Insidious

Part 11

The Father

Darth Vader stood as soon as the shuttle's landing struts touched the deck of the Death Star's hangar bay. Around him the troopers did likewise, pulling the Princess Leia Organa to her feet. She wrenched her arms away from the gloved hands and glared at the soldiers who had dared touch her. Vader smiled beneath his mask; she was bold, had spirit and a courage that many twice her age would be envious of.

She reminded him of his son.

Luke…

He had assured his master that there had been no contact with his son during his recent trip to the Tatoo system, that he had not left his ship. It had been the truth, but Sidious had paused to consider Vader's words and even across the expanse of cold space he could feel the Emperor's suspicions. Paranoia was a peculiarity of the Sith, a trait that Palpatine had hinted at even before Anakin Skywalker's fall.

"He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power…"

The story of Darth Plagueis… killed in his sleep by his apprentice and Vader knew that Palpatine nurtured that same fear. That despite his power, despite his control over the Galaxy that one day he would lose it.

Which, of course, he would and soon… for his son had taken a knee to his father!

Father and son.

"That is good, Lord Vader," Palpatine praised his loyal servant, his hologram towering over the kneeling man. He spoke as though to a child and that riled Vader's anger, as his master knew it would. "The boy's destiny approaches, but we must allow him to choose his path to us, as you chose yours and I mine."

"He will require guidance," Vader stated, vocoder deepening his tones as he gazed upon his master.

"I will decide what he requires," Palpatine spat, putting his apprentice firmly in his place. Vader may be the boy's father, but he did not dictate the direction of young Skywalker's footsteps.

Like the dutiful servant he was, Vader bowed his head in capitulation, his anger pure within the Force. "As you command, my master."

"The Dark Side cloaks your son, my friend," he gently placated, "He has followed my teachings and has proven most loyal, but the final test is almost upon him."

"I have felt it," Vader stated, for who with the ability to feel the Force had not; all of their destinies trembled on the edge of the precipice. Luke merely needed to act, to do what he had to do to prove his final allegiance to the Dark Side of the Force.

"We must see to it that he acquires the tools he will need for his journey," Palpatine stated, his voice thoughtful. "Your troops are still on the ground on Tatooine?"

"They are," Vader confirmed, trying to sense, trying feel what the Emperor was planning for his son. He was eager for Luke to join them, eager to know his son, to guide his son himself. Together they would be invincible. "They seek the droid that carries the Death Star Plans. The last report was that Jawa sandcrawler tracks had been located near the escape pod and…"

Vader fell silent, feeling Sidious's amusement through the Force. His master was not interested in creatures he knew nothing about, he was not concerned about the Death Star Plans. Palpatine knew it was only a matter of time before the schematics were retrieved.

"They are to continue the search, Lord Vader, but they now have a secondary mission. Send them to the boy's home… it is time to waken our young sleeper. It is time to give him a mandate of his own…"

"I don't know what you hope to gain from this, Vader," a young, bitter voice stated.

The hatch cracked open, the ramp extended and hissing steam and gases billowed into to the compartment.

"The information you provide, Princess, will end your Rebellion," Vader stated with surety, looking down upon her, "that is what I hope to gain."

The Princess paled, eyes flared with fear. "I don't know what you're talking about," and Vader could hear the lies behind her bluster. "I am a member of the Imperial Senate. My father will not allow…"

Vader waved her quiet. "Your father has no influence here, your Highness. Welcome to the Death Star."

He could see the startled horror rattle through her small frame and she looked beyond him into the hanger bay. Then she set her jaw, turned her face to him and lifted her chin in defiance and again he was reminded of his son, of their battle on Tatooine and of his son's determination in the face of certain defeat.

"Your Empire will fail, Vader, even if I am not here to see it," she warned. There was terror in the Princess' words, a sense of failure and a fear of more. Leia Organa was not nearly as brave and confident as she made out to be; she knew what she was facing once she was secure in the detention centre, but she controlled her fear and met her fate with courage.

And Vader was sure that his son would do the same when confronting his own destiny.

ooOOoo

The Jedi

Obi-Wan crouched down beside Luke's prone and unconscious body. The boy's head moved as he leaned over him and Obi-Wan grasped Luke's wrist, immediately feeling the strong throb of the Force. Luke did not appear to have suffered serious or permanent injury from this run-in with the Tusken's; unlike his last almost two years before during the dust storm.

It was fortunate for Luke that Obi-Wan had awoken agitated, much like he had that dreadful night, and had been dressed well before the sunsrise. The spike of warning within the Force had driven him from his home and he had followed the Force, used it to guide him to this moment, this canyon, just in time to scare off the attacking Sandpeople. If only he had been as fortunate before, he may have saved Luke from the ordeal and the injuries. That night had left Obi-Wan with a sour taste and a lingering sense of unease that he had been unable to pinpoint.

It reminded him of the Clone Wars; that there was something he was missing, something that he should know… something that was right before his eyes; or could it be that it was just something he refused to acknowledge or consciously recognise?

He leaned forward, placed his hand on Luke's forehead and sent a gentle, healing pulse though the Force, encouraging Luke to wake.

There was movement, a noise, and he threw down his hood, glanced up and saw a blue astro droid hiding in an alcove of the canyon wall.

It looked like…

No, it couldn't be… Not here.

The odds against it were astronomical. Anakin's droid had been left with Bail Organa. There were millions of these droids in the galaxy and many of them would be blue and white; Artoo Detoo's colours were hardly unique and yet…

"Hello there," he greeted and gestured with his hand, "come here my little friend. Don't be afraid."

The small droid leaned forward, issued a few concerned beeps, in Luke's direction.

The more he looked, the more he saw… the more he feared that this was Artoo.

"No loose wiring jokes…"

Had something happened, something far greater than Luke's brush with the Sandpeople?

"Oh, don't worry he'll be alright," he glanced back down at Luke as the boy stirred, eyelids fluttering as he woke. Obi-Wan placed a hand on the youth's shoulder and helped him sit up as Luke glanced about him to get his bearings and cleared the grogginess from his mind.

"Rest easy, son," the Jedi advised the waking youth, "you've had a busy day. You're fortunate to be all in one piece."

The boy rubbed the back of head, his eyes flared and he glanced up at the man over him. "Ben? Ben Kenobi? Boy, am I glad to see you!"

There was a hint of truth there, a hint of a lie.

"The Jundland wastes are not to be travelled lightly," he warned. He helped the youth stand and guided him to a nearby rock. "Tell me young Luke, what brings you out this far?"

Gesturing to the astro unit Luke explained, "this little droid. I think he's searching for a former master, but I've never seen such devotion in a droid before."

Obi-Wan looked at the droid, dread stirring in the Force; if this was Artoo and he was looking for Anakin, did this mean…?

"Ah," Luke continued, not seeing Obi-Wan's unease, or just ignoring it, "he claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours, do you know who he's talking about?"

The Jedi chilled and he slowly sat down on the rock behind him as the boy watched. It was Artoo Detoo. "Obi-Wan Kenobi…" he said, slowly, musing over the name… his name… giving himself some time to compose his twisting feelings. He became calm, trusting in the Force. "Obi-Wan. Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time… a long time."

It was true. The last time he had been called Obi-Wan was at least two years ago and that was only by the Lars' and that was because they were the only ones who knew who he really was.

"I think my uncle knew him," Luke simply stated as he closely watched the Jedi. "He said he was dead." There was an innocence to the boy, a gullibility…

or perhaps guile.

"Oh, he's not dead," Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, looked skyward, in self-deprecating humour, "not yet."

"Oh, you know him," again there was that sense of simple acceptance, of naivety.

"Well, of course I know him," Obi-wan told him, touching his chest, "he's me."

The droid whistled; not the screech that Artoo would have let loose if shocked or surprised, but just a mute little noise and Obi-Wan knew that Artoo… for he knew now that this truly was Anakin's droid… had recognised him well before he had announced his identity. There wasn't much that passed by unnoticed by Artoo Detoo except, perhaps, his previous master's slow descent from grace.

and that was an unfair judgement on a machine programmed to follow orders…

"Well, then, the droid does belong to you," the youth announced.

"Don't seem to remember ever owning a droid," Obi-Wan told him, wondering why Artoo would claim to be his. It was true, he never had actually owned a machine; all the droids he had used had belonged to the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan had never seen the need to own anything apart from the robes on his back, the boots on his feet, and the lightsaber on his belt. Which was the very opposite of Anakin who had accepted Padme's gift of Artoo Detoo, just as she had accepted his gift of See Threepio.

And thank goodness that prattling machine was not here.

"Very interesting…" he murmured, trying to gain a grip on why Artoo was looking for him. He could only have been sent by Bail Organa and…

…had something happened to Leia? Surely, not… wouldn't he have felt it if she was in danger and…

His agitation! His twisting anxiety that had sent him out this morning… perhaps it had not just been about Luke! He had been so focused on the boy all these years that he had almost forgotten about the girl. He must contact Bail Organa and…

A cry distracted them, the guttural bellow of approaching Tuskens; it rolled and echoed against the walls of the canyon.

"We'd better get indoors," he advised Luke, wanting to investigate this further, wanting to get to, and understand, the reason for Artoo's appearance on Tatooine, "the sandpeople are easily startled, but they'll soon be back and in greater numbers."

As they stood to leave Artoo let loose a shriek and waddled on his stubby legs in desperation and, as though just reminded of something, Luke clicked his fingers and uttered yet another name that Obi-Wan hadn't heard spoken in a very long time. "Threepio!"

The Force could truly be cruel at times.

ooOOoo

The Father

Angered, impatient, Vader strode through the corridors of the Death Star with the Grand Moff Wiluff Tarkin keeping step beside him. The man was talking as they walked, tone low with exacting grammar and clipped words; something about a malfunction in gunnery control, but that he was convinced the fault would be repaired within the hour. Vader remained silent, hearing but not listening.

There was still no further information from Tatooine. Still no news of the droids; no news of his son, no confirmation that his troopers had even reached the farm yet…

"… I firmly believe that this station will be the turning point. The Rebels will not dare amount an attack against us. The Emperor has given me full authority to choose my targets and has sanction the use of the primary weapon…"

…and Tarkin was pushing for a greater position within the Empire as Vader had known he would. He had no doubt that the Grand Moff and his cronies were planning a move against the Emperor. This battle station, this machine and the command of the men who manned it, had given Tarkin an inflated view of his own status.

That had been why Vader had been placed here; giving Tarkin the very false view that it was now he who commanded the Dark Lord. Vader was here to keep the Grand Moff in check, he was here to root out dissent against the Emperor, against the Sith.

Tarkin was perhaps the only person, next to Palpatine, who knew of his former identity. The only one who felt at ease to stand beside him and to give him commands. It grated on Vader's nerves, that the man thought he was better than he. It was galling… but, by allowing Tarkin to have that false sense of importance and inflated ego, Vader had the upper hand.

The Emperor believed that the Grand Moff's position on the Death Star had compelled Tarkin to, at first listen and then believe, the whispers of Motti and the like; Vader was here to refute those beliefs and remind Tarkin of his duty to the Emperor. Palpatine believed that removing Tarkin would cause a rift between Himself and his military, believed that disposing of Tarkin, that killing the man behind the successful Tarkin Doctrine would cause a chaos that the Rebel Alliance, small as it was, could exploit to its advantage.

"… better to keep him where he is. In time we can draw him away from the Death Star, bring him back to Imperial Centre and give him an inflated position to satisfy his ego while we work together to undermine him. For now… allow him his glorious moment on the Death Star… but should any of the others voice dissent, you have my permission to eliminate them."

Vader disagreed. The Death Star was an abomination, a construct of man to destroy that which created the Force itself; life.

Tarkin must die before the man wreaked havoc on the Galaxy. Vader only needed an excuse and a means of disposal that would satisfy his master. Then he could step into the breach left by Tarkin and take full control of the military… with his son at his side.

Soon he would know if his men had reached Luke; soon their master's orders would be conveyed, soon his son would be given his own mandate, his own mission and their work to remove Palpatine from power could at last begin.

Father and son!

The door drew open at the end of the corridor as he and Tarkin approached the conference room and Vader pulled his thoughts away from his plans for the man who walked by his side, away from his frustrations with the lack of progress in his hunt for the Death Star plans, away from his ambitions for his son, and concentrated on the moment at hand as he stepped into a room full of men who had no connection with the Force, no idea of its power and who all looked upon his position next to the Emperor with envious eyes.

ooOOoo