Rage sat back sulking as she stared into the holo image. The face that was displayed in perfect 3-D image was smiling from ear to ear. His nicely fitted white uniform hugged his body perfectly as he leaned back in his formchair and swirled the glass of red liqueur in his hand. His glow red eyes projected his amusement.
"So the mighty Lady Rage Vader is defeated by a rebel mercenary." Grand Admiral Thrawn chuckled and regarded the liquid in the snifter thoughtfully. "Oh, to have been there to see that."
"He was no mercenary, had to be an Infiltrator. Probably friggin Team 6 scum. Wasn't my fault, his blaster was booby-trapped. And Drakahn failed." Rage muttered looking down at her gloved hands. She pushed the dark sunglasses up her nose to better conceal her still healing eyes, even though the lights in the room were already dimmed. The Doc hadn't been kidding about the sensitivity to light. Thrawn chuckled and took a sip of the liqueur, swirling it around in his mouth in a cultured way before letting it slide down his throat and enjoying the sweet, smoky burn.
"Ah! A nice Alderaanian vintage so old the berries this nectar sprang from were ripe upon the vine the year Alderaan decided to be eternal victims and set their defenses adrift in the cold reaches of space." He smelled the glass then took another drink. "The sweet taste of ignorance."
"Yeah yeah, I get your point. I underestimated the situation a little." Rage sat back rolling her eyes behind her glasses.
"More like you got caught up in the Thalcein female's little holodrama - parents killed in front of her youthful eyes - the story does seem to ring a bell." Thrawn smiled kindly at her, a dark brow raised as though in speculation.
"I was happy to see my parents die." Rage bristled. Besides the Emperor and Lord Vader, only Thrawn or Reg would dare speak to her like this without fear of instant retribution.
"Of course, but that doesn't change the scenario. You connected with her and it broke your concentration. That and I'm sure the rebel was skilled, but that does not change the fact you should have been with Drakahn to destroy Barryk. You wanted the Messenger to fail and gambled that if you were not present when he faced Barryk, he probably would die. So, you came up with a plan to ensure you weren't there to aid him."
"You know, sometimes I'm glad you're out in the rim." Rage looked at him blankly and rubbed her face as Thrawn chuckled. If Thrawn could so easily deduce what she had done, her superiors would also have figured it out.
"You think I would provide any insight that the Emperor doesn't all ready possess?" Thrawn found this darkly amusing and chuckled, swirling his snifter again.
"I can hope. Speaking of which, I should be leaving for my debriefing with his Excellency. I will speak to you later Thrawn."
"Take care of yourself Rage. I am impatiently awaiting your return!" Thrawn nodded his expression one of thinly veiled concern.
"May the force be with you." Rage smiled, but it faded quickly when she clicked off the holo-feed and sliding on the heavy Sith armor. She listened as the airtight seal brought the leather tight to her body with a hiss and her eyes traveled to her skull like helmet on her desk. Much like Lord Vader's but slightly less violent, it was sculpted for her from an artists rendition of a Sith glyph. Rage regarded the helmet and considered sliding it on to hide behind the black eyepieces, to use it as a break between her and the Emperor's anger. Wouldn't work. Lord Vader wore full Sith armor all of the time, slightly modified for his damaged lungs and faced the Emperors terrible temper and was disciplined just as harshly for his infrequent failures. She could not hide from that kind of abuse, no matter how she had tried. She turned and walked out, leaving the helmet behind. The best way to handle these situations was to allow the force as her defense, the dark side that empowered her Master's anger now her only friend.
****
She knelt and stared at the floor as she listened to Lord Vader breathe. He stood to her left, having arrived long before she had entered the throne room while the Emperor stood near his throne speaking to an aide. As the conversation halted and Palpatine's eyes shifted to her, Rage sensed the darkest being in the galaxy move approach. She knew he was angry, though she could never quite judge just how angry. His presence was deeply shrouded in an opaque darkness but at the moment she guessed even someone not open to the force could sense the Sith master's fury. Rage looked down at the dark floor through her glasses and the image of his face reflected back at her in the polished black stone. She was terror struck.
"Rise, Lady Vader." His voice crackled out at her. The word 'Vader' a name from the Sith language, a word that could cause terror in the hearts of Imperial officers, held no power when spoken by the Emperor. To him, 'Vader' merely described the two being before him – two being bent to his will. Rage stood and looked down at him.
"You have failed me, Vader. I sent you to deal with a simple problem and you failed. The way that you handled yourself in this matter is shameful to both the Imperial house and the Imperial Navy. You have disgraced us." The words were laced heavily with the Dark Side and each was a slap in the face. Rage knew that it should have been Drakahn standing here, not her and in a flash, her temper slipped.
"Master, you have been misinformed. The Messenger was the one who has failed. Drakahn was the one unable to control Rehn Gade – the idiot fell in love with a child that was born when he was already old! The situation was stacked poorly in the first place." Rage's fists clenched and only after she had spouted out her tantrum did she feel how shallow it was. Thrawn had been right - she had wanted The Messenger to fail. So what if Barryk and Rehn got away, just as long as she had been proven right and Drakahn, a competitor for both Vader and Palpatine's regard, was destroyed.
The Emperor's punishment was sudden and swift, mental slap that made her lock her jaw in pain. Palpatine, although frail in body, had no need for others to inflict his punishment. Her nose began to bleed profusely, spilling two heavy trickles of crimson down her lips and chin as her brain practically ruptured from the attack. Rage staggered heavily but somehow stayed on her feet.
"Really? So it was the fault of a dead enforcer that you failed to carry out your mission as ordered? You are pitiful." the Emperor spat. He turned from her and stalked slowly back to his throne as though nothing had happened.
"You knew of Barryk Gade's interest in his sister, yet you stayed with the garrison to deal with one rebel we had no interest in." Vader, who had be so far silent save for his breathing finally spoke and his tone was both disdainful and disgusted.
"You should talk, Darth." Rage turned on the lesser threat like a viper. "You destroyed Rehn's repression mechanism when you assaulted her mind! If you hadn't been so interested in how powerful she was, Drakahn would of been able to keep her under control. It was your self-importance that forced me to face two jedi instead of one." Vader just stood glaring down at her and she continued, jabbing a finger into his chest. "And who's bright idea was it to send the fleet off? Had they still been in orbit, they could have destroyed the rebels before they jumped into hyperspace! Smart move there, Ani!"
Vader hit her with a force blast that would have killed her had the Emperor not partially blocked it. Instead Rage fell backwards, her head striking the floor with an audible crack.
"Enough! This is pointless. Lady Vader failed and will be punished. For now she will follow her beacon and bring me the head of Barryk Gade. Now go." Palpatine sat back heavily in his throne and waved dismissively. Lord Vader turned sharply and strode out of the chamber, filled with a rage that would more than likely be released on some unfortunate, expendable officer. Rage carefully picked herself up off of the floor and bowed, turning to leave. A cold, unseen touch stopped her in her tracks. "Do not fail me again."
"Master, you disapproval is a deeper wound than and weapon could inflict. I will shed the blood of a Jedi." Rage turned, her concealed eyes locked on his. A smiled touched the Emperor's lips as he saw her strength and marveled at her power. A lesser being would be dead. He laughed and she turned, shaking so badly she barely made it out of the doors before she collapsed against the dark wall. Tears rolled down her face as her body shook violently. Rage clenched her teeth to keep from biting her tongue in agony. After awhile her fear subsided and she rose shakily to continue the hunt.
****
"Holy mother of Vader! Ouch!" Kren sat up in his bunk, smacking his head hard on the one above him. Alarms were blaring, screaming for people to report to their battle stations. He sighed and slipped out of bed. He had stayed with Rehn until she had fallen asleep, and then slipped back to his billet ship to rest and leave her to think. Draven pulled on his clothing and bolted down the corridor, trying to avoid running into the other scrambling personnel.
"What's up? One of the patrolling fighter jocks spot a foxy tug boat captain?" He reached the war room and found Barryk already there and looking at a display.
"I wish." Barryk snorted and pointed at the holomap "Interdiction ships. Seems they knew where we were. The Fleet hit a jump point here and were just pulled out of hyperspace. Seem the Empire tracked our ship."
"OUR ship? As in that piece of crap I sto...." he looked over at Cracken, who stood with arms crossed and a tired expression " uh… borrowed?"
"The same." The General replied "It was shielded from sensors and the only reason it was found at all was because a technician spotted it. It was destroyed but apparently it was too little too late."
"Wow, now that's a fleet. At least we'll be destroyed by something presentable." Kren looked at the schematics with a sinking feeling despite his flippant tone.
"Two Victory class and one Imperial class Star Destroyers, one interdiction ship and three Lancer frigates, all fully stocked with fighters. Yeah it's Rage Vader all right." Cracken nodded from his station as readiness reports began to come in and the fleet shifted into battle formation.
"Think I've had enough of her to last a lifetime." Kren groaned and Barryk shouldered into him.
"You're not the only one."
Kelly Black