him like a sun, even from where she was.

Slipping past Mills and his technicians, Asajj walked boldly up the ramp and into the small ship before he could turn and see her. Flicking off her comm. deliberately, she began the start up sequence for the ship, powering up the main controls without once taking her gaze from the control board. If she raised her head and saw Vader turn her way to stop her, she'd be vulnerable to compulsion.

Padmé had run and she wasn't about to lose this chance.

Within minutes, the ship's power was humming through the conduits and Mills stepped onto the ramp. "She's yours, Lady Ventress."

Asajj didn't respond and simply flicked the controls to close the ramp door. Diagnostics showed fluctuations in the power cycling for the shields and engines so she flicked the bypass and made a mental note to check it after she'd dealt with Padmé.

"Ventress!"

The muffled sound of Vader's Force enhanced voice reached her as her hand closed over the engine controls. Not this time; she's mine. Without waiting for Vader to continue, she flicked the controls and the engines roared to life, drowning out anything else Vader might say. Directing it swiftly off the landing pad, it slid smoothly into the sky - and stopped.

A quick glance out the viewport showed that Vader was focused completely on her, his hand outstretched, a murderous look in his eyes.

Having already set her course, and determined to follow and find reach Padmé before her now former Master, Ventress reversed the engines and aimed straight for Vader, throwing the power in the engines up to almost full as she did. The crowd scatted. The dignitaries could be seen screaming as the people ran in a panic. Vader was forced to jump aside, rolling as he hit the deck, his grip on her ship broken. She checked the viewport and proximity sensors and laughed as she passed barely 2 meters over where he lay prone, shooting into the sky and climbing sharply to escape his grasp.

Within moments, she was hurtling into space, following the same trajectory her old vessel had taken.

Her sensors already running at full power, searching for the craft she'd been using for the last several months, Asajj searched the skies for the glow of the engines. Adjusting the sensors to the frequency she knew the engines outputted, she scanned for and found a trail; particles from the engine's passing. It was strong, stronger than it should have been, telling her with certainty that the craft was operational but only just.

Padmé had to have been desperate to take the ship.

Which would make her job easier; there were only so many places that Padmé would be able to go in the ship's limited capabilities. Likely, she'd try and get rid of it quickly, to prevent being followed as Asajj was doing now.

Checking the trail, Asajj calculated the various destinations on the route that the ship had gone, clearly no longer in the system, indicating that the hyper drive was still functional. Padmé wasn't that good of a mechanic; had she convinced someone to help her? The comm. beeped, indicating that she had an incoming call. Flicking off the comm. system, she ignored it, knowing her former Master would be at the other end. She wasn't going to give him the chance to stand her down. Padmé had run and this was her chance to finish this before Vader could get into the skies; once he did, it was only a matter of time before he tracked both of them down.

"Lord Vader? Is there cause for concern?"

"A little demonstration by my apprentice," Vader pushed himself to his feet, glaring at the retreating craft and mentally counting the ways in which she would pay for such blatant disobedience. "We're in no danger."

"And the craft before?"

"Unimportant," or it would be once it was blasted from the sky. Whomever had taken the hunk of ship junk away would be dealt with swiftly for interrupting the ceremony. He flicked his comm. "Bridge."

"Yes, Lord Vader."

"Hail the ship and deploy fighters."

"We will need to gain altitude to deploy the fighters, Lord Vader."

"Prep for take off immediately." Snapping the comm. off, he looked towards the dignitary briefly. "We're done. Get out. Now."

Without waiting for an answer, he turned sharply on his heel and swept towards the ramp of the Exactor, his pace swift but just shy of an all out run. To run would confirm the dignitary's question as true and the last thing Vader wanted was this splashed across the holonet with him sprinting towards the ship.

He flicked the comm. as it beeped. "Vader."

"No answer, M'Lord," the communication officer reported.

A low growl formed in the back of his throat and he flipped the switched the comm. channel. "Artoo, I need you to get the ship prepped."

There was a crackle of static and then dead air.

Vader frowned, shaking his wrist and and tried again. "Artoo?"

More static and dead air, almost like the connection couldn't get through. But who would be blocking the channel Artoo used? His gaze went to the ship that was dwindling in the distance, his eyes narrowing. Ventress. Flipping the channel back to the bridge, he was short. "Bridge, patch me through to my droid."

"One moment, Lord Vader."

Vader neared the ramp leading back into the Exactor as the engines began the audible part of their wind up. His boots hit the desk with quick, resounding steps even as his comm. crackled back to life. "Lord Vader?"

"What is it, Captain?"

"There appears to be a problem establishing a connection with your droid, sir."

"What kind of problem?"

"According to the computer, the connection can't be established as it's no longer on the ship."

"And his tracking beacon?"

There was a pause. "Inactive, sir, and not responding to remote activation."

"Keep looking Captain. I want him found."

No longer on the ship? Vader frowned as he turned the phrase over in his mind. Where would Artoo have gone? The droid would normally have been at his side for the inspection of the facility, but he'd opted to stay behind with Pad-

Padmé!

Vader spun on his boot heel and looked straight into the sky where neither ship was visible any longer.

Asajj had taken off quickly following the take off of her old ship. As angry as Vader had been at the daredevil pilot who'd broken into the festivities, he'd seen the shape the ship was in and expected it would likely come crashing down quickly. It hadn't... and Artoo was missing. A hollow feeling took hold in the pit of his stomach. Artoo wouldn't have... he'd returned her to the ship before, there was no reason to think he was on board Asajj's old ship... was there?

Taking the swiftest route back to his quarters, Vader felt his anger and fear climbing as he noted the lack of guards posted in the corridor.

"Padmé?" Calling out as he unlocked the door, Vader knew immediately he'd receive no answer. Her energy was missing; Padmé was gone. Tearing through his quarters to be sure, he found several items missing and no sign of his wife or their droids. His quarters felt... empty. Lonely.

Furious, he stepped into his office and headed straight for his desk.

A quick check of Artoo's and Threepio's tracking chips and he found they were reading offline, as was the one for Asajj's old ship.

He typed in a new command and received an error, requesting his password. Several errors later and a notification of a lock out had a cry of denial and rage tearing from his throat. His desk had been tampered with, most of his personal files encrypted or deleted, everything scrambled or inaccessible. Mountains of data was missing from his personal archives, including, but not limited to, the every report surrounding the twins, every mention of anyone named Luke or Leia, everything he tried to bring up on Obi-Wan was scrambled. File after file was either deleted or encrypted with a rotating randomized algorithm which would make it nearly impossible to crack.

Only one droid he knew used that encryption.

Artoo!

Padmé was gone.

Artoo and Threepio were gone.

His office had been tampered with, his whole search for the twins wiped clear away as if it had never begun.

Artoo how could you?!

His desk shattered as he brought his hands down, putting them into and then through durasteel and wires, the power of the Force in his fists, an incoherent roar of denial tearing from his throat.

Vader had been betrayed by the one friend he'd had left... and they would all pay.